The Ifat Sultanate was one of the earliest Sultanates to be established in the Shoan region of present-day Ethiopia. The Sultanate was founded by Umar Walasma in 1280. The subsequent leaders of this sultanate were thus part of the Walasma Dynasty
[1]
The Ifat Sultanate became one of the most powerful kingdoms in the region as it took control over the Shoa Sultanate in 1285.
[2]
The capital of the Ifat Sultanate was also called Ifat which was located in the Shoan plateau situated to the Awadi River (a tributary of the larger Awash River).
[3]
The Ifat Sultanate was prosperous due to extensive caravan routes and the important port city of Zeila on the Gulf of Aden.
By the early fourteenth century, the Ethiopian Christian king Amda Siyon launched attackts into Muslim territory coming into conflict with the Ifat Sultanate. By 1329, Ifat was defeated by Amda Siyon’s army and was controlled by the Christian King. The Ifat Sultanate was still maintained for a period under the suzerainty of the Ethiopian Christian kingdom with the Walasma rulers continuing to lead the sultanate.
In the late fourteenth century, the Ifat leader Haqadin II lead a revolt again the Christian Ethiopian Kingdom and declared Ifat’s independence. Haqadin moved his capital to the Adal region in 1374/5. While the Walasma Dynasty carried on, the Ifat Sultanate became eclipsed by the new Adal Sultanate.
[1]
[1]: (Hassen 2016, Encyclopedia of Empire) Hassen, Mohammed, 2016. ‘Ifat Sultanate.’ In J. Mackenzie Encyclopedia of Empire. Wiley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FXDQBFFT/library
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 140) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
[3]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library
| 39 N |
| Ifat Sultanate |
| Ifat |
| Awfāt Sultanate | |
| Wafat Sultanate |
| none |
| Adal Sultanate |
| cultural assimilation |
| UNCLEAR: [cultural assimilation] | |
| Succeeding: Adal Sultanate (so_adal_sultanate) [elite migration] |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| Year Range | Ifat Sultanate (so_ifat_sultanate) was in: |
|---|
French archaeologist use Abu al-Fida’s (1273-1331) account of the Ifat Sultanate’s capital at Ifat as a definitive source on the city. “According to some travellers who have been there, we say Wafat and also Gabara. It is one of the biggest cities of Habasa. There are about twenty steps between this town and Zayla. The buildings of Wafat are scattered. The abode of royalty is on one hill and the citadel (al-qal a) is on another hill. It is very far from the sea, west of Zayla. There are bananas and sugar cane. It’s on a high place (nasz min al-ar d), there is a valley in which a small river flows. It rains a lot, mostly at night.” [1]
[1]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library
“Ifat was the second sultanate to be formed in the region of Shawa, in what is currently central Ethiopia. It was Umar Walasma who founded the Walasma dynasty (1280-1520s), which spearheaded Muslim resistance to the expanding Christian Kingdom.” [1] While the Walasma dynasty carried on into the 16th century, this was under the Adal Sultanate which had absorbed the former Ifat Sultanate. The Adal Sultanate was founded by the Ifat ruler Haqadin II in 1374/5 which is the final end date of the Ifat Sultanate. “Remaining embers of the spirit of Muslim resistance in Ifat were revealed when Haqadin II (1363-1374), the grandson of Sabradin, declared Ifat’s freedom from Chrisitan domination […] Ifat was finally eclipsed and replaced by the Kingdom of Adal, where the leaders of the Walasma dynasty continued to keep alive the spirit of Muslim resistance up to the 1520s, when the Muslims turned the tide against the Christians in Ethiopia.” [1]
[1]: (Hassen 2016, Encyclopedia of Empire) Hassen, Mohammed, 2016. ‘Ifat Sultanate.’ In J. Mackenzie Encyclopedia of Empire. Wiley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FXDQBFFT/library
Two great grandsons of an old Ifat leader, Haqedin II and Se’adedin created an anti-Christian movement and established their movement in Adal. Haqedin II and Se’adedin thus founded the new Sultanate of Adal. “But the end result of Haqedin’s decision was the effective revival of Muslim resistance against further Chrisitan expansion towards the east, and the rise of a better organized and highly united Muslim kingdom in the Harar plateau, which is often called in the Christian documents the Kingdom of Adal.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 149) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
“The marriage alliance did not last for long, and Ifat and Shoa plunged into a series of armed conflicts which resulted in the complete annexation of the sultanate of Shoa by ‘Umar Walasma in 1285. Thus, the old sultanate was no longer in existence, and its leading position as the Muslim vanguard was taken by the more viable kingdom of Ifat.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 140) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
(Relationship): “The marriage alliance did not last for long, and Ifat and Shoa plunged into a series of armed conflicts which resulted in the complete annexation of the sultanate of Shoa by ‘Umar Walasma in 1285. Thus, the old sultanate was no longer in existence, and its leading position as the Muslim vanguard was taken by the more viable kingdom of Ifat.”
