Dynasties of the Mutapa-Rozwi Complex

The two most obvious conclusions to be drawn from this material are that interlocking relationships and reasonably accurate dating are most reliably established for the very early and the very recent periods. The eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, in particular, seem to be a period of confusion. Even in the best of circumstances this result might reasonably be expected as a consequence of the telescoping of events in a coherent body of genealogical evidence. In this instance, coincidentally, the hiatus in knowledge from traditional sources corresponds to a parallel decline in contemporary Portuguese knowledge of the region. More positively, on the basis of Abraham's scattered notes, there does seem to be a solid base line linking the ‘princely’ dynasties which were established in the eastern part of this zone to the parent Mwene Mutapa dynasty. The mfekane, too, constitutes a major point of reference in a great many of the traditions analysed above. If more dynastic traditions and genealogies can be systematically collected, evaluated, and published for the Mutapa–Rozwi complex, the original goal of this inquiry may yet be fulfilled.