Home Region: East Africa (Africa)

Shoa Sultanate

1108 CE 1285 CE

D G SC R

New EA et_showa_sultanate

Preceding Entity:

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Succeeding Entity:

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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

General Variables

Identity and Location

1 Utm Zone

1 Original Name

5 Alternative Name

Temporal Bounds

1 Duration

Political and Cultural Relations

1 Suprapolity Relations

1 Succeeding Entity

1 Degree of Centralization

Language

1 Linguistic Family

3 Language

Religion

1 Religious Tradition

Social Complexity Variables

Social Scale

Hierarchical Complexity

Professions

Bureaucracy Characteristics

Law

1 Judge

1 Formal Legal Code

1 Court

Specialized Buildings: polity owned

1 Market

1 Utilitarian Public Building

Transport Infrastructure

1 Road

1 Port

Special-purpose Sites

1 Trading Emporia

1 Special Purpose Site

Information / Writing System

1 Written Record

1 Script

1 Phonetic Alphabetic Writing

Information / Kinds of Written Documents

1 Sacred Text

1 Religious Literature

1 History

1 Calendar

Information / Money

1 Token

Information / Postal System

Information / Measurement System

1 Weight Measurement System

1 Volume Measurement System

1 Time Measurement System

1 Other Measurement System

1 Length Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)

Fortifications

Military use of Metals

Projectiles

Handheld weapons

Animals used in warfare

Armor

Naval technology

Economy Variables (Luxury Goods) Coding in Progress.

Religion Variables Coding in Progress.

Crisis Consequence Cases Coding in Progress.

Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

Instability Events

13 Instability Event

General Variables

Identity and Location Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Utm Zone	37 N	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Original Name	Shoa Sultanate	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Alternative Name	Shawa	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Alternative Name	Shewa	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Alternative Name	Showa	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Alternative Name	Makhzumi Dynasty	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Alternative Name	Mahzumite Dynasty	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Temporal Bounds Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More
Duration	[1108 CE ➜ 1285 CE]
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Political and Cultural Relations Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Suprapolity Relations	none	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Succeeding Entity	Ifat Sulanate	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Degree of Centralization	confederated state	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Language Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Linguistic Family	Afro-Asiatic	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Language	Arabic	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Language	Harari	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Language	Argobba	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Religion Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Religious Tradition	Islam	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Social Complexity Variables

Social Scale Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Hierarchical Complexity Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Professions Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Bureaucracy Characteristics Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Law Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Judge	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Formal Legal Code	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Court	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Specialized Buildings: polity owned Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Market	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Utilitarian Public Building	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Transport Infrastructure Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Road	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Port	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Special-purpose Sites Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Trading Emporia	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Special Purpose Site	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Information / Writing System Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Written Record	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Script	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Information / Kinds of Written Documents Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Sacred Text	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Religious Literature	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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History	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Calendar	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Information / Money Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Token	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Information / Postal System Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Information / Measurement System Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Weight Measurement System	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Volume Measurement System	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Time Measurement System	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Other Measurement System	Present Inferred	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Length Measurement System	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)

Fortifications Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Military use of Metals Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Projectiles Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Handheld weapons Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Animals used in warfare Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Armor Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Naval technology Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)

Religion Variables

Moralizing Supernatural Punishment and Reward Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Moralizing Enforcement is Broad	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Moralizing Supernatural Concern is Primary	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Agentic	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement in This Life	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Moralizing Supernatural Punishment And Reward	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Commoners	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Targeted	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement in Afterlife	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Elites	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement of Rulers	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Certain	Present	1108 CE 1285 CE
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Human Sacrifice Shoa Sultanate (et_showa_sultanate)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More