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94-405: The earliest account of Ifat Sultanate comes from Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi . He says that the region is called Jabarta and its capital is called Wafāt. Its population, who are Muslim, are ethnically mixed. The city sat upon an elevated place in a valley next to a river. He calculates the astronomical position of the city being 8 latitude and 57 longitude according to Arab computation, which is located on

188-705: A battle in 1376. According to historian Mordechai Abir , the continued warfare between Ifat Sultanate and the Ethiopian Emperor was a part of the larger geopolitical conflict, where Egypt had arrested Coptic Church's Patriarch Marcos in 1352. This arrest led to retaliatory arrest and imprisonment of all Egyptian merchants in Ethiopia. In 1361, the Egyptian Sultan al-Malik al-Salih released the Patriarch and then sought amicable relations with Ethiopian Emperor. The actions of

282-611: A collection of autonomous city-states. It also suggests that "the Berbers who live in the place are very unruly," an apparent reference to their independent nature. Islam was introduced to the area early on from the Arabian Peninsula , shortly after the Hijrah . Zeila's two- mihrab Masjid al-Qiblatayn dates to the 7th century, and is the oldest mosque in the city. In the late 9th century, Al-Yaqubi wrote that Muslims were living along

376-438: A contingent of fifty Somali musketeers and two cannons. Arriving outside the city, he instructed his men to fire the cannons close to the walls. Intimidated and not having seen such weapons before, El Barr and his men would flee and leave Zeila for Sharmarke. Sharmarke's governorship had an instant effect on the city, as he maneuvered to monopolize as much of the regional trade as possible, with his sights set as far as Harar and

470-527: A history of the Banū Sa‘ı̄d. An example of Ibn Said's own poems, which he included in the Rāyāt al-mubarrizīn wa-ghāyāt al-mumayyazīn , is "Black horse with a white chest", with a recent translation being Cola Franzen 's translation into English of Gómez 's 1930 Spanish translation: Zeila Zeila ( Somali : Saylac , Arabic : زيلع , romanized :  Zayla ), also known as Zaila or Zayla ,

564-645: A huge multicultural metropolis, with Somalis (Predominantly), Afar, Harari, and even Arabs and Persian inhabitants. The city was also instrumental in bringing Islam to the Oromo and other Ethiopian ethnic groups. In 1332, the Zeila-based King of Adal was slain in a military campaign aimed at halting the Abyssinian Emperor Amda Seyon 's march toward the city. When the last Sultan of Ifat, Sa'ad ad-Din II ,

658-514: A resistance against Sharmarke's troops in 1852. Sharmarke was later succeeded as Governor of Zeila by Abu Bakr Pasha, a local Afar statesman in 1855 but would return and depose Abu Bakr in 1857 before finally being ousted in 1861 after Sharmarke's implication in the death of a French Consul. In 1874–75, the Egyptians obtained a firman from the Ottomans by which they secured claims over the city. At

752-756: Is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland . In the Middle Ages , the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila with the Biblical location of Havilah . Most modern scholars identify it with the site of Avalites mentioned in the 1st-century Greco-Roman travelogue the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and in Ptolemy , although this is disputed. The town evolved into an early Islamic center with

846-828: Is also known as the Kitāb al-Mughrib ('book of the Maghrib'), and is midway between an anthology of poetry and a geography, collecting information on the poets of Maghreb organized by geographical origin. Part of the Mughrib circulated separately as Rāyāt al-mubarrizīn wa-ghāyāt al-mumayyazīn ( Banners of the Champions and the Standards of the Distinguished ), which Ibn Said compiled in Cairo, completing it on 21 June 1243 (641 by Islamic dating). It is, in

940-464: Is believed to be the first inland Muslim state and by the time it was incorporated into Ifat much of the inhabitants of Shewa land were Muslims. According to the chronicle of Shewa Sultanate converting the inhabitants in the area begun in 1108, and the first to convert were the Gbbah people whom Trimingham suggested them being the ancestors of Argobbas. A few years later after the conversion of the Gbbah people,

1034-408: Is very populous, with good houses of stone and white-wash and good streets; the houses are covered with terraces, the dwellers in them are black. They have many horses and breed many cattle of all sorts, which they use for milk, butter, and meat. There is in this country abundance of wheat, millet, barley, and fruits, which they carry thence to Aden." Beginning in 1630, the city became a dependency of

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1128-501: The Adabay and Mofar rivers. The al-Umari territorial account of Ifat Sultanate implies a size of 300 kilometers by 400 kilometers, which may be an exaggeration, according to Richard Pankhurst . According to Taddesse Tamrat, Ifat's borders included Fatagar , Dawaro and Bale . The port of Zeila provided an entry point for trade and served as the most important entry point for Islam into Ethiopian lands. Ifat rulers controlled Zeila, and it

