Sultanate of Ifat
Sultanate of Ifat سلطنة عفت | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1275–1403 | |||||||||
Capital | |||||||||
Official languages | Arabic | ||||||||
Common languages | |||||||||
Religion | |||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
Sultan | |||||||||
• 1185–1228 (first) | Umar Walasma | ||||||||
• 1376–1403 (last) | Sa'ad ad-Din II | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Established | 1275 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1403 | ||||||||
Area | |||||||||
• Total | 120,000 km2 (46,000 sq mi) | ||||||||
Currency | Dinar and Dirham[2] | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Today part of | Djibouti Ethiopia Somaliland |
The Sultanate of Ifat, known as Wafāt or Awfāt in Arabic texts,[3] or the Kingdom of Zeila[4] was a medieval Sunni Muslim state in the eastern regions of the Horn of Africa between the late 13th century and early 15th century.[5][6][7] It was formed in present-day Ethiopia around eastern Shewa in Ifat.[8][9][10] Led by the Walashma dynasty, the polity stretched from Zequalla to the port city of Zeila.[11] The kingdom ruled over parts of what are now Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somaliland.
Location
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 the eastern edge of Shewa.[12] Ifat Sultanate was also alternatively known as the state of Zeila.[13]
According to
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 was an important commercial and religious base for them.[17]
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.[5] 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.[18][19] The local Argobba people credited Arabs for building these towns.[20]
Founding of Ifat
The
Ifat first emerged when Umar ibn Dunya-huz, later to be known as Sultan
History
According to the Arab historian Maqrizi, known for his pro-Islamic version of history written around 1435 that Sultan Umar Walasma was the first ruler of Ifat.[29] Umar died around 1275, stated Maqrizi, and was succeeded by "four or five sons" with each ruling a short period.[30] 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 was the first ruler to engage with a warfare against the Abyssinia.[31] 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.[30]
Before the establishment of Ifat eastern Ethiopia was ruled by the Gidaya, Dawaro, Sawans, Bali, and Fatagar.[32] These states were incorporated into 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.[33]
Conflict with Abyssinia
In 1320 a conflict between the Christian monarch and Muslim Ifat leaders began. The conflict was precipitated by Al-Nasir Muhammad of Egypt.[34] The Mamluk ruler Al-Nasir Muhammad 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.[30][35] According to Pankhurst, of the two threats, the diversion of Nile 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.[30]
As a result of the threats and the dispute between Amda Seyon and Al Nasr, the Sultan of Ifat, Haqq ad-Din I responded,[30] initiating a definite war of aggression.[35] He invaded the Christian Abyssinian territory in the Amhara kingdom, burnt churches and forced apostasy among Christians.[35] 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.[35] 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.[36] The historical records of that time, depending on which side wrote the history, indicate a series of defeat, destruction and burning of towns of the opposite side.[30]
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 the emperor Amda Seyon I, who nevertheless succeeded in defeating them and killed the commander Dadader in the battle .[36][30][35]
Ifat rebellion
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:
- "I wish to be King of all Ethiopia; I will rule the Christians according to their law and I will destroy their churches...I will nominate governors in all the provinces of Ethiopia, as does the King of Tegulet], the capital of his kingdom.[37]
In fact, after his first incursion, Sabr ad-Din appointed governors for nearby and neighboring provinces such as
Sabr ad-Din's rebellion in early 1332, with its religious support and ambitious goals, was therefore seen as a
Amda Seyon subsequently mobilized his soldiers to meet 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."[40] 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 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."[39]
