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A second factor in Somali history from …
Years: 1396 - 1539
A second factor in Somali history from the fifteenth century onward, in addition to southward migration, is the emergence of centralized state systems.
The most important of these in medieval times is Adal, whose influence at the height of its power and prosperity in the sixteenth century extends from Zeila, the capital, through the fertile valleys of the Jijiga and the Harer plateau to the Ethiopian highlands.
Adal's fame derives not only from the prosperity and cosmopolitanism of its people, its architectural sophistication, graceful mosques, and high learning, but also from its conflicts with the expansionist Ethiopians.
For hundreds of years before the fifteenth century, goodwill had existed between the dominant new civilization of Islam and the Christian neguses of Ethiopia.
One tradition holds that Muhammad blessed Ethiopia and enjoined his disciples from ever conducting jihad (holy war) against the Christian kingdom in gratitude for the protection early Muslims had received from the Ethiopian negus.
Whereas Muslim armies rapidly overran the more powerful Persian empire and much of Byzantium soon after the birth of Islam, there would be no jihad against Christian Ethiopia for centuries.
The forbidding Ethiopian terrain of deep gorges, sharp escarpments, and perpendicular massifs that rise more than fort-five hundred meters also discourages the Muslims from attempting a campaign of conquest against so inaccessible a kingdom.
The most important of these in medieval times is Adal, whose influence at the height of its power and prosperity in the sixteenth century extends from Zeila, the capital, through the fertile valleys of the Jijiga and the Harer plateau to the Ethiopian highlands.
Adal's fame derives not only from the prosperity and cosmopolitanism of its people, its architectural sophistication, graceful mosques, and high learning, but also from its conflicts with the expansionist Ethiopians.
For hundreds of years before the fifteenth century, goodwill had existed between the dominant new civilization of Islam and the Christian neguses of Ethiopia.
One tradition holds that Muhammad blessed Ethiopia and enjoined his disciples from ever conducting jihad (holy war) against the Christian kingdom in gratitude for the protection early Muslims had received from the Ethiopian negus.
Whereas Muslim armies rapidly overran the more powerful Persian empire and much of Byzantium soon after the birth of Islam, there would be no jihad against Christian Ethiopia for centuries.
The forbidding Ethiopian terrain of deep gorges, sharp escarpments, and perpendicular massifs that rise more than fort-five hundred meters also discourages the Muslims from attempting a campaign of conquest against so inaccessible a kingdom.
Locations
People
Groups
- Arab people
- Persian people
- Somalis
- Islam
- Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of
- Adal Sultanate
- Ottoman Empire
- Adal, Sultanate of
- Christians, Assyrian (Assyrian Church of the East)
- Adal Sultanate
- Abyssinia (also called "Mecca and Medina"), Ottoman eyalet of
- Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of
- Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of
- Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of
Topics
Subjects
Regions
Subregions
Related Events
Showing 1 events out of 1 total
Years: 1396 - 1539
Locations
People
Groups
- Arab people
- Persian people
- Somalis
- Islam
- Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of
- Adal Sultanate
- Ottoman Empire
- Adal, Sultanate of
- Christians, Assyrian (Assyrian Church of the East)
- Adal Sultanate
- Abyssinia (also called "Mecca and Medina"), Ottoman eyalet of
- Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of
- Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of
- Ethiopia, Solomonid Dynasty of
Topics
Subjects
Regions
Subregions