Sultanate of Aussa | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1734–1936[1] | |||||||||||
 Flag | |||||||||||
.png) Aussa on modern map of Africa | |||||||||||
| Capital | Aussa | ||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
| Sultan | |||||||||||
• 1734–1749 | Kedafu | ||||||||||
• 1927–1936 | Mahammad Yayyo | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern period toInterwar period | ||||||||||
• Established | 1734 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1936[1] | ||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
• Total | 76,868 km2 (29,679 sq mi) | ||||||||||
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| Today part of | Ethiopia Eritrea Djibouti | ||||||||||
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TheSultanate of Aussa was a kingdom that existed in theAfar Triangle in southernEritrea, easternEthiopia and westernDjibouti from the 18th to the 20th century. It was considered to be the leading monarchy of theAfar people, to whom the other Afar rulers nominally acknowledged primacy.
Throughout the region’s history the Afar were lauded as great warriors whose slaying was held in higher regard than that of the Oromos to the soldiers of theKingdom of Shewa.[2] Theexpanding Ethiopians laid claim to the region but were met with harsh resistance due to the Afar's skills in desert warfare and that the Abyssinians were a highlander people "unsuited by nature to operations in these hot and feverish lowlands - To subdue them would indeed prove no easy task, taking into consideration the waterless nature of their country away from the (Awash River) river, and the unhealthy conditions prevalent along its banks." Due to this, and more, theDanakil country managed to remain independent from theKhedivate of Egypt and autonomous within the laterEthiopian Empire, unlike other (similar) groups in the region and the previousDankali Sultanate.
The Sultan Yayyo visited Rome along with countless other nobility from across East Africa to support the creation ofItalian East Africa.[3] This marked the end of the region's independence and it was disestablished and incorporated into Italian East Africa as a part of theEritrea Governorate and theHarar Governorate.
Afar society has traditionally been divided into petty kingdoms, each ruled by its ownSultan.[4]
TheImamate of Aussa was carved out of theAdal Sultanate in 1577, when Muhammed Gasa moved his capital fromHarar toAussa (Asaita) with the split of the Adal Sultanate into Aussa.[5]
In 1647, the rulers of theEmirate of Harar broke away to form their own polity. The Imamate of Aussa was later destroyed by the localMudaitoAfar in 1672. Following the Awsa Imamate's demise, the Mudaito Afars founded their own kingdom, the Sultanate of Aussa. At some point after 1672, Aussa declined in conjunction with Imam Umar Din bin Adam's recorded ascension to the throne.[5]
In 1734, theAfar leader Data Kadafo, head of the Mudaito clan, seized power and established theMudaito dynasty after overthrowing theHarla led Adal Sultanate which had occupied the region since the thirteenth century.[6][7][8] This marked the start of a new and more sophisticated polity that would last into the colonial period.[8] The primary symbol of the Sultan was a silverbaton, which was considered to have magical properties.[9] The influence of the sultanate extended into the Danakil lowlands of what is nowEritrea.[10]
After 15 years of rule, Kadafo's son, Muhammäd Kadafo, succeeded him as Sultan. Muhammäd Kadafo three decades later bequeathed the throne to his own son, Aydahis, who in turn would reign for another twenty-two years. According toRichard Pankhurst, these relatively long periods of rule by modern standards pointed to a certain degree of political stability within the state.[8]
Aussa's prosperity was coveted by Afars from neighbouring lands and in particular the Debne-Wemas, the strongest of the southern Adoimara.[11] In the last decade of the 18th century they wished to capture the capital therefore they enlisted in the support of a number of Yemen matchlockmen from Aden. According to Krapf and Isenberg, were no less than a few hundred strong and enjoyed a complete monopoly of firepower.[12]
William Cornwallis Harris had stated that the town's defence was organised by the ruler Yusuf ibn Idjahis, a brave and martial sultan, whose armoury boasted several cannons and matchlocks. He claimed that the defenders caught the would-be attackers off guard, while they were sleeping and cut all the throats of "all save one".[13] The Debne-Wemas, according to this account were not intimidated by this reverse returned with fresh allies from the coast that they rallied and had achieved a murderous defeat of the Mudaitos. Yusuf was slain after which the town was sacked and the garrison was put to the sword.[11]
The instability from this invasion had caused the Aussa state to suffer greatly. Aussa, once an important place had lost much of its political significance but had remained an extensive encampment frequented by innumerable Afars and Somalis as a place for perpetual fairs.[11][14]
Sultan Mahammad ibn Hanfadhe defeated and killedWerner Munzinger in 1875, who was leading an Egyptian army into Ethiopia.[15]