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.[39] Amda Seyon's courtiers demanded that Sabr ad-Din be executed, but he instead granted him relative clemency and had 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.[41]
After the era of Amda Seyon I
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 the sultan of Ifat, and put Ali's father and relatives in prison.[42] 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.[42] In 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.[43] The new Sultan moved away from previous capital of Ifat, to the city of Zeila.[44] 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 a battle in 1376.[42]
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 the Ifat Sultanate and Muslim kingdoms in the Horn of Africa, states Abir, were linked to the Muslim-Christian conflicts between Egypt and Ethiopia.[45]
The end of Ifat Sultanate
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.[46] According to Mordechai Abir, Sa'ad ad-Din II raids against 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.[45] In the early 15th century, the Ethiopian Emperor who was likely Dawit I collected a large army to respond.[46] 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.[46][47][48] Al-Maqrizi narrates:
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.[49]
After Sa'ad ad-Din's death “the strength of 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.[50]
The sources disagree on which Ethiopian Emperor conducted this campaign. According to the medieval historian
According to
Sultans of Ifat
According to fourteenth century historian Al Umari, the ruler of Ifat donned headbands made of silk.[56]
Ruler Name | Reign | Note | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sulṭān Umar Ibn Dunyā-ḥawz[57] | 1197-1276 | Founder of the Walashma dynasty, his nickname was ʿAdūnyo or Wilinwīli. He started a military campaign to conquer the Sultanate of Shewa. The Somali saint Yusuf al-Kowneyn is his 5th ancestor. |
2 | Sulṭān Ali "Baziwi" Naḥwi ʿUmar | 1275–1299 | Son of ʿUmar DunyaHuz, he led many successful campaigns the most notable of which being the Conquest of the Shewa and burning of their capital marking the end of the Makhzumi dynasty |
3 | Sulṭān ḤaqqudDīn ʿUmar | 13??–13?? | Son of ʿUmar DunyaHuz |
4 | Sulṭān Ḥusein ʿUmar | 13??–13?? | Son of ʿUmar DunyaHuz |
5 | Sulṭān NasradDīn ʿUmar | 13??–13?? | Son of ʿUmar DunyaHuz |
6 | Sulṭān Mansur ʿAli | 13??–13?? | Son of ʿAli "Baziwi" ʿUmar |
7 | Sulṭān JamaladDīn ʿAli | 13??–13?? | Son of ʿAli "Baziwi" ʿUmar |
8 | Sulṭān Abūd JamaladDīn | 13??–13?? | Son of JamaladDīn ʿAli |
9 | Sulṭān Zubēr Abūd | 13??–13?? | Son of Abūd JamaladDīn |
10 | Māti Layla Abūd
|
13??–13?? | Daughter of Abūd JamaladDīn |
11 | Sulṭān ḤaqqudDīn Naḥwi | 13??–1328 | Son of Naḥwi Mansur, grandson of Mansur ʿUmar |
12 | Sulṭān SabiradDīn Maḥamed "Waqōyi" Naḥwi | 1328–1332 | Son of Naḥwi Mansur, defeated by Emperor Amde Seyon of Abyssinia, who replaced him with his brother JamaladDīn as a vassal. |
13 | Sulṭān JamaladDīn Naḥwi | 1332–13?? | Son of Naḥwi Mansur, vassal king under Amde Seyon |
14 | Sulṭān NasradDīn Naḥwi | 13??–13?? | Son of Naḥwi Mansur, vassal king under Amde Seyon |
15 | Sulṭān "Qāt" ʿAli SabiradDīn Maḥamed | 13??–13?? | Son of SabiradDīn Maḥamed Naḥwi, rebelled against Emperor Newaya Krestos after the death of Amde Seyon, but the rebellion failed and he was replaced with his brother Aḥmed |
16 | Sulṭān Aḥmed "Harbi Arʿēd" ʿAli | 13??–13?? | Son of ʿAli SabiradDīn Maḥamed, accepted the role of vassal and did not continue to rebel against Newaya Krestos, and is subsequently regarded very poorly by Muslim historians |
17 | Sulṭān Ḥaqquddīn Aḥmed | 13??–1376 | Son of Aḥmed ʿAli |
18 | Sulṭān SaʿadadDīn Aḥmed | 1376–1403 | Son of Aḥmed ʿAli, killed in the Abyssinian invasion of Ifat under Yeshaq I |
Military
According to Mohammed Hassen Ifat's infantry consisted of the Argobba people.[58]
People
Ifat's inhabitants, according to
People
Ifat's inhabitants, according to
Inhabitants of Ifat spoke Ethio-Semitic language.[65][66]
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.
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
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.
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
Language
The 19th-century Ethiopian historian Asma Giyorgis suggests that the Walashma themselves spoke Arabic.[78]
See also
- Adal Sultanate
- Sultanate of Shewa
- Sultanate of Harar
- Isaaq Sultanate
- Harari people
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