The Afar ( aa, Qafár), also known as the Danakil, Adali and Odali, are a
Cushitic
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...
-speaking
ethnic group inhabiting the
Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the
Afar Region
The Afar Region (; aa, Qafar Rakaakayak; am, አፋር ክልል), formerly known as Region 2, is a regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the pave ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
and in northern
Djibouti
Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
, as well as the entire southern coast of
Eritrea. The Afar speak the
Afar language, which is part of the
Cushitic
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...
branch of the
Afroasiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...
family. Afars are the only inhabitants of the
Horn of Africa whose traditional territories border both the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
and the
Gulf of Aden.
History
Early history
The earliest surviving written mention of the Afar is from the 13th-century
Andalusian writer
Ibn Sa'id, who reported that they inhabited the area around the port of
Suakin
Suakin or Sawakin ( ar, سواكن, Sawákin, Beja: ''Oosook'') is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about north.
Suakin used to b ...
, as far south as
Mandeb, near
Zeila
Zeila ( so, Saylac, ar, زيلع, Zayla), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland.
In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila (or Hawilah) with the Bibl ...
. They are mentioned intermittently in Ethiopian records, first as helping
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Amda Seyon in a campaign beyond the
Awash River
The Awash (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo: ''Awaash'', Amharic: አዋሽ, Afar: ''We'ayot'', Somali: ''Webiga Dir'') is a major river of Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia and empties into a chain of i ...
, then over a century later when they assisted Emperor
Baeda Maryam when he campaigned against their neighbors the
Dobe'a {{short description, People living in northeastern Ethiopia during medieval times
The Dobe'a were a people of medieval Ethiopia, living in northeastern Ethiopia between what are now Amhara, Tigray and Afar Regions.
Homeland
They were first descri ...
.
According to sixteenth century
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
explorer
Francisco Álvares
Francisco Álvares ( – 1536-1541) was a Portuguese missionary and explorer. In 1515 he traveled to Ethiopia as part of the Portuguese embassy to emperor Lebna Dengel accompanied by returning Ethiopian ambassador Matheus. The embassy arriv ...
, the kingdom of Dankali was confined by
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
to its west and
Adal Sultanate
The Adal Sultanate, or the Adal Empire or the ʿAdal or the Bar Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate, ''Adal ''Sultanate'') () was a medieval Sunni Muslim Empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din II ...
in the east.
Aussa States
Afar society has traditionally been organized into independent kingdoms, each ruled by its own
Sultan. Among these were the
Sultanate of Aussa
The Sultanate of Aussa was a kingdom that existed in the Afar Region in eastern Ethiopia in the 18th and 20th centuries.
It was considered to be the leading monarchy of the Afar people, to whom the other Afar rulers nominally acknowledged primac ...
, Sultanate of Girrifo,
Sultanate of Dawe,
Sultanate of Tadjourah,
Sultanate of Rahaito, and
Sultanate of Gobaad.
[Matt Phillips, Jean-Bernard Carillet, ''Lonely Planet Ethiopia and Eritrea'', (Lonely Planet: 2006), p. 301.] In 1577, the Adal leader Imam Muhammed Jasa moved his capital from
Harar
Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...
to
Aussa in modern
Afar region
The Afar Region (; aa, Qafar Rakaakayak; am, አፋር ክልል), formerly known as Region 2, is a regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the pave ...
. In 1647, the rulers of the
Emirate of Harar
The Emirate of Harar was a Muslim kingdom founded in 1647 when the Harari people refused to accept Imām ʿUmardīn Ādan as their ruler and broke away from the Imamate of Aussa to form their own state under `Ali ibn Da`ud. Prior to its invasion ...
broke away to form their own polity.
Harari imams continued to have a presence in the southern Afar Region until they were overthrown in the eighteenth century by the
Mudaito dynasty of Afar who later established the
Sultanate of Aussa
The Sultanate of Aussa was a kingdom that existed in the Afar Region in eastern Ethiopia in the 18th and 20th centuries.
It was considered to be the leading monarchy of the Afar people, to whom the other Afar rulers nominally acknowledged primac ...
. The primary symbol of the Sultan was a silver
baton, which was considered to have magical properties.
Afar Egyptian War
From the account given by survivors on the 5th of October
Werner Munzinger
Werner Munzinger (4 April 1832 in Olten, Switzerland – 14 November 1875 in Awsa, Ethiopia) was a Swiss administrator and explorer of the Horn of Africa.
