Pre-colonial era :
Proto-Sona speaking societies first emerged in the middle Limpopo valley in the ninth century before moving on to the Zimbabwean highlands . The first European to explore the place was Portuguese. They traded in gold, ivory, copper for clothes and glass. This Sona state ruled much of the area that was known as Zimbabwe today, and parts of central Mozambique. it was renowned mainly for the trade routes of Gold with Arabs and Portuguese . However Portuguese settlers destroyed the trade and began a series of was which left the Sona empire in near collapse in the early 17th century. As a direct response to to Portuguese aggression in the interior , a new Sona state emerged called the Rozwi Empire. Relying on centuries of military, political and religious development, The Rozi (means destroyer) removed the Portuguese from Zimbabwe plateau by force of arms. The Rozwi continued the stone building traditions of the Zimbabwe and Mapungubwe kingdoms while adding guns to its arsenal and developing a professional army to protect its trade routes and conquests.
In 1837-38, the Rozi Empire along with other Sona states were conquered by the Ndebele who arrived from south of the Limpopo and forced them to pay tribute and concentrate in northern Zimbabwe.