1222-612: The Amhara pursued Sa'd al-Din as far as the peninsula of Zeila , in the ocean, where he took refuge. The Amhara besieged him there, and deprived him of water; at last one of the impious showed them a way by which they could reach him. When they came upon him a battle ensued; and after three days the water failed. Sa'd al Din was wounded in the forehead and fell to the ground, whereupon they pierced him with their swords. But he died happily, falling in God's cause. After Sa'ad ad-Din's death “the strength of

1316-451: The Amhara region . According to fourteenth century historian Al Umari , the ruler of Ifat donned headbands made of silk. According to Mohammed Hassen Ifat's infantry consisted of the Argobba people . Ifat's inhabitants, according to Nehemia Levtzion Randall Pouwels, and Ulrich Brakumper include nomadic groups such as Somalis , Afars and Warjih people whom were already Muslims by

1410-448: The Benadir region to the south. Adal's history from this founding period would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighbouring Abyssinia . By the years (1214–17), Ibn Said referred to both Zeila and Berbera . Zeila, as he tells us, was a wealthy city of considerable size and its inhabitants were completely Muslim. Ibn Said 's description gives the impression that Berbera

1504-654: The Djibouti border, the town sits on a sandy spit surrounded by the sea. It is known for its coral reef , mangroves and offshore islands, which include the Sa'ad ad-Din archipelago named after the Somali Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din II of the Sultanate of Ifat . Landward, the terrain is unbroken desert for some fifty miles. Borama lies 151 miles (243 km) southeast of Zeila, Berbera lies 170 miles (270 km) east of Zeila, while

1598-509: The Near East ( Phoenicia , Ptolemaic Egypt , Greece , Parthian Persia , Saba , Nabataea , Roman Empire , etc.) and India . Merchants used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the beden to transport their cargo. Along with the neighboring Habash of Al-Habash to the west, the Barbaroi who inhabited the area were recorded in the 1st century CE Greek document the Periplus of

1692-483: The Ogaden . In 1845, he deployed a few matchlock men to wrest control of neighboring Berbera from that town's then feuding Somali authorities. The Emir of Harar Ahmad III ibn Abu Bakr already been at loggerheads with Sharmarke over fiscal matters. He was concerned about the ramifications that these movements might ultimately have on his own city's commerce. The Emir consequently urged Berbera's leaders to reconcile and mount

1786-554: The Sultanate of Shewa located in northern Hararghe . In 1288 Sultan Wali Asma successfully imposed his rule on Hubat , Zeila and other Muslim states in the region. Taddesse Tamrat explains Sultan Walashma's military acts as an effort to consolidate the Muslim territories in the Horn of Africa in much the same way as Emperor Yekuno Amlak was attempting to consolidate the Christian territories in

1880-570: The Abyssinian empire. This campaign is historically known as the Conquest of Abyssinia ( Futuh al Habash ). During the war, Imam Ahmad pioneered the use of cannons supplied by the Ottoman Empire , which he imported through Zeila and deployed against Abyssinian forces and their Portuguese allies led by Cristóvão da Gama . Some scholars argue that this conflict proved, through their use on both sides,

1974-502: The Adornments of the West'), which had been started over a century before by Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥijārī (1106–55) at the behest of Ibn Said's great-grandfather ‘Abd al-Malik. Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥijārī completed 6 volumes, ‘Abd al-Malik added to them; two of ‘Abd al-Malik's sons (Ibn Said's grandfather and great uncle) added more; Ibn Said's father worked on it further; and Ibn Said completed it. The work

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2068-570: The Amhara fled from the land of Werjih. The Werjih were a pastoral people, and in the fourteenth century they occupied the Awash Valley east of Shewan Plateau. By the mid-fourteenth century, Islam expanded in the region and the inhabitants north of Awash river were the Muslim people of Zaber and Midra Zega (located south of modern Merhabete ); the Gabal (or Warjeh people today called Tigri Worji ); and much of

2162-555: The British for control of the strategic Gulf of Aden littoral. On 25 March 1885, the French government claimed that they signed a treaty with Ughaz Nur II of the Gadabuursi placing much of the coast and interior of the Gadabuursi country under the protectorate of France. The treaty titled in French, Traitè de Protectorat sur les Territoires du pays des Gada-Boursis , was signed by both J. Henry,

2256-615: The Christian Abyssinian territory in the Amhara kingdom, burnt churches and forced apostasy among Christians. He also seized and imprisoned the envoy sent by the Emperor on his way back from Cairo. Haqq ad-Din tried to convert the envoy, killing him when this failed. In response, the irate Emperor raided the inhabitants of all the land of Shewa, much of it inhabited by Muslims at that time, and other districts of Ifat Sultanate. The historical records of that time, depending on which side wrote

