By Princess Eugene Majuru, Princess of Harare
Harare, Zimbabwe (News of The South) – Before Colonialism and arrival of the British Harare was called Chihoka under King Mbari of the Mbari clan amd Shumba Gurundoro totem. At that time Zimbabwe was called Chivavarirwa neaning the promised land, the land everybody wants and the land of milk and honey, the land that was given everything.
Imcorrect records documented by the British who colonised Zimbabwe incorrectly state that the city of Harare was formed at the arrival of the British in 1890 as Fort Salisbury. This misinformation suggests that when the British arrived the land was vacant and unoccupied yet in the other documents they write they stated they fought against King Mbari and King Makombe’s people who lived in the Harare Kingdom. Harare was already existing and was named Chihoka, the name of the Kopje which was where King Mbari ruled from as his headquaters. Mount Hampden the city after Harare was called Tsikwi, another city under King Mbari’s jurusdiction Mazoe was also in existence and called Manzowe yet today we see history written by the British claiming they founded various cities. David Livingstone is famously known for claiming he discovered Victoria Falls yet Zimbabwean people were already Living there and enjoying the mysteries and wonders of the land. The David Livingstones and their allies then penned many books claiming they discovered Victoria Falls a place that was already named Mosi Oa Tunya and that the day they named it Victoria Falls is the day the city was founded. Such utterances cannot go unchallenged and as Zimbabweans we contest that and fight to change the narrative, our failure to change that narrative means the future generations will believe and take everything that they read to be true especially when they see and know that we had the abilities to correct the narratives. In this modern day that we are living most African people are failing to change or correct the narrative and this has serious consequences for Africans.
Im further documentation it is stated that before Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980 it was called Rhodesia, a name from some Colonialist again, there is failure to aknowledge the name before Colonialism. When the British were documenting the history they managed to document the culture, customs, traditions, names of Kings and tribes and totems which they were given by our Ancestors who would also have told them the name Chivavarirwa being the name of Zimbabwe prior to their arrival. A lot of information was left out in the documentation done by the British who deliberately omnitted certain accounts and events so they seek credit for discovering and founding everything. At this point I would like to correct the narrative and state Zimbabwe’s name before colonialism as being Chivavarirwa. Many people even Zimbabweans do not know this information. Unfortunately AI is picking up the wrongly documented history and passing it as correct.
The renaming of Chihoka took place only after the British took over Chihoka from the Mbari clan thus claiming take over of the country in 1897 and not 1890 and incorrectly stated. They then named the city Salisbury and further renaming took place in 1980 when the city was named Harare after my great Ancestor the former ruler and King of Harare, King Mbari. Im the olden days people were popularly known by their nicknames, my great Ancestor who had great and numerous abilities was nicknamed Haarari meaning the one who doesn’t sleep due to him not sleeping because of large volumes of people who sought for his assistance. As Princess of Harare I have a history to protect and our heritage forms part of us, it is who we are and what makes us. Before Colonialism Harare was and continues to be the political, farming economic and cultural centre for Zimbabwe.
Most British history is also not documented correctly but no one bothers to correct it. In Australia it’s sad that the Aborigines who own the land were pushed out into remote rural areas where their population was diluted and they were forced to have inter racial marriages so that their population is prevented from increasing and they can never fight for their land against Australia. We are currently seeing how Ameriacn President Donald Trump wants to take over Greenland and Canada and Mexico and who knows later they will claim and document that they discovered these countries and established cities, history will repeat itself. The World is full of bullies who abuse their power, this bullying started from ancient times.
Comments
About Author
