The Abridged History of Al-Habashah: Islamic Ethiopia
- Thread starter Malta
- Start date
Fascinating timeline. Interested to see how the Ottoman-Mamluk war plays out.
With the Mamluks doing slightly better against the portuguese, they'd be stronger than they were in otl, surely?
With the Mamluks doing slightly better against the portuguese, they'd be stronger than they were in otl, surely?
Not necessarily. While their campaigns are indeed successful that still means they are hitting an spending crunch. As they have put in more and more resources into what is becoming an expensive campaign.
Havoc and Rebirth
A quick step back into a previous chapter.
Havoc and Rebirth
The death of Negus Ahmed Hafiz, if you read William Kramer's 1910 book, "The History of Abyssinia", would say his death lead to the destruction of the First "Moslem Kalifate" Dynasty. This would continue to be parroted by other Western Abyssianists as they sought to classify and divide the history of the Habashah Empire. Much like has been treated with the so called Byzantine Empire western historians sought to differentiate the rulers of Habashah into distinct familial lineages. Unlike the Romans though Kramer went with the Egyptian dynastic numerical system for the Habashah. For him and for many Western Historians today the death of Negus Ahmed Hafiz and his successor, Negus Mohammed Abdulrahman is seen as the gap between two separate dynasties despite the fact that Negus Mohammed was the son of Ahmed's sister, Yasmina, and the warlord Abdulrahman Umar.
Kramer fails to take into account the Habashab viewpoint. Negus Mohammed did not see himself as part of a "Second Dynasty" but of an unbroken line of rulers with the blood of the Prophet, Negus al-Kaleem , and King Solomon in his blood. This continues into today as the Imperial family consider themselves "Unbroken" despite claims of historians.
The transition from Negus Ahmed to Muhammad though would be full of havoc however but also great change. It was under his grandson's rule that the capital would be moved from Gondar to the fortified city close to the Great Rift Valley, Barara where the capital of Habashah has remained ever since. This was both political and practical as the havoc that had spread across the Muslim world finally came to shore in Habashah, though the Habashabs could be considered lucky that their havoc did not rise on horses like the Mongols and the Habashabs were able to recover fairly quickly to meet the arrival of the Ming and late the Portuguese.
The branch of Islam in Habashah is often cited as "Imranid", named after the founder of the Lakomelza Sultanate the first official Islamic state within Habashah, despite not being a religious teacher he encouraged the religious policy of incorporation of pagan beliefs. Considered to be a branch under Sunni Islam it is most popular in East Africa and exclaves around the Indian Ocean.
Havoc though brings change and also Rebirth. For the greater Muslim world the "Rebirth" of the "Havoc" of the Mongols was the Gunpowder Empires as new Turkic statelets forged great powers and inspired great cultural change. However for Habashah this Rebirth was more religious. In the wake of the Mongols a new religious movement had grown in the Muslim world, this was the "Sufis". Mystics that sought greater devotion to Allah through a myriad of mystical beliefs they inspired small religious movements and warrior brotherhoods that would lay the foundations for the Ottomans and Safavids. From Persia the first Sufis arrived to Habashah, of many notable beliefs and stripes the most famous which would come to dominate Habashah would come under Farouk ad-Din Shirazi who himself was a member of the Mewlewi Order, otherwise known as the Whirling Dervishes.
Farouk came to Habashah well over sixty years after the death of the Whirling Dervishes's founder, the poet Rumi. Here he traveled Habashah as a mystic and beggar, quoting Rumi's poems and founding in his wake founded craftsmen-merchant-knightly guilds called, futuwwa. While connecting the economies of different towns the men who formed the militant branches became Ghazis, attacking brigands sparking tales of chivalry and knightly valor. The practices of the Mewlewi would blend with the many native traditions of Habashah, different tribal dances coming together and blending. This Sufism in particular became very popular with the militant Oromo people. Mewlewi and Imranid Islam would gradually merge overtime until the Imranid form had totally subsumed the teachings of the Mewlewis, becoming mainstream and leaving the Mewlewis as the more ascetic members of the order.
The Mewlewi connection would prove to a bridge later in relation to the Ottomans but would also lay foundation for the Habashah Emperors who would seek to claim the title of Caliph.
Havoc and Rebirth
The death of Negus Ahmed Hafiz, if you read William Kramer's 1910 book, "The History of Abyssinia", would say his death lead to the destruction of the First "Moslem Kalifate" Dynasty. This would continue to be parroted by other Western Abyssianists as they sought to classify and divide the history of the Habashah Empire. Much like has been treated with the so called Byzantine Empire western historians sought to differentiate the rulers of Habashah into distinct familial lineages. Unlike the Romans though Kramer went with the Egyptian dynastic numerical system for the Habashah. For him and for many Western Historians today the death of Negus Ahmed Hafiz and his successor, Negus Mohammed Abdulrahman is seen as the gap between two separate dynasties despite the fact that Negus Mohammed was the son of Ahmed's sister, Yasmina, and the warlord Abdulrahman Umar.
