Sultanate_of_Showa

Makhzumi dynasty

Makhzumi dynasty

896–1286 Muslim kingdom in modern Ethiopia


The Makhzumi dynasty also known as Sultanate of Shewa or Shewa Sultanate, was a Muslim kingdom in present-day Ethiopia. Its capital Walale was situated in northern Hararghe in Harla country.[2][3][4] Its territory extended possibly to some areas west of the Awash River.[5] The port of Zeila may have influenced the kingdom.[6] The rise of the Makhzumi state at the same time resulted in the decline of the Kingdom of Axum.[7] Several engravings dating back to the 13th century showing the presence of the kingdom are found in Chelenqo, Bale, Harla near Dire Dawa and Munesa near Lake Langano.[8]

Quick Facts Capital, Official languages ...

It has recently been proposed that Shewa was not a unified Sultanate but rather a collection of smaller, autonomous political entities.[9]

History

The Shewa sultanate was one of the oldest documented Muslim states in the region. The state ran along Muslim trade lines and dominions known to the Arab world as the country of Zeila.[10] Its founding dynastic family, the Makhzumis, is said to have consisted of Arab immigrants who arrived in Shewa during the 7th century.[11] This ruling house governed the polity from AH 283/AD 896 to 1285–86, a period of three hundred and ninety years. The Makhzumi dynasty reigned until it was deposed by the Walashma dynasty of Ifat (1285-1415). Ifat was once the easternmost district of Shewa Sultanate. In 1285 Ali b. Wali Asma deposed the kings of Shewa and installed a certain MHz.[12][13] According to historian Mohammed Hassen, one of the main reasons for Shewa's decline was due to conflict with the Kingdom of Damot.[14][15]

A map showing the center of the medieval Shoa Sultanate

Shewa Sultanate, established in 896, is the first Muslim state inland and according to the chronicle of the sultanate no major report of conversion to Islam was reported before the beginning of the 12th century.[16][12][13] However, beginning with the conversion of the Gbbh people in 1108, whom Trimingham suggested them being the ancestors of Argobba, other people were converted. By mid fourteenth century Islam expanded in the region and the inhabitants leaving north of Awash river were the Muslim people of Zaber and Midra Zega (located south of modern Merhabete); the Argobba (Gabal), the Werji people); Tegulat & Menz people whom at that time were Muslims.[17][18][16] The chronicle of Shewa sultanate also mentions that in 1128 the Amhara fled from the land of Werjih people whom at that time were pastoralist people and lived in the Awash valley east of Shoan plateau.[19] According to medieval Islamic manuscripts Makhzumis governed Al-Habash for four centuries.[20]

Ifat or Yifat, established in early medieval times, was the easternmost district of Shewa Sultanate and was located in the strategic position between the central highlands and the Sea, especially the port of Zeila.[21][22] In 1285 Ifat's ruler Wali Asma deposed Shewan kings and established the Walasma dynasty and Shewa with its districts including its centers, Walalah and Tegulat, became one of the seven districts of Ifat sultanate.[13][23][24] Welela, previously the capital of Shewa Sultanate, is situated on a mountain 24 km north of Debre Berhan, located in today's North Shewa Zone (Amhara), and was known by Muslims as mar'ade which later became the seat of emperor Amda Tsion.[25][26][27] The chronicle of Amde Sion mentions Khat being widely consumed by Muslims in the city of Marade.[28]

Based on Cerulli's study of the names of the princes J. D. Fage and Roland Oliver were convinced that the inhabitants of Shewa spoke Ethiopian Semitic language likely Argobba language.[29] Argobba are widely believed to be the first to accept Islam collectively, in the Horn of Africa, and lead expansions into various regions under the Sultanate of Shewa.[30] Argobba and Harla seem to have relied on each other in the Islamic period.[31] After Shewa was incorporated into Ifat an Egyptian courtier, Al Umari, would describe Ifat Sultanate as one of the largest as well as the richest of Ethiopias Muslim provinces, and Shewa, Adal, Jamma, Lao and Shimi are places incorporated into Ifat.[23]

List of Sultans

There were nine recorded Sulṭāns of Shewa, who asserted descent from Wudd ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi.[32] Although Makhzumi rulers names found initially in Harar are Arabic, other texts found elsewhere at a later date use traditional Ethiopian Semitic names alternatively.[33]

More information Ruler Name, Reign ...

