<P> In 1695, Changamire Dombo overran the gold - producing kingdom of Manyika and took his army east and destroyed the Portuguese fair - town of Masikwesi . This allowed him complete control of all gold - producing territory from Butwa to Manyika, supplanting Mutapa as the premier Shona kingdom in the region . </P> <P> It appears neither the Rozwi nor the Portuguese could maintain control of the Mutapa state for very long, and it moved back and forth between the two throughout the 17th century . Far from a victim of conquest, the Mutapa rulers actually invited in foreign powers to bolster their rule . This included vassalage to Portuguese East Africa from 1629 to 1663 and vassalage to the Rozwi Empire from 1663 until the Portuguese return in 1694 . Portuguese control of Mutapa was maintained or at least represented by an armed garrison at the capital . In 1712, yet another coveter of the throne invited the Rozwi back to put him on the throne and kick out the Portuguese . This they did, and Mutapa again came under the control of the Rozwi Empire . The new Mwenemutapa Samatambira Nyamhandu I become their vassal, while the outgoing king was forced to retreat to Chidama in what is now Mozambique . </P> <P> The Rozwi quickly lost interest in Mutapa, as they sought to consolidate their position in the south . Mutapa regained its independence around 1720 . By this time, the kingdom of Mutapa had lost nearly all of the Zimbabwe plateau to the Rozwi Empire . In 1723, Nyamhandi moved his capital into the valley near the Portuguese trading settlement of Tete, under Mwmenemutapa Nyatsusu . Upon his death in 1740, the young Dehwe Mapunzagutu took power . He sought Portuguese support and invited them back to Mutapa along with their garrison of armed men, but Mutapa remained independent . </P> <P> The Mwenemutapa died in 1759, sparking yet another civil war for the throne . This one was more destructive than its predecessors and Mutapa never recovered . The "winners" ended up governing an even more reduced land from Chidima . They used the title Mambo a Chidima and ruled independently of Portugal until 1917 when Mambo Chioko, the last king of the dynasty, was killed in battle against the Portuguese . </P>

How did the portuguese reach the kingdom of munhumutapa