Sultanate of Shewa

The Sultanate of Shewa (also spelled Sultanate of Shoa), sometimes called the Makhzumi dynasty, was a Muslim kingdom in present-day Ethiopia. Its capital Walale was situated in northern Hararghe in Harla country. Its territory extended possibly to areas west of the Awash River. The port of Zeila may have influenced the kingdom. The rise of the Makhzumi state at the same time resulted in the decline of the Kingdom of Axum. Several engravings dating back to the 13th century showing the presence of the kingdom are found in Chelenqo, Bate, Harla near Dire Dawa and Munesa near Lake Langano.

It has recently been proposed that Shewa was not a unified Sultanate but rather a collection of smaller, autonomous political entities.

History

The Shewa sultanate was one of the oldest documented Muslim states in the region. The state ran along Muslim trade lines and dominions known to the Arab world as the '' country of Zeila''. Its founding dynastic family, the Makhzumis, is said to have consisted of Arab immigrants who arrived in Shewa during the 7th century. This ruling house governed the polity from AH 283/AD 896 to 1285–86, a period of three hundred and ninety years. The Makhzumi dynasty reigned until it was deposed by the Walashma dynasty of Ifat (1285–1415). Ifat was once the easternmost district of Shewa Sultanate. In 1285 Ali b. Wali Asma deposed the kings of Shewa and installed a certain MHz. Nehemia Levtzion, Randall Pouwel
The History of Islam in Africa - Google Books"
Ohio University Press, 2000. p. 228.Stuart Munro-Haybr>Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide - Google Books"
I.B.Tauris, 2002. p. 365. According to historian Mohammed Hassen, one of the main reasons for Shewa's decline was due to conflict with the Kingdom of Damot.

Shewa Sultanate, established in 896, is the first Muslim state inland and according to the chronicle of the sultanate no major report of conversion to Islam was reported before the beginning of the 12th century.J. D. Fage, Roland Olive
The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3 – Google Books"
Cambridge University Press, 1975. p. 107. However, beginning with the conversion of the Gbbh people in 1108, whom Trimingham suggested them being the ancestors of Argobba, other people were converted. By mid fourteenth century Islam expanded in the region and the inhabitants leaving north of Awash river were the Muslim people of Zaber and Midra Zega (located south of modern Merhabete); the Argobba (Gabal), the Werji people); Tegulat & Menz people whom at that time were Muslims.Deutsche UNESCO-Kommissio
Perspectives Des Études Africaines Contemporaines: Rapport Final D'un Symposium International - Google Books"
1974. p. 269.Richard Pankhurs
The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century - Google Books"
The Red Sea Press, 1997. p. 41-42. The chronicle of Shewa sultanate also mentions that in 1128 the Amhara fled from the land of Werjih people whom at that time were pastoralist people and lived in the Awash valley east of Shoan plateau.J. D. Fage, Roland Olive
The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3 - Google Books"
Cambridge University Press, 1975. p. 107. According to medieval Islamic manuscripts, Makhzumis governed Al-Habash for four centuries.

Ifat or Yifat, established in early medieval times, was the easternmost district of Shewa Sultanate and was located in the strategic position between the central highlands and the Sea, especially the port of Zeila. Nehemia Levtzion, Randall Pouwel
The History of Islam in Africa - Google Books"
Ohio University Press, 2000. p. 228.David H. Shinn, Thomas P. Ofcansk
Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia - Google Books"
Scarecrow Press, 2013. p. 225. In 1285 Ifat's ruler Wali Asma deposed Shewan kings and established the Walasma dynasty and Shewa with its districts including its centers, Walalah and Tegulat, became one of the seven districts of Ifat sultanate.Richard Pankhurs
The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century - Google Books"
The Red Sea Press, 1997. p. 45-46.Harm Johannes Schneide
Leprosy and Other Health Problems in Hararghe, Ethiopia - Google Books"
1975. p. 18. Welela, previously the capital of Shewa Sultanate, is situated on a mountain 24 km north of Debre Berhan, located in today's North Shewa Zone (Amhara), and was known by Muslims as mar'ade which later became the seat of emperor Amda Tsion.George Wynn Brereton Huntingfor
The Historical Geography of Ethiopia: From the First Century Ad to 1704 - Google Books"
British Academy, 1989. p. 78.George Wynn Brereton Huntingfor
The Historical Geography of Ethiopia: From the First Century Ad to 1704 - Google Books"
British Academy, 1989. p. 80.Niall Finnera
The Archaeology of Ethiopia - Google Books"
Routledge, 2013. p. 254. The chronicle of Amde Sion mentions Khat being widely consumed by Muslims in the city of Marade.Maurice Randrianame, B. Shahandeh, Kalman Szendrei, Archer Tongue, International Council on Alcohol and Addiction
The health and socio-economic aspects of khat use - Google Books"
The Council, 1983. p. 26.

Based on Cerulli's study of the names of the princes J. D. Fage and Roland Oliver were convinced that the inhabitants of Shewa spoke Ethiopian Semitic language likely Argobba language. Argobba are widely believed to be the first to accept Islam collectively, in the Horn of Africa, and lead expansions into various regions under the Sultanate of Shewa. Argobba and Harla seem to have relied on each other in the Islamic period. After Shewa was incorporated into Ifat an Egyptian courtier, Al Umari, would describe Ifat Sultanate as one of the largest as well as the richest of Ethiopias Muslim provinces, and Shewa, Adal, Jamma, Lao and Shimi are places incorporated into Ifat.

List of Sultans

There were nine recorded Sulṭāns of Shewa, who asserted descent from Wudd ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi.Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide, Page 365-366 Although Makhzumi rulers names found initially in Harar are Arabic, other texts found elsewhere at a later date use traditional Ethiopian Semitic names alternatively.

See also

*Ethiopia in the Middle Ages
* History of the Horn of Africa
*Sultanate of Adal

References

{{Medieval Horn of Africa

States and territories established in the 890s
States and territories disestablished in 1285
Medieval history of Ethiopia
Ethiopian noble families
Former sultanates in the medieval Horn of Africa
Spread of Islam
Monarchies of Ethiopia
History of Islam in Ethiopia
Historical geography of Ethiopia
Shewa