Adal (historical region)

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This article is about the ancient region in the Horn of Africa. For the sultanate, see Adal Sultanate.

Adal (Harari: አዳል), known as Awdal or Aw Abdal was a historical Muslim region in the Horn of Africa.[1] Located towards the Harar plateau east of Ifat.[2][3][4]

Geography

Adal in 1696 bordering Fatagar region to its immediate west and Kingdom of Afar in the north west

Adal was situated east of the province of Ifat and was a general term for a region inhabited by Muslims.[5][6] According to Portuguese explorer Francisco Alvarez, Adal in 1520 bordered on the Abyssinian frontier province of Fatagar in the west and stretched to Cape Guardafui in the east.[7] He further stated that it was confined by the kingdom of Afar in the north west and that the leaders of Adal were considered saints by the locals for their warfare with neighboring Abyssinia.[8]

It was used ambiguously in the medieval era to indicate the Muslim inhabitant low land portion east of the Ethiopian Empire. Including north of the Awash River towards Lake Abbe in modern Ethiopia Djibouti border as well as the territory between Shewa and Zeila on the coast of Somaliland.[9] Districts within Adal included Hubat, Gidaya and Hargaya.[10] It also occasionally included the Hadiya Sultanate.[11]

According to Ewald Wagner, Adal region was historically the area stretching from Zeila to Harar.[12] In the 1800s Catholic missionary Stanely states Adal is situated west of Zaila.[13] Dr. Duri Mohammed asserts the lowlands outside the city of Harar is known as Aw Abdal where Imams traditionally led prayer.[14] According to Amélie Chekroun, Adal designated the region east of the Awash River, replacing Ifat as the Muslim power which had come under Ethiopian Christian control in the 1300s. The Christian state under Menelik II's invasion during the 1800s for the first time in its history maintained control in Adal therefore incorporating it into modern Ethiopia.[15]

Semi legendary foundation

Eidal (Abdal) becomes Emir of the region succeeding saint Barkhadle in AD 1067 following a victory against a Persian.[16]

After two days he sent some of the horsemen to Hararge to the Sarif Idal, and (this) came (to him) with 150 horsemen. He and the Imam started the war against the army of al-Kanis Mari in the land of Bissidimo. The war broke out for four days until they reached the land of Kurummi. When Sarif Idal reached her, he cut off her head and hung her on lances. She had 200 riders with her, all of whom God quickly sent into the fire of hell. The Imam returned (with) Sarif Idal after killing her and was called Emir Idal. He entered Hararge with 500 riders, praising God and cheering with innumerable and incalculable booty.

— Yahya Nasrallah, Fath Madinat Harar

History

The Sultan of Adal (right) and his troops battling King Yagbea-Sion and his men. From Le Livre des Merveilles, 15th century.

Earliest reference to Adal is in 1288 shortly before the collapse of the Makhzumi dynasty when the region was invaded by Sultan Walasma of Ifat. Adal is also mentioned by Marco Polo in 1295 as a state continuously in conflict with Abyssinia.[17] In the fourteenth century Emperor Amda Seyon of Ethiopia battled against Adal leader Imam Salih who allied with Jamal ad-Din I of Ifat.[18][19]

In the late fourteenth century rebel leaders of Ifat Haqq ad-Din II and Sa'ad ad-Din II relocated their base to the Harari plateau in Adal forming a new Sultanate.[20][21][22][23] This new Adal Sultanate encompassed the modern city of Harar.[24][25][26][27][28] According to Arabic texts Coffee was introduced into Arabia by the Arab brother in-law of Sa'ad ad-Din II, Ali bin Omar al-Shadhili which he became familiar with during his brief stay in Adal.[29]

According to Enrico Cerulli, local discontent for the Walasma dynasty of Ifat which occupied Adal region led to the rise of Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi in the sixteenth century.[30] Up until the end of the sixteenth century, the rulers of Adal were in a raging conflict with the leaders of neighboring Christian state of Ethiopian Empire.[31] In the ensuing Oromo invasions, Adal split into two states, the Aussa Sultanate of Adal and Harar Emirate of Adal, the latter surviving up until the nineteenth century.[32][33]

