Home Region:  East Africa (Africa)

Hadiya Sultanate

D G SC New EA  et_hadiya_sultanate



Preceding:
No Polity found. Add one here.

Succeeding:
No Polity found. Add one here.

The Hadeya Sultanate or Kingdom was in southwestern part of Ethiopia. The kingdom was first mentioned in the Ethiopian historical epic, Kebra Nast, in the early fourteenth century. During the early 1300s, the polity is thought to have paid tribute to the Ethiopian Empire under the reign of Amda Tseyon. By 1531, the Muslim forces of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi of the Adal Sultanate formed an alliance with the Hadeya leaders going against the Ethiopian Kingdom. After a major victory over the Adal Sultanate, the Ethiopian Empire with the help of the Portuguese brought the Hadeya Kingdom back into the Ethiopian domination. Despite being under Ethiopian control, the Hadeya still rebelled and led insurrections. By the 17th century, Hadeya finally submitted allegiance to the Ethiopian Emperor.

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
37 N  
Original Name:
Hadiya Sultanate  
Alternative Name:
Hadeya Kingdom  
Hadya Kingdom  
Temporal Bounds
Duration:
[1,300 CE ➜ 1,680 CE]  
Political and Cultural Relations
Language
Linguistic Family:
Afro-Asiatic  
Language:
Hadiyya  
Religion
Religious Tradition:
Islam  
Ethiopian Religion  
Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Hierarchical Complexity
Administrative Level:
[4 to 6]  
Professions
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:
inferred present  
Communal Building:
present  
Transport Infrastructure
Road:
inferred present  
Special-purpose Sites
Trading Emporia:
inferred present  
Information / Writing System
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Sacred Text:
present  
Religious Literature:
inferred present  
Fiction:
present  
Calendar:
present  
Information / Money
Article:
present  
Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System
Weight Measurement System:
inferred present  
Volume Measurement System:
inferred present  
Time Measurement System:
present  
Length Measurement System:
inferred present  
Area Measurement System:
inferred present  
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Military use of Metals
Projectiles
Handheld weapons
Animals used in warfare
Armor
Naval technology
Religion Tolerance Nothing coded yet.
Human Sacrifice Nothing coded yet.
Crisis Consequences Nothing coded yet.
Power Transitions Nothing coded yet.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Hadiya Sultanate (et_hadiya_sultanate) was in:
Home NGA: None

General Variables
Identity and Location

Original Name:
Hadiya Sultanate

Alternative Name:
Hadeya Kingdom
Alternative Name:
Hadya Kingdom

Temporal Bounds
Duration:
[1,300 CE ➜ 1,680 CE]

The exact date of the start of the Hadiya Sultanate is not specified in the consulted sources, but it is first mentioned in manuscript having been conquered by the Ethiopian Kingdom in 1316-17. “In a manuscript written on the island of Hayq, the monarch states that, after conquering Damot around 1316-7, he proceeded to Hadeya, and adds ‘God gave me all the people of Hadeya, men and women without number, whom I exiled into another area.’” [1] “By the late 17th century, the king of Hadeya had submitted to the rule of Abyssinia and many people embraced Christianity.” [2]

[1]: (Pankhurst 1997, 77) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection

[2]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 201) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection


Political and Cultural Relations
Language
Linguistic Family:
Afro-Asiatic

Language:
Hadiyya

“Hadiyya is an east Cushitic language that has 82 percent lexical similarity with Libido, 56 percent with Kambaata, 54 percent with Alaba, and 53 percent with Sidamo.” [1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 201) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection


Religion
Religious Tradition:
Islam

The Kingdom of Hadiya was nominally Muslim. “This marriage linked the nominally Muslim kingdom of Hadeya with the Christian Ethiopian Empire.” [1] “The province was inhabited by animist Sidama people, some of whom were converted to Islam.” [2]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection

[2]: (Pankhurst 1997, 77) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection

Religious Tradition:
Ethiopian Religion

The Kingdom of Hadiya was nominally Muslim. “This marriage linked the nominally Muslim kingdom of Hadeya with the Christian Ethiopian Empire.” [1] “The province was inhabited by animist Sidama people, some of whom were converted to Islam.” [2]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection

[2]: (Pankhurst 1997, 77) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection



Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Hierarchical Complexity
Administrative Level:
[4 to 6]

1.Emperor – “During the reign of Emperor Zara Yakob, there were new political problems in Hadeya.” [1] :2. Vizier/close advisor/queen ::“In sixteenth-century Hadeya in Ethiopia, for example, it was the queen who asked the Abyssinian emperor for assistance against an attempt to oust her husband.” [2] ::3. Lesser court officials (inferred from similar polities) :::4. Governor ::::“The governor and local chiefs refused to pay taxes to the emperor, who designated new officials and sent them to Hadeya with a large army.” [1] ::::5. Lesser provincial officials (inferred from similar polities) :::::6. Local Chiefs ::::::“The governor and local chiefs refused to pay taxes to the emperor, who designated new officials and sent them to Hadeya with a large army.” [1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection

[2]: (Smith 2008, 123) Smith, Bonnie G. 2008. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/I3F72UG2/collection


Professions
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:
present

The following quote suggests that markets were likely present as the Hadiya Sultanate contributed to the slave trade and imported slaves into the Sultanate. “Hadeya was much involved in the slave trade, for it imported slaves from the ‘country of infidels’, presumably nearby Christian or ‘pagan lands’.” [1]

[1]: (Pankhurst 1997, 79) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection


Communal Building:
present

Churches. “In the 1520s, Emperor Lebna Dengel led an expedition to Hadeya and ordered the construction of many churches and monasteries.” [1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection


Transport Infrastructure
Road:
present

The following quote suggests that roads were likely present as the Hadiya Sultanate contributed to the slave trade and imported slaves into the Sultanate. “Hadeya was much involved in the slave trade, for it imported slaves from the ‘country of infidels’, presumably nearby Christian or ‘pagan lands’.” [1]

[1]: (Pankhurst 1997, 79) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection


Special-purpose Sites
Trading Emporia:
present

The following quote suggests that trading emporia were likely present as the Hadiya Sultanate contributed to the slave trade and imported slaves into the Sultanate. “Hadeya was much involved in the slave trade, for it imported slaves from the ‘country of infidels’, presumably nearby Christian or ‘pagan lands’.” [1]

[1]: (Pankhurst 1997, 79) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection


Information / Writing System
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Sacred Text:
present

The Bible. “In the 1520s, Emperor Lebna Dengel led an expedition to Hadeya and ordered the construction of many churches and monasteries.” [1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection


Religious Literature:
present

The following quote suggests that there was religious literature present. “In the 1520s, Emperor Lebna Dengel led an expedition to Hadeya and ordered the construction of many churches and monasteries.” [1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection


Fiction:
present

“Hadeya was then apparently well known to the Ethiopian body politic. This is suggested by Ethiopia’s medieval epic the Kebra Nagast, or Glory of Kings, which though written at Aksum in the far north of the empire, makes reference to the province.” [1]

[1]: (Pankhurst 1997, 78) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection


Calendar:
present

Islamic calendar. “The twelve months of the Islamic calendar, in order are as follows (1) Muharram; (2) Safar; (3) Rab’I al-Awwal; (4) Rab’i al-Akhir (or al-Thani); (5) Jumada ‘l-Ula; (6) Jumada ‘l-Akhira; (7) Rajab (8) Sha’ban; (9) Ramadan; (10) Shawwal; (11) Dhu’-Qa’da and (12) Dhu ‘l Hijja.” [1]

[1]: (Hanne 2006, 196) Hanne, Eric. 2006. ‘Dates and Calendars’ In Medieval Islamic Civilizations: A-K, Index. By Josef W. Meri. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Dates%20and%20Calendars/titleCreatorYear/items/8BDKDQRX/item-list


Information / Money
Article:
present

Iron. “Its inhabitants used iron as a primitive form of currency.” [1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection


Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System
Weight Measurement System:
present

The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Hadiya Sultanate. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.” [1]

[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection


Volume Measurement System:
present

The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the volume measurements were likely present in the Hadiya Sultanate. “Volume was sometimes expressed by means of similes rather than by employing units of capacity. This was done by likening an amount of the article to be measured to a) various parts of the human body, b) well known objects, such as grains of corn, beans, lemons and the like, or c) by using other descriptive concepts.” [1]

[1]: (Pankhurst 1969, 161) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part II’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 7:2. Pp 99-164. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MZQWWA6Z/collection


Time Measurement System:
present

Islamic calendar. “The twelve months of the Islamic calendar, in order are as follows (1) Muharram; (2) Safar; (3) Rab’I al-Awwal; (4) Rab’i al-Akhir (or al-Thani); (5) Jumada ‘l-Ula; (6) Jumada ‘l-Akhira; (7) Rajab (8) Sha’ban; (9) Ramadan; (10) Shawwal; (11) Dhu’-Qa’da and (12) Dhu ‘l Hijja.” [1]

[1]: (Hanne 2006, 196) Hanne, Eric. 2006. ‘Dates and Calendars’ In Medieval Islamic Civilizations: A-K, Index. By Josef W. Meri. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Dates%20and%20Calendars/titleCreatorYear/items/8BDKDQRX/item-list


Length Measurement System:
present

The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the length measurements were likely present in the Hadiya Sultanate. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.” [1]

[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection


Area Measurement System:
present

The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the area measurements were likely present in the Hadiya Sultanate. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.” [1]

[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection



Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Military use of Metals
Projectiles
Handheld weapons
Animals used in warfare
Armor
Naval technology

Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
- Nothing coded yet.
- Nothing coded yet.
Power Transitions
- Nothing coded yet.