Political Organisation of the Great Zimbabwe State

A view inside the Great Enclosure. Image credit zarnet.ac.zw

• The king ruled the state and was helped to rule by his relatives,
• the Great wives and others selected for exhibiting high levels of allegiance and loyalty
• He was the supreme leader and authority in the state
• The king commanded some provincial rulers who were spread in a bid area
• The rulers paid tribute to the king to show allegiance and loyalty
• The rulers however had some degree of autonomy
• The Great Zimbabwe political structure was flexible as it incorporated conquered states with ease
• The Great Zimbabwe state was not militaristic as evidenced by the fact that it did not have a standing army
• The king would however raise an army in cases of emergency and was helped by spirit mediums to instill discipline in the army
• Most of the times the army was raised to force conquered chiefdoms to pay tribute
• Witchcraft played a great role in the army
• The king would marry in many families to foster unity
• Kingship in the Great Zimbabwe state was hereditary along the male line
• This means the king was succeeded by either his sons or brothers
• The king’s senior wife has special political duties in the state
• She was responsible for the day to day running of the state
• She was also the chief advisor of the king and was respected highly by everyone
• She also mediated between the king and his subjects and saw to it that there was sanity in the state

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