In the 1900s the designated emperor of Ethiopia Lij Iyasu is stated to have entered into marriage alliances with the peoples of Adal. Iyasu married the daughter of a Somali noble, the daughter of an Afar descended from the governor of Zeila as well as the daughter of Abdullahi Sadiq, a Harari aristocrat.[34]

Inhabitants

Defensive walls of Harar city erected during the reign of Emir Nur ibn Mujahid

Clans of Adal mentioned in the fourteenth century Emperor Amda Seyon chronicles during the Ethiopian invasion included; Wargar, Tiqo, Paguma, Labakala and Gabala.[35]

In the fifteenth century Emperor Zara Yaqob chronicle, the Harla people are mentioned as the traders of Adal.[36] Harla are considered to be the main population of Adal.[37] However, according to historian Enrico Cerulli the decline of the Adal principalities led to the assimilation of the Harla people in the Harari region by the Somalis.[38]

According to Professor Lapiso, the contemporary Harari people are heirs to the ancient Semitic speaking peoples of the Adal region.[39] Historians state the language spoken by the people of Adal as well as its rulers the Imams and Sultans would closely resemble contemporary Harari language.[40][41] According to Bahru Zewde the Walasma state of Adal in the fourteenth century primarily included the Semitic speaking Harari and Argobba people, however it also began including some portions of Somali and Afar people.[42] The agriculture practicing population of Adal were exclusively Harla and Harari people.[43]

According to Archaeologist Jorge Rodriguez, the Somalis were periphery peoples of the Adal state.[44]

