| East Africa continued |
| These ports of trade were visited in the early sixteenth century by the Portuguese. This eventually led to their decline and downfall. During the seventeenth century, the Portuguese conquered and destroyed many of the East African city-states. At the same time as these cities were flourishing, another civilization occupied the area between the Limpop and Zambezi Rivers - the civilization of Zimbabwe. This civilization was purely African with no Islamic influences. It was founded about 1150 and centered on a major city, "Great Zimbabwe", which was probably the capital. This city was thought to have been built by the ancestors of the Shona people who live in the area today. Zimbabwe became a very wealthy and prosperous state for a variety of reasons: the control of the gold resources in the area, intensive agriculture, and trade with the coastal city-states. Before the arrival of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, Zimbabwe collapsed for reasons unknown. The most accepted theory is the collapse and exhaustion of farming in the area, leading to the abandonment of the city. |