# Great Zimbabwe's Mambo Dandaro and the Gold Fraud of 1310

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/great-zimbabwe-the-lost-african-kingdom-of-stone-fexingo-history-7829648/great-zimbabwe-s-mambo-dandaro-and-the-gold-fraud-of-1310
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/great-zimbabwe-the-lost-african-kingdom-of-stone-fexingo-history-7829648/great-zimbabwe-s-mambo-dandaro-and-the-gold-fraud-of-1310.md
Podcast: [Great Zimbabwe: The Lost African Kingdom of Stone — Fexingo History](https://stenobird.com/podcast/great-zimbabwe-the-lost-african-kingdom-of-stone-fexingo-history-7829648)
Published: 2026-06-10T00:22:01+00:00
Episode link: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/great-zimbabwe/episode-0089.mp3
Audio file: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/great-zimbabwe/episode-0089.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/great-zimbabwe-the-lost-african-kingdom-of-stone-fexingo-history-7829648/episodes/great-zimbabwe-s-mambo-dandaro-and-the-gold-fraud-of-1310
Duration seconds: 412

## Resource

In 1310, Great Zimbabwe's gold trade with the Swahili coast was rocked by a scandal that reached the Mambo's court. This episode tells the story of Mambo Dandaro's crackdown on the kiln owners who secretly alloyed copper with gold dust, cheating Indian Ocean merchants and risking the kingdom's hard-won reputation. We follow the investigation led by the muraya, the master of weights, and the nganga who tested metal purity using fire and herbal acids. The fraudsters were caught, their kilns smashed, and the adulterated gold was melted down in public, but the question of trust lingered. How did the Mambo restore confidence in Zimbabwe gold? And what does this episode reveal about the sophisticated economic systems of medieval Southern Africa? #GreatZimbabwe #MamboDandaro #GoldFraud #1310 #ShonaHistory #IndianOceanTrade #Sofala #Kilwa #Muraya #Nganga #GoldTrade #MedievalAfrica #SwahiliCoast #ZimbabweGold #CopperSmelting #EconomicHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

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## Transcript

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