Kramer fails to take into account the Habashab viewpoint. Negus Mohammed did not see himself as part of a "Second Dynasty" but of an unbroken line of rulers with the blood of the Prophet, Negus al-Kaleem , and King Solomon in his blood. This continues into today as the Imperial family consider themselves "Unbroken" despite claims of historians.
The transition from Negus Ahmed to Muhammad though would be full of havoc however but also great change. It was under his grandson's rule that the capital would be moved from Gondar to the fortified city close to the Great Rift Valley, Barara where the capital of Habashah has remained ever since. This was both political and practical as the havoc that had spread across the Muslim world finally came to shore in Habashah, though the Habashabs could be considered lucky that their havoc did not rise on horses like the Mongols and the Habashabs were able to recover fairly quickly to meet the arrival of the Ming and late the Portuguese.
The branch of Islam in Habashah is often cited as "Imranid", named after the founder of the Lakomelza Sultanate the first official Islamic state within Habashah, despite not being a religious teacher he encouraged the religious policy of incorporation of pagan beliefs. Considered to be a branch under Sunni Islam it is most popular in East Africa and exclaves around the Indian Ocean.
Havoc though brings change and also Rebirth. For the greater Muslim world the "Rebirth" of the "Havoc" of the Mongols was the Gunpowder Empires as new Turkic statelets forged great powers and inspired great cultural change. However for Habashah this Rebirth was more religious. In the wake of the Mongols a new religious movement had grown in the Muslim world, this was the "Sufis". Mystics that sought greater devotion to Allah through a myriad of mystical beliefs they inspired small religious movements and warrior brotherhoods that would lay the foundations for the Ottomans and Safavids. From Persia the first Sufis arrived to Habashah, of many notable beliefs and stripes the most famous which would come to dominate Habashah would come under Farouk ad-Din Shirazi who himself was a member of the Mewlewi Order, otherwise known as the Whirling Dervishes.
Farouk came to Habashah well over sixty years after the death of the Whirling Dervishes's founder, the poet Rumi. Here he traveled Habashah as a mystic and beggar, quoting Rumi's poems and founding in his wake founded craftsmen-merchant-knightly guilds called, futuwwa. While connecting the economies of different towns the men who formed the militant branches became Ghazis, attacking brigands sparking tales of chivalry and knightly valor. The practices of the Mewlewi would blend with the many native traditions of Habashah, different tribal dances coming together and blending. This Sufism in particular became very popular with the militant Oromo people. Mewlewi and Imranid Islam would gradually merge overtime until the Imranid form had totally subsumed the teachings of the Mewlewis, becoming mainstream and leaving the Mewlewis as the more ascetic members of the order.
The Mewlewi connection would prove to a bridge later in relation to the Ottomans but would also lay foundation for the Habashah Emperors who would seek to claim the title of Caliph.
Nah, I want to get to the good stuff as soon as possible. The long waits were killing me.
Visitors from the West: A New Order
Thanks to ETA50M for the praise and for the inspiration for this update.
Visitors from the West: A New Order
As previously discussed in “Havoc and Rebirth” the Imranid branch of Islam most common in Habashah would absorb the teachings of the Persian Mewlewi (Mevlevi in Persia) Sufis, leading to a society wide development throughout the country. Especially in urban centers and then later rural villages these lead to the forming of communal guilds based on different occupations and class status known as Futuwwa. These guilds were split into different lodges which had their own order masters and were in many cases a way for men to come together in comradery and fraternity. Gunpowder guilds would form in many urban cities leading to the development of Habashah’s weaponry. Bakers guilds would help form cohesive supply chains with suppliers in the surrounding rural countryside especially in times of famine these links would prove beneficial to all.
Also, in the urban centers and countryside military orders would be founded. These orders, which we can refer to as simply the Mewlewi Orders, were varied in their nature some in the countryside were composed of the fathers and sons of the local noble classes and their retainers. Those in the urban centers composed of members of the nobility but also merchant, bureaucratic and other upper-class positions. Together they formed the basis of what could be compared to the knightly orders of their European counterparts, but more on a local scale where in particular they fought brigands and foreign invaders. Inspiring classical tales among the poets of the country they grew in fame and adoration and by the 16th century was beginning to grow into a new level of development.
