Sultanate of Shewa

{{Short description|896–1286 Muslim kingdom in modern Ethiopia}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox country

| native_name =

| conventional_long_name = Sultanate of Shewa

| common_name = Shewa Sultanate

| year_start = 896

| year_end = 1286

| p1 = Harla Kingdom

| p2 = Kingdom of Aksum

| s1 = Sultanate of Ifat

| s2 = Ethiopian Empire

| event1 = Shewa conquered by Ifat

| date_event1 = 1278–1285

| event2 = Sultanate of Shewa annexed by Ifat

| date_event2 = 1285

| date_start =

| date_end =

| event_start =

| event_end =

| image_flag =

| image_flag_size =

| flag =

| image_coat =

| image_map = File:Sultanate of Showa.png

| image_map_caption = The Sultanate of Shewa at its height under Sulṭān Malasmaʿī.

| capital = Walalah (northern Hararghe){{cite book |last1=Østebø |first1=Terje |title=Localising Salafism: Religious Change Among Oromo Muslims in Bale, Ethiopia |date=30 September 2011 |publisher=Brill |page=56 |isbn=978-9004184787 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BOn3ykfBN-0C&dq=showa+sultanate+hararge&pg=PA56}}

| official_languages = Arabic

| common_languages = Harla
Argobba

| government_type = Absolute monarchy

| leader1 = Haboba

| leader2 = ʿAbdallah

| year_leader1 = 896–928 (first)

| year_leader2 = 1279 (last)

| title_leader = Sultan

| legislature =

| stat_year1 =

| stat_pop1 =

| stat_area4 =

| population_density3 =

| religion = Sunni Islam

| currency = Dinar

| today = Ethiopia

}}

The Sultanate of Shewa (also spelled Sultanate of Shoa), sometimes called the Makhzumi dynasty, was a Muslim kingdom in present-day Ethiopia. Its capital Walale was situated in northern Hararghe in Harla country.{{cite book|title=The Ethno-History of Halaba People|page=15|url=http://www.southtourismeth.org/pdf/Books-and-Study-lists/The-ethno-history-of-halaba-people.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705150911/http://www.southtourismeth.org/pdf/Books-and-Study-lists/The-ethno-history-of-halaba-people.pdf|access-date=18 July 2017|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2018-07-05}}{{cite book|last1=Braukhaper|first1=Ulrich|title=Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays|date=2002|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|page=21|isbn=9783825856717|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGnyk8Pg9NgC&dq=sawa+itself+were+located+in+northern+hararge&pg=PA21|access-date=12 March 2017}} Its territory extended possibly to areas west of the Awash River.{{cite book|last1=Braukhaper|first1=Ulrich|title=Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays|date=2002|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|page=21|isbn=9783825856717|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGnyk8Pg9NgC&dq=sawa+itself+were+located+in+northern+hararge&pg=PA21|access-date=12 March 2017}} The port of Zeila may have influenced the kingdom.{{cite book|last1=Hbrek|first1=Ivan|title=Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century|date=1988|publisher=UNESCO|page=85|isbn=9789231017094|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tw0Q0tg0QLoC&dq=zayla+makhzumi&pg=PA85|access-date=10 January 2018}} The rise of the Makhzumi state at the same time resulted in the decline of the Kingdom of Axum.{{cite journal|title=Ethiopianist Notes|journal=African Studies Center, Michigan State University|date=1977|volume=1-2|page=17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLJWAAAAYAAJ&q=aksum+makhzumi}} Several engravings dating back to the 13th century showing the presence of the kingdom are found in Chelenqo, Bate, Harla near Dire Dawa and Munesa near Lake Langano.{{cite book |last1=Gianfrancesco |first1=Lusini |title=Lingue di cristiani e lingue di musulmani d'Etiopia |publisher=Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura |page=136 |url=https://www.academia.edu/7925301 |lang=it |url-access=registration}}

It has recently{{when |date=December 2024 |reason=Including a quote would be nice. I cannot find such a statement in the cited source, which does not seem to contain either 'Shewa' or 'Makhzumi'.}} been proposed that Shewa was not a unified Sultanate but rather a collection of smaller, autonomous political entities.

