Mashonaland, or MASHUNALAND, is the name of the region lying north-east of Matabeleland, between 16° 30' and 19° 10' S. lat. and 30° and 32° E. long. It embraces the plateau (4000–4600 feet) whose backbone is formed by the Umvukwe Mountains, and in which some of the chief feeders of the Zambezi, Limpopo, Sabi, and Mazoe have their origins. It is reported to be the healthiest part of South Africa, with rich soil, grass all the year round, and an abundance of running streams. A constant cold south-east wind tempers the heat, and renders the air strong and bracing. When their land was invaded by the Matabele, those of the Mashona who escaped massacre took refuge in the mountainous districts, and there they have ever since maintained themselves, building their villages on almost inaccessible crags. A peaceful and industrious people, of Bantu race, they live in perpetual fear of their fierce neighbours. They are the best husbandmen in South Africa, and before being dispossessed of their country owned large herds of cattle. They now grow rice, Kaffir corn, maize, ground-nuts, sweet potatoes, tobacco, and cotton; this last they weave into blankets. They are also good iron-workers. Iron, copper, and gold (in quartz and river sand) exist in immense quantities in the country. Mauch, a German traveller, in 1871 discovered many old mints that had at one time been worked with some degree of scientific skill, especially at a place called Zimbabwe, which he identified with the Ophir (q.v.) of the Bible, and thus gave some support to Milton's identification of that region with Sofala. Mashonaland was put under British protection on 11th February 1888, and was taken actual possession of by the British South Africa Company in August 1890.
The MAKALAKA are a people closely allied to the Mashona, and have had nearly the same history. Those who escape the Matabele live chiefly in the mountain fastnesses in the southern part of Matabeleland, and follow the same occupations and mode of life as the Mashona. The Banyai tribes—likewise refugees from the Matabele—live south-east of the Makalaka, along the middle course of the Limpopo. See books quoted under MATABELELAND.