2350-537: The Consular Agent of France and Dependencies at Harar-Zeila, and Nur Robleh, Ughaz of the Gadabuursi, at Zeila on 9 Djemmad 1302 (March 25, 1885). The treaty states as follows (translated from French): "Between the undersigned J. Henry, Consular Agent of France and Dependencies at Harrar-Zeilah, and Nour Roblé, Ougasse of the Gada-boursis, independent sovereign of the whole country of the Gada-boursis, and to safeguard

2444-475: The Consular Agent of France and Dependencies at Harrar-Zeila to circumvent British jurisdiction over the Gadabuursi country and allow France to lay claim to sections of the Somali coast. There was also suspicion that Ughaz Nur II had attempted to cause a diplomatic row between the British and French governments in order to consolidate his own power in the region. According to I. M. Lewis, this treaty clearly influenced

2538-623: The Erythraean Sea as engaging in extensive commercial exchanges with Egypt and pre-Islamic Arabia . The travelogue mentions the Barbaroi trading frankincense , among various other commodities, through their port cities such as Avalites. Competent seamen, the Periplus' author also indicates that they sailed throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden for trade. The document describes the Barbaroi's governance system as decentralized and essentially consisting of

2632-716: The Ethiopian empire were largely hit-and-run type, which hardened the resolve of the Christian ruler to end the Muslim rule in their east. In the early 15th century, the Ethiopian Emperor who was likely Dawit I collected a large army to respond. He branded the Muslims of the surrounding area "enemies of the Lord", and invaded Ifat. After much war, Ifat's troops were defeated in 1403 on the Harar plateau, Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din subsequently fled to Zelia where Ethiopian soldiers pursued him. Al-Maqrizi narrates:

2726-503: The Ethiopian interior increased so much so that all the Muslim communities established along the trade routes into central and south-eastern Ethiopia were commonly known in Egypt and Syria by the collective term of "the country of Zeila." Historian Al-Umari in his study in the 1340s about the history of Awdal , the medieval state in western and northern parts of historical Somalia and some related areas, Al-Umari of Cairo states that in

2820-457: The Gabal (or Warjeh people today called Tigri Worji ); and much of the inhabitants of Ankober, were under the Sultanate of Ifat. Tegulat, previously the capital of Shewa Sultanate, is situated on a mountain 24 km north of Debre Berhan and was known by Muslims as Mar'ade. The chronicle of Amda Tsion even mentions Khat being widely consumed by Muslims in the city of Marade. Tegulat, later became

2914-701: The Ifat Sultanate and Muslim kingdoms in the Horn of Africa, states Abir, were linked to the Muslim-Christian conflicts between Egypt and Ethiopia. In 1376, Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din Abdul Muhammad , also called Sa'ad ad-Din II, succeeded his brother and came to power, who continued to attack the Abyssinian Christian army. He attacked regional chiefs such as at Zalan and Hadeya, who supported the Emperor. According to Mordechai Abir, Sa'ad ad-Din II raids against

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3008-484: The Ifat Sultanate however they managed to maintain a source of independence after Ifat collapsed. When Ifat was abolished by the Ethiopian Empire these states were also invaded, however Fatagar still managed to stay under the control of Ifat. In 1320 a conflict between the Christian monarch and Muslim Ifat leaders began. The conflict was precipitated by Al-Nasir Muhammad of Egypt . The Mamluk ruler Al-Nasir Muhammad

3102-495: The Muslims was abated”, as Marqrizi states, and then the Amhara settled in the country “and from the ravaged mosques and they made churches”. The followers of Islam were said to have been harassed for over twenty years. The sources disagree on which Ethiopian Emperor conducted this campaign. According to the medieval historian al-Makrizi , Emperor Dawit I in 1403 pursued the Sultan of Adal , Sa'ad ad-Din II , to Zeila, where he killed

3196-753: The North. Bab Abdulqadir on the East: Bab al-Sahil on the west and Bab Ashurbura on the south. Zeila falls in the traditional territory of the ancient Somali Dir clan. The town of Zeila and the wider Zeila District is inhabited by the Gadabuursi and Issa , both subclans of the Dir clan family. Zeila is situated in the Awdal region in Somaliland . Located on the Gulf of Aden coast near

3290-605: The Sultan and sacked the city of Zeila . However, another contemporary source dates the death of Sa'ad ad-Din II to 1410, and credits Emperor Yeshaq with the slaying. According to Harari tradition the Argobba fled Ifat and settled around Harar in the Aw Abdal lowlands during their conflict with Abyssinia in the fifteenth century, a gate was thus named after them called the gate of Argobba . Adal Sultanate with its capital of Harar emerged in

3384-584: The Western flank in the armies of Sa'd ad-Din (d. 1415), ruler of Zeila." Legendary Arab explorer Ahmad ibn Mājid wrote of Zeila and other notable landmarks and ports of the northern Somali coast during the Adal Sultanate period, including Berbera , Siyara , the Sa'ad ad-Din islands aka the Zeila Archipelago, El-Sheikh , Alula , Ruguda , Maydh , Heis and El-Darad . Travellers' reports, such as

