A SOCIAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF CHISHANGA: SOUTH-CENTRAL ZIMBABWE c.1750-2000 By Gerald Chikozho Mazarire A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY FACULTY OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE NOVEMBER 2009 Abstract This thesis is about a ‘place’ that effectively no longer exists-in the sense of being a recognisable unit of territory. ‘Chishanga’ has always been a term of contestation, referring more or less tenuously to a stretch of ground across which struggles for authority power and identity have taken place. In tracking and examining these struggles using various oral as well as archival sources, this thesis documents the process through which Chishanga was transformed from being a satellite province of the Rozvi state in the 18 th century to become a part of a Karanga polity under the vaHera dynasty of Mapanzure that subsequently disintegrated due to colonial administrative and land use policies. Central to the discussion is also the reclamation of ‘Chishanga’ in the late 1990s through a process initiated by its people in the 1960s. The thesis employs centre-periphery models and various concepts of ethnogenesis to argue that the idea of Chishanga as a collective metaphor of belonging was sustained by the fact that the Chishanga territorial centre has always remained at one place although its periphery shifted constantly throughout the period under study. This centre or gadzingo became the point over which all contestations to Chishanga were articulated by various groups who laid claim to this territory. The gadzingo thus gained universal appeal and became the rallying point accommodating all the different identities shaping Chishanga and those shaped by it. It naturally became the basis over which a reclamation process was launched in the late colonial period. This study challenges the notion that African societies were made up of neatly bound and delineated political units waiting for colonial rule. It uses the territorial fluidity of the Chishanga periphery to explore other variables shaping this society while at the same time interrogating some of the stereotypes inherent in the sources generated on Africa especially in the colonial period. Key words: Centre-periphery, territory, gadzingo , tradition, chieftainship, ‘houses’, Chishanga, reclamation, state, development. ii Acknowledgements This thesis has had a long gestation period. I must mention three important figures who have been instrumental in my appreciation of Chishanga and, by the same token, in the production of this study. Firstly, Professor Gilbert Pwiti agreed to supervise the project when it was still very much an idea. Through his encouragement and guidance, my mind was opened up to the various narratives, sources and ideas that helped me look at Chishanga differently and develop it into a doctoral study. I will forever be indebted to his critical mind, wise counsel and efficiency in assessing my work which made research for this thesis an enjoyable learning process. Work on the thesis also began at a point that Professsor Terence Ranger left the University of Zimbabwe in 2001, yet despite this, he took an active role in charting the direction it took thereafter. In 2002 he facilitated the presentation of my initial thoughts on Chishanga at a conference he organized at Sussex University whose proceedings were later published in a special issue of the Journal of Southern African Studies the following year. Professor Ranger and his wife Shelagh welcomed me several times in their homes both in Harare and Oxford and he was always ready to read and comment on my work as it developed. He also made available reading material and books that I would otherwise not have accessed while in Zimbabwe. As coordinator for the Sida/SAREC ‘Human Rights and Democracy Project’, Professor Ngwabi Bhebe encouraged and made available the initial funding that kick-started my fieldwork in Chishanga. After this source dried up, and when he subsequently moved to iii the Midlands State University, he continuously looked for other sources of funds that would directly or indirectly support my work. Each time, he would request an update and quickly read through every bit that I gave him. He would always make time out of his busy schedule to discuss Chishanga. Later on, through the Zimbabwe Oral History Trust, Professor Bhebe has provided the mentorship and intellectual support that has an important bearing on my current appreciation of oral societies in general. Through the Chishanga study, I have also made friends, I may not mention all but I must pay tribute to Joost Fontein, a companion and friend whom I frequently met in the field while he was doing his own study of Great Zimbabwe. We exchanged notes, shared ideas and each time after long hours in the archives we sat in my office picking each other’s