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}}
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}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Medieval Horn of Africa}}
Category:States and territories established in the 890s
Category:States and territories disestablished in 1285
Category:Medieval history of Ethiopia
Category:Ethiopian noble families
Category:Former sultanates in the medieval Horn of Africa
Category:Monarchies of Ethiopia
Category:History of Islam in Ethiopia