3478-549: The age of 30, he undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca . He was also a close friend of the Muwallad poet Ibn Muqana al-Ushbuni  [ es ] . His last years were spent in Tunis, and he died there in 1286. Ibn Said al-Maghribi wrote or compiled 'at least forty works on various branches of knowledge'. Ibn Said's best known achievement was the completion of the fifteen-volume al-Mughrib fī ḥulā l-Maghrib ('The Extraordinary Book on

3572-441: The arrival of Muslims shortly after the Hijrah . By the 9th century, Zeila was the capital of the early Adal Kingdom and Ifat Sultanate in the 13th century, it would attain its height of prosperity a few centuries later in the 16th century. The city subsequently came under Ottoman and British protection in the 18th century. Up until recently Zeila was surrounded by a large wall with five gates: Bab al Sahil and Bab al-jadd on

3666-476: The caravan routes and mainly to protect French trade, throughout the extent of its territory. Art. 7 – The Ougasse of the Gada-boursis undertakes not to make any treaty with any other power, without the assistance and consent of the French government. Art. 8 – A monthly allowance will be paid to the Ougasse of the Gada-boursis by the French government, this allowance will be fixed later, by a special convention, after

3760-621: The center of the closest Somali urban territory [to Axum ], is estimated to be more than 1000 km by land and even further by sea.” The Walashma dynasty are regarded by scholars as the founders of the Ifat Sultanate. According to the Egyptian historian Al-Maqrizi, the ruling class of the Ifat Sultanate were Arabs from the Hejaz , while the population mostly consisted of Muslims. Ifat first emerged when Umar ibn Dunya-huz, later to be known as Sultan Umar Walasma , carved out his own kingdom and conquered

3854-404: The chronicle of Shewa sultanate mentions that in 1128 the Amhara fled from the land of Werjih. The Werjih were a pastoral people, and in the fourteenth century they occupied the Awash Valley east of Shewan Plateau. By the mid-fourteenth century, Islam expanded in the region and the inhabitants north of Awash river were the Muslim people of Zaber and Midra Zega (located south of modern Merhabete );

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3948-574: The city of Harar in Ethiopia is 200 miles (320 km) to the west. The Zeila region named after this port city denoted the entire Muslim inhabited domains in medieval Horn of Africa . Zeila, along with Mogadishu and other Somali coastal cities, was founded upon an indigenous network involving hinterland trade, which happened even before significant Arab migrations or trade with the Somali coast. That goes back approximately four thousand years. According to textual and archeological evidence, Zeila,

4042-416: The coast belonging to the territory of the Gada-boursis. Art. 3 The French government will have the option of establishing customs in the posts open to trade, and on the points of the borders of the territory of the Gada-boursis where it deems it necessary. Customs tariffs will be set by the French government, and the revenues will be applied to public services. Art. 4 – Regulations for the administration of

4136-421: The country will be elaborated later by the French government. In agreement with the Ougasse of the Gada-boursis they will always be revisable at the will of the French government, a French resident may be established on the territory of the Gada-boursis to sanction by his presence the protectorate of France. Art. 5 – The troops and the police of the country will be raised among the natives, and will be placed under

4230-411: The demarcation of the boundaries between the two protectorates, establishing the coastal town of Djibouti as the future official capital of the French colony: "By the end of 1885 Britain was preparing to resist an expected French landing at Zeila. Instead, however, of a decision by force, both sides now agreed to negotiate. The result was an Anglo-French agreement of 1888 which defined the boundaries of

4324-538: The eastern edge of Shewa . Ifat Sultanate was also alternatively known as the state of Zeila . According to Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari , Ifat was a state close to the Red Sea coast, 15 days by 20 days "normal traveling time". The state had a river ( Awash River ), was well peopled and had an army of 20,000 soldiers and 15,000 horsemen. Al Umari mentioned seven cities in Ifat: Biqulzar , Kwelgora , Shimi, Shewa , Adal , Jamme and Laboo. While reporting that its center

4418-472: The emperor Amda Seyon I , who nevertheless succeeded in defeating them and killed the commander Dadader in the battle . Sabr ad-Din's rebellion was not an attempt to achieve independence, but to become emperor of a Muslim Ethiopia. Amda Seyon's royal chronicle states that Sabr ad-Din proclaimed: In fact, after his first incursion, Sabr ad-Din appointed governors for nearby and neighboring provinces such as Fatagar and Alamalé, as well as far-off provinces in

4512-490: The empire. The emperor then appointed the descendants of Walasmas as the king of all the Muslim lands. The 19th-century Ethiopian historian Asma Giyorgis suggests that the Walashma themselves spoke Arabic. Ibn Sa%27id al-Maghribi Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Mūsā ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī ( Arabic : علي بن موسى المغربي بن سعيد ) (1213–1286), also known as Ibn Saʿīd al-Andalusī , was an Arab geographer, historian, poet, and

