Zimbabwe – The King with 150 Wives

July 15

And we thought Henry VIII was a player…

Pondering what life would be like with 150 wives...

Hello everyone!

I’ve now moved north from South Africa into Zimbabwe. The country appears in Western news dispatches from time to time, and rarely for a good reason. We were based in Zimbabwe’s second city: Bulawayo. The place’s name translates as ‘The Place Where People are Killed’. Over the years, Zimbabwe has unfortunately lived up to its second city’s name.

Zimbabwe is larger than Germany

The roads were generally good, much better than Malawi

Zimbabwe has been an accepted independent country since 1980 (they tried to unilaterally declare independence in 1965 but it didn’t go too well). It has only had one leader in this time: Robert Gabriel Mugabe.

Mugabe: not tired of being President

How he has maintained power for 37 years isn’t really a mystery or legitimate in the eyes of faraway lands. There are well-documented problems of unemployment (rumoured to be as high as 80% in younger generations), media restriction and the passing of legislation designed to disrupt the opposition. To give an example, a recent law was passed saying that a citizen must have an address of permanent residence in order to vote – many young people, who are more likely to vote against Mugabe, don’t.

Newspaper headline: Woman Pays Debt With Daughter

An election is scheduled for next year, when he will be 94 years of age. As one Zimbabwean put it to me, “Would you want a 94-year-old in charge of your country?”

The election should take place in 2018

The strong man leader isn’t confined to Zimbabwe, of course. Interestingly, neither is it restricted to Mugabe in this territory. Before the days of colonisation, this land used to be home to some of southern Africa’s great empires. Great Zimbabwe, which is in the southeast of the country, is the most renowned. Further west is the site of another grand town: Khami.

Great Zimbabwe was a large empire about 900 years ago

The Khami state dominated western Zimbabwe and eastern Botswana for about 250 years. At its height between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, Khami had a population of up to 70,000. Through recent restoration, its ruins are in reasonable shape.

A narrow path through the ruins, made so as
a form of defence from invaders

The most intact ruin at Khami, this shows the tiers upon
which different houses were built

Khami was home to the Torwa tribe, who used a hierarchical system of authority. The hierarchy was literally shown in the form of tiers, with power and political clout increasing as the houses were built on increasingly higher ground. Those with no power lived on flat land further away from the hill.

An artist's impression of what Khami may have looked like

The higher up the wall, the more influential you were

The top of the pile belonged to the Mambo: the King. He lorded over his land and could see for many miles.

The King's view from the top of the hill

There were many rituals which would we would question today, such as burying the King’s faeces or toenails to prevent bad luck.

This is Tsoro, a board game popular in Zimbabwe
at this time. It's still played in Malawi today, and very confusing!

The most interesting fact was that a woman who had sex with the Mambo automatically became his wife. Indications are that one particular Khami King had in excess of 150 wives. A busy, busy man.

A rear passageway was created (to the right) so women
could be brought up to the King to 'get married' 

The town of Khami has shown interesting links between southern Africa and the wider world during this time period. Ming porcelain and Spanish artefacts have been discovered within the ruins, suggesting trade with Europe and Asia. The Portuguese were also involved here – it was their assistance to the Roswe tribe that ended the Torwa rule of Khami.

The different wall styles, such as leaving gaps, come from
different countries

We learnt all of this on a walking tour of the ruins, led by a woman who was very knowledgeable about this particular period, if a little stereotypical about ‘Africans’ (for example, I don’t think all of them are ‘sexually charged’ as she suggested).

The main ruins at Khami

There is a fascinating history to the land known now as Zimbabwe. One can only hope that this current dark chapter will soon end and be followed by an uplifting, inspiring story. Perhaps with less than 150 wives per man, though…

A sheep?

Love you all

Matt