References

  1. ^ Adal. Encyclopedia Britannica.
  2. ^ Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa. Macmillan Education UK. p. 128.
  3. ^ Adal. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
  4. ^ Gates, Henry. Encyclopedia of Africa Volume 1. Oxford University Press. p. 430.
  5. ^ Josef, Josef. Medieval Islamic Civilization. Taylor & Francis.
  6. ^ Pankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopian Borderlands. Red Sea Press. p. 52.
  7. ^ Trimingham, J.Spencer. Islam in Ethiopia. Taylor & Francis.
  8. ^ Beckingham, C.F. (5 July 2017). The Prester John of the Indies. Routledge. ISBN 9781351541329.
  9. ^ Shinn, David. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Scarecrow Press. p. 20.
  10. ^ Braukamper, Ulrich. Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia. Lit. p. 33.
  11. ^ Hadiyya. BRILL.
  12. ^ Wagner, Ewald. Legende und Geschichte: der Fath Madinat Hara von Yahya Nasrallah. Verlag.
  13. ^ Trimingham, J.Spencer. Islam in Ethiopia. Taylor & Francis.
  14. ^ Mohammed, Duri (4 December 1955). The Mugads of Harar (PDF). University College of Addis Abeba Ethnological Bulletin. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-07-10. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  15. ^ Chekroun, Amélie. Between Arabia and Christian Ethiopia: The Walasmaʿ Sultan Saʿd al-Dīn and his sons (early fifteenth century.
  16. ^ Wagner, Ewald (1978). Legende und Geschichte der Fath madinat Harar. p. 112.
  17. ^ Adal. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
  18. ^ Jamal Ad-din Mansur. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
  19. ^ Trimingham, J.Spencer. Islam in Ethiopia. Taylor & Francis. p. 72.
  20. ^ Tegegne, Habtamu. The Edict of King Gälawdéwos Against the Illegal Sla dict of King Gälawdéwos Against the Illegal Slave Trade in Christians: Ethiopia, 1548. Arc Humanities Press. p. 100.
  21. ^ Regourd, Anne. From Mountain To Mountain (PDF). Kyushu University. p. 82.
  22. ^ Mordechai, Abir. Ethiopia And The Red Sea (PDF). Hebrew University of Jerusalem. pp. 26–27.
  23. ^ Wagner, Ewald (1991). "The Genealogy of the later Walashma' Sultans of Adal and Harar". Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft. 141 (2). Harrassowitz Verlag: 376–386. JSTOR 43378336.
  24. ^ Belcher, Wendy. The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros. Princeton University Press. p. 413.
  25. ^ Ostebo, Terje. Localising Salafism Religious Change Among Oromo Muslims in Bale, Ethiopia. BRILL. p. 57.
  26. ^ Marcus, Harold. A history of Ethiopia (PDF). University of California Press. p. 16.
  27. ^ Loimeier, Roman. Muslim Societies in Africa A Historical Anthropology. Indiana University Press. p. 179.
  28. ^ McKenna, Amy. The History of Central and Eastern Africa. Britannica Educational Pub. p. 100.
  29. ^ E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936. BRILL. 1987. p. 631. ISBN 9004082654.
  30. ^ Cerulli, Enrico. Islam yesterday and today. p. 169.
  31. ^ Hathaway, Jane. The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem From African Slave to Power-Broker. Cambridge University Press. p. 26.
  32. ^ Kalb, Jon. Adventures in the Bone Trade The Race to Discover Human Ancestors in Ethiopia's Afar Depression. Springer New York. p. 126.
  33. ^ Dilebo, Lapiso (2003). An introduction to Ethiopian history from the Megalithism Age to the Republic, circa 13000 B.C. to 2000 A.D. Commercial Printing Enterprise. p. 41. under the pressure of the neighboring nomads, the Adalite Sultanate was divided into the two regional entities of the Harar Emirate of Adal and the Awssa Sulanate of Adal. The Harer Emirate of Adal, despite the pressure of the Oromo and Somali nomads managed to survive within the walled city of Harar. However the Awssa Sultanate of Adal in the north was overrun by the Afar nomads in the 17th century.
  34. ^ Smidt, Wolbert. The Life and Times of Lïj Iyasu of Ethiopia New Insights. Lit Verlag. p. 43.
  35. ^ Trimingham, J. Islam in Ethiopia. Taylor & Francis. p. 72.
  36. ^ GETATCHEW, HAILE (1983). "THE CAUSE OF THE ƎSṬIFANOSITES: A Fundamentalist Sect in the Church of Ethiopia". Paideuma. 29. Frobenius Institute: 106. JSTOR 41409892.
  37. ^ Chekroun, Amelie. Le futuh al habasha (PDF). pp. 196–199.
  38. ^ Cerulli, Enrico. Islam yesterday and today. p. 203.
  39. ^ Dilebo, Lapiso (2003). An introduction to Ethiopian history from the Megalithism Age to the Republic, circa 13000 B.C. to 2000 A.D. Commercial Printing Enterprise. p. 41. Like their direct descendants, the Adares of today , the people of ancient Shewa, Yifat, Adal, Harar and Awssa were semitic in their ethnic and linguistic origins. They were neither Somalis nor Afar. But the Somali and Afar nomads were the local subjects of the Adal.
  40. ^ Ferry, Robert (1961). "Quelques hypothèses sur les origines des conquêtes musulmanes en Abyssinie au XVIe siècle". Cahiers d'Études africaines. 2 (5): 28–29. doi:10.3406/cea.1961.2961.
  41. ^ The Cambridge History of Africa (PDF). Cambridge University Press. pp. 147–150.
  42. ^ Zewde, Bahru. A Short History of Ethiopia and the Horn. Addis Ababa University. p. 64.
  43. ^ Hassan, Mohammed. Journal of Oromo Studies (PDF). Middle Tennessee University. p. 198.
  44. ^ Rodriguez, Jorge (2022). "The Medieval Archaeology of Somaliland". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.566. ISBN 978-0-19-085458-4. The influence of the Muslim states of Ifat and Adal must have been very shallow: this region is described as "the land of the Somalis" in the medieval texts (Stenhouse 2003, 15), indicating that it was outside the control of Adal and Ahmed Gragn had to conduct several military expeditions to reassure his authority upon the Somali tribes.
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