4606-453: The first inland Muslim state and by the time it was incorporated into Ifat much of the inhabitants of Shewa land were Muslims. According to the chronicle of Shewa Sultanate converting the inhabitants in the area begun in 1108, and the first to convert were the Gbbah people whom Trimingham suggested them being the ancestors of Argobbas. A few years later after the conversion of the Gbbah people, the chronicle of Shewa sultanate mentions that in 1128

4700-506: The following century, the Moroccan historian and traveller Ibn Battuta describes the city being inhabited by Somalis , followers of the Shafi‘i school, who kept large numbers of camels, sheep and goats. His description thus indicates both the ingenious nature of the city, as indicated by the composition of its population, and, by implication through the presence of the livestock, the existence of

4794-470: The fourteenth century Haqq ad-Din II transferred Ifat's capital to the Harar plateau thus he is regarded by some to be the true founder of the Adal Sultanate . The new Sultan moved away from previous capital of Ifat, to the city of Zeila . From there, he ceaselessly fought with the Emperor, in over twenty battles through 1370, according to Maqrizi's chronicle written in 1435. The Ifat Sultan Haqq ad-Din II died in

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4888-475: The governor succeeded in fending off incursions by both the disunited nomads of the interior, who had penetrated the area, as well as brigands in the Gulf of Aden. By the first half of the 19th century, Zeila was a shadow of its former self, having been reduced to "a large village surrounded by a low mud wall, with a population that varied according to the season from 1,000 to 3,000 people." The city continued to serve as

4982-453: The highlands during the same period. According to the Arab historian Maqrizi, known for his pro-Islamic version of history written around 1435, Sultan Umar Walasma was the first ruler of Ifat. Umar died around 1275, stated Maqrizi, and was succeeded by "four or five sons" with each ruling a short period. Finally, Sabr ad-Din I came to power and he ruled Ifat till the turn of the century. He was succeeded by Sultan Ali, according to Maqrizi, who

5076-425: The history, indicate a series of defeat, destruction and burning of towns of the opposite side. According to the Christian chronicles, the son of the Sultan Haqq ad-Din Dadader Haqq ad-Din who was the leader of the Midra Zega and Menz people who were then Muslims, fought the emperor in the battle of Marra Biete in an area somewhere south of Marra Biete in modern North Shewa . Dadader forces were able to surround

5170-402: The inhabitants of Ankober, were under the Sultanate of Ifat. Tegulat, previously the capital of Shewa Sultanate, is situated on a mountain 24 km north of Debre Berhan and was known by Muslims as Mar'ade. The chronicle of Amda Tsion even mentions Khat being widely consumed by Muslims in the city of Marade. Tegulat, later became the seat of Emperor Amde Tsion, thereby, making it the capital of

5264-439: The interests of the latter who is asking for the protectorate of France, It was agreed as follows: Art. 1st – The territories belonging to Ougasse Nour-Roblé of the Gada-boursis from "Arawa" to "Hélo" from "Hélô" to Lebah-lé", from "Lebah-lé" to "Coulongarèta" extreme limit by Zeilah, are placed directly under the protection of France. Art. 2 – The French government will have the option of opening one or more commercial ports on

5358-411: The land of Zayla’ ( Awdal ) “they cultivate two times annually by seasonal rains … The rainfall for the winter is called ‘Bil’ and rainfall for the ‘summer’ is called ‘Karam’ in the language of the people of Zayla’ [Awdali Somalis].” The author’s description about seasons generally corresponds to the local seasons in historical Awdal where Karan or Karam is an important rainy season at the beginning of

5452-440: The late 19th century continued the neglect of Zeila. At the beginning of the next century, the city was described in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica as having a "good sheltered anchorage much frequented by Arab sailing craft. However, heavy draught steamers are obliged to anchor a mile and a half from the shore. Small coasting boats lie off the pier and there is no difficulty in loading or discharging cargo. The water supply of

5546-475: The memoirs of the Italian Ludovico di Varthema , indicate that Zeila continued to be an important marketplace during the 16th century, despite being sacked by the Portuguese in 1517 and 1528. Later that century, separate raids by nomads from the interior eventually prompted the port's then ruler, Garad Lado, to enlist the services of 'Atlya ibn Muhammad to construct a sturdy wall around the city. Zeila, however, ultimately began to decline in importance following

5640-460: The most important collector of poetry from al-Andalus in the 12th and 13th centuries. Ibn Said was born at Qal'a Benī Sa'īd (modern day Alcalá la Real) near Granada to a prominent family which was descended from the Companion of the Prophet Ammar ibn Yasir . Many of his family members were literary figures, and grew up in Marrakesh . He subsequently studied in Seville and stayed in Tunis , Alexandria , Cairo , Jerusalem and Aleppo . At