In 1869, the newly unifiedItaly boughtAssab from a local Sultan (which became the colony ofEritrea in 1890), and led Sultan Mahammad to sign several treaties with that country. As a result, the Ethiopian EmperorMenelik II stationed an army near Aussa to "make sure the Sultan of Awsa would not honor his promise of full cooperation with Italy" during theFirst Italo–Ethiopian War.[16]
Count Tornielli declared to the Marquis of Salisbury that Article 5 of the treaty concluded between the Italians and the Sultan Mahammad Hanfare. That in a case of any other power trying to occupy Aussa or any parts of his territory, the Sultan must oppose it and declare that his nation is an Italian protectorate and must raise the Italian flag.[17] According to Article 3, the Sultan had recognised the whole Danakil coast from Amphila Bay to Ras Doumeira as an Italian possession and had conceded the territories of Gambo Kona and Ablis as a part of Italian Eritrea.[18][19]
During theSecond Italian-Ethiopian War, the Sultan Mahammad Yayyo agreed to cooperate with the Italian invaders.[20]
By 1 April 1936, Italian troops completed the occupation of the rich Sultanate of Aussa, bordering on French Somaliland.[1] As a result, in 1943 the reinstalled Ethiopian government sent a military expedition that captured Sultan Muhammad Yayyo and made one of his relatives Sultan.[21] Upon a visit to Rome, Sultan Mohamed Yayyo metBenito Mussolini and declared a speech of his loyalty towards the Italian Empire in Palazzo Venezia.[22]
Duce, dal tempo più lontano, la mia famiglia è stata nemica degli abissini, nemici della potente Italia. Mio nonno e mio padre sono sempre stati amici dell'Italia ed io, con il cuore e con la spada, sono un soldato dell'Impero italiano. Per la mia fedeltà ho chiesto il premio di vedervi. Oggi Vi vedo ed ho la gioia di ripetere a Voi il mio giuramento di fedeltà della gente della mia razza. Riporterò al mio Paese la Vostra immagine e la Vostra parola. Dio benedica la Vostra opera e ci mantenga sulla giusta via della Vostra Volontà. Io Vi offro questo tappeto che fu già del Negus Micael e che poi Ligg Jasu donò a mio padre: sono lieto che questo tappeto, fatto per i sovrani abissini, sia oggi proprietà del Fondatore dell'Impero
Duce, from the earliest times, my family has been an enemy of the Abyssinians, enemies of mighty Italy. My grandfather and my father have always been friends of Italy, and I with heart and sword, am a soldier of the Italian Empire. For my fidelity I have asked for the reward of seeing you Today I see you and I have the joy of repeating the oath to you of my allegiance of the people of my race. I will repeat your image and your word to my country. God bless your work and keep us on track way of your will. I offer you this carpet which was already by theNegus Mikael and which later,Lij Iyasu gifted to my father: I am delighted that this rug, made for the Abyssinian sovereigns, is today property of the Founder of the Empire.
Sultan Alimirah often came into conflict with the central government over its encroachment on the authority of the Sultanate. Aussa, which had been more-or-less self-governing until the Sultan's ascension in 1944, had been greatly weakened in power by the centralising forces of Haile Selassie's government. In 1950 he withdrew from Asaita for two years in opposition, returning only two after following mediation byFitawrari Yayyo.[23]The Sultan sought to unite the Afar people under an autonomous Sultanate, while remaining part of Ethiopia; they had been divided amongst the provinces ofHararghe,Shewa,Tigray, andWollo.[24]
In 1961, when it was clear theEritrean federal arrangement was headed towards its demise, 55 Afar chieftains in Eritrea met and endorsed the idea of an Ethiopian Afar autonomy. Following the dissolution of Eritrea's federal government and its transformation into a centrally-administered province, Afar leaders met again inAssab in 1963 and supported the creation of an autonomous region. In 1964, Afar leaders went to Addis Ababa to present Haile Selassie with their proposal, but the effort came up empty-handed.[24] Despite these encroachments and conflicts, the Sultan remained fundamentally loyal to the Emperor and Ethiopia; in turn, while he did not achieve the autonomous sultanate he desired, he enjoyed an appreciable level of autonomy in the areas of the Sultanate, almost unique amongst the many petty kingdoms incorporated into the Ethiopian state in the late 19th century. For example, while the government appointed a governor to theawrajja (district) of Aussa proper, the governor, rather than taking up residence in the capital ofAsaita, instead sat inBati, which was outside the district entirely.[25]
In 1975, SultanAlimirah Hanfare was exiled toSaudi Arabia, but returned after the fall of theDerg regime in 1991. Upon Alimirah Hanfere's death in 2011, his son Hanfere Alimirah was named his successor as sultan.[26]
The state religion of the kingdom was Sunni Islam. The religious elites of Aussa commonly carried the honorific title Kabir.[27]
Later in their history, the Denkel lowlands of Eritrea were part of the Sultanate of Aussa which came into being towards the end of the sixteenth century.
