Zimbabwe

=== Pre-colonial era ===
{{further|Bantu expansion}}
[[File:Tower, Great Zimbabwe1.jpg|thumb|upright|Towers of [[Great Zimbabwe]]]]
Archaeological records date archaic human settlement of present-day Zimbabwe to at least 500,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Zimbabwe - Cultural life {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Zimbabwe/Cultural-life|access-date=2022-02-11|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref> Zimbabwe's earliest known inhabitants were most likely the [[San people]], who left behind a legacy of arrowheads and cave paintings. Approximately 2,000 years ago, the first Bantu-speaking farmers arrived during the Bantu expansion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/pre-colonial-history-sa|title=Pre-colonial history of SA|website=South African History Online|access-date=17 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702192857/http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/pre-colonial-history-sa|archive-date=2 July 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/zimbabwe|title=Zimbabwe|website=South African History Online|access-date=19 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107164147/http://www.sahistory.org.za/place/zimbabwe|archive-date=7 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Societies speaking proto-[[Shona languages]] first emerged in the middle [[Limpopo River]] valley in the 9th century before moving on to the Zimbabwean highlands. The Zimbabwean plateau became the centre of subsequent Shona states, beginning around the 10th century. Around the early 10th century, trade developed with [[Shirazi era|Arab merchants]] on the Indian Ocean coast, helping to develop the [[Kingdom of Mapungubwe]] in the 11th century. This was the precursor to the Shona civilisations that dominated the region during the 13th to 15th centuries, evidenced by ruins at [[Great Zimbabwe]], near [[Masvingo]], and by other smaller sites. The main archaeological site used a unique dry stone architecture. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was the first in a series of trading states which had developed in Zimbabwe by the time the first European explorers arrived from Portugal. These states traded gold, ivory, and copper for cloth and glass.<ref name="autogenerated241">{{cite book|title= Historical Archaeology |last= Hall|first= Martin|author2= Stephen W. Silliman|year= 2005|publisher= Wiley Blackwell|isbn= 978-1-4051-0751-8|pages=241–44}}</ref>

By 1220, the [[Kingdom of Zimbabwe]] eclipsed Mapungubwe. This Shona state further refined and expanded upon Mapungubwe's stone architecture. From {{circa}} 1450 to 1760, the [[Kingdom of Mutapa]] ruled much of the area of present-day Zimbabwe, plus parts of central Mozambique. It is known by many names including the Mutapa Empire, also known as ''Mwene Mutapa'' or ''Monomotapa'' as well as "Munhumutapa", and was renowned for its strategic trade routes with the Arabs and Portugal. The Portuguese sought to monopolise this influence and began a series of wars which left the empire in near collapse in the early 17th century.<ref name="autogenerated241" />

As a direct response to increased European presence in the interior a new Shona state emerged, known as the [[Rozvi Empire|Rozwi Empire]]. Relying on centuries of military, political and religious development, the Rozwi (meaning "destroyers") expelled the Portuguese from the Zimbabwean plateau in 1683. Around 1821 the [[Zulu people|Zulu]] general [[Mzilikazi]] of the [[Khumalo clan]] successfully rebelled against King [[Shaka]] and established his own clan, the [[Northern Ndebele people|Ndebele]]. The Ndebele fought their way northwards into the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]], leaving a trail of destruction in their wake and beginning an era of widespread devastation known as the [[Mfecane]]. When Dutch [[Boers|trekboers]] converged on the Transvaal in 1836, they drove the tribe even further northward, with the assistance of [[Tswana people|Tswana]] [[Barolong]] warriors and [[Griqua people|Griqua]] commandos. By 1838 the Ndebele had conquered the Rozwi Empire, along with the other smaller Shona states, and reduced them to [[vassal]]dom.<ref name="zimstudy">{{cite book|last= Nelson|first= Harold|title= Zimbabwe: A Country Study |pages= 1–317|publisher= The Studies | year= 1983}}</ref>

[[File:Harris - Ndebelekraal.png|thumb|A Matabele [[kraal]], as depicted by [[William Cornwallis Harris]], 1836]]
After losing their remaining South African lands in 1840, Mzilikazi and his tribe permanently settled in the southwest of present-day Zimbabwe in what became known as Matabeleland, establishing [[Bulawayo]] as their capital. Mzilikazi then organised his society into a military system with regimental [[kraal]]s, similar to those of Shaka, which was stable enough to repel further Boer incursions. Mzilikazi died in 1868; following a violent power struggle, his son [[Lobengula]] succeeded him.