The Hadeya Sultanate or Kingdom was in southwestern part of Ethiopia. The kingdom was first mentioned in the Ethiopian historical epic, Kebra Nast, in the early fourteenth century. During the early 1300s, the polity is thought to have paid tribute to the Ethiopian Empire under the reign of Amda Tseyon. By 1531, the Muslim forces of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi of the Adal Sultanate formed an alliance with the Hadeya leaders going against the Ethiopian Kingdom. After a major victory over the Adal Sultanate, the Ethiopian Empire with the help of the Portuguese brought the Hadeya Kingdom back into the Ethiopian domination. Despite being under Ethiopian control, the Hadeya still rebelled and led insurrections. By the 17th century, Hadeya finally submitted allegiance to the Ethiopian Emperor.
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The exact date of the start of the Hadiya Sultanate is not specified in the consulted sources, but it is first mentioned in manuscript having been conquered by the Ethiopian Kingdom in 1316-17. “In a manuscript written on the island of Hayq, the monarch states that, after conquering Damot around 1316-7, he proceeded to Hadeya, and adds ‘God gave me all the people of Hadeya, men and women without number, whom I exiled into another area.’” [1] “By the late 17th century, the king of Hadeya had submitted to the rule of Abyssinia and many people embraced Christianity.” [2]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1997, 77) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection
[2]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 201) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection
“Hadiyya is an east Cushitic language that has 82 percent lexical similarity with Libido, 56 percent with Kambaata, 54 percent with Alaba, and 53 percent with Sidamo.” [1]
[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 201) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection
The Kingdom of Hadiya was nominally Muslim. “This marriage linked the nominally Muslim kingdom of Hadeya with the Christian Ethiopian Empire.” [1] “The province was inhabited by animist Sidama people, some of whom were converted to Islam.” [2]
[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection
[2]: (Pankhurst 1997, 77) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection
The Kingdom of Hadiya was nominally Muslim. “This marriage linked the nominally Muslim kingdom of Hadeya with the Christian Ethiopian Empire.” [1] “The province was inhabited by animist Sidama people, some of whom were converted to Islam.” [2]
[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection
[2]: (Pankhurst 1997, 77) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection
1.Emperor – “During the reign of Emperor Zara Yakob, there were new political problems in Hadeya.” [1] :2. Vizier/close advisor/queen ::“In sixteenth-century Hadeya in Ethiopia, for example, it was the queen who asked the Abyssinian emperor for assistance against an attempt to oust her husband.” [2] ::3. Lesser court officials (inferred from similar polities) :::4. Governor ::::“The governor and local chiefs refused to pay taxes to the emperor, who designated new officials and sent them to Hadeya with a large army.” [1] ::::5. Lesser provincial officials (inferred from similar polities) :::::6. Local Chiefs ::::::“The governor and local chiefs refused to pay taxes to the emperor, who designated new officials and sent them to Hadeya with a large army.” [1]
[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection
[2]: (Smith 2008, 123) Smith, Bonnie G. 2008. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/I3F72UG2/collection
The following quote suggests that markets were likely present as the Hadiya Sultanate contributed to the slave trade and imported slaves into the Sultanate. “Hadeya was much involved in the slave trade, for it imported slaves from the ‘country of infidels’, presumably nearby Christian or ‘pagan lands’.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1997, 79) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection
Churches. “In the 1520s, Emperor Lebna Dengel led an expedition to Hadeya and ordered the construction of many churches and monasteries.” [1]
[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection
The following quote suggests that roads were likely present as the Hadiya Sultanate contributed to the slave trade and imported slaves into the Sultanate. “Hadeya was much involved in the slave trade, for it imported slaves from the ‘country of infidels’, presumably nearby Christian or ‘pagan lands’.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1997, 79) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection
The following quote suggests that trading emporia were likely present as the Hadiya Sultanate contributed to the slave trade and imported slaves into the Sultanate. “Hadeya was much involved in the slave trade, for it imported slaves from the ‘country of infidels’, presumably nearby Christian or ‘pagan lands’.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1997, 79) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection
The Bible. “In the 1520s, Emperor Lebna Dengel led an expedition to Hadeya and ordered the construction of many churches and monasteries.” [1]
[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection
The following quote suggests that there was religious literature present. “In the 1520s, Emperor Lebna Dengel led an expedition to Hadeya and ordered the construction of many churches and monasteries.” [1]
[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection
“Hadeya was then apparently well known to the Ethiopian body politic. This is suggested by Ethiopia’s medieval epic the Kebra Nagast, or Glory of Kings, which though written at Aksum in the far north of the empire, makes reference to the province.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1997, 78) Pankhurst, Richard. 1997. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F5TE8HH5/collection
Islamic calendar. “The twelve months of the Islamic calendar, in order are as follows (1) Muharram; (2) Safar; (3) Rab’I al-Awwal; (4) Rab’i al-Akhir (or al-Thani); (5) Jumada ‘l-Ula; (6) Jumada ‘l-Akhira; (7) Rajab (8) Sha’ban; (9) Ramadan; (10) Shawwal; (11) Dhu’-Qa’da and (12) Dhu ‘l Hijja.” [1]
[1]: (Hanne 2006, 196) Hanne, Eric. 2006. ‘Dates and Calendars’ In Medieval Islamic Civilizations: A-K, Index. By Josef W. Meri. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Dates%20and%20Calendars/titleCreatorYear/items/8BDKDQRX/item-list
Iron. “Its inhabitants used iron as a primitive form of currency.” [1]
[1]: (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection
The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Hadiya Sultanate. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection
The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the volume measurements were likely present in the Hadiya Sultanate. “Volume was sometimes expressed by means of similes rather than by employing units of capacity. This was done by likening an amount of the article to be measured to a) various parts of the human body, b) well known objects, such as grains of corn, beans, lemons and the like, or c) by using other descriptive concepts.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1969, 161) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part II’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 7:2. Pp 99-164. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MZQWWA6Z/collection
Islamic calendar. “The twelve months of the Islamic calendar, in order are as follows (1) Muharram; (2) Safar; (3) Rab’I al-Awwal; (4) Rab’i al-Akhir (or al-Thani); (5) Jumada ‘l-Ula; (6) Jumada ‘l-Akhira; (7) Rajab (8) Sha’ban; (9) Ramadan; (10) Shawwal; (11) Dhu’-Qa’da and (12) Dhu ‘l Hijja.” [1]
[1]: (Hanne 2006, 196) Hanne, Eric. 2006. ‘Dates and Calendars’ In Medieval Islamic Civilizations: A-K, Index. By Josef W. Meri. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Dates%20and%20Calendars/titleCreatorYear/items/8BDKDQRX/item-list
The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the length measurements were likely present in the Hadiya Sultanate. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection
The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the area measurements were likely present in the Hadiya Sultanate. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection