Harla Kingdom

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Harla Kingdom

Harla state centered around what is present day eastern Ethiopia.[2][3] The kingdom had trading relations with the Ayyubid and Tang dynasties.[4] It also established its own currency and calendar.[5] The kingdom is mentioned by Ethiopian as well as Arab medieval writers including al-Mufaddal ibn Abi al-Fada'il and Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi.[6][7][8][9] According to researcher Dominico Patassini, Harla kingdom was succeeded by Harar city-state in the sixteenth century.[10] Timothy Insoll identifies the Harlaa ruins to be Hubat the capital of the Harla state.[11]

Harla Kingdom
501–1500
Capital
Harla
Religion
Traditional religion(s); (before c. 701)
Islam; (after c. 701)
GovernmentMonarchy
History 
• Established
501
• Disestablished
1500
 Succeeded by
Makhzumi dynasty
Harar

Recent excavations indicated consumption of wild pigs were prevalent in Harla as opposed to in neighboring Kingdom of Aksum. The excavations were done by the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of the University of Exeter as part of the Becoming Muslim project at the urban sites of Harlaa in 2017-2019, Harar in 2014-2018, and Ganda Harla 2014, located in the eastern part of Ethiopia. Substantial assemblages of faunal remains were recovered over the seasons.

The Harlaa archaeological site is located 40 km north-west of Harar and 15 km southeast of Dire Dawa and is the ‘Harla’ stone-built towns and funerary monuments whose origins are ascribed by the Oromo people to a legendary ancient race of giants who occupied the region before the Oromo arrived in the area. Harlaa was a large urban centre covering an area of around 500m east to west and 900m north to south excluding outlying cemeteries. It was composed of several elements including a central settlement area, workshops, three early mosques, wells, lengths of fortification wall, and cemeteries to the north, east, and west. Harlaa predates both Harar and Ganda Harlaa and provided the longest chronology with dates spanning between the mid-6th and early 15th century.

The Harar site is situated in the

Sultanate of Adal
.

The Ganda Harla is an abandoned settlement located 12.5 km southeast of Harar on a hill west of the village of Sofi and is linked with the Harla in local tradition. The zooarchaeological data indicated the inhabitants were

Capra hircus), sheep, and transport livestock such as donkey, horse and camel. The excavations also uncovered significant evidence for manufacturing and participation in regional and international Red Sea and western Indian Ocean trade networks. The study concluded the inhabitants use of heavy knives and carcass dismemberment showed they had cultural commonalities with the Islamic world of Arabia, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Levant, and Iberia despite the lack of butchery discussions in zooarchaeological literature from the Islamic world and their non-observance of Islamic dietary laws.[12][13]

References

  1. PMID 24499509
    .
  2. ^ "Archaeologists in Ethiopia uncover ancient city in Harlaa". BBC NEWS.
  3. ^ "Early African Muslims had cosmopolitan, halal diet, shows discovery of thousands of ancient animal bones". Phys.org. University of Exeter.
  4. ISBN 9781474417143
    .
  5. ^ "Office exerts effort to preserve historical heritage site". Ethiopian Press. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13.
  6. ^ Tamrat, Taddesse. Church and state (PDF). University of London. p. 284.
  7. ^ Harla. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
  8. ^ Chekroun, Amelie. Le" Futuh al-Habasa" : écriture de l'histoire, guerre et société dans le Bar Sa'ad ad-din. de l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. pp. 197–198.
  9. ^ Cerulli, Enrico. Islam yesterday and today. p. 203.
  10. ^ Press Digest. Anasir Publishers. 2006.
  11. ^ Khalaf, Nadia. Material cosmopolitanism: the entrepot of Harlaa as an Islamic gateway to eastern Ethiopia. Cambridge University Press.
  12. ^ Gaastra, Jane. "Animal Economies and Islamic Conversion in Eastern Ethiopia: Zooarchaeological Analyses from Harlaa, Harar and Ganda Harla". Journal of African Archaeology: 24.
  13. ^ "Early African Muslims had cosmopolitan, halal diet, shows discovery of thousands of ancient animal bones". phys.org. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
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