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
| Year Range | Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate) was in: |
|---|
Within the consulted literature there seems to be different dates for when the Sultanate of Shoa originated. “We have seen above the early formation of the Sultanate of Shoa, which was already established by the first years of the twelfth century. This sultanate derived its origin from the well-known Mahzumite family of Mecca, and it lasted until the last quarter of the thirteenth century.” [1] “Then, in the year 1108, it is reported that there took place ‘the conversion of Gbbah’ to Islam, in the reign of Sultan Harab’ir. It has not been possible to give a secure identification of the area (or people) called Gbbah. But Trimingham has recently made an interesting suggestion that the term may refer to a people who were probably ancestral to those later known as Argobba. This is a very tempting suggestion and, geographically, it makes very good sense. The Argobba were a Semitic-speaking group who lived in the eastern foothills of the Shoan plateau in the Harar area. Their Semitic language also makes them a very good candidate for the proposed identification, because an analysis of the names of the princes in the chronical has also convinced Cerulli that an Ethiopian Semitic language was spoke in the Sultanate of Shoa.” [2] “The territories of Ifat and Mahzumite Shoa had common frontiers, and in 1271 ‘Umar Walasma gave a daughter in marriage to one of the quarrelsome Mahzumite princes of Shoa. The marriage alliance did not last for long, and Ifat and Shoa plunged into a series of armed conflicts which resulted in the complete annexation of the Sultanate of Shoa by ‘Umar Walasma in 1285.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 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
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 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
“The territories of Ifat and Mahzumite Shoa had common frontiers, and in 1271 ‘Umar Walasma gave a daughter in marriage to one of the quarrelsome Mahzumite princes of Shoa. The marriage alliance did not last for long, and Ifat and Shoa plunged into a series of armed conflicts which resulted in the complete annexation of the Sultanate of Shoa by ‘Umar Walasma in 1285.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 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
“Its Arabic chronicle, published by Enrico Cerulli, gives the impression that, towards the end of its history at any rate, the so-called ‘Sultanate of Shoa’ was merely a loose confederation of petty Muslim principalities.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 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
"The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy." [1] “A local Arabic chronicle, edited and translated by Enrico Cerulli in 1941, preserves the tradition that the first Mahzumite prince of the so-called ’sultanate of Shoa’ began to rule in the last decade of the ninth century [...] Despite the above tradition of the chronicle, it is improbable that the state was actually formed as early as the ninth century.” [2] “Then, in the year 1108, it is reported that there took place ‘the conversion of Gbbah’ to Islam, in the reign of Sultan Harab’ir. It has not been possible to give a secure identification of the area (or people) called Gbbah. But Trimingham has recently made an interesting suggestion that the term may refer to a people who were probably ancestral to those later known as Argobba. This is a very tempting suggestion and, geographically, it makes very good sense. The Argobba were a Semitic-speaking group who lived in the eastern foothills of the Shoan plateau in the Harar area. Their Semitic language also makes them a very good candidate for the proposed identification, because an analysis of the names of the princes in the chronical has also convinced Cerulli that an Ethiopian Semitic language was spoke in the Sultanate of Shoa.” [3]
[1]: (Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 106) 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
[3]: (Tamrat 2008, 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
"The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy." [1] “A local Arabic chronicle, edited and translated by Enrico Cerulli in 1941, preserves the tradition that the first Mahzumite prince of the so-called ’sultanate of Shoa’ began to rule in the last decade of the ninth century [...] Despite the above tradition of the chronicle, it is improbable that the state was actually formed as early as the ninth century.” [2] “Then, in the year 1108, it is reported that there took place ‘the conversion of Gbbah’ to Islam, in the reign of Sultan Harab’ir. It has not been possible to give a secure identification of the area (or people) called Gbbah. But Trimingham has recently made an interesting suggestion that the term may refer to a people who were probably ancestral to those later known as Argobba. This is a very tempting suggestion and, geographically, it makes very good sense. The Argobba were a Semitic-speaking group who lived in the eastern foothills of the Shoan plateau in the Harar area. Their Semitic language also makes them a very good candidate for the proposed identification, because an analysis of the names of the princes in the chronical has also convinced Cerulli that an Ethiopian Semitic language was spoke in the Sultanate of Shoa.” [3]
[1]: (Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 106) 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
[3]: (Tamrat 2008, 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
"The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy." [1] “A local Arabic chronicle, edited and translated by Enrico Cerulli in 1941, preserves the tradition that the first Mahzumite prince of the so-called ’sultanate of Shoa’ began to rule in the last decade of the ninth century [...] Despite the above tradition of the chronicle, it is improbable that the state was actually formed as early as the ninth century.” [2] “Then, in the year 1108, it is reported that there took place ‘the conversion of Gbbah’ to Islam, in the reign of Sultan Harab’ir. It has not been possible to give a secure identification of the area (or people) called Gbbah. But Trimingham has recently made an interesting suggestion that the term may refer to a people who were probably ancestral to those later known as Argobba. This is a very tempting suggestion and, geographically, it makes very good sense. The Argobba were a Semitic-speaking group who lived in the eastern foothills of the Shoan plateau in the Harar area. Their Semitic language also makes them a very good candidate for the proposed identification, because an analysis of the names of the princes in the chronical has also convinced Cerulli that an Ethiopian Semitic language was spoke in the Sultanate of Shoa.” [3]
[1]: (Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 106) 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
[3]: (Tamrat 2008, 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
“The Sultanate of Shoa is the earliest Muslim political unit reported by local traditions known to us so far.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 106) 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
"The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy." [1]
[1]: (Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list
