Empire of the South: Ucalanga

"Ucalanga"

 
“Obusa Bakalanga naBakwa, wakabusa xango sawoku: Wakabe ebvila kuDzimbabwe kanoti kumunya [“at the salt”= Makgadikgadi]; kunta yobuVenda eme ngeHuri [Limpopo]; kunta yoBurwa eme ngePalapye; kunta yoBunanzwa eme ngeZambezi. Kabusa yose odan’wa Chibundule.”

"Ucalanga, it is very vast and includes many large cities, not to mention numerous villages; the city of Sofala itself is part of it, as is the entire coast. And the king who currently reigns over Ucalanga, Sire, is the son of Mocomba, who was also king of this realm. He is called Quesarymgo Menamotapa." - by António da Conceição.

The emergence of modern Bakalanga as a distinctive community can be traced to the abandonment of Great Zimbabwe in the 15th century. Due to politics some population of Great Zimbabwe moved north to found the Mwenemutapa state. At about the same time some Ikalanga traditions trace the formation of the Butwa state under Bakalanga Kingdom to the south-west migration of people from Mutapa during a period of strife fueled by the Portuguese sponsored expansion of ivory, gold and slave trading into eastern coast of Africa.


At Khami and other Chibundule-era(1500s) sites confirm that from the sixteenth century the Bakalanga and their neighbours were connected to extensive international trading networks. Ceramics and glass objects of Chinese, Dutch, German, and Portuguese origin have been unearthed, along with fragments of both imported and locally manufactured cotton cloth, indigenous pottery, and objects made of gold, iron, and copper. Also common are glass beads, which, along with cowrie shells for centuries served as local currency.

“Buchenjebvu gwebaKalanga nebunyambi”

“Bakabe beziba tsipi imumavu. Mhuli imwe neyimwe yakaba iyenda kumangula inosenga mabwe ewavutiwa kuna mixa dzeduma nebutho. Kupfugwa: mapadza, mathumo, maxanhu, mipanga, man”ina, kachi kene majoda, zwinyengo, njunji, hopolo, maboko anobhata imwe tsipiinopisa, mbehwana. Zwidla zwabo zwabodlila noxingila: hali dzobumbiwa ngontapwi, ndili nematuni, nemisi nenjugo kobva mumiti nomumidzi yemiti, selo nezwitundu. Zwifuko zwabo zwabva mumhuka nemuzwipfuwo nentsinga dzinopfuma, dzobva mumhuka nemuzwipfumo. Banhu bose bakabe tama izwezwi zwinhu banodan”wa batama bezwiddla, bengubo nemathumo.”

"They knew the iron which is in the earth and families collected copper ore, which was taken to the enclosures for extracting and smelting. There the following things were cast hoes, spears, axes, knives, earrings, bracelets, blades, long needles, hoop irons, pairs of pliers to hold other iron, and adzes for carpentry. Their eating utensils included pots moulded from clay, plates, mortars and pestles, wooden spoons, winnowing baskets, and big baskets for storing things. Their clothing came from wild animals and livestock, and from their sinew, which was used for sewing cords. All the people who were making these things were called makers of the eating utensils, of blankets, and spears."

Pages:  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9.

*Video: Empire of the South: Mutapa.

Sources

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