It would be in the urban centers of the Somali Coast where in particular the Mewlewi Orders would first be formed and were at their strongest by the arrival of the Portuguese into the Indian Ocean. Further, it was Guleed Ali, a Somali who was the Order Master (himself a wealthy merchant) of the local Mewlewi Order of Mogadishu that opposed the Portuguese. In his early 50s by the arrival of the Portuguese in 1512 he was a well respected man not just in his Order but also throughout the city, it was even said that Negus Jamal ud-Din looked to him for advice. He was also extremely charitable, donating with his brothers in the Order food to make sure the poor and homeless within the city. The Order of Mogadishu had come to take over a large part of the city guard, only contingents sent by the Emperor to protect the city were not either members of the Order or lead by their members.
First, his forces lead a successful defense against catspaws the Portuguese had bribed in Mogadishu to rebel, preventing the coup within the city from taking hold before the arrival of the main Portuguese force. He had the foresight to see that the rebellion was most likely part of a grander plot against the city, sending word to Imperial garrisons along the coastline for reinforcements and seeing to preparing fortifications for a siege. Days later the Portuguese ships were sighted along the shore, consisting of hundreds of Portuguese soldiers supported by Malindi auxiliaries. Guleed had prepared well for their arrival.
Not only had he drawn as much food as possible into the city from the countryside he had also made sure that the Portuguese could not approach the city’s port directly. As Portuguese cannons traded fire with Habashab equivalents set along towers and ramparts surrounding the port the first Portuguese ship that came too close fell afoul of sunken ships and obstacles that Guleed had prepared in the harbor. The wreckage forced one Portuguese ship to sink and two more to become targets for the Habashab gunners as they became stuck or tried to maneuver their way out of the area. Unable to land in the city itself, the Portuguese forces were forced to retreat and land further along the shore.
The Portuguese and their Malindi allies attempted to storm the city but were cut down by Habashab guns and by militia spearmen, and some even by members of the Order whose whirling swords defeated opponent after opponent. It would be the arrival of Imperial cavalry ridden on camels that broke the siege itself, the Portuguese and their allies boarding their ships and fleeing south as they hedged their bets.
For his role in the defense of the city, Guleed was knighted by Jamal ud-Din, but the Negus awarded the Order Master another honor. To take the fight to the Portuguese and their allies further south.
Visitors from the West: A New Order
As previously discussed in “Havoc and Rebirth” the Imranid branch of Islam most common in Habashah would absorb the teachings of the Persian Mewlewi (Mevlevi in Persia) Sufis, leading to a society wide development throughout the country. Especially in urban centers and then later rural villages these lead to the forming of communal guilds based on different occupations and class status known as Futuwwa. These guilds were split into different lodges which had their own order masters and were in many cases a way for men to come together in comradery and fraternity. Gunpowder guilds would form in many urban cities leading to the development of Habashah’s weaponry. Bakers guilds would help form cohesive supply chains with suppliers in the surrounding rural countryside especially in times of famine these links would prove beneficial to all.
Also, in the urban centers and countryside military orders would be founded. These orders, which we can refer to as simply the Mewlewi Orders, were varied in their nature some in the countryside were composed of the fathers and sons of the local noble classes and their retainers. Those in the urban centers composed of members of the nobility but also merchant, bureaucratic and other upper-class positions. Together they formed the basis of what could be compared to the knightly orders of their European counterparts, but more on a local scale where in particular they fought brigands and foreign invaders. Inspiring classical tales among the poets of the country they grew in fame and adoration and by the 16th century was beginning to grow into a new level of development.
It would be in the urban centers of the Somali Coast where in particular the Mewlewi Orders would first be formed and were at their strongest by the arrival of the Portuguese into the Indian Ocean. Further, it was Guleed Ali, a Somali who was the Order Master (himself a wealthy merchant) of the local Mewlewi Order of Mogadishu that opposed the Portuguese. In his early 50s by the arrival of the Portuguese in 1512 he was a well respected man not just in his Order but also throughout the city, it was even said that Negus Jamal ud-Din looked to him for advice. He was also extremely charitable, donating with his brothers in the Order food to make sure the poor and homeless within the city. The Order of Mogadishu had come to take over a large part of the city guard, only contingents sent by the Emperor to protect the city were not either members of the Order or lead by their members.
First, his forces lead a successful defense against catspaws the Portuguese had bribed in Mogadishu to rebel, preventing the coup within the city from taking hold before the arrival of the main Portuguese force. He had the foresight to see that the rebellion was most likely part of a grander plot against the city, sending word to Imperial garrisons along the coastline for reinforcements and seeing to preparing fortifications for a siege. Days later the Portuguese ships were sighted along the shore, consisting of hundreds of Portuguese soldiers supported by Malindi auxiliaries. Guleed had prepared well for their arrival.