See also


References

  1. Østebø, Terje (30 September 2011). Localising Salafism: Religious Change Among Oromo Muslims in Bale, Ethiopia. BRILL. p. 56. ISBN 978-9004184787.
  2. The Ethno-History of Halaba People (PDF). p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  3. Braukhaper, Ulrich (2002). Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 21. ISBN 9783825856717. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  4. Braukhaper, Ulrich (2002). Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 21. ISBN 9783825856717. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  5. Hbrek, Ivan (1988). Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century. UNESCO. p. 85. ISBN 9789231017094. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  6. "Ethiopianist Notes". African Studies Center, Michigan State University. 1–2: 17. 1977.
  7. GIANFRANCESCO, LUSINI. LINGUE DI CRISTIANI E LINGUE DI MUSULMANI D'ETIOPIA. EDIZIONI DI STORIA E LETTERATURA. p. 136.
  8. Chekroun, Amélie; Hirsch, Bertrand (2020). "The Sultanates of Medieval Ethiopia". A Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea". Brill. p. 94.
  9. Meri, Josef (2006). Medieval Islamic Civilization: A-K, index. Taylor and Francis. p. 12. ISBN 9780415966917. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  10. Quath, Faati (1957). Islam Walbaasha Cabra Taarikh [Islam and Abyssinia throughout history] (in Arabic). Cairo, Egypt.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. Nehemia Levtzion, Randall Pouwels The History of Islam in Africa - Google Books" Ohio University Press, 2000. p. 228.
  12. Hassen, Mohammed (1983). Oromo of Ethiopia (PDF). University of London. p. 8.
  13. J. D. Fage, Roland Oliver The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3 - Google Books" Cambridge University Press, 1975. p. 107.
  14. J. D. Fage, Roland Oliver The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3 - Google Books" Cambridge University Press, 1975. p. 107.
  15. Jarso, Nuraddin. Philological Inquiry on the History Manuscript of šayḫ Bakri Saphalo (PDF). Addis Ababa University. pp. 58–59.
  16. Nehemia Levtzion, Randall Pouwels The History of Islam in Africa - Google Books" Ohio University Press, 2000. p. 228.
  17. David H. Shinn, Thomas P. Ofcansky Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia - Google Books" Scarecrow Press, 2013. p. 225.
  18. George Wynn Brereton Huntingford The Historical Geography of Ethiopia: From the First Century Ad to 1704 - Google Books" British Academy, 1989. p. 78.
  19. George Wynn Brereton Huntingford The Historical Geography of Ethiopia: From the First Century Ad to 1704 - Google Books" British Academy, 1989. p. 80.
  20. Niall Finneran The Archaeology of Ethiopia - Google Books" Routledge, 2013. p. 254.
  21. Maurice Randrianame, B. Shahandeh, Kalman Szendrei, Archer Tongue, International Council on Alcohol and Addictions The health and socio-economic aspects of khat use - Google Books" The Council, 1983. p. 26.
  22. Fage, J.D (1975). The Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge University. p. 107. Retrieved 22 December 2016. convinced al-umari names princes semitic.
  23. Begashaw, Kassaye. The Archaeology of Islam in North East Shoa (PDF). p. 15.
  24. Braukämper, Ulrich (1977). "Islamic Principalities in Southeast Ethiopia Between the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (Part 1)". Ethiopianist Notes. 1 (1): 27. JSTOR 42731359.
  25. Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide, Page 365-366
  26. GIANFRANCESCO, LUSINI. The Costs of the Linguistic Transitions: Traces of Disappeared Languages in Ethiopia (PDF). University of Naples. p. 270-271.
  27. Baynes-Rock, Marcus (21 September 2015). Among the Bone Eaters: Encounters with Hyenas in Harar. Penn State Press. ISBN 9780271074047. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  28. Braukämper, Ulrich. Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays. LIT Verlag Münster.
  29. Baynes-Rock, Marcus (21 September 2015). Among the Bone Eaters: Encounters with Hyenas in Harar. Penn State Press. ISBN 9780271074047.
  30. Burton, Richard F. (15 January 2014). First Footsteps in East Africa; Or, an Exploration of Harar. Courier Corporation. p. 14. ISBN 9780486789545.
  31. Lewis, I. M. (3 February 2017). Islam in Tropical Africa. Routledge. ISBN 9781315311395.
  32. Ahmed, Wehib (2015). History of Harar and Hararis (PDF). Harar Culture Bureau. p. 105.
  33. "Gudit fl. 10th century Orthodox Ethiopia". Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  34. Munro-Hay, Stuart (3 May 2002). Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide. I.B.Tauris. p. 365. ISBN 9781860647444. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  35. Ahmed, Wehib (2015). History of Harar and Hararis (PDF). Harar Culture Bureau. p. 105.
  36. Andersen, Knud (2000). "The Queen of the Habasha in Ethiopian History, Tradition and Chronology". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 63 (1). Cambridge University Press: 36-37. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00006443. JSTOR 1559587.
  37. Braukamper, Ulrich (15 October 2023). Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia. Lit. p. 34. ISBN 9783825856717.
  38. Ahmed, Wehib (2015). History of Harar and Hararis (PDF). Harar Culture Bureau. p. 105.
  39. Hirsch, Bertrand (2020). "The Sultanates of Medieval Ethiopia" (PDF). A Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea. BRILL. p. 95. doi:10.1163/9789004419582_005. ISBN 978-90-04-41958-2.
  40. GIANFRANCESCO, LUSINI. The Costs of the Linguistic Transitions: Traces of Disappeared Languages in Ethiopia (PDF). University of Naples. p. 270-271.
  41. Makhzumi dynasty. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
  42. UNESCO General History of Africa. University of California Press. 3 November 1992. p. 281. ISBN 9780520066984.
  43. Selassie, Sergew Hable (1972). Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270. p. 290.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Sultanate_of_Showa, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.