Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe: 11th – 15th c. AD
The plateau between the rivers Zambezi and Limpopo, in southeast Africa, offers rich opportunities for human settlement. Its grasslands make excellent grazing for cattle. The tusks of dead elephants provide an easy basis for a trade in ivory. A seam of gold, running along the highest ridge, shows signs of having…
The Maravi Confederacy: 16th – 18th century AD
The earliest known settled kingdom in the region of Lake Nyasa is that of the Maravi Confederacy. Established by Bantu-speaking peoples in about 1480, and continuing into the 18th century, the confederacy controls territory west from the great lake to the Luangwa River, south to the Zambezi and east to the coast.
This…