5734-440: The nearby Muslim province of Dewaro (the first known mention of the province), under the governor Haydera, and the western province of Hadiya under the vassal local ruler Ameno. Sabr ad-Din divided his troops into three parts, sending a division north-westwards to attack Amhara , one northwards to attack Angot, and another, under his personal command, westward to take Shewa . Amda Seyon subsequently mobilized his soldiers to meet

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5828-549: The nomads in its vicinity. He also describes Zeila as a big metropolis city and many great markets filled with many wealthy merchants. Zeila has also been known to be home to a number of Hanafis, but no research has been conducted as to how large the Hanafi population was in premodern Zeila. Through extensive trade with Abyssinia and Arabia, Adal attained its height of prosperity during the 14th century. It sold incense , myrrh , slaves, gold , silver and camels , among many other commodities. Zeila had by then started to grow into

5922-419: The north like Damot , Amhara , Angot , Inderta , Begemder , and Gojjam . He also threatened to plant khat at the capital, a stimulant used by Muslims but forbidden to Ethiopian Orthodox Christians . Sabr ad-Din's rebellion in early 1332, with its religious support and ambitious goals, was therefore seen as a jihad rather than an attempt at independence, and it was consequently immediately joined by

6016-414: The northern Somali seaboard. He also mentioned that the Adal kingdom had its capital in the city, suggesting that the Adal Sultanate with Zeila as its headquarters dates back to at least the 9th or 10th centuries. According to I.M. Lewis, the polity was governed by local dynasties consisting of Somalized Arabs or Arabized Somalis, who also ruled over the similarly-established Sultanate of Mogadishu in

6110-534: The principal maritime outlet for Harar and beyond it in Shewa . However, the opening of a new sea route between Tadjoura and Shewa cut further into Zeila's historical position as the main regional port. Sharifs of Mocha exercised nominal rule on behalf of the Ottoman Empire over Zeila. Hajji Sharmarke Ali Saleh came to govern Zeila after the Turkish governor of Mocha and Hodeida handed governorship from Mohamed El Barr to him. Mohamed El Barr would not leave peacefully and Sharmarke departed for Zeila with

6204-424: The ratification of this treaty by the French government. Art. 9 – This treaty was made voluntarily and signed by the Ougasse of the Gada-boursis, which undertakes to execute it faithfully and to adopt the French flag as its flag. In witness whereof the undersigned have affixed their stamps and signatures. J.Henry Signature of Ougasse Done at Zeilah on 9 Djemmad 1302 (March 25, 1885)." The French claimed that

6298-481: The rebellious governor imprisoned. Amda Seyon then appointed the governor's brother, Jamal ad-Din I , as his successor in Ifat. Just as the Ifat rebellion had been quelled, however, the neighboring states of Adal and Mora , just north of Ifat rose against the Emperor. Amda Seyon soon also put down this rebellion. The Muslim rulers of Ifat continued their campaign against the Christian Emperor. His son, Emperor Sayfa Arad appointed Ahmad, also known as Harb Arad ibn Ali as

6392-430: The ruler of Mocha , who, for a small sum, leased the port to one of the office-holders of Mocha. The latter, in return, collected a toll on its trade. Zeila was subsequently ruled by an Emir, whom Mordechai Abir suggested had "some vague claim to authority over all of the Sahil , but whose real authority did not extend very far beyond the walls of the town." Assisted by cannons and a few mercenaries armed with matchlocks ,

6486-410: The same time, the Egyptians received British recognition of their nominal jurisdiction as far east as Cape Guardafui . In actuality, however, Egypt had little authority over the interior. Their period of rule on the coast was brief, lasting only a few years (1870–84). When the Egyptian garrison in Harar was evacuated in 1885, Zeila became caught up in the competition between the Tadjoura-based French and

6580-405: The seat of Emperor Amde Tsion, thereby, making it the capital of the empire. The emperor then appointed the descendants of Walasmas as the king of all the Muslim lands. Ifat or Yifat, once the easternmost district of Shewa Sultanate, is located in a strategic position between the central highlands and the sea, and includes diverse population. Its predecessor state Shewa Sultanate is believed to be

6674-461: The short-lived conquest of Abyssinia. 16th-century Zeila, along with several other settlements on the East African coast, had been visited by the Portuguese explorer and writer Duarte Barbosa , describing the city as such: "Having passed this town of Berbara, and going on, entering the Red Sea, there is another town of the Moors, which is named Zeyla, which is a good place of trade, whither many ships navigate and sell their clothes and merchandise. It

6768-493: The southeastern areas as the leading Muslim principality in latter part of the 15th century. Several small territories continued to be ruled by different Walasma groups up to the eighteenth century. By eighteenth century several Christian dynasties named Yifat and Menz , which were the province names of Ifat sultanate, were established. Presently, its name is preserved in the Ethiopian district of Yifat , situated in North Shewa of