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.{{cite book|last1=Meri|first1=Josef|title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: A-K, index|date=2006|publisher=Taylor and Francis|page=12|isbn=9780415966917|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MypbfKdMePIC&dq=makhzumite+shawa&pg=PA12|access-date=10 January 2018}} Its founding dynastic family, the Makhzumis, is said to have consisted of Arab immigrants who arrived in Shewa during the 7th century.{{cite book |last=Quath |first=Faati |date=1957|title=Islam Walbaasha Cabra Taarikh|trans-title=Islam and Abyssinia throughout history |language=ar|location=Cairo, Egypt}} 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.Nehemia Levtzion, Randall Pouwels [https://books.google.com/books?id=J1Ipt5A9mLMC&dq=%22The+oldest+documented+Muslim+polity+inland+was+the+sultanate+of+Shewa%22&pg=PA228 The History of Islam in Africa - Google Books"] Ohio University Press, 2000. p. 228.Stuart Munro-Hay [https://books.google.com/books?id=NWNTfztz5KoC&dq=%22have+reigned+in+shewa+from+AH+283%2FAD+896%22+%22Wali+Asma+%27deposed+the+kings+of+Shewa%22&pg=PA365 Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide - Google Books"] I.B.Tauris, 2002. p. 365. According to historian Mohammed Hassen, one of the main reasons for Shewa's decline was due to conflict with the Kingdom of Damot.{{cite book |last1=Balisky |first1=E. |title=Wolaitta Evangelists: A Study of Religious Innovation in Southern Ethiopia, 1937-1975 |date=September 2009 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |page=3 |isbn=9781606081570 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-FLAwAAQBAJ&q=kingdom+of+damot+sidama}}{{cite book |last1=Hassen |first1=Mohammed |title=Oromo of Ethiopia |date=1983 |publisher=University of London |page=8 |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29226/1/10731321.pdf}}

File:MedievalEthiopia.png

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.J. D. Fage, Roland Oliver [https://books.google.com/books?id=GWjxR61xAe0C&dq=%22the+conversion%22+Gbbah+argobba&pg=PA107 The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3 – Google Books"] Cambridge University Press, 1975. p. 107. 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.Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission [https://books.google.com/books?id=t3ocAAAAMAAJ&q=Hawas+zega+menz+muslims Perspectives Des Études Africaines Contemporaines: Rapport Final D'un Symposium International - Google Books"] 1974. p. 269.Richard Pankhurst [https://books.google.com/books?id=zpYBD3bzW1wC&pg=PA41 The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century - Google Books"] The Red Sea Press, 1997. p. 41-42. 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.J. D. Fage, Roland Oliver [https://books.google.com/books?id=GWjxR61xAe0C&dq=%22Amhara+fled+from+the+land+of+Werjib%22&pg=PA107 The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3 - Google Books"] Cambridge University Press, 1975. p. 107. According to medieval Islamic manuscripts, Makhzumis governed Al-Habash for four centuries.{{cite book |last1=Jarso |first1=Nuraddin |title=Philological Inquiry on the History Manuscript of šayḫ Bakri Saphalo |publisher=Addis Ababa University |pages=58–59 |url=http://etd.aau.edu.et/bitstream/handle/123456789/316/Nuraddin%20Aman.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}

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.Nehemia Levtzion, Randall Pouwels [https://books.google.com/books?id=J1Ipt5A9mLMC&q=Yifat%2C+or+Ifat+%281285-1415%29+once+Shewa%27s+easternmost+district&pg=PA228 The History of Islam in Africa - Google Books"] Ohio University Press, 2000. p. 228.David H. Shinn, Thomas P. Ofcansky [https://books.google.com/books?id=WU92d6sB8JAC&q=%22early+medieval+times%22+%22highlands+and+the+sea%22+Zeila&pg=PA225 Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia - Google Books"] Scarecrow Press, 2013. p. 225. 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.Richard Pankhurst [https://books.google.com/books?id=zpYBD3bzW1wC&pg=PA46 The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century - Google Books"] The Red Sea Press, 1997. p. 45-46.Harm Johannes Schneider [https://books.google.com/books?id=fZALAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Eastern+Shoa%22+%28Ankober%29 Leprosy and Other Health Problems in Hararghe, Ethiopia - Google Books"] 1975. p. 18. 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.George Wynn Brereton Huntingford [https://books.google.com/books?id=kpIiAAAAMAAJ&q=mar%27ade The Historical Geography of Ethiopia: From the First Century Ad to 1704 - Google Books"] British Academy, 1989. p. 78.George Wynn Brereton Huntingford [https://books.google.com/books?id=kpIiAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Tagwelat+is+about+15+miles+north+of+Dabra+Berhan+on+a+mountain%22 The Historical Geography of Ethiopia: From the First Century Ad to 1704 - Google Books"] British Academy, 1989. p. 80.Niall Finneran [https://books.google.com/books?id=MNGIzz1VJH0C&dq=%22Tegulat%2C+formerly+the+capital+of+the+Muslim+sultanate+in+eastern+Shawa%22&pg=PA254 The Archaeology of Ethiopia - Google Books"] Routledge, 2013. p. 254. The chronicle of Amde Sion mentions Khat being widely consumed by Muslims in the city of Marade.Maurice Randrianame, B. Shahandeh, Kalman Szendrei, Archer Tongue, International Council on Alcohol and Addictions [https://books.google.com/books?id=mSpOAQAAIAAJ&q=mar%27ade+muslims The health and socio-economic aspects of khat use - Google Books"] The Council, 1983. p. 26.