brains, so to speak. Sometimes we held joint interviews and, with time, we found out that our different backgrounds as historian and anthropologist collapsed into common and shared approaches to our subjects. In 2007 Joost successfully hosted another Journal of Southern African Studies funded conference at the University of Edinburgh where again our common interests were publicly shared under the theme of ‘Water and Landscape’. I later took up a Visiting Research Fellowship at the Centre of African Studies (CAS) in Edinburgh, working directly with Joost and this went a long way in facilitating the write up of this thesis. Joost and his wife Barbara, the Director of the Centre, Professor Paul Nugent and the rest of the CAS staff and students, made sure that I had a productive and comfortable stay. I am grateful to the Scottish Executive which generously funded this fellowship. During this time and beyond, Joost, Professor Ranger, Jocelyn Alexander, Sara Dorman, Muchaparara Musemwa, and Sabelo Gatsheni-Ndlovu read and critically iv commented on my work. All this would have never been possible without the support I got from the University of Zimbabwe. Since 1998, this institution has been paying for my education. As a part time student and full time member of staff, the University granted me duty leave on numerous occasions to conduct my fieldwork in Mapanzure, Mushawasha and Ngomahuru, even during term time. My study leave to the University of Edinburgh was granted with no strings attached and the institution, even under difficult economic circumstances, was able to offer and finance my contact leave which was a significant boost to my research. My department has equally been supportive throughout the years, under leadership of Dr. Kenneth Manungo, I was allowed the flexibility of continuing research at the same time as I was fulfilling my obligations as a Lecturer. I am certain several compromises were made in some cases to allow this to happen. I was also able to count on the friendship and collegiality of many people who took interest in my work and my purpose. I must make special mention of the following people, Sabelo Gatsheni-Ndlovu, Godfrey Ncube, Munyaradzi Mushonga, James Muzondidya, Munyaradzi Manyanga, Francis Musoni, Jesmael Mataga and Munyaradzi Nyakudya. My students have also been a source of inspiration, my ideas were frequently bounced on them in lectures and tutorial discussions or in the dissertations they wrote under my supervision and, no matter how wild these ideas sounded, these students gave me reason to believe in what I was doing. Of these I wish to single out Joseph Mujere, Anusa Daimon, Ivan Marowa, Paul Hubbard, Thembani Dube, Kundai Tichagwa and Sylvester Dombo. v In the National Archives of Zimbabwe, I found a second professional home as I worked on Chishanga. The warmth and professional demeanour of the Director, Mr. Ivan Murambiwa transformed him into a personal friend. His staff, particularly Mrs Catherine Moyo and Mrs Violet Matangira had their thumbs on almost everything each time I turned up with a request. The Research desk has always had the luck of being occupied by hands-on and knowledgeable personalities like Edmore Dodzo, Mercy Mapfumo and Codelia Govha. Ishmael Zinyengere proved his mantle in the audio visual section and I have had to rely on his expertise on more occasions than I can count. At their Records Centre in Masvingo, Mr. Dunmore Maboreke was always willing to help or suggest a point each time I was there, going to the extent of offering me his office as a reading room. Discussions with fellow researchers in the Archives and outside it have always been provocative, Jocelyn Alexander, Marc Epprecht, Allison Shutt, Zoe Groves and Dr. Stan Mudenge featured prominently in these. Back at the UZ Library I developed a special relationship with Chenjerai Mabhiza who dwelt with my requests in a prompt and professional manner. In Chishanga my research was made possible through the hospitality and interest displayed by its people to what really seemed like my endless inquiries. Chief Mapanzure and his Dare welcomed me into Chishanga and treated my work as a professional exercise. I would sometimes turn up unannounced and still have lengthy interviews that lasted way into the evenings. I will be forever indebted to the Chief for believing that history should be bequeathed to posterity and for standing by each effort me and other researchers in Mapanzure have made to achieve this aim. Most of the people I worked vi with in Mapanzure and Mushawasha have since passed on and I wish to pay special tribute to the departed souls of VaManyoka Gwenhamo, VaMapope Tavarera and VaJulius Chemhuru. I regret they may not have lived to see the product of our many and varied engagements over time but I trust I can only repay their efforts by representing their voices here. Nyasha Masa and Mr.