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The Abridged History of Al-Habashah: From Axum to Abyssinia
By Taym Ansary

Adhan From Every Mountaintop.

Arabic in Al-Habashah from the 7th to 15th Centuries

The early introduction of Arabic into Al-Habashah was actually rather fortunate for Islam and its rulers in the region and would provide a starting basis for a linguistic unity of the native Semetic, Cushite, Agwe, and other speakers that populated the region.

Initially during the Aksumite period the Kingdom had been rather united under a uniform use of what is now Reffered to as Old Ge'ez, a language composite developed from cross-Arabian influences as early as the First Millenium BC. With this language so prosperously used by scholars and bureaucrats of the central administration in Acum they were the first to knit together an empire of various linguistic groups. Unfortunately, as time went on and the Aksumite Empire became increasingly unstable the use of Old Ge'ez formally and practically fell out of use even by the descendents of the Aksumites the Tigraeans. Thus one of the pillars to the unity of Aksumite Kingdom eroded and allowed for its former subject peoples to drift apart. The only surviving texts of Old Ge'ez would be in the bibles and monasteries of the Selasse Christians who had adopted the language in hopes of codifying their minority beliefs. The only significant concentration of the Selasse Christians during this time frame was around Lake Tana which at this point was in the Falasha Kingdom of Gondar.

The use of Arabic was first introduced through the religious text of the Qu'ran, the developing Shafi'i school of Islamic Law making it mandatory that all Qu'rans be read and written only in the native language of the Prophet. This allowed for the Ulema to not only exercise a scholarly amount of control over religious issues first among the Adal Sultanates and the Lakomelza Sultanate but among the various tribes that adopted Islam. This further allowed members of the Ulema to be incorporated or at least control aspects of the administrative structure of these early Islamic states and tribes as the commonality of the language became practicality for the different speaking language groups that were incorporated into the states. Fairly soon this would develop into an economic aspect as well as traders quickly adopted the use of Arabic for use of communicating. This was a issue through this period that created tension between the developing Merchant class and the Ulema over the right of how and who could use the language of Arabic. Eventually this would bring in the concern of the rulers of these Islamic states as increasing concerns over access to the far and wide stretching Islamic Markets became state priorities. This would highlight a need to establish a secular language that would unite the Habesha peoples as Old Ge'ez once did.

Notedly of the native languages, Amhara was well in place to absorb numerous loan words from Arabic. The language is noted by Linguistic Professors as being something of a composite language, its structure composed of elements of Semetic, Cushite, and other languages. To this Arabic was added, most popularly religious related words but also titles and names. We see the popular use of Sultan as expressing the title of a ruler but we do not see the title of Emir being used at all. The Asmera Sultanate, which would incorporate much of Northern Al-Habashah, would make use of using a dual title for its ruler. Making use of the common Sultan title but also the locally distinct title of Bahr Negus, or King of the Sea- a hold over from the Aksumite Kingdom. In the following centuries as the rulers of Al-Habashah brought themselves back from a movement toward total arabization we would see the resumption of Aksumite titles such as "Negus" or King and "Ras" or Duke.

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As quoted by American scholar Richard Shoreman, "Abyssinia during the introduction of Islam was much like the Wild West. It drew to it every sort of glory seeker and exile from across the Islamic World. Traders and Ghazis from the east, and Sufi Wanderers and Mu'tazilite Scholars from the North. Who or what could unite such a pot of uncountably diverse peoples? Only a power as great as or even greater then the Axsumite Kingdom. Abyssinia needed an empire and a Emperor."