Dakkar (Harari: ደከር Däkkär), also known as Dakar, or Deker, was an historical Muslim town located in present-day eastern Ethiopia. It served as the first capital of the Adal Sultanate after its founding in the early 15th century by Sabr ad-Din III.[1]

The writer of the sixteenth century chronicle "Futuh al-Habasha" Arab Faqīh suggests it was in close proximity with Harar.[2] Enrico Cerulli, Bahru Zewde and other historians identify Dakkar as being located one km southeast of Harar.[3][4][5][6][7][8] However, Richard Pankhurst states that the city was situated near the village of Funyan Bira and G. W. B. Huntingford believes that it was in the town of Chinaksen near Jigjiga.[9][10]

History

The exact location of the town remains unknown and several locations have been suggested, but it is generally agreed that the town was somewhere in the Harar plateau. The city was established in the early 15th century by Sabr ad-Din III after he returned from his exile in Yemen. The town sat along the trade route to Zeila and served as the royal seat of the Walashma sultans.[11] However, in 1471 Emir Laday Usman marched to Dakkar and seized power. But Usman did not dismiss the Sultan from office, and instead gave him a ceremonial position while retaining the real power for himself. Adal now came under the leadership of the powerful regional aristocracy who governed from the palace of a nominal Sultan.[12][13][14]

In 1478, the Ethiopian Emperor Eskender invaded Adal and marched towards Dakkar where he burnt the town to the ground. All of its mosques and buildings were looted and destroyed by the Abyssinians which caused great damage to the town.[15] The city was also sacked during emperor Lebna Dengel's raids on Adal subsequently laying waste to Sultan Muhammad ibn Azhar ad-Din's residence.[16]

After the death of Mahfuz, Adal would fall into a succession crisis and Sultan Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad would rise to power. Sultan Abu Bakr then relocated the capital of Adal to Harar in 1520.[17][18] Dakkar was reportedly surrounded by ramparts by the late sixteenth century.[19] According to Harari records during the Oromo invasions, Dakkar was destroyed alongside other states such as Gidaya and Hargaya.[20][21] Antoine d'Abbadie notes that the Barento Oromo had occupied Dakkar from the Bursuuk which they had integrated in their mythology.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. ^ Dakar. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
  2. ^ Chekroun, Amelie (2022). "Harar as the capital city of the Barr Saʿd ad-Dīn (first half of the 16th century): from its emergence to its fortification". Annales d'Éthiopie. 34: 28. doi:10.3406/ethio.2022.1710. S2CID 259468094.
  3. ^ Fani, Sara. Scribal Practices in Arabic Manuscripts from Ethiopia: The ʿAjamization of Scribal Practices in Fuṣḥā and ʿAjamī Manuscripts from Harar (PDF). University of Copenhagen. p. 148.
  4. ^ Mordechai, Abir (28 October 2013). Ethiopia and the Red Sea The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim European Rivalry in the Region. Taylor & Francis. p. 27. ISBN 9781136280900.
  5. ^ Zewde, Bahru (1998). A Short History of Ethiopia and the Horn. Addis Ababa University. p. 74.
  6. ^ Cerulli, Enrico. Islam yesterday and today. p. 156.
  7. ^ Braukamper, Ulrich (2002). Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia. LitVerlag. p. 114. ISBN 9783825856717.
  8. ^ Cambridge History of Africa (PDF). Cambridge University Press. p. 149.
  9. ^ Huntingford, G.W.B (1955). "Arabic Inscriptions in Southern Ethiopia". Antiquity. Antiquity Publications. 29 (116): 233. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00021955. S2CID 163349172.
  10. ^ Pankhurst, Richard (1982). History Of Ethiopian Towns. Steiner. p. 49. ISBN 9783515032049.
  11. ^ Pankhurst, Richard (1997). The Ethiopian Borderlands Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Red Sea Press. p. 165. ISBN 9780932415196.
  12. ^ Trimingham, John (2007). "Islam in Ethiopia". Basic Reference. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 28: 167. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  13. ^ Hassan, Mohammed. The Oromo of Ethiopia, 1500-1850 (PDF). University of London. pp. 24–25.
  14. ^ zum (2007). "Event Documentation". Basic Reference. USA: AGCEEP. 28: 217–229. doi:10.1017/S0020743800063145. S2CID 154765577. Archived from the original on 2011-09-13. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  15. ^ Pankhurst, Richard (1982). History Of Ethiopian Towns. Steiner. p. 49. ISBN 9783515032049.
  16. ^ Ullendorff, Edward (1960). The Ethiopians; an Introduction to Country and People. Oxford University Press. p. 72.
  17. ^ Chekroun, Amélie (2015). "Dakar, capitale du sultanat éthiopien du Barr Sa'd ad-dīn (1415-1520)". Cahiers d'Études africaines (219): 569–586. doi:10.4000/etudesafricaines.18225. S2CID 146150639.
  18. ^ Wagner, Ewald (1991). "The Genealogy of the later Walashma' Sultans of Adal and Harar". Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft. Harrassowitz Verlag. 141 (2): 376–386. JSTOR 43378336.
  19. ^ Mercier, Héloïse (2022). "Writing and rewriting history from Harar to Awsa : a reappraisal of the Taʾrīkh al-mulūk". Annales d'Éthiopie. 34: 55. doi:10.3406/ethio.2022.1711. S2CID 259459914.
  20. ^ Zekaria, Ahmed (1997). "SOME NOTES ON THE ACCOUNT-BOOK OF AMĪR ʿABD AL-SHAKŪR B. YŪSUF (1783-1794) OF HARAR". Sudanic Africa. Brill. 8: 18. JSTOR 25653296.
  21. ^ Nur b. Mugahid. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
  22. ^ Chekroun, Amélie (2015-10-05). "Dakar, capitale du sultanat éthiopien du Barr Sa'd ad-dīn (1415-1520)". Cahiers d'études africaines (in French) (219): 569–586. doi:10.4000/etudesafricaines.18225. ISSN 0008-0055. S2CID 146150639.
  23. ^ Abbadie, Antoine d' (1890). Géographie de l'Ethiopie: ce que j'ai entendu, faisant suite à ce que j'ai vu (in French). Mesnil. p. 307.
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