Hie once again this goes out to Kudzainashe Ashley Tawonezvi from my former school Eveline High ASSESS THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ORAL TRADITION, ARCHAEOLOGY AND WRITTEN DOCUMENTS TOWARDS THE RECOVERY OF ZIMBAWE’S PRE-COLONIAL HISTORY. Oral traditions are verbal recollections of past events that supposedly occurred before the existence of the informants. These are historical accounts that are transmitted from one generation to the next through word of mouth. They can be in the form of praise poems and songs telling of the heroic deeds of an ancestor, a clan or a whole community of people. Oral traditions have been especially valuable in the reconstruction of much Zimbabwe’s pre-colonial history particularly because the pre-literate societies did not leave behind any written records that could be used as sources of history. In the case of the much earlier Iron Age societies even the biased European accounts are non-existent because the Europeans had not yet arrived on the African scene to observe and write about some events. Oral traditions have been extremely useful in providing information about the foundation of the Great Zimbabwe state. Shona traditions speak of the ancestors of the Shona as the builders of the impressive stone structures at Great Zimbabwe and so many other sites around and outside present-day Zimbabwe. The settler Europeans, colonialist historians and settler politicians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries all disputed the claims of the Shona origin of Great Zimbabwe and chose to attribute its construction to some mysterious, forgotten white tribe or the Arabs, Egyptians or Phoenicians. The Shona claims made through oral traditions were subsequently verified by archaeological findings. Oral traditions have also been very valuable in providing historical information about the foundation of the Mutapa State. It was founded by Nyatsimba Mutota who had migrated from Great Zimbabwe with his followers to the Dande region. It is known from oral traditions that the Mutapa state was an off-shoot of the Great Zimbabwe state which collapsed due to the shortage of salt and other resources. The names of some of the Mutapa rulers are known to present generations through oral traditions for example Mutota and his successor Matope. The origins of the Rozvi Empire have also been preserved in the oral traditions. The names of the early emperors like Changamire Dombo are well known through orature. Even the nineteenth century histories of the Ndebele and Shona have been transmitted through oral traditions and these have been useful in providing an African perspective and countering some of the distortions of the nineteenth century European writers. Good examples of such distortions include European claims that Ndebele-Shona relations were characterized by hostility. It has been claimed that the Shona were helpless victims of perennial raids from the vicious and ruthless Ndebele. It was further stated that the Ndebele economy was based almost exclusively on raiding. Oral traditions from both groups have however counteracted such claims and asserted that the relations were for the most part based on peaceful co-existence, trade and cultural exchange. Wars and raids did occur but even then there were not as endemic and destructive as the European writers have suggested. Neither were the Shona the helpless and passive victims they have been made out to have been. D.N. Beach has written about Ndebele oral traditions about Shona raiding activities deep into Ndebele territory and the atrocities that were allegedly perpetrated on Ndebele women. He has also profited from the use of Shona traditions about a nineteenth century Rozvi ruler who was given the nickname Chibamubamu for his skilful use of guns in resisting the Ndebele incursions into his territory. Oral traditions have however proved incapable of providing adequate information about pre-colonial states such as Great Zimbabwe. There is no accurate information about the names of the rulers of Great Zimbabwe who have simply been referred to as mambo in many accounts. That is a dynastic title which unfortunately does not shed any light on the individual identities of the rulers. One name that is well known in the history of this state is that of Nyatsimba Mutota who supposedly deserted it with his followers in order to find salt in the Dande region. This helped to bring about the demise of the state and the rise of the Mutapa state. Oral traditions have had their weaknesses either due to memory loss or deliberate bias on the part of the informants and this has compromised the accuracy of the pre-colonial history recovered through this source. Shona oral traditions speak of the violent and destructive activities of the Madzviti who invaded from across the Limpopo River in the nineteenth century but the use of the term Madzviti does not clearly establish the true identity of the Nguni invaders. It is known from Nguni traditions that various Nguni groups including the Ngoni of Zwangendaba and Nyamazana, the Gaza led by Soshangane and the Ndebele led by Mzilikazi all fled from Shaka and at various times attacked the Shona. The main problem with Shona traditions is that all these have been indiscriminately lumped together as the Madzviti. Coincidentally Madzviti is the Shona’s derogatory