Not only had he drawn as much food as possible into the city from the countryside he had also made sure that the Portuguese could not approach the city’s port directly. As Portuguese cannons traded fire with Habashab equivalents set along towers and ramparts surrounding the port the first Portuguese ship that came too close fell afoul of sunken ships and obstacles that Guleed had prepared in the harbor. The wreckage forced one Portuguese ship to sink and two more to become targets for the Habashab gunners as they became stuck or tried to maneuver their way out of the area. Unable to land in the city itself, the Portuguese forces were forced to retreat and land further along the shore.
The Portuguese and their Malindi allies attempted to storm the city but were cut down by Habashab guns and by militia spearmen, and some even by members of the Order whose whirling swords defeated opponent after opponent. It would be the arrival of Imperial cavalry ridden on camels that broke the siege itself, the Portuguese and their allies boarding their ships and fleeing south as they hedged their bets.
For his role in the defense of the city, Guleed was knighted by Jamal ud-Din, but the Negus awarded the Order Master another honor. To take the fight to the Portuguese and their allies further south.
With Habashah extending its power into the lower Nile region this eventually lead to a flourishing of the East Trans-Saharan trade like never before in OTL. Whereas before the route was only efficient when turmoil made travel to the north or western routes less ideal the existence of the markets of Habashah will make the trade very ideal. The Habashabs will likely trade salt for gold like many of the other powers along with things like slaves or luxury goods. In good times the Negus will be even able to influence the power dynamics of the Sahel. Perhaps after the Kanem start charging them or does something shady, the Habashabs encourage the Bulala or another Nilolitic speaking people to move westward and attack them. A little show of people power and soft power on their part.
With the waning power of the Mamluks, the Habashabs would likely move into their section of the Nile, perhaps prop up the Nubian state of Alodia, prevent it from being Arabized, making it serve as a buffer-puppet with the Ottomans.
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Visitors from the West: A New Order - Counter Attack
Visitors from the West: A New Order
Initial contact with the Ottomans was distant but cordially received on both sides. On a level both were the inheritors of ancient empires that had been friends and something close to allies. Both were in their own way upstarts in the scheme of history and both looked to expand and take up the mantle of Islam. Both exchanging ambassadors in 1499, one to Istanbul (a city on the rift between two seas) and Barara (a city on the rift between two tectonic plates). While neither had a common border, they did have common trade interests, especially concerning their position within the silk road. Before the initial Mamluk-Ottoman war the Ottomans had joined the Anti-Portuguese alliance effort by sending timber and craftsmen to help with establishing coastal forts along the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. The actions by the Ottomans in the following years have been considered by many to be in great question, especially if the true motives of the Ottomans were in fact to scout ahead for future territory.
Defeating the Iranian Safavids in 1513 lead to Ottoman control over the majority of Mesopotamia and would set the stage for the next plans for Ottoman expansion. In 1514 they invaded Mamluk territory in the Levant and the next year they followed up their successes with invasion of Egypt proper. To say Jamal ud-Din was surprised was an understatement, the speed that the Mamluks had been defeated caught the Negus flatfooted and in an unfavorable position to take advantage of the situation. With a good majority of Habashah’s forces preparing for the Great Rift campaign and the ouster of the Portuguese from the Swahili Coast to the south. Had it not been for the Portuguese threat the Habashabs would have been in an ideal position to seize Mecca for themselves and push up the Nile possibly as far as Luxor.
While these opportunities fell to the Ottomans the Negus was still able to salvage a measure of opportunity from the Mamluk’s defeat. Prior to the Ottomans, the borders between Habashab and Mamluk control had been moderated by buffer states and tribal confederations along their mutual borders along the Nile and South Arabia. Now, the Habashabs had no reason to not assert full control. In Southern Arabia, Arabia Felix, through negotiation and completion of a chain of forts from Aden to Sana’a the Negus secured the loyalty of the tribes from Al Quffundah to Al Mukalla. At the junction of the White and Blue Nile rivers the Habashabs consolidated their hold on the Nubian Kingdom of Soba, already pressed by an influx of Arab and Funj tribes from the north. Saving the kingdom, Habashab and Nubian forces would push north scattering the Arab tribes (and preventing the Arabization of that stretch of the Nile) and seized as far up the Nile as Aswan before they encountered Ottoman forces.
The short skirmish between the two forces was conducted around the area of modern day Wadi Ammar, scout forces between both sides clashed along the Nile and surrounding desert. Camel and horse mounted scouts fought with one another thinking the other was apart of the last Mamluk hold outs in the area. It was only after the prisoners taken on both sides began to talk that each side realized their error. A truce was settled between the two forces and prisoners exchanged. Both sides would meet in Cairo and declare again a truce toward one another, confirmation of the gains made by each side (the Ottomans cared much more that they had gained Mecca than a stretch of the Nile) and a commitment to end the Portuguese threat once more.