6862-477: The sultan of Ifat, and put Ali's father and relatives in prison. Sayfa Arad was close to Ahmad and supported his rule, however, Ahmad was killed in an Ifat uprising. Ahmad's son Haqq ad-Din II then came to power in Ifat. Internal ruling family struggle in Ifat expelled grandfather Ali's son named Mola Asfah who gathered forces and attacked Ahmad's son. A series of battles affirmed Sultan Haqq ad-Din II position of power. In

6956-399: The superior command of an officer designated by the French government. Arms and ammunition for the native troops may be provided by the French government and their balance taken from the public revenues, but, in case of insufficiency, the French government may provide for them. Art. 6 – The Ougasse of the Gada-boursis, to recognize the good practices of France towards it, undertakes to protect

7050-451: The thirteenth century, the Hararis , Argobbas , the extinct Doba and Harla . Arabic was Lingua franca but the inhabitants of Ifat spoke Cushitic and Ethio-Semitic languages. Ifat or Yifat, once the easternmost district of Shewa Sultanate, is located in a strategic position between the central highlands and the sea, and includes diverse population. Its predecessor state Shewa Sultanate

7144-486: The threat, endowing them with gifts of gold, silver, and lavish clothing – so much so that the chronicler explains that "in his reign gold and silver abounded like stones and fine clothes were as common as the leaves of the trees or the grass in the fields." Despite the extravagance he bestowed on his men, many chose not to fight due to Ifat's inhospitable mountainous and arid terrain and the complete absence of roads. Nevertheless, they advanced on 24 Yakatit , and an attachment

7238-480: The town is drawn from the wells of Takosha, about three miles distant; every morning camels, in charge of old Somali women and bearing goatskins filled with water, come into the town in picturesque procession. ... [Zeila's] imports, which reach Zaila chiefly via Aden, are mainly cotton goods, rice , jowaree, dates and silk ; the exports, 90% of which are from Abyssinia, are principally coffee , skins, ivory , cattle , ghee and mother-of-pearl ". Buralle Robleh

7332-560: The treaty with the Ughaz of the Gadabuursi gave them jurisdiction over the entirety of the Zeila coast and the Gadabuursi country. However, the British attempted to deny this agreement between the French and the Gadabuursi citing that that Ughaz had a representative at Zeila when the Gadabuursi signed their treaty with the British in December of 1884. The British suspected that this treaty was designed by

7426-424: The two protectorates as between Zeila and Jibuti: four years later the latter port became the official capital of the French colony." On 9 February 1888, France and Britain concluded an agreement defining the boundary between their respective protectorates . As a result, Zeila and its eastern neighbor Berbera came to be part of British Somaliland . The construction of a railway from Djibouti to Addis Ababa in

7520-489: The value of firearms like the matchlock musket , cannons and the arquebus over traditional weapons. I. M. Lewis gives an invaluable reference to an Arabic manuscript on the history of the Gadabuursi Somali. ‘This Chronicle opens’, Lewis tells us, ‘with an account of the wars of Imam ‘Ali Si’id (d. 1392) from whom the Gadabuursi today trace their descent, and who is described as the only Muslim leader fighting on

7614-528: The western flank in the armies of Se’ad ad-Din, ruler of Zeila. I. M. Lewis (1959) states: "Further light on the Dir advance and Galla withdrawal seems to be afforded by an Arabic manuscript describing the history of the Gadabursi clan. This chronicle opens with an account of the wars of Imam ‘Ali Si’id (d. 1392), from whom the Gadabursi today trace their descent and who is described as the only Muslim leader fighting on

7708-519: The words of Louis Crompton , 'perhaps the most important' of the various medieval Andalucian poetry anthologies. 'His aim in compiling the collection seems to have been to show that poetry produced in the West was as good as anything the East had to offer (and that stuff by Ibn Sa'id and his family was especially good)'. Ibn Said's works that are probably preserved only fragmentarily, in quotation by others, include Al-Ṭāli‘ al-Sa‘ı̄d fı̄ Tārı̄kh Banı̄ Sa‘ı̄d ,

7802-483: The year. The second half of the year is called ‘Bilo Dirir’ (Bil = month; Bilo = months). It appears that the historian was referring, in one way or another, to these still used terms, Karan and Bil. This indicates that the ancient Somali solar calendar citizens of Zeila were using was very similar to the one they use today. This also gives further credence that the medieval inhabitants of Zeila were predominantly Somali, spoke Somali, and had Somali farming practices. In

