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East Africa

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Debtera, Ashik, Meddah, Aqyn, Sesen

Horn of Africa

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Medhri Bahri, Dankali, Tadjourah, other ethnicities, Bali centre of slave trade 13th century

At the end of the 6th century, the Kingdom of Aksum ruled over much of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea, with the Harla Kingdom to its east, while ancient Somali city-states such as Mosylon, Opone, Sarapion, Avalites, and Aromata on the Somali Peninsula continued to thrive off of the lucrative Indian Ocean trade and their preferential relations with India.

Following the birth of Islam in the early 7th century, the north-central Harar Plateau was settled by early Muslims fleeing persecution, intermingling with the Somali who became some of the first non-Arabs to convert to Islam.[1] Muslim-Aksumite relations were initially positive with Aksum giving refuge to early Muslims in 613, however relations soured after Aksum made incursions along the Arab coast and Muslims settled the Dahlak archipelago.[2]: 560  Despite having ancient roots, the Red Sea slave trade expanded and flourished following the Muslim conquests with Bejas, Nubians, and Ethiopians exported to Hejaz.[3] Aksum gradually lost their control of the Red Sea, and the expulsion of the Byzantines from the region isolated them, causing their society to become introspective, drawing inspiration from biblical traditions of the Old Testament.[4]: 108  Meanwhile during the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries Islam spread through the Somali Peninsula, largely via da'wah. The Harla Kingdom of Hubat also converted to Islam circa 700. The Somalis were organised into various clans, and relations with Arabs led tradition to hold their lineages to Samaale, Daarood or Sheikh Ishaaq, traditionally descendants of Muhammad's cousins. To the west from the 7th to 15th century, Arab tribes migrated into the Sudan, during which time the Beja Islamised and adopted Arab customs. In the 8th century, Beja nomads invaded Aksum's northern territories and occupied the Eritrean Highlands, leading punitive raids into Aksum, with the Beja establishing various kingdoms. The Aksumite population migrated further inland into the Ethiopian Highlands, moving their capital from Aksum to Kubar, and later in the 9th century expanded southwards.[5][6] The history becomes murky, however tradition holds that Aksum's expansion brought it into conflict in 960 with the Jewish Kingdom of Beta Israel, led by queen Gudit and located in the Simien Mountains. Accordingly, Gudit defeated and killed Aksum's king, and burnt their churches.[7] It's possible that Gudit was a pagan queen who led resistance to Aksum's southward expansion.[8]: 108  To the east in the 9th and 10th centuries, the Somali clans such as the Dir and other groups formed states in the Harar Plateau, including Fatagar, Dawaro, Bale, Hadiya, Hargaya, Mora, Kwelgora, and Adal, with the latter centred on the port city of Zeila (previously Avalites).[9] They neighboured the Sultanate of Shewa to their south, who's dynasty hailed from the Meccan Banu Makhzum. On the Horn's southeast coast the Tunni clan established the Tunni Sultanate, and the clans of Sarapion formed the Sultanate of Mogadishu.

Traditionally, Gudit's dynasty reigned until 1137 when they were overthrown or conquered by Mara Takla Haymanot, with traditions differing on whether he was an Aksumite general or relative of Gudit, who established the Zagwe dynasty. In Ethiopia tradition holds that prior to his accession to the throne, Gebre Meskel Lalibela was guided by Christ on a tour of Jerusalem, and instructed to build a second Jerusalem in Ethiopia.[10]: 115  Accordingly this led to the commissioning of eleven rock-hewn churches outside the capital in Roha, which was renamed Lalibela in his honour, and quickly became a holy city in Ethiopian Christianity. According to oral traditions, Motolomi Sato of the Wolaita-Mala dynasty established the Kingdom of Damot in the 13th century, locally known as the Kingdom of Wolaita, which followed a traditional religion.[11][12][13] The history continues to be murky, however regional hegemony was contested between the Kingdom of Damot, the Zagwe, and the Sultanate of Shewa.[14]: 431  Damot likely drew its economic power from gold production, which was exported to Zeila.[15] The Zagwe and Shewa were forced into a conditional alliance to counter Damot, with Shewa at times forced to pay tribute to the pagans.[16] In the 13th century the Ajuran clan established the Ajuran Sultanate on the eastern coast of the Horn and expanded, conquering the Tunni and vassalising Mogadishu, coming to dominate the Indian Ocean trade, while the Warsangali clan formed the Warsangali Sultanate on the Horn's north-eastern coast.

