66

The Sultans of Harar

912–1304/1506–1887

Harar, in south-eastern Ethiopia

1. The line of Ahmad Grāñ in Harar and Ausa

912/1506

Ahmad Grāñ b. Ibrāhīm, Imām, Ṣāḥib al-Fatḥ

950/1543

(Bat‘iah) Dël Wanbarā, Aḥmad Grāñ‘s widow, and his son ‘Alī Jarād, jointly

959/1552

Nūr b. Mujāhid, nephew of Aḥmad Grāñ, Ṣāḥib al-Fatḥ al-Thānī, d. 975/1567

975/1567

‘Uthmān

977/1569

Ṭalḥa b. ‘Abbās al-Wazīr, with the title of sultan

979/1571

Nāṣir b. ‘Uthmān

980/1572

Muḥammad b. Nāṣir, k. 985/1577

985/1577

Muhammad Jāsā, Imām, transferred his capital to Ausa, leaving his brother in Harar as his vizier there, k. 991/1583

993/1585

Sa‘d al-Dīn

1022/1613

Ṣabr al-Dīn b. Ādam, d. 1034/1625 or 1041/1632

1041/1632

Ṣādiq

1056/1646

Malāq Ādam b. Ṣādiq

1057/1647

Aḥmad b. al-Wazīr Abrām

1083-?/1672-?

Imam ‘Umar Dīn b. Ādam, overthrown by the ‘Afar at an unknown date

2. The line of ‘Alī b. Dāwūd in Harar, independent of Ausa

1057/1647

‘Alī b. Dāwūd

1073/1662

Hāshim b. ‘Alī

1081/1671

‘Abdallāh I b. ‘Alī

1111/1700

Ṭalḥa b. ‘Abdallāh

1134/1721

Abū Bakr I b. ‘Abdallāh

1144/1732

Khalaf b. Abī Bakr

1146/1733

Ḥāmid b. Abī Bakr

1160/1747

Yūsuf b. Abī Bakr

1169/1755

Aḥmad I b. Abī Bakr

⊘ 1197/1782

‘Abd al-Shakūr Muḥammad I b. Yūsuf

⊘ 1209/1794

Aḥmad II b. Muḥammad

1236/1820

‘Abd al-Raḥmān b. Muḥammad

⊘ 1240/1825

‘Abd al-Karīm b. Abī Bakr

⊘ 1250/1834

Abū Bakr II b. Aftal Jarād

⊘ 1268/1852

Aḥmad III b. Abī Bakr

⊘ 1272–92/1856–75

Muḥammad II b. ‘Alī

1292–1302/1875–85

Egyptian occupation

⊘ 1302–4/1885–6

‘Abdallāh II b. Muḥammad b. ‘Alī

1304/1887

Conquest by the Emperor Menelik of Ethiopia

Harar has been an ancient centre for Islam and its diffusion within the interior of the Horn of Africa, mainly among the Galla and Somali there, whereas the coastal areas have been Islamised from such maritime centres as Maqdishū (Mogadishu). (The names of many sultans of Mogadishu are known from coins, but their genealogical connections and their chronology are almost wholly obscure.) The Walashma‘ (Amharic, Walasma) sultanate of If at transferred itself to Harar in the early sixteenth century, and it was one of the commanders of the Walasma, Ahmad Grāñ (Amharic, ‘left-handed’), who upheld the Muslim cause in Ethiopia until his death in battle with Christian Ethiopian and Portuguese forces in 950/1543. Thereafter, various of his descendants ruled in Harar and Ausa until the mid-seventeenth century, when a new line of sultans, that of ‘Alī b. Dāwūd, took over power at Harar for over two centuries. The connection of the last sultans of this line, from ‘Abd al-Karīm b. Abī Bakr onwards, with the original line of ‘Alī Dāwūd is uncertain.

A Turco-Egyptian force occupied Harar in 1292/1875 and executed its sultan, and in 1304/1887 the Emperor Menelik captured Harar and incorporated it into the Ethiopian kingdom.

Zambaur, 89, 309 (fragmentary).

EL2‘Harar’ (E. Ullendorff).

R. Basset, ‘Chronologie des rois de Harar (1637–1887)’,JA, 11th series, 3 (March-April 1914), 245–58.

E. Cerulli, ‘Gli emiri di Harar dal secolo XVI alla conquista egiziana (1875)’, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, 2 (1942), 3–20.

E. Wagner, Legende und Geschichte. Der Fatḥ madīnat Harar von Yaḥyā Naṣralldh, Wiesbaden 1978.

Ahmed Zakaria, ‘Harari coins: a preliminary survey’, Journal of Ethiopian Studies, Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University, 24 (November 1991), 23–46.

If you find an error or have any questions, please email us at admin@erenow.org. Thank you!