[1]
(Entity): “In the fourteenth century, the Arab historian al-‘Umari also tells us that a local Semitic language was spoken in the Kingdom of Ifat, which, as we shall see, later replaced the sultanate of Shoa.”
[2]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 140) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 107) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
(Relationship): “It seems from this that when Haqedin and Se’adedin abandoned Ifat, they established themselves in an area which had formerly been called Adal. As militant leaders of a new anti-Christian movement in the whole area, the two Walasma princes probably overshadowed in importance the descendants of the original ’king of Adal’, who may have abandoned the title in favour of their more successful Muslim brethren either by agreement or even by force. But there is no doubt that a new Walasma dynasty was then established in Adal by the great-great-grandsons of ’Umar Walasma of Ifat.”
[1]
(Entity): “It seems from this that when Haqedin and Se’adedin abandoned Ifat, they established themselves in an area which had formerly been called Adal. As militant leaders of a new anti-Christian movement in the whole area, the two Walasma princes probably overshadowed in importance the descendants of the original ’king of Adal’, who may have abandoned the title in favour of their more successful Muslim brethren either by agreement or even by force. But there is no doubt that a new Walasma dynasty was then established in Adal by the great-great-grandsons of ’Umar Walasma of Ifat.”
[2]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 149) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 149) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
Arab historians clearly state that inheritance of Ifat spoke Arabic and local languages. “This seems to be clear from al-‘Umari’s description of Ifat, whose language he tells us was ‘Abyssinian’ and ‘Arabic.’” [1] “In the fourteenth century, the Arab historian al-‘Umari also tells us that a local Semitic language was spoken in the Kingdom of Ifat, which, as we shall see, later replaced the sultanate of Shoa.” [2]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 146) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 107) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
Arab historians clearly state that inheritance of Ifat spoke Arabic and local languages. “This seems to be clear from al-‘Umari’s description of Ifat, whose language he tells us was ‘Abyssinian’ and ‘Arabic.’” [1] “In the fourteenth century, the Arab historian al-‘Umari also tells us that a local Semitic language was spoken in the Kingdom of Ifat, which, as we shall see, later replaced the sultanate of Shoa.” [2]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 146) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 107) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
Arab historians clearly state that inheritance of Ifat spoke Arabic and local languages. “This seems to be clear from al-‘Umari’s description of Ifat, whose language he tells us was ‘Abyssinian’ and ‘Arabic.’” [1] “In the fourteenth century, the Arab historian al-‘Umari also tells us that a local Semitic language was spoken in the Kingdom of Ifat, which, as we shall see, later replaced the sultanate of Shoa.” [2]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 146) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 107) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
“Ifat was the second sultanate to be formed in the region of Shawa, in what is currently central Ethiopia. It was Umar Walasma who founded the Walasma dynasty (1280–1520s), which spearheaded Muslim resistance to the expanding Christian kingdom.” [1]
[1]: (Hassen 2016, Encyclopedia of Empire) Hassen, Mohammed, 2016. ‘Ifat Sultanate.’ In J. Mackenzie Encyclopedia of Empire. Wiley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/FXDQBFFT/library
“With a long tradition of trading connections to the Arabian Peninsula, the Somalis were converted to Islam at an early date[...].” [1]
[1]: (Lewis 2008, 1-2) Lewis, Ioan, M. 2008. Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society. New York: Columbia University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Understanding%20Somalia/titleCreatorYear/items/7J425GTZ/item-list
levels. 1.Capital :“With regard to the capital of Awfat, the exceptional character of this site, which delayed and staggered its discovery, lies in the association of three poles: the city proper, particularly vast, the citadel and the necropolis. The typological affinities between these three poles, their complementary functionality, finally the connections allowed by epigraphy, allows us to see a multipolar site. Its necropolis and its tombs now allow to affirm that this site was the seat of the Walasma dynasty between 1285 and 1376.” [1] :2. Cities ::“This political and urban heart now appears to be made up of a string of cities located in the middle floor of the escarpment of the central high plateau of Ethiopia, a few tens of kilometres from the Christian territories of the time These Islamic sites, located a day’s walk from each other on a north-south axis, present urban features well marked in the topography, n the density and organization of the habitat, or in reservoir-type developments. Witnesses of the existence of organized communities, all these cities also yield a large mosque and neighbourhood mosques, as well as vast distinctly Muslim cemeteries.” [1] ::3. Towns (inferred) :::4. Villages (inferred)
