Emirate of Harar

“In the middle of the nineteenth century, Harar’s population was estimated at between 10,000 and 15,000.” ^[1]

[1]: (Kebbede 2017, 31) Kebbede, Girma. 2017. Living with Urban Environmental Health Risks: The Case of Ethiopia. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/3W5EJMVV/collection

levels.1.Harar :“Although Harar lost much trade because of the growing importance of the route to Tajura, the old city state remained throughout the nineteenth century a leading commercial centre and the focus of Muslim worship and learning for the whole Horn.” ^[1] :2. Other cities ::3. Towns (inferred) :::4. Villages ::::5. Sub-villages :::::“An extension of this system was used for the taxation and supervision of farming regions under the amir’s control. ‘A garad is the chief of a village or sub-village; the damin is the chief of whole tribe. Several garadach, sometimes five or six, come under one damin’.” ^[2]

[1]: (Rubenson 2008, 87) Rubenson, Sven. 2008. The Cambridge History of Africa c. 1790 – c. 1870. Edited by John E. Flint. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 51-98. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rubenson/titleCreatorYear/items/VRU64Q8P/item-list

[2]: (Waldron 1984, 34) Waldron, Sidney R. 1984. ‘The Political Economy of Harari-Oromo Relationships, 1559-1874’. Northeast African Studies. Vol 6:1/2. Pp 23-39. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PUDCFD72/collection

levels. 1.Emirs :“Harar was ruled by a family of local emirs, who were also the leading merchants of the town. They claimed that the surrounding Galla and Somali were their subjects, but beyond the respect accorded to them for spiritual and historical reasons, they had little authority beyond the city walls and could at times barely protect the fields of the townspeople in the immediate neighbourhood.” ^[1] :2. Malaq ::“The city is divided for administrative and taxation purposes into five ‘gates’ or quarters, each of which during the time of the amirs was under an official termed malaq”. ^[2] ::3. Dogin :::“the governor of the outer districts.” ^[2] :::4. Damin ::::5. Garad :::::“An extension of this system was used for the taxation and supervision of farming regions under the amir’s control. ‘A garad is the chief of a village or sub-village; the damin is the chief of whole tribe. Several garadach, sometimes five or six, come under one damin’.” ^[2]

[1]: (Rubenson 2008, 87) Rubenson, Sven. 2008. The Cambridge History of Africa c. 1790 – c. 1870. Edited by John E. Flint. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 51-98. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rubenson/titleCreatorYear/items/VRU64Q8P/item-list

[2]: (Waldron 1984, 34) Waldron, Sidney R. 1984. ‘The Political Economy of Harari-Oromo Relationships, 1559-1874’. Northeast African Studies. Vol 6:1/2. Pp 23-39. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PUDCFD72/collection

The following quote mentions a bureaucracy, though it does not explicitly confirm that it was staffed with full-time specialists. “The amirs represented a stratified society and were administratively connected to that society through a bureaucracy whose major functions were concerned with the collection of taxes from the citizenry.” ^[1]

[1]: (Waldron 1984, 28) Waldron, Sidney R. 1984. ‘The Political Economy of Harari-Oromo Relationships, 1559-1874’. Northeast African Studies. Vol 6:1/2. Pp 23-39. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PUDCFD72/collection

The following quote lists Sharia law as present. “Residents of Harar and its environs regard the city as an Islamic center of learning that ‘uniquely merges Sunni Islam within the city, Shari’a courts and a diverse Islamic education system based on Qurani schools and commentaries on the Quran.” ^[1]

[1]: (Ben-Dror 2018, 15) Ben-Dror, Avishai. 2018. Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian: Colonial Experiences in Late Nineteenth-Century Harar. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CHS87GBI/collection

“Residents of Harar and its environs regard the city as an Islamic center of learning that ‘uniquely merges Sunni Islam within the city, Shari’a courts and a diverse Islamic education system based on Qurani schools and commentaries on the Quran.” ^[1]