Life and career
He was born in Olten, and studied science and history at the Univer ...
along with his wife and child arrived in
Tadjoura
Tadjoura ( aa, Tagórri; ar, تاجوراء ''Tağūrah''; so, Tajuura) is one of the oldest towns in Djibouti and the capital of the Tadjourah Region. The town evolved into an early Islamic center with the arrival of Muslims shortly after the ...
with their errands being to open up the roads between
Ankober
Ankober (), formerly known as Ankobar, is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the North Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, it's perched on the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian Highlands at an elevation of about . It is to the east of Deb ...
, and Tadjoura to enter into communication with King Menelik of Showa. He was also instructed to annex the Afar Sultanate of Aussa, and March further into areas like Wollo. his forces consisted of 350 soldiers, 2 guns, and 45 camels. On the 14th of November upon reaching Aussa the Egyptian forcers were attacked at night by a large number of Gallas. The Afar and Galla forces managed to subdue the Egyptian army and destroyed their army leaving only a small number left which fled to Massawa. Amongst the Egyptian casualties were the martyrs of their leader Munzinger, his wife, and his child.
Pre-19th century
According to Elisée Reclus, Afar are divided into two groups, the Asaimara, and the Adoimara, these groups are further subdivided into upwards of one hundred and fifty sub-tribes according to their interests but all combine against the common enemy. The Modaitos who occupy the region of the lower Awash are the most powerful and no European traversed their territory without claiming the right of hospitality or the brotherhood of blood. Some afars helped the Europeans by providing, for a fee, the security of Western caravans that circulated between the southern coast of the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
and central Ethiopia. Towards the end of the 19th century, the sultanates of Raheita and Tadjoura on the coasts of the Red Sea have then colonized between European powers:
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
forms
Italian Eritrea with
Assab and
Massawa, and France the
French Somaliland in
Djibouti
Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
, but the inland Aussa in the south was able to maintain its independence for longer. Even comparatively fertile and located on the
Awash River
The Awash (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo: ''Awaash'', Amharic: አዋሽ, Afar: ''We'ayot'', Somali: ''Webiga Dir'') is a major river of Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia and empties into a chain of i ...
, it was demarcated from the outside by surrounding desert areas.
War with Ethiopia
Ethiopia wanted to neutralize the Afar people and prevent them from helping the Italians during the course of the
First Italo-Ethiopian War
The First Italo-Ethiopian War, lit. ''Abyssinian War'' was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from the disputed Treaty of Wuchale, which the Italians claimed turned Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate. Full-sc ...
in 1895–1896. The show of Abyssinian force dissuaded the Afar sultan
Mahammad Hanfare of the
Sultanate of Aussa
The Sultanate of Aussa was a kingdom that existed in the Afar Region in eastern Ethiopia in the 18th and 20th centuries.
It was considered to be the leading monarchy of the Afar people, to whom the other Afar rulers nominally acknowledged primac ...
from honouring his treaties with Italy, and instead Hanfare secured a modicum of autonomy within the Ethiopian Empire by accepting Emperor
Menelik indirect rule after the war.
Afar Liberation Front
When a modern administrative system was introduced in Ethiopia after the Second World War, the Afar areas controlled by Ethiopia were divided into the provinces of Eritrea, Tigray, Wollo, Shewa and Hararge. Tribal leaders, elders, and religious and other dignitaries of the Afar tried unsuccessfully in the government from 1961 to end this division. Following an unsuccessful rebellion led by the Afar Sultan,
Alimirah Hanfare, the
Afar Liberation Front
The Afar Liberation Front (abbreviated ALF) is an Afar political party and former militant group in Ethiopia. It fought the communist Derg government and the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1975 to 1991. After the Ethiopian Civi ...
was founded in 1975 to promote the interests of the Afar people. Sultan Hanfadhe was shortly afterward exiled to
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. Ethiopia's then-ruling communist
Derg regime later established the
Autonomous Region of Assab (now called
Aseb and located in
Eritrea), although low-level insurrection continued until the early 1990s. In Djibouti, a similar movement simmered throughout the 1980s, eventually culminating in the
Afar Insurgency in 1991. After the fall of the Derg that same year, Sultan Hanfadhe returned from exile.
In March 1993, the
Afar Revolutionary Democratic Front (ARDUF) was established. It constituted a coalition of three Afar organizations: the
Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Union
Afar may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Afar language, an East Cushitic language
*Afar people, an ethnic group of Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia
Places Horn of Africa
*Afar Desert or Danakil Desert, a desert in Ethiopia
*Afar Region, a regio ...
(ARDUU), founded in 1991 and led by
Mohamooda Gaas (or Gaaz); the ''Afar Ummatah Demokrasiyyoh Focca'' (AUDF); and the
Afar Revolutionary Forces (ARF). A political party, it aims to protect Afar interests. As of 2012, the ARDUF is part of the
United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) coalition opposition party.
