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The Walashma dynasty was a medieval Muslim dynasty of the Horn of Africa founded in Ifat (modern eastern Shewa). Founded in the 13th century, it governed the Ifat and Adal Sultanate in what are present-day Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and eastern Ethiopia.
In 1332, the Sultan of Ifat, Haqq ad-Din I was slain in a military campaign against the Abyssinian Emperor Amda Seyon's troops. Amda Seyon then appointed Jamal ad-Din as the new King, followed by Jamal ad-Din's brother Nasr ad-Din. The Glorious Victories, p. 107. Despite this setback, the Muslim rulers of Ifat continued their campaign. The Abyssinian Emperor branded the Muslims of the surrounding area "enemies of the Lord", and again invaded Ifat in the early 15th century. After much struggle, Ifat's troops were defeated and the Sultanate's ruler, King Sa'ad ad-Din II, fled to Zeila. He was pursued there by Abyssinian forces, where they slayed him.
Adal was a general term for a region of lowlands inhabited by Muslims east of the province of Ifat. It was used ambiguously in the medieval era to indicate the Muslim inhabited low land portion east of the Ethiopian Empire. Including north of the Awash River towards Lake Abbe as well as the territory between Shewa and Zeila on the coast of Somaliland. According to Ewald Wagner, Adal region was historically the area stretching from Zeila to Harar. In the late fourteenth century Walasma princes Haqq ad-Din II and Sa'ad ad-Din II relocated their base to the Harari plateau in Adal forming a new Sultanate.
The last Sultan of Ifat, Sa'ad ad-Din II, was killed in Zeila after he had fled there in 1403, his children escaped to Yemen, before later returning to the Harar plateau in 1415. In the early 15th century, Adal's capital was established in the town of Dakkar, where Sabr ad-Din III, the eldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II, established a new base after his return from Yemen. By the late 1400s the Walasma sultans began to be challenged by the Harla emirs of the Harar plateau with rise of Imam Mahfuz.
Adal's headquarters were relocated in the following century, this time to Harar. From this new capital, Adal organised an effective army led by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Ahmad "Gurey" or Ahmad "Gran") that invaded the Abyssinian empire. This 16th century campaign is historically known as the Conquest of Abyssinia ( Futuh al-Habash). During the war, Imam Ahmad pioneered the use of supplied by the Ottoman Empire, which he imported through Zeila and deployed against Abyssinian forces and their Portugal allies led by Cristóvão da Gama. Some scholars argue that this conflict proved, through their use on both sides, the value of like the matchlock musket, cannons and the arquebus over traditional weapons.Jeremy Black, Cambridge Illustrated Atlas, Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492-1792, (Cambridge University Press: 1996), p.9.
The Walashma sultans also apparently had a fair taste for luxury, the commercial relations that existed between the Adal Sultanate and the rulers of the Arab peninsula allowed Muslims to obtain luxury items that Christian Ethiopians, whose relations with the outside world were still blocked, could not acquire, a Christian document describing Sultan Badlay relates:
" And the robes of and those of his leaders were adorned with silver and shone on all sides. And the dagger which he the carried at his side was richly adorned with gold and precious stones; and his amulet was adorned with drops of gold; and the inscriptions on the amulet were of gold paint. And his parasol came from the land of Syria and it was such beautiful work that those who looked at it marveled, and winged serpents were painted on it."