term for the Ndebele and this helped to create an erroneous and distorted picture of the Ndebele as a perennially bloodthirsty and warlike group who persistently wrecked havoc on the weak and defenceless Shona. Such distortions were seized upon by colonial historians and white settlers to justify the destruction of the Ndebele kingdom and foster ethnic tensions between the Ndebele and Shona. Written records have also been used with great success in recovering some of Zimbabwe’s pre-colonial history especially from the late fifteenth century onwards. Portuguese accounts have been a major source of Mutapa history furnishing names of Mutapas, details about economic and social activities as well as information about trade with Swahili-Arabs and the Portuguese themselves. Names such as Mamvura, Matope, Gatsi Rusere and Nyahuma are all known from the Portuguese accounts. Twentieth century historians such as D.N. Beach and S. Mudenge have all relied on Portuguese documents for information on the Mutapa’s political organisation consisting of officials such as the captain of the gates, stewards, chamberlain and the chief priests. Portuguese records have also proved significant in the recovery of the political, social and economic history of the Rozvi. The nineteenth century accounts by missionaries, hunters and traders have also been very important in shedding light on the Ndebele and Shona on the eve of colonial rule. They shed light on Ndebele raiding activities on the Shona possibly with exaggerations as to their impact. The letters of missionaries such as Charles Helm, Robert and John Moffat give accurate dates concerning the founding of mission stations as well as their activities and futile attempts to Christianize the Ndebele. It is known with certainty that Inyathi and Hope Fountain missions were founded in 1857 and 1870 respectively. It is also known that missionaries engaged in various tasks that included treating diseases like Mzilikazi’s gout, mending wagons, writing books on Ndebele and Shona grammar among other things. It is also known how the likes of John Moffat and Charles Helm abused Lobengula’s trust by secretly advocating the destruction of the Ndebele kingdom and misled him into signing the Moffat Treaty and Rudd Concession in 1888. These two treaties paved the way for the colonisation of Zimbabwe which officially commenced on the twelfth of September in 1890. Archaeology has been extremely important in generating knowledge about the Stone Age as well the transition to the Iron Age. By digging up sites and examining remains of animals, rocks and other effects archeologists have helped to reconstruct Zimbabwe’s stone age pre-colonial past that was characterized by the use of simple stone and wooden tools for hunting small animals and digging up edible plant roots. The discovery of ancient iron workings through archaeological excavations also helped to shed light on the pre-colonial transition from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. Iron tools have been discovered and these include the axes and hoes as well as spears which have enabled the Iron Age to be distinguished as an era which was marked by the advent of agriculture rather than mere hunting and gathering of the Stone Age. Cattle, sheep and goat bones were also excavated pointing to the emergence of pastoralism during the Iron Age. Large settlements such as Great Zimbabwe were also discovered and this demonstrated that unlike the nomadic and smaller communities of the stone age, the Iron Age was characterized by larger and permanent, settled societies. Archaeology also proved extremely important in solving the controversy concerning the identity of founders of the Great Zimbabwe state. Shona traditions spoke of the ancestors of the Shona as the builders of the impressive stone structures at Great Zimbabwe and so many other sites around and outside present-day Zimbabwe. The settler Europeans, colonialist historians and settler politicians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries all disputed the claims of the Shona origin of Great Zimbabwe and chose to attribute its construction to some mysterious, forgotten white tribe or the Arabs, Egyptians or Phoenicians. The Shona claims made through oral traditions were subsequently verified by archaeological findings. The conclusions were that the building styles, pottery and material remains at the site were consistent with the Shona way of life and thus pointed to Shona origins for the state. While acknowledging the accuracy and significance of archaeology it must be noted that it has its weaknesses. It has reduced the study of Zimbabwe’s pre-colonial history to the study of bones, waste products, rocks and other artifacts. Archaeology has failed to supply names or details about the languages spoken by the societies then for instance there are no names for any of the Stone Age communities, the Great Zimbabwe people and language that have been recovered through archaeological research. In conclusion, the three sources have been very significant in the recovery of Zimbabwe’s pre-colonial history. Although they have their limitations these have been reduced by using them in conjunction rather exclusively relying on one source.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 14:53:15 +0000
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