This sophisticated chiefdom, whose heartland lay south of the Zambezi River, operated major centres at Mankweni and Great Zimbabwe in the early 15th century. Territorial conquests in the middle Zambezi Valley shifted the focus of the culture eastward, and by 1450 Great Zimbabwe lay deserted. At its apex, the Mwene Mutabe chiefdom stretched from the Kalahari to the tsetse fly-infested rivers to the north and west, and to the Inyanga Mountains in the east. The prosperity of the Mwene Mutabe, like that of Ethiopia, derived from trade as well as military prowess.

The Mwene Mutabe extended their trade routes progressively eastward through military conquest. Expansion into the middle Zambezi provided them with access to the area's rich salt resources, textiles, and elephant ivory. Unlike the Ethiopians, the Mwene Mutabi never achieved or sought direct contact with the East African coast, or took part directly in the Indian Ocean maritime trade. They were, however, critical middlemen within this Old World trading bloc. They controlled the inland trade networks that brought Zimbabwean gold to the coast, and thence into circulation within the Indian Ocean trading community.

Exotic imports filtered into the Mwene Mutabe cultural system largely at the elite level. Archaeological excavations at Great Zimbabwe have uncovered the bodies of rulers interred with sumptuous mortuary furnishings, including quantities of Chinese porcelain. Presumably these ceramics were funnelled to Great Zimbabwe through Kilwa and Sofala.