With a possible threat to the north at least contained, the Habashabs could focus their full attention on campaigns to the south. The Habashabs struck south in two prongs, one along the coast and another further inland. The Habashabs had long held their border south along the tip of Lake Turkana, preferring to keep their borders here static as they dealt with tribes of the invading Oromo after their defeat years before. Now though they desired to capture the highlands to the south, it would open trade with the Great Lakes region and if need be allowed the Habashabs to strike from the interior against the Portuguese on the coast if they ever returned in force. The Habashabs used force and negotiation to make their way south and east, following the Great Rift Valley, encountering different tribes of the largely semi-pastoralist Turkana, Samburu and Kikuyu people. Largely through the establishment of a series of forts close to strategic water wells. This would mark the beginning of a policy of southward expansion that over centuries would take the Habashabs as far south as Lake Malawi.
Lead by Guleed Ali, the main Habashab push to crush the Portuguese presence along the eastern coast of Africa would set off nigh ten thousand soldiers at various parts of the campaign itself, as well as fifty ships ranging from light galleys and brigs to the first of the Habashab carracks that would be a match for even the Portuguese vessels of the same make. Setting sail from Mogadishu the army of Habashah set sail for Malindi the site of the main Portuguese customs house and a small fort. Going first by sea the Habashabs landed their forces to the north and south of the city before converging on it, surrounding it by land and sea. While sieging the city they also looked across the Swahili Coast to other friends and enemies. The city of Mombasa was quick to offer aid to the Habashabs, already having been a victim of their raids more than once and pointed the Habashabs to Kilwa Kisawani which was still in the thrall of a Portuguese fort in the city.
As what happened in Malindi the Habashabs repeated their actions in Kilwa, surrounding the city and defeating the Portuguese, massacring the Europeans as they did and so they moved further south over the following months defeating Portuguese forts and installing puppet governors of their choosing, for the most part their actions would dethrone the Arab merchant classes that had held sway from even before the advent of Islam. The island of Mozambique, the city of Sofala, the Comoros islands, and event on Madagascar. And in each case, they repeated the actions of the Portuguese, setting up their own forts and trading customs influencing the city-states from the guns of forts that many had been Portuguese a year ago.
These efforts would undo almost twenty years of conquests by the Portuguese and in an act would help strangle the Portuguese and their hold on India. The Portuguese responses were by no means meek, as they fought to undo the efforts of the Habashabs.
Initial contact with the Ottomans was distant but cordially received on both sides. On a level both were the inheritors of ancient empires that had been friends and something close to allies. Both were in their own way upstarts in the scheme of history and both looked to expand and take up the mantle of Islam. Both exchanging ambassadors in 1499, one to Istanbul (a city on the rift between two seas) and Barara (a city on the rift between two tectonic plates). While neither had a common border, they did have common trade interests, especially concerning their position within the silk road. Before the initial Mamluk-Ottoman war the Ottomans had joined the Anti-Portuguese alliance effort by sending timber and craftsmen to help with establishing coastal forts along the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. The actions by the Ottomans in the following years have been considered by many to be in great question, especially if the true motives of the Ottomans were in fact to scout ahead for future territory.
Defeating the Iranian Safavids in 1513 lead to Ottoman control over the majority of Mesopotamia and would set the stage for the next plans for Ottoman expansion. In 1514 they invaded Mamluk territory in the Levant and the next year they followed up their successes with invasion of Egypt proper. To say Jamal ud-Din was surprised was an understatement, the speed that the Mamluks had been defeated caught the Negus flatfooted and in an unfavorable position to take advantage of the situation. With a good majority of Habashah’s forces preparing for the Great Rift campaign and the ouster of the Portuguese from the Swahili Coast to the south. Had it not been for the Portuguese threat the Habashabs would have been in an ideal position to seize Mecca for themselves and push up the Nile possibly as far as Luxor.
While these opportunities fell to the Ottomans the Negus was still able to salvage a measure of opportunity from the Mamluk’s defeat. Prior to the Ottomans, the borders between Habashab and Mamluk control had been moderated by buffer states and tribal confederations along their mutual borders along the Nile and South Arabia. Now, the Habashabs had no reason to not assert full control. In Southern Arabia, Arabia Felix, through negotiation and completion of a chain of forts from Aden to Sana’a the Negus secured the loyalty of the tribes from Al Quffundah to Al Mukalla. At the junction of the White and Blue Nile rivers the Habashabs consolidated their hold on the Nubian Kingdom of Soba, already pressed by an influx of Arab and Funj tribes from the north. Saving the kingdom, Habashab and Nubian forces would push north scattering the Arab tribes (and preventing the Arabization of that stretch of the Nile) and seized as far up the Nile as Aswan before they encountered Ottoman forces.