Demographics
Geographical distribution
The Afar principally reside in the
Danakil Desert
The Danakil Desert is a desert in northeast Ethiopia, southern Eritrea, and northwestern Djibouti. Situated in the Afar Triangle, it stretches across of arid terrain. It is inhabited by a few Afar, who engage in salt mining. The area is know ...
in the
Afar Region
The Afar Region (; aa, Qafar Rakaakayak; am, አፋር ክልል), formerly known as Region 2, is a regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the pave ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, as well as in
Eritrea and
Djibouti
Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
. They number 2,276,867 people in Ethiopia (or 2.73% of the total population), of whom 105,551 are urban inhabitants, according to the most recent census (2007).
["Country level"](_blank)
, Table 3.1, p.73. The Afar make up over a third of the population of Djibouti, and are one of the nine recognized
ethnic divisions (''kililoch'') of Ethiopia.
Language
Afars speak the
Afar language as a
mother tongue. It is part of the
Cushitic
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...
branch of the
Afroasiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...
language family.
The Afar language is spoken by ethnic Afars in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, as well as in southern Eritrea and northern Djibouti. However, since the Afar are traditionally
nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic
herders, Afar speakers may be found further afield.
Together, with the
Saho language
The Saho language ( Tigrinya: ሳሆኛ/ቋንቋ ሳሆ) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia. It belongs to the family's Cushitic branch.
Overview
Saho is spoken natively by the Saho people. Traditionally, they inh ...
, Afar constitutes the
Saho–Afar dialect cluster.
Society
Religion
Afar people are predominantly
Muslim. They have a long association with
Islam through the various local Muslim polities and practice the
Sunni sect of Islam.
A majority of the Afar had adopted Islam by the 13th century due to the expanding influence of holy men and traders from the
Arabian peninsula. The Afar mainly follow the
Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
school of Sunni Islam. Sufi orders like the
Qadiriyya
The Qadiriyya (), also transliterated Qādirīyah, ''Qadri'', ''Qadriya'', ''Kadri'', ''Elkadri'', ''Elkadry'', ''Aladray'', ''Alkadrie'', ''Adray'', ''Kadray'', ''Kadiri'', ''Qadiri'', ''Quadri'' or ''Qadri'' are members of the Sunni Qadiri ta ...
are also widespread among the Afar. Afar religious life is somewhat syncretic with a blend of Islamic concepts and pre-Islamic ones such as rain sacrifices on sacred locations, divination, and folk healing.
[Brugnatelli, Vermondo. "Arab-Berber contacts in the Middle Ages and Ancient Arabic dialects: new evidence from an old Ibadite religious text." African Arabic: approaches to dialectology. Berlin: de Gruyter (2013): 271–291.]
Culture
Socially, they are organized into
clan families led by elders and two main classes: the ''asaimara'' ('reds') who are the dominant class politically, and the ''adoimara'' ('whites') who are a working class and are found in the
Mabla Mountains.
Clans can be fluid and even include outsiders like the (
Issa clan).
In addition, the Afar are reputed for their martial prowess. Men traditionally carry the ''
jile'', a famous curved knife. They also have an extensive repertoire of battle songs.
The Afar are mainly livestock holders, primarily raising camels but also tending to goats, sheep, and cattle. However, shrinking pastures for their livestock and
environmental degradation have made some Afar instead turn to cultivation, migrant labor, and trade. The Ethiopian Afar have traditionally engaged in salt trading but recently
Tigrayans
Tigrayans ( ti, ተጋሩ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch.
The daily life of Tigra ...
have taken much of this occupation.
See also
*
Afar Depression
The Afar Triangle (also called the Afar Depression) is a geological depression caused by the Afar Triple Junction, which is part of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. The region has disclosed fossil specimens of the very earliest hominins; th ...
*
Aussa Sultanate
The Sultanate of Aussa was a kingdom that existed in the Afar Region in eastern Ethiopia in the 18th and 20th centuries.
It was considered to be the leading monarchy of the Afar people, to whom the other Afar rulers nominally acknowledged primac ...
*
Kwosso
*
Mudaito Dynasty
Notes
References
*Mordechai Abir, ''The era of the princes: the challenge of Islam and the reunification of the Christian empire, 1769-1855'' (London: Longmans, 1968).
*J. Spencer Trimingham, ''Islam in Ethiopia'' (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952).
Further reading
*
External links
Omniglot - Afar languageEthnologue - Afar - A Language of Ethiopia
{{Authority control
Afroasiatic peoples
Cushitic-speaking peoples
Ethnic groups in Djibouti
Ethnic groups in Eritrea
Ethnic groups in Ethiopia
Ethnic groups in the Arab world
Pastoralists
Modern nomads
Muslim communities in Africa
African nomads