ZIMSEC O Level History Notes: Great Zimbabwe state (Kingdom): Political Organisation of the Great Zimbabwe State
- 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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