[1]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library
As a Muslim sultanate, Islamic law and Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. In Islamic law the judges are known as qādī. “Apart from scattered references to qādīs in surviving papyri, our knowledge of judicial practices during the formative period of Islamic history – roughly 600-1000 – is based largely on literary sources: biographical dictionaries of qādīs, treatises devoted to adab al-qādī or ‘the etiquette of judging,’ historical texts, and belles-lettres. Of these sources, biographical dictionaries are especially important, and we are fortunate to have at least three such works that treat the regions of Egypt, Iraq and Syria. The Akhbār al-qudāt of Wakī (d.306/918) is arranged regionally according to garrison towns and chronologically by qādī within those regions. Some of the entries contain lists of judicial rulings that can be used to reconstruct the earliest stages of Islamic judicial practices.” [1]
[1]: (Masud 2006, 2) Masud, Muhammad K. 2006. Dispensing Justice in Islam: Qadis and Their Judgements. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Masud/titleCreatorYear/items/8VRVCUC6/item-list
As a Muslim sultanate, Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. “Since law can only be the pre-ordained system of God’s commands of Sharī’a, jurisprudence is the science of fiqh, or ‘understanding’ and ascertaining that; and the classical legal theory consists of the formulation and analysis of the principles by which such comprehension is to be achieved. Four such basic principles, which represent distinct but correlated manifestations of God’s will and which are known as the ‘roots of jurisprudence’ (usūl al-fiqh), are recognized by the classical theory: the word of God himself in the Qur’ān, the divinely inspired conduct or sunna of the Prophet, reasoning by analogy or qiyās and consensus of opinion or ijmā.” [1]
[1]: (Coulson 1964, 75-76) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Coulson/titleCreatorYear/items/S4S75T39/item-list
Within Medieval Islamic law, “Effective organisation of the affairs of state, therefore, necessitated the recognition of jurisdictions other than that of the qādī. Although the scope itself of Sharī’a doctrine meant that certain types of cases fell altogether outside the province of the Sharī’a courts – litigation on fiscal matters, for example, was normally brought before the Master of the Treasury – it was the system of procedure and evidence to which the Sharī’a courts were tied which was chiefly responsible for the curtailment of their jurisdiction.” [1]
[1]: (Coulson 1964, 127) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Coulson/titleCreatorYear/items/S4S75T39/item-list
Due to the existence of vital caravan routes and the importance of Zeila port which was a key city associated with the Ifat Sultanate, markets would have been likely established. “We have already seen that Christian Ethiopia had started to make use of the caravan routes to Zeila by the middle of the thirteenth century. The rise of the ‘Solomonic dynasty’, and the resultant shift of the centre of southern Amhara and Shoa, gave a particular significance to the Zeila routes in which the Christian kings began to show an ever increasing interest.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
E.g large reservoir for water. “The ruins of Warq Amba, in Argobba, which undoubtedly witnessed the bitter struggles of Sayfa’Ar’ad and the princes we have just named against the Muslims of the southwest, lie a good day’s walk from Tschanno, to the right of the Awadi River; the debris of ancient buildings, with a necropolis, a mosque, a large reservoir for water, stretching for a length of almost two kilometres. Mr. Traversi, who discovered this ancient unknown dead city, saw there in the cemetery, the inscription of a sultan Ali, contemporary of Sayfa’Ar’ad; near the town in an antique vase shape, he found a small treasure of silver coins, but minted by Egyptian Sultans of the 13th and 14th centuries.” [1]
[1]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library
Mosques would have been communal buildings in the Ifat Sultanate. French archaeologists discovered mosques that date back to the Ifat period at the site of Nora in Ethiopia. “The excavation confirmed the urban character of the Nora site and made it possible to document on an archaeological plan, structures with a religious function (two mosques partially excavated, including the Friday mosques, among the mosques found) housing sectors, several outdoor spaces, as well as a funeral area.” [1]
[1]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library
E.g. markets. The capital city Ifat was located next to the Awadi River. Due to the existence of vital caravan routes and the importance of Zeila port which was a key city associated with the Ifat Sultanate, markets would have been likely established. “We have already seen that Christian Ethiopia had started to make use of the caravan routes to Zeila by the middle of the thirteenth century. The rise of the ‘Solomonic dynasty’, and the resultant shift of the centre of southern Amhara and Shoa, gave a particular significance to the Zeila routes in which the Christian kings began to show an ever increasing interest.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