[1]: (Ben-Dror 2018, 15) Ben-Dror, Avishai. 2018. Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian: Colonial Experiences in Late Nineteenth-Century Harar. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CHS87GBI/collection

“By the opening of the 19th century, the relation between Harar and the settled Oromo had developed into mutual economic interdependence. The Oromo used the town as their main market for exchanging surplus of coffee, saffron, hides, and cattle, as well as some ivory, for goods imported or produced in Harar, such as cloth and salt.” ^[1]

[1]: (Hassen 1973, 1) Hassen, Muhammed. 1973. ‘The Relation Between Harar and the Surrounding Oromo Between 1800-1887’. Thesis. Halie Sellassie I University, Addis Ababa. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/A829WRJD/collection

Mosques. “Harar is Ethiopia’s eleventh largest city and Islam’s fourth holiest town after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem and, during the 17th and 18th centuries was an important center of Islamic scholarship and at one point had 99 mosques.” ^[1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 207) 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

E.g. markets. “By the opening of the 19th century, the relation between Harar and the settled Oromo had developed into mutual economic interdependence. The Oromo used the town as their main market for exchanging surplus of coffee, saffron, hides, and cattle, as well as some ivory, for goods imported or produced in Harar, such as cloth and salt.” ^[1]

[1]: (Hassen 1973, 1) Hassen, Muhammed. 1973. ‘The Relation Between Harar and the Surrounding Oromo Between 1800-1887’. Thesis. Halie Sellassie I University, Addis Ababa. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/A829WRJD/collection

“Its traditions include a strong Sunni orthodoxy inside the city, Shari’a courts, and an Islamic educational system ranging from quranic schools to teachers of quranic interpretations.” ^[1]

[1]: (Waldron 1984, 32) Waldron, Sidney R. 1984. ‘The Political Economy of Harari-Oromo Relationships, 1559-1874’. Northeast African Studies. Vol 6:1/2. Pp 23-39. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PUDCFD72/collection

“The security of the trade route to Shoa depended on the close co-operation between the emirs and the Shoan rulers and on the fact that Galla and Somali merchants stood to lose to the Afar if the route was closed.” ^[1]

[1]: (Rubenson 2008, 88) Rubenson, Sven. 2008. The Cambridge History of Africa c. 1790 – c. 1870. Edited by John E. Flint. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 51-98. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rubenson/titleCreatorYear/items/VRU64Q8P/item-list

Zeila was the main port for Harar. “Inhabited by Arab, Somali, Dankali and Harari merchants, Zeila served as the main outlet for the trade of the Harar.” ^[1]

[1]: (Abir 2008, 553) Abir, Mordecai. 2008. ‘Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa’ In The Cambridge History of Africa c. 1600 – c. 1790. Edited by Richard Gray. Vol 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 537-577. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Abir/titleCreatorYear/items/JHH9VH96/item-list

The following quote suggests that trading emporia were likely present. “Moreover, Harar was the most important centre of Islamic learning in the Horn of Africa, and during the eighteenth century its caravan merchants became an important factor in the revival of Islam in southern Ethiopia.” ^[1]

[1]: (Abir 2008, 552) Abir, Mordecai. 2008. ‘Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa’ In The Cambridge History of Africa c. 1600 – c. 1790. Edited by Richard Gray. Vol 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 537-577. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Abir/titleCreatorYear/items/JHH9VH96/item-list

E.g., ceremonial site and burial site. “There are 356 holy sites within Harar’s walls, mainly tombs of emirs, religious preachers, and descendants of clerics who founded the city in the thirteenth century. Pilgrimage to these tombs was not necessarily connected to Sufi Ziyara tradition and was more a central custom in the daily lives of most city residents, regardless of gender, status, and ethnic background.” ^[1]