The short skirmish between the two forces was conducted around the area of modern day Wadi Ammar, scout forces between both sides clashed along the Nile and surrounding desert. Camel and horse mounted scouts fought with one another thinking the other was apart of the last Mamluk hold outs in the area. It was only after the prisoners taken on both sides began to talk that each side realized their error. A truce was settled between the two forces and prisoners exchanged. Both sides would meet in Cairo and declare again a truce toward one another, confirmation of the gains made by each side (the Ottomans cared much more that they had gained Mecca than a stretch of the Nile) and a commitment to end the Portuguese threat once more.
With a possible threat to the north at least contained, the Habashabs could focus their full attention on campaigns to the south. The Habashabs struck south in two prongs, one along the coast and another further inland. The Habashabs had long held their border south along the tip of Lake Turkana, preferring to keep their borders here static as they dealt with tribes of the invading Oromo after their defeat years before. Now though they desired to capture the highlands to the south, it would open trade with the Great Lakes region and if need be allowed the Habashabs to strike from the interior against the Portuguese on the coast if they ever returned in force. The Habashabs used force and negotiation to make their way south and east, following the Great Rift Valley, encountering different tribes of the largely semi-pastoralist Turkana, Samburu and Kikuyu people. Largely through the establishment of a series of forts close to strategic water wells. This would mark the beginning of a policy of southward expansion that over centuries would take the Habashabs as far south as Lake Malawi.
Lead by Guleed Ali, the main Habashab push to crush the Portuguese presence along the eastern coast of Africa would set off nigh ten thousand soldiers at various parts of the campaign itself, as well as fifty ships ranging from light galleys and brigs to the first of the Habashab carracks that would be a match for even the Portuguese vessels of the same make. Setting sail from Mogadishu the army of Habashah set sail for Malindi the site of the main Portuguese customs house and a small fort. Going first by sea the Habashabs landed their forces to the north and south of the city before converging on it, surrounding it by land and sea. While sieging the city they also looked across the Swahili Coast to other friends and enemies. The city of Mombasa was quick to offer aid to the Habashabs, already having been a victim of their raids more than once and pointed the Habashabs to Kilwa Kisawani which was still in the thrall of a Portuguese fort in the city.
As what happened in Malindi the Habashabs repeated their actions in Kilwa, surrounding the city and defeating the Portuguese, massacring the Europeans as they did and so they moved further south over the following months defeating Portuguese forts and installing puppet governors of their choosing, for the most part their actions would dethrone the Arab merchant classes that had held sway from even before the advent of Islam. The island of Mozambique, the city of Sofala, the Comoros islands, and event on Madagascar. And in each case, they repeated the actions of the Portuguese, setting up their own forts and trading customs influencing the city-states from the guns of forts that many had been Portuguese a year ago.
These efforts would undo almost twenty years of conquests by the Portuguese and in an act would help strangle the Portuguese and their hold on India. The Portuguese responses were by no means meek, as they fought to undo the efforts of the Habashabs.
The Name of a Nation
The Name of a Nation
Aksum, Abyssinia, Habashah, Habesha. There are a recorded twelve different pronunciations and spellings for the nation and all are considered accurate.
All point to different times and different views of the great nation. In truth all are related. The root of it all is a denotation for the Kingdom of Aksum as Habashat in Ge'ez before the language went extinct by the rise of Arabic, but the Habesha Arabic would save this taking many loan words. Habashah is a rendition of Arabic of the original Habashat, and likewise Abyssinia is also likewise derived from the Latinized form of the name. Throwing further confusion into the mix is the common practice of scholars, in particular western scholars, as referring to the ruling dynasty and people as Habashabs, not unlike Ottoman or Mughal. Thus in many instances Al-Habashah and Al-Habesha can be considered interchangeable especially as pronunciation differences arise from the many different language groups within Habashah itself!
The people of Habashah, refer to themselves as Habesha as a people, though even that can be broken down into various sub groups (Habesha Somali, Habesha Tigraen, Habesha Arab, Habesha European, and so forth) it still represents the evolution of centuries as what once used to refer to a highland tribe became a nation of millions by the 21st century.
Aksum, Abyssinia, Habashah, Habesha. There are a recorded twelve different pronunciations and spellings for the nation and all are considered accurate.
All point to different times and different views of the great nation. In truth all are related. The root of it all is a denotation for the Kingdom of Aksum as Habashat in Ge'ez before the language went extinct by the rise of Arabic, but the Habesha Arabic would save this taking many loan words. Habashah is a rendition of Arabic of the original Habashat, and likewise Abyssinia is also likewise derived from the Latinized form of the name. Throwing further confusion into the mix is the common practice of scholars, in particular western scholars, as referring to the ruling dynasty and people as Habashabs, not unlike Ottoman or Mughal. Thus in many instances Al-Habashah and Al-Habesha can be considered interchangeable especially as pronunciation differences arise from the many different language groups within Habashah itself!