Ifat territory was situated by important trade routes linking the Gulf of Aden to the Ethiopian interior. “It derived this position of strength mainly from its geographical location in the north-eastern foothills of the Shoan plateau, an area through which the most important route from Zeila passed to the Central Christian provinces of Amhara and Lasta.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
“Nevertheless, Ifat’s pre-eminence in the long-distance trade of the Ethiopian interior, in which Zeila throve, certainly tended to give the rulers of Ifat a special influence in the whole Muslim region, including the ports of the Gulf of Aden.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
Conflict between the Ifat and the Christian Ethiopian Kingdoms also revolved around trade routes. Trade routes suggest the existence of trading emporia. “We have already seen that Christian Ethiopia had started to make use of the caravan routes to Zeila by the middle of the thirteenth century. The rise of the ‘Solomonic dynasty’, and the resultant shift of the centre of southern Amhara and Shoa, gave a particular significance to the Zeila routes in which the Christian kings began to show an ever increasing interest.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
E.g. Trading emporia, ceremonial site and burial site. Conflict between the Ifat and the Christian Ethiopian Kingdoms also revolved around trade routes. “We have already seen that Christian Ethiopia had started to make use of the caravan routes to Zeila by the middle of the thirteenth century. The rise of the ‘Solomonic dynasty’, and the resultant shift of the centre of southern Amhara and Shoa, gave a particular significance to the Zeila routes in which the Christian kings began to show an ever increasing interest.” [1] French archaeologists discovered mosques and a burial area that date back to the Ifat period at the site of Nora in Ethiopia. “The excavation confirmed the urban character of the Nora site and made it possible to document on an archaeological plan, structures with a religious function (two mosques partially excavated, including the Friday mosques, among the mosques found) housing sectors, several outdoor spaces, as well as a funeral area.” [2] “L. Traversi’s text thus testifies to what, in the eyes of the local authorities and the Muslim community of this part of Ifat, constituted the historical and memorial heritage of the region at the end of the 19th century: two ruined cities, one linked to a certain ‘Sharif Ali’ considered at the time as a sultan, son of Sa’d al-Din, and whose tomb was celebrated, the other to a certain ‘Ras Alis’.” [2]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
[2]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library
“L. Traversi’s text thus testifies to what, in the eyes of the local authorities and the Muslim community of this part of Ifat, constituted the historical and memorial heritage of the region at the end of the 19th century: two ruined cities, one linked to a certain ‘Sharif Ali’ considered at the time as a sultan, son of Sa’d al-Din, and whose tomb was celebrated, the other to a certain ‘Ras Alis’.” [1]
[1]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library
French archaeologists discovered mosques and a burial area that date back to the Ifat period at the site of Nora in Ethiopia. “The excavation confirmed the urban character of the Nora site and made it possible to document on an archaeological plan, structures with a religious function (two mosques partially excavated, including the Friday mosques, among the mosques found) housing sectors, several outdoor spaces, as well as a funeral area.” [1]
[1]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library
“In the meantime, the sons and grandsons of Yekunno-Amlak were deeply involved in bitter wars of succession, and a valuable Arabic document for 1299 reports what seems to have been a considerable territorial concession to an Ifat leader by one of the sons of Yekunno-Amlak.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143-144) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
“In the meantime, the sons and grandsons of Yekunno-Amlak were deeply involved in bitter wars of succession, and a valuable Arabic document for 1299 reports what seems to have been a considerable territorial concession to an Ifat leader by one of the sons of Yekunno-Amlak.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143-144) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” [1]
[1]: (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Semaan/titleCreatorYear/items/U3W57I6B/item-list
The Quran. “With a long tradition of trading connections to the Arabian Peninsula, the Somalis were converted to Islam at an early date and remain staunch Muslims (Sunnis, of the Sha’afi School of Law). This is reflected in the traditional practice of tracing descent from illustrious Arab ancestors connected with the family of the Prophet Muhamad.” [1]
[1]: (Lewis 2008, 1-2) Lewis, Ioan, M. 2008. Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society. New York: Columbia University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Understanding%20Somalia/titleCreatorYear/items/7J425GTZ/item-list
Likely Islamic literature. “With a long tradition of trading connections to the Arabian Peninsula, the Somalis were converted to Islam at an early date and remain staunch Muslims (Sunnis, of the Sha’afi School of Law). This is reflected in the traditional practice of tracing descent from illustrious Arab ancestors connected with the family of the Prophet Muhamad.” [1]