"The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy." [1]
[1]: (Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list
"The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy." [1]
[1]: (Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list
The Sultanate of Shoa was along import long-distance caravan routes which mostly likely linked to markets in town or cities. “It was on the long-distance caravan routes to these regions that the most viable Muslim communities were established.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 134) 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
E.g. markets. The Sultanate of Shoa was along import long-distance caravan routes which mostly likely linked to markets in town or cities. “It was on the long-distance caravan routes to these regions that the most viable Muslim communities were established.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 134) 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
“Moreover, the province was the only channel of communication with the fast-developing Muslim commercial states in the hinterland of Zeila, from where long distance trade routes went into the Ethiopian interior in various directions.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 130) 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
“The port of Zeila, the trading outlet from central Ethiopia, benefited enormously from this co-operation in a spirit of tolerance, it seems that, before seizing power, Yekuno-Amlak had made firm alliances with both the Muslim and Christian communities in Shoa.” [1]
[1]: (Ki-Zerbo 1998, 172) Ki-Zerbo, Joseph. 1998. UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Oakland: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/JMJS523J/library
Can be inferred from the existence of long-distance caravan routes “It was on the long-distance caravan routes to these regions that the most viable Muslim communities were established.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 134) 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
E.g. trading emporia which may be inferred from the existence of long-distance caravan routes. “It was on the long-distance caravan routes to these regions that the most viable Muslim communities were established.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 134) 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
“A local Arabic chronicle, edited and translated by Enrico Cerulli in 1941, preserves the tradition that the first Mahzumite prince of the so-called ’sultanate of Shoa’ began to rule in the last decade of the ninth century [...] Despite the above tradition of the chronicle, it is improbable that the state was actually formed as early as the ninth century.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 106) 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
"The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy." [1]
[1]: (Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list
The Arabic writing system is phonetic. "The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy." [1]
[1]: (Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list
The Quran. “Secondly, this sultanate is clearly seen actively promoting the expansion of Islam, as in the conversion of the Gbbah in the reign of Sultan Harbair’, as reported by the chronical.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 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
"The precise use of the Islamic calendar and of Arabic script and language are strong evidence of the presence of an Islamic scholarly elite. This literate elite is represented by the faqīh Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥasan, “ qāḍī al-quḍā (lit. “cadi of the cadis”) of Šawah” whose death occurred in 1255. The title “cadi of the cadis” refers to the judge at the head of the judiciary of a state or of a city, and therefore presupposes a sophisticated judicial hierarchy." [1]
[1]: (Chekroun and Hirsch 2020: 94-95) Seshat url: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/TA84VGHX/item-list
Many sources consulted reference a local Arabic historical chronicle that discusses the history of the Mahzumite Dynasty of the Shoa Sultanate. “A local Arabic chronicle, edited and translated by Enrico Cerulli in 1941, preserves the tradition that the first Mahzumite prince of the so-called ’sultanate of Shoa’ began to rule in the last decade of the ninth century [...] Despite the above tradition of the chronicle, it is improbable that the state was actually formed as early as the ninth century.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 106) 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
Cowrie shells were a ubiquitous form of currency in East Africa and gradually spread to West Africa during the Middle Ages. “As early as the 13th century, the proliferation of cowrie shells as a dominant currency had taken place, mainly because of their import into Africa from different areas. First, Arab traders imported cowry shells from areas around the Maldives islands and the Indian Ocean into North Africa and, later, into other parts of Africa.” [1]
[1]: (Tengan 2012, 122) Tengan, Alexis, B. 2012. ‘Currency (cowrie shells).’In Edward Ramsamy Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: an Encyclopedia. London: Sage Publications. Pp 122-123. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tengan/titleCreatorYear/items/FQU6UXTV/item-list
“Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties.” [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol. 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list
“Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties.” [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol. 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list
Islamic calendar. “The twelve months of the Islamic calendar in order, are as follows: (1) Muharram; (2) Safar; (3) Rabi’al-Awwal; (4) Rabi’al-Akhir (or al-Thani); (5) Jumada’l-Ula; (6) Jumada’l-Akhira; (7) Rajab; (8) Sha’ban; (9) Ramadan; (10) Shawwal; (11) Dhu’l-Qa’da; and (12) Dhu’l-Hijja. For administrative and agricultural reasons, medieval Muslims also used derivations of existing solar and/or fixed-month calendars from the region;” [1]
[1]: (Hanne 2006, 196) Hanne, Eric. 2006. ‘Dates and Calendars’ In Josef W. Meri Medieval Islamic Civilization: A-K Index. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8BDKDQRX/library
Due to maritime commerce and religious influences from Arab travellers it is highly plausible that Medieval Islamic ideas on time and science spread through elite Shoan society. “Early Muslim authors used the expression ‘science if the stars’ to refer to both astrology and astronomy. Soon, however, a distinction arose. Astrology was defined by Abu Ma’shar, as ‘the knowledge of the effects of the powers of the stars, at a given time, as well as at a future time’, and he labelled it ‘science of the decrees of the stars’. Astronomy proper became ‘science of the spheres’ or ‘(science of the [heavenly] configurations’).” [1]
[1]: (Blake 2016, 25) Blake, Stephen P. 2016. Astronomy and Astrology in the Islamic World. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Blake/titleCreatorYear/items/W2V6MXH8/item-list
“Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties.” [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol. 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list