The people of Habashah, refer to themselves as Habesha as a people, though even that can be broken down into various sub groups (Habesha Somali, Habesha Tigraen, Habesha Arab, Habesha European, and so forth) it still represents the evolution of centuries as what once used to refer to a highland tribe became a nation of millions by the 21st century.
The Slave Trade is unlikely between the Songhai and Habashabs is unlikely, though it will effect the cost of the Slave Trade as goods that Europeans used to buy Slaves will be available from the East.
As both of these two Empires expend, Songhai should be able to beat back the Moroccans with access to guns, we will see a much greater positive feed loop with Songhai access to Western Europe and New World Goods and Habashab access to Asian and Middle Eastern goods making their way through the continental interior.
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Visitors from the West: A New Order - Victory
Visitors from the West: A New Order
For the Portuguese the Habashab campaign to push them from the Swahili Coaat had made a dent in Portugal's trade with India, but it had not ended it. Portugal's fleet running the yearly India Run could still make the outer loop journey which took them, if timed right, past the southern tip of Madagascar and around the eastern coast up toward the southern tip of India. This route while helpful in passing the seasonal monsoons was still costly and by no means a perfect art of navigation. This route was longer and ran through the empty expanses of the Indian Ocean which was a Herculean task that left sailors and their ships on their last legs- scurvy, diseased and the forced scuttling of damaged ships was a guarantee with every voyage.
Portuguese outposts in Mozambique, Madagascar and at Malindi while a navigational gauntlet through the reefs and shoals of the Mozambique Channel did allow the Portuguese to supplement their trade goods with gold, ivory, slaves and other goods but also allow ships and their crews to rest and repair. The Habashabs forced the logistics of the India Run as Far East as they could and to the breaking point. Even with new supply outposts established on the scattered Mauritius Islands and Cape Hope the Portuguese found themselves harassed by Swahili and Somali pirates. These opportunists set up temporary camps around the southern coast of Madagascar and pounced on Portuguese ships. Even on the coast of India Anti-Portuguese states such as Gujrarat harassed the Portuguese, reclaiming Diu with Habashab guns.
Prior to Habashab attacks the percent rate of returning ships to Lisbon had been 90%, that had been reduced to 50%.
Portugal's initial response was to spend much of 1517-1518 launching reprisal fleets to raid the Swahili Coast but these raids only caused Habashah to tighten their grip building more forts and pressing the Swahili city-states into a subservient relationship. It was a war of distance and attrition, both of which Habashah had to their advantage. Indecision and fear reigned in Lisbon, with merchants and nobles losing investments calling for re-orientation toward West Africa and the Americas. Perhaps fortunately for the Portuguese an attempt to sue for peace with the Habashabs was well received.
With the Swahili Coast secured Negus Jamal ud-Din turned his attentions back toward the recent gains around the Great Lakes and the nebulous border with the Ottomans. There were after all other opportunities, trade across the Sahel and securing the Persian Gulf. The Habashabs had secured the Arabian Sea and the Mozambique Channel for themselves-the government was not interested in invading Portuguese India or rounding the cape. So the two sides agreed to peace, the Portuguese warned against attacking Muslim ships and interfering with local affairs. The Portuguese for the time were still banned from Habashab ports and the Portuguese for their part were grateful for the deal. By no means did it prevent future hostilities or even current ones but it allowed each state to give each other a wide berth for a time.
The Portuguese would still have to contend with the alliance of opposing states in India but even that was coming loose. Domestic and foreign squabbles would see them busy from uniting against Portugal.
In ways it was perhaps fate that Habashah and Portugal faced one another. Both were states that existed on the periphery, Portugal on Europe's and Habashah on the Mediterranean and Indian. Both innovated to force their way out of their respective peripheral areas. However, in the end the Habashah-Portugal War would in the long term be an extreme strategic blunder for the Portuguese. As the Portuguese soon noted that ships designed fairly similar to their carrack ships and caravels became a more and more common sight across the Indian Ocean. While Jamal ud-Din had expressed his disinterest with the sea, there were still plenty of Habesha, Swahili, Somali, and Arab merchants and sailors who did and appreciated the large cargo sizes of the carrack or maneuverability of the caravel designs. Even the cannons and guns manufactured in Germany found their way to the artillery workshops. Thousands of men stirred up by the naval war, now over, looked to follow the Portuguese example. Encouraged no less than by Guleed Ali, the next century would see Habesha making their mark from India to the Philippines and everything in between.
