Sa'ad ad-Din II ( ar, سعد الدين زنكي), reigned – c. 1403 or c. 1414, was a

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

of the

Ifat Sultanate The Sultanate of Ifat, known as Wafāt or Awfāt in Arabic texts, was a medieval Sunni Muslim state in the eastern regions of the Horn of Africa between the late 13th century and early 15th century. It was formed in present-day Ethiopia around ...

. He was the brother of

Haqq ad-Din II Haqq ad-Din II ( ar, حق الدين الثاني) (ruled late 14th century) was a Sultan of the Ifat Sultanate, the brother of Sa'ad ad-Din II, and the son of Ahmad ibn Ali. Haqq was the first Sultan to move the capital of Ifat to the Harar plat ...

, and the father of Mansur ad-Din,

Sabr ad-Din II Sabr ad-Din III ( ar, الصبر الدين الثاني) (died 1422 or 1423) was a Sultan of Adal and the oldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II. Sabr ad-Din returned to the Horn of Africa from Yemen to reclaim his father's realm. He defeated the Ethiop ...

and

Badlay ibn Sa'ad ad-Din Badlay ibn Sa'ad ad-Din II ( ar, بادلاي بن سعد الدين) (also known as Sihab ad-Din Ahmad Badlay, Arwe Badlay – "Badlay the Beast" (died 1445) was a Sultan of the Sultanate of Adal and a son of Sa'ad ad-Din II. Brought numerous ...

. The historian

Richard Pankhurst Richard Marsden Pankhurst (1834 – 5 July 1898) was an English barrister and socialist who was a strong supporter of women's rights. Early life Richard Pankhurst was the son of Henry Francis Pankhurst (1806–1873) and Margaret Marsden (180 ...

describes him as "the last great ruler of Ifat."

Reign

Sa'ad ad-Din II was born in

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 Bibli ...

. He was known for his fearless fight again the Abyssinian empire. Some historians now claim that he was born at the court of

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), ...

Newaya Krestos Newaya Krestos ( gez, ንዋየ ክርስቶስ; throne name: Sayf Ar'ed, lit. "sword of terror") was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1344 to 1372, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the eldest son of Amda Seyon I. Reign According to Jame ...

. He revolted against the Ethiopian Emperor. Pankhurst adds that Sa'ad ad-Din also fought against the kingdom of the Hadiya and a pastoral people called the Zalan, both of whom were Christian allies.Pankhurst, ''Borderlands'', p. 51 However, as Taddesse Tamrat notes, these successes were short-lived, and in response to the growing

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

power in the region Emperor

Dawit I Dawit I ( gez, ዳዊት) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1382 to 6 October 1413, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the younger son of Newaya Krestos. Reign Taddesse Tamrat discusses a tradition that early in his reign, Dawit campaign ...

strengthened the Ethiopian defenses along the border and established his court at Tilq in

Fatagar A medieval map of Fatagar and surrounding areas Fatagar (Amharic: ፈጠጋር) was a historical province that separated Muslim and Christian dominions in the medieval Horn of Africa. In the eleventh century it was part of the Muslim states, then ...

. Despite these steps, Sa'ad ad-Din's practice of making quick raids into Ethiopian territory presented a difficult challenge to the Ethiopian Emperor, there were several fights between the Abyssinians and it was not until the Sultan was pursued deep into Ifat territory that the Ethiopians would face him on in a pitched battle. After a battle between Sa'ad ad-Din and the Ethiopian general Barwa, in which the Ifat army was defeated and "no less than 400 elders, each of whom carried an iron bar as his insignia of office" were killed, Sa'ad ad-Din with his remaining supporters were chased to furthest part of

There, the Ethiopian army besieged Zeila, finally capturing the city and killing Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din on the island.

Death

With Sa'ad ad-Din's death, the

Walashma dynasty The Walashma dynasty was a medieval Muslim dynasty of the Horn of Africa. Founded in 1285, it was centered in Zeila, and established bases around the Horn of Africa. It governed the Sultanate of Ifat, Ifat and Adal Sultanate, Adal Sultanates in wh ...

adopted the title of "kings of

Adal Adal may refer to: *A short form for Germanic names in ''aþala-'' (Old High German ''adal-''), "nobility, pedigree"; see Othalan **Adál Maldonado (1948-2020), Puerto Rican artist **Adal Ramones (born 1969), Mexican television show host **Adal He ...

". His ten sons took refuge in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

at the court of King

Ahmad bin al-Ashraf Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

. He was captured by the army of the Ethiopian commander Banwa who executed him.

Legacy

Sa'ad ad-Din's tomb stood as a hallowed site for centuries in Zeila. It was visited by

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

the explorer in 1854, who described it as "a mound of rough stones surrounding an upright pole" near the cemetery, decorated with "the remains of votive banquets, broken stones, dried garbage, and stones blackened by the fire" showing how he was "properly venerated" as the current favorite saint of Zeila. Trimingham notes that at the time he wrote his book (circa 1950), the tomb had been destroyed by the encroaching sea.Trimingham, p. 250. Additionally, the

Saad ad-Din Islands The Sa'ad ad-Din Islands ( so, Jasiirada Sacadadiin, ar, جزر سعد الدين), also Romanized as and known as the Zeila Archipelago, are a group of islands off the northern coast of Somaliland. They are situated near the ancient city of Z ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

, off the coast of

, are named in Sa'ad ad-Din's honour.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saad Ad-Din 02 Sultans of Ifat 15th-century monarchs in Africa 15th-century Somalian people Somali sultans Somalian Muslims Year of birth missing Year of death missing African royalty African rulers History of Somalia History of Africa African monarchs

Reign

Death

Legacy

See also

Works cited

Notes