7896-511: Was "a place called Walalah, probably the modern Wäläle south of Šäno in the Ěnkwoy valley, about 50 miles ENE of Addis Ababa ", G.W.B. Huntingford "provisionally" estimated its southern and eastern boundaries were along the Awash River , the western frontier a line drawn between Medra Kabd towards the Jamma river east of Debre Libanos (which it shared with Damot ), and the northern boundary along

7990-879: Was able to find the rebellious governor and put him to flight. Once the remainder of Amda Seyon's army arrived, they destroyed the capital of Ifat and killed many soldiers. But Sabr ad-Din once again escaped. The Ethiopian forces then grouped together for a final attack, destroying one of his camps, killing many and taking the rest as slaves as well as looting it of its gold, silver, and its "fine clothes and jewels without number." Sabr ad-Din subsequently sued for peace, appealing to Queen Jan Mengesha, who refused his peace offer and expressed Amda Seyon's determination not to return to his capital until he had searched Sabr ad-Din out. Upon hearing this, Sabr ad-Din realized that his rebellion futile and surrendered himself to Amda Seyon's camp. Amda Seyon's courtiers demanded that Sabr ad-Din be executed, but he instead granted him relative clemency and had

8084-551: Was also killed by Dawit I of Ethiopia in Zeila in 1410, his children escaped to Yemen , before later returning in 1415. In the early 15th century, Adal's capital was moved further inland to the town of Dakkar , where Sabr ad-Din II , the eldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II, established a new base after his return from Yemen. Adal's headquarters were again relocated the following century, this time to Harar . From this new capital, Adal organised an effective army led by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Ahmad "Gurey" or "Gran") that invaded

8178-510: Was an idle threat and the Egyptian sultan dismissed it because he likely realized this to be so. The fear that the Ethiopians might tamper with the Nile, states Pankhurst, was nevertheless to remain with Egyptians for many centuries. As a result of the threats and the dispute between Amda Seyon and Al Nasr, the Sultan of Ifat, Haqq ad-Din I responded, initiating a definite war of aggression. He invaded

8272-537: Was an important commercial and religious base for them. It was the northernmost of several Muslim states in the Horn of Africa, acting as a buffer between Christian kingdom and the Muslim states along the coastal regions. Five Ifat cities in eastern Shewa ; Asbäri, Nora, Mäsal, Rassa Guba, and Beri-Ifat now mostly in ruins dating back to the fourteenth century have been located. The local Argobba people credited Arabs for building these towns. The dwellings resemble Argobba or Harari historical building designs. Islam

8366-467: Was divided into five residential districts; Khoor-doobi, Hafat al-Furda, Asho Bara, Hafat al-Suda and Sarrey. Zeila is an ancient city and has been identified with the trade post referred to in classical antiquity as Avalites (Greek: Αβαλίτες ), situated in the region of Barbara in Northeast Africa . During antiquity, it was one of many city-states that engaged in the lucrative trade between

8460-518: Was founded by Sh. Saylici was one of many small towns developed by the Somali pastoral and trading communities which flourished through the trade that gave birth to other coastal and hinterland towns such as Heis , Maydh , and Abasa , Awbare , Awbube , Amud in the Borama area, Derbiga Cad Cad, Qoorgaab, Fardowsa, Maduna , Aw-Barkhadle in the Hargeisa region and Fardowsa , near Sheikh. Ancient Zeila

8554-574: Was introduced to the Horn region early on from the Arabian Peninsula , shortly after the hijra . Zeila's two- mihrab mosque Masjid al-Qiblatayn dates to about the 7th century, and is one of the oldest mosques in Africa. In the late 9th century, Al-Yaqubi wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard. This claim, however, has been called suprious and more complicated by contemporary Somali historians, who claim Muslim emmigration to Zeila unlikely, as Dr. Baadiyow reminds us that “Zayla,

8648-418: Was of much more localized importance, mainly serving the immediate Somali hinterland while Zeila was clearly serving more extensive areas. But there is no doubt that Zeila was also predominantly Somali , and Al-Dimashqi, another thirteen-century Arab writer, gives the city name its Somali name Awdal (Adal), still known among the local Somali . By the fourteen century, the significance of this Somali port for

8742-503: Was persecuting Christian Copts and destroying Coptic churches. The Ethiopian Emperor Amda Seyon I sent an envoy with a warning to the Mamluk ruler that if he did not stop the persecution of Christians in Egypt, he would retaliate against Muslims under his rule and would starve the peoples of Egypt by diverting the course of the Nile. According to Pankhurst, of the two threats, the diversion of Nile

8836-552: Was the first ruler to engage with a warfare against the Abyssinia . Sultan Ali, however soon submitted back to Ethiopian rule, because according to Maqrizi he lacked popular support. This allowed Emperor Yagbe'u Seyon to mount a campaign further west along the coast, near the vicinity of Zeila . Before the establishment of Ifat eastern Ethiopia was ruled by the Gidaya , Dawaro, Sawans, Bali, and Fatagar . These states were incorporated into

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