Adal was situated east of the province of Ifat and was a general term for a region inhabited by Muslims.[7][8] According to
Portuguese explorer
Francisco Alvarez, Adal in 1520 bordered on the Abyssinian frontier province of
Fatagar in the west and stretched to
Cape Guardafui in the east.[9] He further stated that it was confined by the
Kingdom of Dankali in the north west and that the leaders of Adal were considered saints by the locals for their warfare with neighboring Abyssinia.[10]
According to Ewald Wagner, Adal region was historically the area stretching from Zeila to
Harar.[14] In the 1800s Catholic missionary Stanely states Adal is situated west of Zeila.[15] Dr.
Duri Mohammed asserts the lowlands outside the city of
Harar is known as
Aw Abdal where Imams traditionally led prayer.[16] According to Amélie Chekroun, Adal designated the region east of the
Awash River, replacing Ifat as the Muslim power which had come under Ethiopian Christian control in the 1300s. The Christian state under
Menelik II's invasion during the 1800s for the first time in its history maintained control in Adal therefore incorporating it into modern
Ethiopia.[17][18]
Semi legendary foundation
Eidal (Abdal) becomes
Emir of the region succeeding saint
Barkhadle in AD 1067 following a victory against a
Persian.[19]
After two days he sent some of the horsemen to Hararge to the Sarif Idal, and (this) came (to him) with 150 horsemen. He and the Imam started the war against the army of al-Kanis Mari in the land of Bissidimo. The war broke out for four days until they reached the land of Kurummi. When Sarif Idal reached her, he cut off her head and hung her on lances. She had 200 riders with her, all of whom God quickly sent into the fire of hell. The Imam returned (with) Sarif Idal after killing her and was called Emir Idal. He entered Hararge with 500 riders, praising God and cheering with innumerable and incalculable booty.
— Yahya Nasrallah, Fath Madinat Harar
History
Earliest reference to Adal is in 1288 shortly before the collapse of the
Makhzumi dynasty when the region was invaded by Sultan
Walasma of Ifat. Adal is also mentioned by
Marco Polo in 1295 as a state continuously in conflict with Abyssinia.[20] According to fourteenth century
Arab historian
Al Umari, Adal was one of the founding regions of the
Ifat Sultanate alongside
Biqulzar, Shewa, Kuljura, Shimi, Jamme and Laboo.[21] In the fourteenth century Emperor
Amda Seyon of Ethiopia battled against Adal leader Imam
Salih who allied with
Jamal ad-Din I of Ifat.[22][23]
In the late fourteenth century rebel leaders of Ifat
Haqq ad-Din II and
Sa'ad ad-Din II relocated their base to the Harari plateau in Adal forming a new Sultanate at
Dakkar.[24][25][26][27][28][29] This new
Adal Sultanate encompassed the modern city of
Harar.[30][31][32][33][34][35] According to
Arabic texts Coffee was introduced into
Arabia by the
Arab brother in-law of Sa'ad ad-Din II, Ali bin Omar al-
Shadhili which he became familiar with during his brief stay in Adal.[36] According to
Harari tradition numerous
Argobba people had fled Ifat and settled around Harar in the Aw Abdal lowlands during their conflict with Abyssinia in the fifteenth century, a gate was thus named after them called the
gate of Argobba.[37] In this period the Walasma dynasty of Ifat initiated a series of marriage alliances with the leaders of Adal.[38]
Adal had friendly trade relations with Abyssinia during the reign of
Sahle Selassie in early 1840s which led to a delegate from Harar referred to as "Abdal Wanag" (lion of Adal) administrating the Abyssinian town of
Aliyu Amba.[43][44] In 1842 British traveler
Charles Johnston described
Harar as the last city of Adal.[45] Adal state would be annexed by Ethiopia in the late 1800s during
Menelik II's invasion after the
Battle of Chelenqo.[46]
In the 1900s the designated emperor of Ethiopia
Lij Iyasu is stated to have entered into marriage alliances with the peoples of Adal. Iyasu married the daughter of a Somali noble, the daughter of an Afar descended from the governor of Zeila as well as the daughter of
Abdullahi Sadiq, a Harari aristocrat.[47]
Inhabitants
Clans of Adal mentioned in the fourteenth century Emperor
Amda Seyon I chronicles during the Ethiopian invasion included;
Wargar, Tiqo, Paguma, Labakala and
Gabala.[48]
In the fifteenth century Emperor
Zara Yaqob chronicle, the
Harla people are mentioned as the traders of Adal.[49] Harla are considered to be the main population of Adal.[50] However, according to historian
Enrico Cerulli, Harla people who originate from the
Harari region were assimilated by
Somalis following the decline of the Adal principalities.[51] Harla inhabitants of Adal occupied modern
Afar Region in Ethiopia also suffered similar fates by adopting
Afar identity in the seventeenth century.[52]
According to Professor Lapiso Delebo, the contemporary
Harari people are heirs to the ancient Semitic speaking peoples of the Adal region.[53] Historians state the language spoken by the people of Adal as well as its rulers the Imams and Sultans would closely resemble contemporary
Harari language.[54][55][56][57] According to
Bahru Zewde and others the Walasma state of Adal in the fourteenth century primarily included the Semitic speaking Harari and
Argobba people, however it also began including some portions of Somali and Afar people.[58][59][60][61][62] The agriculture practicing population of Adal were exclusively Harla and Harari people.[63][64]
According to Archaeologist Jorge Rodriguez, the
Somalis were periphery peoples of the Adal state.[65]
^Mohammed, Duri (4 December 1955).
The Mugads of Harar(PDF). University College of Addis Abeba Ethnological Bulletin. p. 1. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 2021-07-10. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
^Dilebo, Lapiso (2003).
An introduction to Ethiopian history from the Megalithism Age to the Republic, circa 13000 B.C. to 2000 A.D. Commercial Printing Enterprise. p. 41. under the pressure of the neighboring nomads, the Adalite Sultanate was divided into the two regional entities of the Harar Emirate of Adal and the Awssa Sulanate of Adal. The Harer Emirate of Adal, despite the pressure of the Oromo and Somali nomads managed to survive within the walled city of Harar. However the Awssa Sultanate of Adal in the north was overrun by the Afar nomads in the 17th century.
^Dilebo, Lapiso (2003).
An introduction to Ethiopian history from the Megalithism Age to the Republic, circa 13000 B.C. to 2000 A.D. Commercial Printing Enterprise. p. 41. Like their direct descendants, the Adares of today , the people of ancient Shewa, Yifat, Adal, Harar and Awssa were semitic in their ethnic and linguistic origins. They were neither Somalis nor Afar. But the Somali and Afar nomads were the local subjects of the Adal.
^"Ethnology". CNRS research (7–10): 12. Adal with its ancient, mostly ruined, cities and its remains of ancient peoples, such as the Ar- gobba, the Harla, and the Adare.
^Rodriguez, Jorge (2022).
"The Medieval Archaeology of Somaliland". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Oxford University Press.
doi:
10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.566.
ISBN978-0-19-085458-4. The influence of the Muslim states of Ifat and Adal must have been very shallow: this region is described as "the land of the Somalis" in the medieval texts (Stenhouse 2003, 15), indicating that it was outside the control of Adal and Ahmed Gragn had to conduct several military expeditions to reassure his authority upon the Somali tribes.