In 1270, amid the furore from the Kebra Nagast painting the Zagwe as illegitimate usurpers, Yekuno Amlak rebelled with assistance from Shewa and defeated the Zagwe king in battle, establishing the Solomonic dynasty of the nascent Ethiopian Empire.[17]: 131  In accordance with the Kebra Negast, they claimed their descent from the last king of Aksum, and ultimately from Aksumite queen Makeda and the Israelite king Solomon. Fifteen years later, in the Sultanate of Shewa, which was exhausted following wars with Damot and suffering internal strife, was conquered by Umar Walasma of the Walashma dynasty, who established the Sultanate of Ifat.[16][18]: 143  Over the following decades Ifat incorporated the polities of Adal, Gidaya, Bale, Mora, Hargaya, Hubat, and Fatagar among others.[19][20] In the 13th century the Afar founded the Dankali Sultanate north of Ethiopia. In Ethiopia Amda Seyon I came to the throne in 1314 and conquered Harla, Gojjam, Hadiya, and crucially Damot, with Ennarea splitting from the latter.[21][22] He also campaigned in the north where Beta Israel had been gaining prominence, and reconquered the Tigrayan Enderta Province.[23] In 1321, a religious dispute between Amda Seyon and the Mamluk sultan which involved threats to tamper with the Nile gave Ifat's Haqq ad-Din I pretext to invade and execute an Ethiopian envoy. Seven years later, Amda Seyon's forces overwhelmed Ifat's outposts, defeated Ifat's armies and killed Haqq ad-Din, with lack of unity among the Muslims proving fatal. The Ethiopian emperor raided the Muslim states and made them tributaries.[24] Following this, sultan Sabr ad-Din I led a rebellion and jihad in 1332 seeking to restore prestige and rule a Muslim Ethiopia, garnering widespread support in the early stages from the Muslim states and even from nomads.[25]: 145  They were defeated by Amda Seyon, ushering in a golden age for the Ethiopian Empire.[26] Ethiopia incorporated Ifat, Hadiya, Dawaro, Fatagar, and Shewa as one vassal headed by the Walashma dynasty.[24] The Ethiopian emperor ruled the Muslim states by divide and rule, and had the final say on succession, with various sultans and sheikhs drawn to his court.[27]: 148  Successive sultans rebelled and struggled to shake off Ethiopian vassalage, moving Ifat’s capital to Adal in an attempt to escape Ethiopia's sphere of control. To the south-west, according to oral traditions Amda Seyon expanded into the Gurage.[28]: 75–76  According to oral traditions, the Kingdom of Kaffa was established in 1390 after "ousting a dynasty of 32 kings".[29] In the late 14th century the sultans began to expand eastwards into the decentralised Somali interior. Sa'ad ad-Din II propagated insecurity on Ethiopia's eastern frontier, however was defeated by Dawit I. The sultan was repeatedly pursued by the Ethiopian emperor to Zeila on the coast and killed in 1415, leaving the former Sultanate of Ifat fully occupied.[27]: 150–154 

In 1415 Sabr ad-Din III of the Walashma dynasty returned to the region from exile to establish the Adal Sultanate. The Ethiopian armies were defeated, and he and his successors expanded to regain the territory of the former sultanate. Jamal ad-Din II's reign saw a sharp rise in the slave trade, with India, Arabia, Hormuz, Hejaz, Egypt, Syria, Greece, Iraq, and Persia reportedly becoming "full of Abyssinian slaves".[30]: 59  In 1445 Badlay attempted an invasion into the Ethiopian Highlands, supported by Mogadishu, however he was defeated by Zara Yaqob, with the successor sultan securing peace between the two states.[27]: 154–156  In the 1440s Ethiopia conquered much of the Tigray, placing the land under a vassal ruled by the Bahr Negus.[31]: 71  Baeda Maryam I campaigned against the Dobe'a with the support of Dankalia, resulting in their defeat and incorporation into the empire.[32]: 106–111  In 1471, a Harari emir leading a militant faction seized power in Adal with the sultan retaining a ceremonious role. His successor raided the Ethiopian frontier against the sultan's wishes, and was defeated by the emperors in 1507 and finally in 1517.[27]: 166–167  For the Ethiopians, the end of the 15th century saw a period of conquest and expansion come to close, and one of defence begin.

Swahili coast, Madagascar, and the Comoro Islands

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User:Zanahary Chronicles: Kilwa (Kilwa Chronicle), Pate (Fumo Liyongo), Mombasa Vazimba kingdoms (Twelve sacred hills of Imerina)

The turn of the 7th century saw the Swahili coast continue to be inhabited by the Swahili civilisation, whose economies were primarily based on agriculture, however they traded via the Indian Ocean trade and later developed local industries, with their iconic stone architecture.[33]: 587, 607–608 [34] Forested river estuaries created natural harbours whilst the yearly monsoon winds assisted trade,[35][36] and the Swahili civilisation consisted of hundreds of settlements and linked the societies and kingdoms of the interior, such as those of the Zambezi basin and the Great Lakes, to the wider Indian Ocean trade.[37]: 614–615  There is much debate around the chronology of the settlement of Madagascar, although most scholars agree that the island was further settled by Austronesian peoples from the 5th or 7th centuries AD who had proceeded through or around the Indian Ocean by outrigger boats, to also settle the Comoros.[38][39] This second wave possibly found the island of Madagascar sparsely populated by descendants of the first wave a few centuries earlier, with the Vazimba of the interior's highlands being revered and featuring prominently in Malagasy oral traditions.