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.{{cite book|last1=Fage|first1=J.D|title=The Cambridge History of Africa|date=1975|publisher=Cambridge University|page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory03fage/page/107 107]|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory03fage|url-access=registration|quote=convinced al-umari names princes semitic.|access-date=22 December 2016}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Begashaw |first1=Kassaye |title=The Archaeology of Islam in North East Shoa |page=15 |url=http://portal.svt.ntnu.no/sites/ices16/Proceedings/Volume%201/Kassaye%20Begashaw%20-%20The%20Archaeology%20of%20Islam.pdf}} Argobba and Harla seem to have relied on each other in the Islamic period.{{cite journal |page=27 |jstor=42731359 |last1=Braukämper |first1=Ulrich |title=Islamic Principalities in Southeast Ethiopia Between the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (Part 1) |journal=Ethiopianist Notes |year=1977 |volume=1 |issue=1 }} 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.

List of Sultans

There were nine recorded Sulṭāns of Shewa, who asserted descent from Wudd ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi.Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide, Page 365-366 Although Makhzumi rulers names found initially in Harar are Arabic, other texts found elsewhere at a later date use traditional Ethiopian Semitic names alternatively.{{cite book |last1=Gianfrancesco |first1=Lusini |title=The Costs of the Linguistic Transitions: Traces of Disappeared Languages in Ethiopia |publisher=University of Naples "L'Orientale" |pages=270–271 |url=https://www.openstarts.units.it/bitstream/10077/14305/1/ATRA_3_online-19_Lusini.pdf}}

class="wikitable"
Ruler NameReignNote
1

| style=white-space:nowrap| Amir Haboba

| style=white-space:nowrap| 896–928

| Earliest documented ruler of Hararghe. Haboba is unable to quell tribal conflicts, appeals to the Abbasid caliphate for mediators. Abdicates in favor of Abbasid mediating party leader Abadir.{{cite book |last1=Baynes-Rock |first1=Marcus |title=Among the Bone Eaters: Encounters with Hyenas in Harar |date=21 September 2015 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=9780271074047 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSJ8CgAAQBAJ&dq=haboba+harar&pg=PA113 |access-date=9 September 2018}}

2

| style=white-space:nowrap| Amir Umar

| style=white-space:nowrap| ???–???

| Known as Father (Aw) Abadir Umar ar-Rida. Resolves tribal issues. Proselytized as far as Mogadishu.{{cite book |last1=Braukämper |first1=Ulrich |title=Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster}} Several tribes in the Horn of Africa venerate Abadir. The beginning of the Harari dynasty of rulers.{{cite book |last1=Baynes-Rock |first1=Marcus |title=Among the Bone Eaters: Encounters with Hyenas in Harar |date=21 September 2015 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=9780271074047 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSJ8CgAAQBAJ&dq=abadir+harari+emir&pg=PA113}} Tomb in Harar.{{cite book |title=First Footsteps in East Africa; Or, an Exploration of Harar |page=14 |isbn=9780486789545 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHnCAgAAQBAJ&dq=abadir+buried+harar&pg=RA1-PA12|last1=Burton |first1=Richard F. |date=15 January 2014 |publisher=Courier Corporation }}

3

| style=white-space:nowrap| Amir Muhiaddin

| style=white-space:nowrap| ???–???