[1]: (Ben-Dror 2018, 15) Ben-Dror, Avishai. 2018. Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian: Colonial Experiences in Late Nineteenth-Century Harar. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CHS87GBI/collection

“There are 356 holy sites within Harar’s walls, mainly tombs of emirs, religious preachers, and descendants of clerics who founded the city in the thirteenth century. Pilgrimage to these tombs was not necessarily connected to Sufi Ziyara tradition and was more a central custom in the daily lives of most city residents, regardless of gender, status, and ethnic background.” ^[1]

[1]: (Ben-Dror 2018, 15) Ben-Dror, Avishai. 2018. Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian: Colonial Experiences in Late Nineteenth-Century Harar. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CHS87GBI/collection

“There are 356 holy sites within Harar’s walls, mainly tombs of emirs, religious preachers, and descendants of clerics who founded the city in the thirteenth century. Pilgrimage to these tombs was not necessarily connected to Sufi Ziyara tradition and was more a central custom in the daily lives of most city residents, regardless of gender, status, and ethnic background.” ^[1]

[1]: (Ben-Dror 2018, 15) Ben-Dror, Avishai. 2018. Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian: Colonial Experiences in Late Nineteenth-Century Harar. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CHS87GBI/collection

“Ancient Harari literature is mostly religious. The author of at least one text is known and can be dated in the middle of the eighteenth century. It is not impossible, however, that some texts are even older. In written texts the ancient form of the language was used until the second half of the nineteenth century.” ^[1]

[1]: (Wagner 1997, 486) Wagner, Ewald. 1997. ‘Harari’ In The Semitic Languages. Edited by Robert Hetzron. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/V9HWX5VP/collection

“We know Harari in two chronologically different forms. Ancient Harari is written in Arabic letters because the Harari are Muslims.” ^[1]

[1]: (Wagner 1997, 486) Wagner, Ewald. 1997. ‘Harari’ In The Semitic Languages. Edited by Robert Hetzron. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/V9HWX5VP/collection

Quran. “Harar is Ethiopia’s eleventh largest city and Islam’s fourth holiest town after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem and, during the 17th and 18th centuries was an important center of Islamic scholarship and at one point had 99 mosques.” ^[1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 207) 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

The following quote suggest that religious literature was likely present. “Harar is Ethiopia’s eleventh largest city and Islam’s fourth holiest town after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem and, during the 17th and 18th centuries was an important center of Islamic scholarship and at one point had 99 mosques.” ^[1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 207) 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

“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

“The Maria Theresa dollar, known as the thaler in Austria, was first minted in Vienna in 1751 and named after the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. It was 80 percent pure silver. In the late 18th century, Arab traders probably introduced the Maria Theresa thaler to Ethiopia and, by the mid-19th century it had become the most widely acceptable form of currency. Before 1935, the coinage of Menelik II and Halie Selassie failed to dislodge the thaler. During the Italian-Ethiopian War (1935-1936), there were some 50 million thalers in circulation. ^[1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 110) 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

“Articles of clothing, food, agricultural implements, decorative ornaments, cotton cloth, small iron bars, cartridges, and bars of salt or amole, as it was called, replaced coins for many years.” ^[1]

[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 109) 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

“Whenever a merchant wanted to dispatch his goods, he made his arrangements through the abban. Once the goods were loaded and passed to him, it was the abban who was responsible for their delivery at the place of destination.” ^[1]

[1]: (Yusuf 1961, 37) Yusuf, Ahmed. 1961. ‘An Inquiry into Some Aspects of the Economy of Harar and the Records of the Household Economy of the Amirs of Harar (1825-1875)’. University College of Addis Ababa Ethnographic Bulletin. No. 5. Pp7-41. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Q9W4JMAB/collection

The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Emirate of Harar. “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

The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the volume measurements were likely present in the Emirate of Harar. “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

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

The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the length measurements were likely present in the Emirate of Harar. “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

The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the area measurements were likely present in the Emirate of Harar. “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