| 1 | Sulṭān Umar Walasma | 1197–1276 | Founder of the Walashma dynasty, his nickname was ʿAdūnyo or Wilinwīli. He started a military campaign to conquer the Sultanate of Shewa. The Sheikh Yusuf al-Kowneyn is his 5th ancestor. |
| 2 | Sulṭān Ali Baziyu | 1276–1299 | Son of ʿUmar Dunya-Hawaz, he led many successful campaigns the most notable of which being the Conquest of the Shewa and burning of their capital marking the end of the Makhzumi dynasty. |
| 3 | Sulṭān ḤaqqudDīn ʿUmar | 12??–12?? | Son of ʿUmar Dunya-Hawaz |
| 4 | Sulṭān Ḥusein ʿUmar | 12??–12?? | Son of ʿUmar Dunya-Hawaz |
| 5 | Sulṭān NasradDīn ʿUmar | 12??–12?? | Son of ʿUmar Dunya-Hawaz |
| 6 | Sulṭān Mansur ʿAli | 12??–12?? | Son of ʿAli "Baziyu" ʿUmar |
| 7 | Sulṭān JamaladDīn ʿAli | 12??–12?? | Son of ʿAli "Baziyu" ʿUmar |
| 8 | Sulṭān Abūd JamaladDīn | 12??–12?? | Son of JamaladDīn ʿAli |
| 9 | Sulṭān Zubēr Abūd | 12??–13?? | Son of Abūd JamaladDīn |
| 10 | Māti Layla Abūd | 13??–13?? | Daughter of Abūd JamaladDīn |
| 11 | Sulṭān ḤaqqudDīn Naḥwi | 13??–1328 | Son of Naḥwi Mansur, grandson of Mansur ʿUmar |
| 12 | Sulṭān SabiradDīn Maḥamed "Waqōyi" Naḥwi | 1328–1332 | Son of Naḥwi Mansur, defeated by Emperor Amde Seyon of Abyssinia, who replaced him with his brother JamaladDīn as a vassal. |
| 13 | Sulṭān JamaladDīn Naḥwi | 1332–13?? | Son of Naḥwi Mansur, vassal king under Amde Seyon |
| 14 | Sulṭān NasradDīn Naḥwi | 13??–13?? | Son of Naḥwi Mansur, vassal king under Amde Seyon |
| 15 | Sulṭān "Qāt" ʿAli SabiradDīn Maḥamed | 13??–13?? | Son of SabiradDīn Maḥamed Naḥwi, rebelled against Emperor Newaya Krestos after the death of Amde Seyon, but the rebellion failed and he was replaced with his brother Aḥmed |
| 16 | Sulṭān Aḥmed "Harbi Arʿēd" ʿAli | 13??–13?? | Son of ʿAli SabiradDīn Maḥamed, accepted the role of vassal and did not continue to rebel against Newaya Krestos, and is subsequently regarded very poorly by Muslim historians |
| 17 | Sulṭān Ḥaqquddīn Aḥmed | 13??–1374 | Son of Aḥmed ʿAli |
| 18 | Sulṭān SaʿadadDīn Aḥmed | 1374–1403 | Son of Aḥmed ʿAli, killed in the Abyssinian invasion of Ifat under Dawit I or Yeshaq I |
| 1 | Sulṭān SabiradDīn SaʿadadDīn | 1415–1422 | Son of SaʿadadDīn Aḥmed, He returned to the Horn of Africa from Yemen to reclaim his father's realm. He subsequently became the first ruler and founder of the new Adal dynasty winning many victories before dying of natural causes. |
| 2 | Sulṭān Mansur SaʿadadDīn | 1422–1424 | Son of SaʿadadDīn Aḥmed. He launched an expedition against Dawit I, killing him at the Battle of Yedaya. |
| 3 | Sulṭān JamaladDīn SaʿadadDīn | 1424–1433 | Son of SaʿadadDīn Aḥmed. He won numerous important battles against Yeshaq I before killing him in the battle of Harjah. Famed for piety and justice he was killed by jealous cousins in 1433. |
| 4 | Sulṭān Sihab ad-Din Ahmad Badlay "Arwe Badlay" | 1433–1445 | Son of SaʿadadDīn Aḥmed, also known as "Arwe Badlay" ("Badlay the beast"). Badlay embarked on a full scale conquest of Abyssinia successfully invaded the Ethiopian Empire and capturing Bali before being killed by the forces of Zara Yaqob at the Battle of Gomit. Badlay also founded a new capital at Dakkar, near Harar. |
| 5 | Sulṭān Maḥamed AḥmedudDīn | 1445–1472 | Son of AḥmedudDīn "Badlay" SaʿadadDīn, Maḥamed asked for help from the Mameluk Sultanate of Egypt in 1452, though this assistance was not forthcoming. He ended up signing a very short-lived truce with Baeda Maryam I. |
| 6 | Sulṭān ShamsadDin Maḥamed | 1472–1488 | Son of Maḥamed AḥmedudDīn, he attacked the Emperor Eskender of Abyssinia army in 1479, and slaughtered the majority of his army. |
| 7 | Sulṭān Maḥamed ʿAsharadDīn | 1488–1518 | Great-grandson of SaʿadadDīn Aḥmed of Ifat, he continued to raid the Abyssinians especially during Lent with Mahfuz enslaving innumerable numbers of Abyssinians and Killing King Na’od. He was assassinated after a failed campaign in 1518 |
| 8 | Mahfuz | 1518–1519 | Very popular leader who attempted to recapture Fatagar |
| 9 | Sulṭān Abūbakar Maḥamed | 1518–1526 | He killed Garād Abūn and restored the Walashma dynasty, but Garād Abūn's cousin Imām Aḥmed Gurēy avenged his cousin's death and killed him. While Garād Abūn ruled in Dakkar, Abūbakar Maḥamed established himself at Harar in 1520, and this is often cited as when the capital moved. Abūbakar Maḥamed was the last Walashma sultan to have any real power. |