For the Portuguese the Habashab campaign to push them from the Swahili Coaat had made a dent in Portugal's trade with India, but it had not ended it. Portugal's fleet running the yearly India Run could still make the outer loop journey which took them, if timed right, past the southern tip of Madagascar and around the eastern coast up toward the southern tip of India. This route while helpful in passing the seasonal monsoons was still costly and by no means a perfect art of navigation. This route was longer and ran through the empty expanses of the Indian Ocean which was a Herculean task that left sailors and their ships on their last legs- scurvy, diseased and the forced scuttling of damaged ships was a guarantee with every voyage.
Portuguese outposts in Mozambique, Madagascar and at Malindi while a navigational gauntlet through the reefs and shoals of the Mozambique Channel did allow the Portuguese to supplement their trade goods with gold, ivory, slaves and other goods but also allow ships and their crews to rest and repair. The Habashabs forced the logistics of the India Run as Far East as they could and to the breaking point. Even with new supply outposts established on the scattered Mauritius Islands and Cape Hope the Portuguese found themselves harassed by Swahili and Somali pirates. These opportunists set up temporary camps around the southern coast of Madagascar and pounced on Portuguese ships. Even on the coast of India Anti-Portuguese states such as Gujrarat harassed the Portuguese, reclaiming Diu with Habashab guns.
Prior to Habashab attacks the percent rate of returning ships to Lisbon had been 90%, that had been reduced to 50%.
Portugal's initial response was to spend much of 1517-1518 launching reprisal fleets to raid the Swahili Coast but these raids only caused Habashah to tighten their grip building more forts and pressing the Swahili city-states into a subservient relationship. It was a war of distance and attrition, both of which Habashah had to their advantage. Indecision and fear reigned in Lisbon, with merchants and nobles losing investments calling for re-orientation toward West Africa and the Americas. Perhaps fortunately for the Portuguese an attempt to sue for peace with the Habashabs was well received.
With the Swahili Coast secured Negus Jamal ud-Din turned his attentions back toward the recent gains around the Great Lakes and the nebulous border with the Ottomans. There were after all other opportunities, trade across the Sahel and securing the Persian Gulf. The Habashabs had secured the Arabian Sea and the Mozambique Channel for themselves-the government was not interested in invading Portuguese India or rounding the cape. So the two sides agreed to peace, the Portuguese warned against attacking Muslim ships and interfering with local affairs. The Portuguese for the time were still banned from Habashab ports and the Portuguese for their part were grateful for the deal. By no means did it prevent future hostilities or even current ones but it allowed each state to give each other a wide berth for a time.
The Portuguese would still have to contend with the alliance of opposing states in India but even that was coming loose. Domestic and foreign squabbles would see them busy from uniting against Portugal.
In ways it was perhaps fate that Habashah and Portugal faced one another. Both were states that existed on the periphery, Portugal on Europe's and Habashah on the Mediterranean and Indian. Both innovated to force their way out of their respective peripheral areas. However, in the end the Habashah-Portugal War would in the long term be an extreme strategic blunder for the Portuguese. As the Portuguese soon noted that ships designed fairly similar to their carrack ships and caravels became a more and more common sight across the Indian Ocean. While Jamal ud-Din had expressed his disinterest with the sea, there were still plenty of Habesha, Swahili, Somali, and Arab merchants and sailors who did and appreciated the large cargo sizes of the carrack or maneuverability of the caravel designs. Even the cannons and guns manufactured in Germany found their way to the artillery workshops. Thousands of men stirred up by the naval war, now over, looked to follow the Portuguese example. Encouraged no less than by Guleed Ali, the next century would see Habesha making their mark from India to the Philippines and everything in between.
Portugal focusing more on it's American processions might actually be better for it in the long run, it would allow it to husband it's forces and focus it on the narrower Atlantic area as well as, if the ban is lifted, get access to asian goods through Habesha ports without the added perilous journey at sea or wars to secure trade.
Right, right. I based the ability of the Habashah to take the territory based on distance and similar precedents. Also taking into the backing of a larger Ethiopian state. They are also following the pre-established trade routes by sea and land to these places.
If they had gone and seized the Cape of Good Hope or something in India then I would agree that's more on the wanky side.
As a large scale effort the Habesha have reached their current limit in terms of using naval power to spread overseas. Give them a decade of investment in setting up the infrastructure in Zanzibar and Mombasa and that could change. Right now with the Portuguese taken care of the government is looking inland again (except for eyeing Muscat).
For now though the Habesha developments overseas are going to be concluded on smaller scales by private interests (pirates).
Yep, the Portuguese tried to make it into a port base but they found out how worthless it was. Even though Habesha knew it was worthless they attacked the Portuguese for the first time since they still considered it part of their territory.