| Known as Father (Aw) Barkhedle Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn. Proselytized as far as Maldives and Sri Lanka. Venerated by various tribes in the Horn of Africa and South Asia. Was said to be a Somali.{{Cite book |last=Shay |first=Shaul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uqw0DwAAQBAJ&q=Somalia+in+Transition+Since+2006+Somali+Sheikh+Yusuf+al-kowneyn+barkadle&pg=PT42 |title=Somalia in Transition Since 2006 |date=2017-09-08 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-48876-1 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Akou |first=Heather Marie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5PEOHJOA8AQC&q=aw+barkhadle+somali |title=Macrocultures, Migration, and Somali Malls: A Social History of Somali Dress and Aesthetics |date=2005 |publisher=University of Minnesota |language=en}} Tomb near Hargeisa.{{cite book |title=Islam in Tropical Africa |isbn = 9781315311395|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NsoNDgAAQBAJ&dq=yusuf+kawneyn+hargeisa&pg=PT91|last1 = Lewis|first1 = I. M.|date = 3 February 2017| publisher=Routledge }}

4

| style=white-space:nowrap| Amir Eidal

| style=white-space:nowrap| ???–???

| Known as Father (Aw) Abdal.{{cite book|last1=Ahmed|first1=Wehib|title=History of Harar and Hararis|date=2015|publisher=Harar Culture Bureau|page=105|url=https://www.everythingharar.com/files/History_of_Harar_and_Harari-HNL.pdf}}

5

| style=white-space:nowrap| Amir Maya

| style=white-space:nowrap| ???–???

| He is succeeded by his daughter.

6

| style=white-space:nowrap| Queen Badit

| style=white-space:nowrap| ???–1063

| Daughter of King Maya, possibly Gudit who destroyed the Axum state{{cite web|title=Gudit fl. 10th century Orthodox Ethiopia|url=https://dacb.org/stories/ethiopia/gudit_.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212223046/https://dacb.org/stories/ethiopia/gudit_.html|access-date=3 July 2017|archive-date=2012-02-12}}{{cite book|last1=Munro-Hay|first1=Stuart|title=Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide|date=3 May 2002|publisher=I.B.Tauris|page=365|isbn=9781860647444|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NWNTfztz5KoC&dq=sultanate+malasam&pg=PA365|access-date=4 July 2017}} Harar chronicles lists her as Tedin Bint Maya Lama{{cite book|last1=Ahmed|first1=Wehib|title=History of Harar and Hararis|date=2015|publisher=Harar Culture Bureau|page=105|url=https://www.everythingharar.com/files/History_of_Harar_and_Harari-HNL.pdf}} Badit is stated to be a usurper as Islamic law prohibits female rulers.{{cite journal |last1=Andersen |first1=Knud |title=The Queen of the Habasha in Ethiopian History, Tradition and Chronology |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |year=2000 |volume=63 |issue=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=36-37 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00006443 |jstor=1559587 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1559587|url-access=subscription }} Historian Ewald Wagner suggests that her family heritage might be associated with Haramaya region.{{cite book |title=Badit bint Maya |publisher=Encyclopedia Aethiopica}} The Harari tradition characterizes her as a leader who is fond of warfare.{{cite book |last1=Yetbarek |first1=Tirsit |title=Amir Tedina Bint Maya |date=2022 |publisher=Dhaxalreeb: An Academic Journal of Somaliland Centre for African Studies |page=44 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/48815575.pdf}} The Emirate in Harar transitions from emirate to sultanate after the death of Badit.

7

| style=white-space:nowrap| Sulṭān Malasmaʿī

| style=white-space:nowrap| 1180–1183

|

8

| style=white-space:nowrap| Sulṭān Ḥusein

| style=white-space:nowrap| 1183–1193

| He is from Gidaya state.{{cite book |last1=Braukamper |first1=Ulrich |title=Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia |date=15 October 2023 |publisher=Lit |page=34 |isbn=9783825856717 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGnyk8Pg9NgC&dq=the+twelfth+sultan+of+the+dynasty+resided+in+Gidaya&pg=PA34}}{{cite book|last1=Ahmed|first1=Wehib|title=History of Harar and Hararis|date=2015|publisher=Harar Culture Bureau|page=105|url=https://www.everythingharar.com/files/History_of_Harar_and_Harari-HNL.pdf}}

10

| style=white-space:nowrap| Sulṭān ʿAbdallah

| style=white-space:nowrap| 1193–1235

|

11

| Sulṭān Maḥamed

| style=white-space:nowrap| 1235–1239

| style=white-space:nowrap| Son of Sulṭān Ḥusein.