The Kilwa Sultanate in 1310

The wider region underwent an trade expansion from the 7th century, as the Swahili engaged in the flourishing Indian Ocean trade following the early Muslim conquests.[40]: 612–615  Settlements further centralised and some major states included Gedi, Ungwana, Pate, Malindi, Mombasa, and Tanga in the north, Unguja Ukuu on Zanzibar, Kaole, Dar es Salaam, Kilwa, Kiswere [de], Monapo, Mozambique, and Angoche in the middle, and Quelimane, Sofala, Chibuene, and Inhambane in the south.[41] Via mtumbwi [uk], mtepe and later ngalawa they exported gold, iron, copper, ivory, slaves, pottery, cotton cloth, wood, grain, and rice, and imported silk, glassware, jewellery, Islamic pottery, and Chinese porcelain.[42] Relations between the states fluctuated and varied, with Mombasa, Pate, and Kilwa emerging as the strongest. This prosperity led some Arab and Persian merchants to settle and assimilate into the various societies, and from the 8th to the 14th century the region gradually Islamised due to the increased trading opportunities it brought, with some oral traditions having rulers of Arab or Persian descent.[43]: 605–607  The Kilwa Chronicle, supposedly based on oral tradition, holds that a Persian prince from Shiraz arrived and acquired the island of Kilwa from the local inhabitants, before quarrel with the Bantu king led to the severing Kilwa's land bridge to the mainland. Settlements in northern Madagascar such as Mahilaka [de], Irodo, and Iharana also engaged in the trade, attracting Arab immigration.[44] Bantu migrated to Madagascar and the Comoros from the 9th century, when zebu were first brought. From the 10th century Kilwa expanded its influence, coming to challenge the dominance of Somalian Mogadishu located to its north, however details of Kilwa's rise remain scarce. In the late 12th century Kilwa wrestled control of Sofala in the south, a key trading city linking to Great Zimbabwe in the interior and famous for its Zimbabwean gold, which was substantial in the usurpation of Mogadishu's hegemony, while also conquering Pemba and Zanzibar. Kilwa's administration consisted of representatives who ranged from governing their assigned cities to fulfilling the role of ambassador in the more powerful ones. Meanwhile the Pate Chronicle has Pate conquering Shanga, Faza, and prosperous Manda, and was at one time led by the popular Fumo Liyongo.[45] The islands of Pemba, Zanzibar, Lamu, Mafia and the Comoros were further settled by Shirazi and grew in importance due to their geographical positions for trade.

By 1100, all regions of Madagascar were inhabited, although the total population remained small.[46]: 48  Societies organised at the behest of hasina, which later evolved to embody kingship, and competed with one another over the island's estuaries, with oral histories describing bloody clashes and earlier settlers often pushed along the coast or inland.[47]: 43, 52–53  An Arab geographer wrote in 1224 that the island "comprises of a great many towns and kingdoms. Each king makes war on the other".[48]: 51–52  Assisted by climate change, the peoples gradually transformed the island from dense forest to grassland for cultivation. Oral traditions of the central highlands describe encountering an earlier population called the Vazimba, thought to have been the first settlers of Madagsacar, represented as primitive dwarfs.[49]: 71  From the 13th century Muslim settlers arrived, integrating into the respective societies, and held high status owing to Islamic trading networks.

Kilwa had grown by the 15th century to encompass Mombasa, Malindi, Inhambane, Zanzibar, Mafia, Grande Comore, and Mozambique. They first made contact with Portuguese explorers in 1497.[50]

African Great Lakes

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References

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  2. ^ Mekouria, Tekle-Tsadik (1988). "The Horn of Africa". General History of Africa: Volume 3. UNESCO.
  3. ^ Miran, Jonathan (2022-04-20), "Red Sea Slave Trade", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-868, ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4, retrieved 2024-09-08
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  40. ^ Masao, Fidelis; Mutoro, Henry (1988). "The East African coast and the Comoro Islands". General History of Africa: Volume 3.
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  43. ^ Masao, Fidelis; Mutoro, Henry (1988). "The East African coast and the Comoro Islands". General History of Africa: Volume 3.
  44. ^ Ichumbaki, Elgidius; Pollard, Edward (2021). "The Swahili Civilization in Eastern Africa". Oxford Research Encyclopedias: Anthropology.
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  46. ^ Randrianja, Solofo (2009). "Transforming the island (1100-1599)". Madagascar: A short history. University of Chicago Press.
  47. ^ Randrianja, Solofo (2009). "Transforming the island (1100-1599)". Madagascar: A short history. University of Chicago Press.
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  49. ^ Randrianja, Solofo (2009). "Transforming the island (1100-1599". Madagascar: A short history. University of Chicago Press.
  50. ^ Kevin Shillington (1995). History of Africa. St. Martin's press. pp. 126. ISBN 978-0312125981.
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