| 10 | Garad Abogn Adish | 1519–1525 | Successor to Maḥamed Abūbakar Maḥfūẓ |
| 11 | Sulṭān Umar Din | 1526–1553 | Son of Maḥamed ʿAsharadDīn, Imām Aḥmed Gurēy put Maḥamed ʿAsharadDīn's young son ʿUmarDīn on the throne as puppet king in Imām Aḥmed Gurēy's capital at Harar. This essentially is the end of the Walashma dynasty as a ruling dynasty in all but name, though the dynasty hobbled on in a de jure capacity. Many king lists don't even bother with Walashma rulers after this and just list Imām Aḥmed Gurēy and then Amīr Nūr Mujahid. |
| 12 | Sulṭān ʿAli ʿUmarDīn | 1553–1555 | Son of ʿUmarDīn Maḥamed |
| 13 | Sulṭān Barakat ʿUmarDīn | 1555–1559 | Son of ʿUmarDīn Maḥamed, last of the Walashma Sultans, assisted Amīr Nūr Mujahid in his attempt to retake Dawaro. He was killed defending Harar from Emperor Gelawdewos' forces, ending the dynasty. |
Historians such as Enrico Cerulli and J. Spencer Trimingham regard the Walashma dynasty to be of local origin. Taddesse Tamrat notes that according to al-Maqrizi, the ancestors of the Walashma were initially established in Jabarta, a region of Zeila, before gradually moving further inland towards Ifat. Cerulli asserts that according to Harar chronicles, the 10th century Somali people wali "Aw" Barkhadle from Arabia was the fifth ancestor ofʿUmar ibn Dunya-hawaz, founder of the Walashma Dynasty.Cerulli, Enrico (1926). Le popolazioni della Somalia nella tradizione storica locale. L'Accademia. "Cerulli suggests that the Saint "Aw Barkhdale" (Yusuf Al Kownayn) can be associated with "Yusuf Barkatla", ancestor of Umar' Walashma, founder of the Ifat dynasty" Ioan Lewis also mentions that in a short king-list titled 'Rulers of the land of Sa'ad ad-Din', Barkhadle is recognized as one of the Walashma ancestors. (1998). 9781569021033, The Red Sea Press u.a.. ISBN 9781569021033 Lewis places his death at around 1190 AD. (1998). 9781569021033, The Red Sea Press u.a.. ISBN 9781569021033 J. Spencer Trimingham does note that according to local traditions though, he was said to have lived for over 500 years, placing his death in the early 16th century. Some rulers of the Walashma Dynasty are also thought to be buried at the site of Aw-Barkhadle in modern-day Somaliland. As descendants of Barkhadle, it was said that the Walashma success, longevity, and influence was due to their native family background Walasma are historically tied to the ancestors of Argobba people and the people of Doba. The Harari people also claim to be associated with the Walasma. Bahru Zewde, Richard Pankhurst, Djibril Niane regard the Walasma Sultans of Ifat and Adal to be predominantly Argobba people and Harari people. However, Amelie Chekroun suggests no possible link to identify the people of medieval Ifat with the Argobba people. According to I.M. Lewis, the polity was governed by local dynasties consisting of Somalized Arabs or Arabized Somalis, who also ruled over the similarly established Sultanate of Mogadishu in the Benadir region to the south.
Walasma dynasty of Ifat initiated a series of marriage alliances with the leaders of Adal. Ferry Robert notes that there existed political and matrimonial relations between the nobles of Adal and Somalis tribes. According to the chronicle "Conquest of Abyssinia" by Arab Faqīh, Harla lords descendant from the last Walasma ruler of Ifat Sa'ad ad-Din II participated in the sixteenth century Ethiopian–Adal War. The last known Walasma member in Adal was Barakat ibn Umar Din of Harar during the sixteenth century. The Kabirto of Harla as well as Doba who originate from the Walasma dynasty were overthrown in 1769 by the Mudaito dynasty of Afar people in Asaita (modern Afar Region), the descendant of Kabirto Shaykh Kabir Hamza, preserved their history through manuscripts.
The title Walasma was still used in Ifat province as late as the nineteenth century with governors of that region claiming descent from the old dynasty. In 1993 Mohammed Saleh who professed his ancestors were the Argobba Walasma of Ifat revealed that his progenitors were traders of the Shewa-Harar route for centuries.
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