12

| style=white-space:nowrap| Sulṭān Ganah

| style=white-space:nowrap| 1252–1262

| The qāḍī of the state Faqih Ibrahim al-Hassan of Sawa writes about the fall of the Abbasid caliphate to the Mongol Empire in 1258.{{cite book |last1=Chekroun| first1=Amélie |last2=Hirsch |first2=Bertrand |title=A Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea |chapter=The Sultanates of Medieval Ethiopia |date=2020 |publisher=Brill |pages=94–95 |doi=10.1163/9789004419582_005 |isbn=978-90-04-41958-2 |chapter-url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02505420/file/PREPRINT_Sultanates%20of%20Medieval%20Ethiopia_Chekroun%26Hirsch.pdf}}

13

| style=white-space:nowrap| Sulṭān Mālzarrah

| style=white-space:nowrap| 1239–1252

| Son of Sulṭān Maḥamed. Married Fatimah Aydargun, daughter of Sulṭān ʿAli "Baziwi" ʿUmar of Ifat in 1245, and mother of Sultan Dilmārrah.

14

| style=white-space:nowrap| Sulṭān Girām-Gaz'i

| style=white-space:nowrap| 1262–1263

| Son of Sulṭān Ganah. The only other ruler in the region to hold the title Gazi "conqueror", aside from Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. Abdicated in favor of his elder brother.

15

| style=white-space:nowrap| Sulṭān Dilmārrah

| style=white-space:nowrap| 1263–1278

| Dil Mārrah literally "Guide to the victory" in Harari and Argobba as well as other Ethiopian Semitic languages spoken by Christians of northern Ethiopia. The state was in conflict with the people of Gidaya, Mora and Gabarge.{{cite book |chapter=Makhzumi dynasty |title=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica }} Son of Sulṭān Mālzarrah. Internal conflict, he was deposed by Dil Gamis. He was half-Walashma on his mother's side, and also married a Walashma princess. According to Harari texts a drought hit the Sultanate in 1272 killing a large number of the aristocracy and its rulers within two years.{{cite book |last1=Selassie |first1=Yohannes |title=Plague as a Possible Factor for the Decline and Collapse of the Aksumite Empire: a New Interpretation |publisher=Mekelle University |page=50 |url=http://www.ityopis.org/Issues-1_files/ITYOPIS-I-Gebre-Selassi.pdf}}

16

| style=white-space:nowrap| Sulṭān Dil-Gāmis

| style=white-space:nowrap| 1269–1283

| Assumes the Christian Axumite royal title "Dil" last used by Dil Na'od.{{cite book |title=UNESCO General History of Africa |date=3 November 1992 |page=281 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520066984 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YeKwW3vzQMUC&dq=africa+from+seventh+dil&pg=PA281}} In 1270 Yekuno Amlak establishes Solomonic dynasty in the west with the assistance of Gafat mercenaries and Dil Gamis, whom provided aid to Amlak giving him an advantage over Zagwe.{{cite book |title=Oromo of Ethiopia with special emphasis on the Gibe region |page=4 |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29226/1/10731321.pdf}}{{cite book |last1=Pankhurst |first1=Richard |title=The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century |date=1997 |publisher=Red Sea Press |page=89 |isbn=9780932415196 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpYBD3bzW1wC&dq=gafat+amlak&pg=PA89}} According to Arabic texts found in Harar the previous ruler Dil-Marrah sought assistance from Yekuno Amlak in restoring his rule, and was briefly restored to the throne in July 1278, but was deposed again by August.{{cite book |title=Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270 |page=290 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c91yAAAAMAAJ&q=dil+gamis|last1=Selassie |first1=Sergew Hable |year=1972 }} The Axumite title "Dil" would not be used again until the 16th century by Bati del Wambara.

17

| style=white-space:nowrap| Sulṭān ʿAbdallah

| style=white-space:nowrap| 1279–1279

| Son of Sulṭān Ganah. Briefly deposed Sulṭān Dilmārrah to restore the rule of the sons of Ganah. However, this rebellion was short lived, and Shewa would be annexed into Ifat the following year.

See also

References