By HRH Princess Eugene Majuru, Princess of Harare
The events surrounding the site known in Shona oral tradition as Makumimavi, the “Mountain of Slay” stand as a harrowing, though often under-documented, chapter in the history of colonial violence in Zimbabwe. While official British South Africa Company (BSAC) records downplayed or omitted their own atrocities, the accounts from local communities and the work of early critics, like the missionary Arthur Shearly Cripps, attest to a systematic brutality against indigenous groups like the Mbari Clan in the 1890s that can be justly termed a genocide.
The Mbari as the Core of Resistance
The Mbari people were not merely residents; they were the central force behind the Shona uprising known as the First Chimurenga (1896-1897) in the region now recognized as the Mazowe and Chivhu areas.
Mbari Territory: The traditional Mbari lands were a vital nexus of political and spiritual power. Historical research identifies the Mbari settlement as the hotbed of the First Chimurenga, the nucleus from which the revolt against BSAC rule spread across Mashonaland.
The Leadership: The area was the operational base for key spiritual and military figures of the uprising, including the powerful spirit mediums Mbuya Nehanda (whose medium operated from Mbari territory) and Sekuru Kaguvi, and the brilliant military coordinator Mukwati (whose medium, Mudavanhu, was a son of the late Chief Mbari). Makombe, the reigning chief (Mbari’s brother), was nicknamed ‘Chimurenga’ for his fierce organization of the revolt, which successfully besieged settler positions and claimed dozens of colonial lives, including the notorious Native Commissioner Henry Pollard.
The British Response and the Makumimavi Massacre
The British response to the coordinated and effective Shona resistance was a brutal campaign of indiscriminate punishment aimed at destroying the will and the lineage of the resisting clans. The massacres perpetrated in the Mbari territory were not acts of war but a deliberate strategy of annihilation against a population viewed as irredeemably rebellious.
Historical accounts confirm that the Mbari’s sustained resistance was effectively ended by a colonial military action on or around March 1, 1897. In this action, BSAC forces, unable to defeat the insurgents in open combat, resorted to a scorched-earth policy, targeting the civilian population. Makumimavi mountain also known as Mountain of Slay in Chivhu (Enkeldon).
Wiping out a Clan: The massacres that gave rise to the name Makumimavi (Mountain of Slay) led to the near-total wiping out of most Mbari clan members settled in the area. This was not simply a battle; it was the annihilation of the entire lineage in that locality, effectively dissolving the Mbari chieftaincy and its spiritual authority.
Dynamited Caves: The final stage of the massacres involved hunting down survivors who had fled to caves for sanctuary. In a stark example of extreme colonial brutality, the BSAC forces allegedly dynamited the caves, burying alive the remaining people—men, women, and children—including members of the Mbari clan who had sought refuge.
The Legacy of Cripps and the Orphaned Children
The scale of the atrocities was such that it created a humanitarian catastrophe, which directly inspired one of the colonial era’s most outspoken critics, the Anglican missionary Arthur Shearly Cripps. Cripps however did his share of damage by changing the chikdrens surnames, he took their first names and changed them to surnames, an example is someone called Tom ended uo having a surname as Tom, not all were changed but this caused kots of disruption as others coukdnot trace their roots. Thise who maintained their roots did so by remembering their totem Shumba Gurundoro.
A Witness to Injustice: Cripps was so shocked by the documented violence of the 1896-1897 rebellions that he offered his services to the mission field, determined to challenge the British colonial agenda. His arrival in 1901 was a direct reaction to the massacres of the 1890s.
Caring for the Survivors: Settling at his Maronda Mashanu mission (near Chivhu, in the proximity of the former Mbari lands), Cripps became known for defending African rights against the BSAC. His work naturally included providing aid and sanctuary to the most vulnerable victims: the orphaned children whose parents had been massacred. This act of compassion cemented his legacy as one who stood against the dehumanizing force of colonial policy.
The Mbari genocide—the wholesale destruction of a family and political unit to quell rebellion and claim land—remains a powerful symbol of the extreme violence employed by the British South Africa Company to establish its rule in the face of valiant African resistance.
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