Khami Ruins

Khami is a ruined city located 22 kilo-metres west of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. Khami was the capital of the Torwa dynasty for about 200 years from around 1450 and appears to have been founded at the time of the disappearance of the state at Great Zimbabwe. After that (the traditional date is 1683), it was ransacked by Changamire Dombo who led an army of Rozvi rebels from the Mwenemutapa ("Monomotapa") State. Excavations seem to show that the site was not occupied after these Rozvi took over. The Rozvi made another Khami phase site, Danamombe(Dhlo-Dhlo), their new capital. In the 1830s Nguni speaking Ndebele raiders displaced them from Khami and many of the other sites they had established.

Khami, which developed after the capital of Great Zimbabwe had been abandoned in the mid-16th century, is of great archaeological interest. The discovery of objects from Europe and China shows that Khami was a major centre for trade over a long period of time.

It is now a national monument, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.