Shoa Sultanate

  General Description   The Shoa Sultanate is the first and earliest known Muslim political kingdom known in the region of Ethiopia. Within the consulted literature, there is a discrepancy regarding the date of origin for this Sultanate. Some scholars refer to a local Arab historical chronicle that uses the date 897 CE for when the first Muhzumite leader founded the Sultanate. Other scholars such as, Taddesse Tamrat, argue that the sultanate was created later in the ninth or tenth centuries. As mentioned above, the Shoa Sultanate was the kingdom of the Muhzumite Dynasty, therefore its rulers were either Muhzumite sultans or princes. The territory of the sultanate remains unclear, but scholars consulted suggest that its region included the eastern part of the Shoan plateau and extended east along the Awash River. ^[1]
Other scholars have reasoned that the Gulf of Aden port, Zeila was equally important for the Shoan Sultanate. ^[2] The Sultanate seems to have been an important commercial kingdom which was well situated along vital trade routes from the sea to the interior of Ethiopia. With regard to population numbers, the consulted sources do not mention any figures on the topic. Tamrat has argued that during the twelfth century the Shoa Sultanate was actively expanding its Muslim territory within the interior of Ethiopia, therefore sparking the first conflicts with the Christian kingdoms of the region. Within the later part of the twelfth century the Shoa Sultanate became a loose confederation of Muslim principalities which were constantly at odds with one another. This continuous infighting also led to conflicts with other Muslim states, particularly the rulers of Ifat. War between the Ifat and the Shoan dynasties led to the complete annexation of Shoa by the newly formed Ifat Sultanate by ‘Umar Walasma in 1285. ^[3]

[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 106- 107) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list

[2]: (Levtzion and Pouwels 2000, 228) Levtzion, Nehemia and Randall Pouwels. 2000. History of Islam in Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/R3XRWJBX/library

[3]: (Tamrat 2008, 106; 140) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list