[1]: (Lewis 2008, 1-2) Lewis, Ioan, M. 2008. Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society. New York: Columbia University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Understanding%20Somalia/titleCreatorYear/items/7J425GTZ/item-list
During the time of the Ifat Sultanate there were indigenous Arab writers who documented various historic events between the Ifat Sultanate and the Christian Ethiopian kingdoms. “In the meantime, the sons and grandsons of Yekunno-Amlak were deeply involved in bitter wars of succession, and a valuable Arabic document for 1299 reports what seems to have been a considerable territorial concession to an Ifat leader by one of the sons of Yekunno-Amlak.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143-144) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
“For example, the existence of a double recording system of lunar months is clearly documented in Somalia. There was normal usage to distinguish al-sana al-qama-riyya (‘lunar year’) – reckoned on the basis of months corresponding to the effective sightings of the new moon – from al-sana al-ta’ rīh iyya (‘civil year’) – reckoned according to the written Islamic calendar.” [1]
[1]: (Classen 2010, 1654) Classen, Albrecht. 2010. Handbook of Medieval Studies: Terms, Methods, Trends. Berlin: De Gruyter. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Classen/titleCreatorYear/items/R727NPC6/item-list
Cowrie shells were a ubiquitous form of currency in East Africa and gradually spread to West Africa during the Middle Ages. “As early as the 13th century, the proliferation of cowrie shells as a dominant currency had taken place, mainly because of their import into Africa from different areas. First, Arab traders imported cowry shells from areas around the Maldives islands and the Indian Ocean into North Africa and, later, into other parts of Africa.” [1]
[1]: (Tengan 2012, 122) Tengan, Alexis, B. 2012. ‘Currency (cowrie shells).’In Edward Ramsamy Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: an Encyclopedia. London: Sage Publications. Pp 122-123. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tengan/titleCreatorYear/items/FQU6UXTV/item-list
“The ruins of Warq Amba, in Argobba, which undoubtedly witnessed the bitter struggles of Sayfa’Ar’ad and the princes we have just named against the Muslims of the southwest, lie a good day’s walk from Tschanno, to the right of the Awadi River; the debris of ancient buildings, with a necropolis, a mosque, a large reservoir for water, stretching for a length of almost two kilometres. Mr. Traversi, who discovered this ancient unknown dead city, saw there in the cemetery, the inscription of a sultan Ali, contemporary of Sayfa’Ar’ad; near the town in an antique vase shape, he found a small treasure of silver coins, but minted by Egyptian Sultans of the 13th and 14th centuries.” [1]
[1]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library
“The material culture is generally crude if we compare it to that of other African Islamic sites: the ceramic does not present traces of glaze; few pieces of adornment were found, with the exception of cowries and a few imported pearls; metal objects were collected, including a few bundles of iron rods evoking the hakuna mentioned by al-‘Umari as the currency unit in force in the Ethiopian Islamic ‘Kingdoms.’” [1]
[1]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library
"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties.” [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol. 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list
"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties.” [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol. 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list
Islamic calendar. “For example, the existence of a double recording system of lunar months is clearly documented in Somalia. There was normal usage to distinguish al-sana al-qama-riyya (‘lunar year’) – reckoned on the basis of months corresponding to the effective sightings of the new moon – from al-sana al-ta’ rīh iyya (‘civil year’) – reckoned according to the written Islamic calendar.” [1]
[1]: (Classen 2010, 1654) Classen, Albrecht. 2010. Handbook of Medieval Studies: Terms, Methods, Trends. Berlin: De Gruyter. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Classen/titleCreatorYear/items/R727NPC6/item-list
Due to maritime commerce and religious influences from Arab travellers it is highly plausible that Medieval Islamic ideas on time and science spread through elite sections of Ifat society. “Early Muslim authors used the expression ‘science if the stars’ to refer to both astrology and astronomy. Soon, however, a distinction arose. Astrology was defined by Abu Ma’shar, as ‘the knowledge of the effects of the powers of the stars, at a given time, as well as at a future time’, and he labelled it ‘science of the decrees of the stars’. Astronomy proper became ‘science of the spheres’ or ‘(science of the [heavenly] configurations’).” [1]
[1]: (Blake 2016, 25) Blake, Stephen P. 2016. Astronomy and Astrology in the Islamic World. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Blake/titleCreatorYear/items/W2V6MXH8/item-list
"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties.” [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol. 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list