Malassay

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Malassay
Active1100–1500
Allegiance Adal Sultanate
TypeInfantry, Cavalry
RoleStanding professional military
GarrisonsHarar
EngagementsBattle of Ansata, Battle of Shimbra Kure, Battle of Fatagar, Battle of Hazalo, Battle of Endagabatan, Battle of Hadiya
Commanders
CommanderGarad

A Malassay (Harari: መለሳይ Mälässay) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Adal Sultanate's household troops.[1] According to Manfred Kropp, Malassay were the Harari armed forces.[2]

Etymology[]

Malassay appears to refer to a military rank or warrior in Afar and Harari languages.[3] According to Dr Duri Mohammed, Malassay in ancient times attributed to Harari serviceman however in the present day it refers to a brotherhood or member of a fraternity.[4][5]

History[]

Early Ge'ez and Portuguese texts indicate Muslim soldiers were known as the Malassay.[6] In the thirteenth century the Malassay appear to back the Amhara rebel Yekuno Amlak in his conflict with the Zagwe dynasty.[7] The Muslim Makhzumi Dynasty had provided manpower and weapons to Yekuno Amlak in the Sultanate of Showa period following Sultan Malasami.[8] Historians have identified the Gafat regiments of the Malassay played a key role in founding the Christian Solomonic dynasty.[9]

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was originally a Malassay serving under a Garad named Abun Adashe prior to becoming leader of the Adal Sultanate.[10][11] In the sixteenth century the main troops of Adal Sultanate's leader Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi were the Malassay during the invasion of Abyssinia.[12] One of the leaders of the Muslim forces of Malassay was a Gaturi named Amir Husain bin Abubaker.[13] The Malassay participated in the conquest of Abyssinia at the decisive Battle of Shimbra Kure.[14] Emperor Lebna Dengel chronicles states the Malassay were the Muslim enemy that invaded.[15] According to Mohammed Hassan the Malassay under Ahmed consisted of the Harla and Harari ethnic groups.[16] Ethiopian historian Merid Wolde Aregay associated the Malassay with Semitic speakers.[17]

In the reign of Emperor Sarsa Dengel, the Hadiya Kingdom was supported by 500 Malassay who had arrived from Harar territory to battle Ethiopia.[18] Sarsa Dengel chronicles mentions Malassay rebels of Elmag (an unidentified group) and the Somali under their Harari moniker Tumur had deserted thus Manfred Kropp argues the Malassay were of diverse ethnic backgrounds.[19]

Under the seventeenth century Emirate of Harar, the entire army was commanded by a Garad who had several militias under him labeled the Malassay.[20] In the contemporary era, the term Malassay survives as a subgroup of the Harari.[21]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Northeast African Studies. African Studies Center, Michigan State University. 1984. p. 64.
  2. ^ Abstracts in German Anthropology. Edition Herodot. 1989. p. 83. ISBN 9783927636064.
  3. ^ Morin, Didier (1997). Poésie traditionelle des Afars. Peeters Publishers. p. 12. ISBN 9789068319897.
  4. ^ Mohammed, Duri (4 December 1955). The Mugads Of Harar (PDF). University College of Addis Abeba Ethnological Bulletin. p. 1. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. ^ Aregay, Merid. Southern Ethiopia and the Christian kingdom 1508 - 1708, with special reference to the Galla migrations and their consequences. University of London. p. 135.
  6. ^ Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Haile Selassie I University. 1997. p. 52.
  7. ^ Tamrat, Tadesse (1988). "Ethnic Interaction and Integration In Ethiopian History: The Case of the Gafat". Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Institute of Ethiopian Studies. 21: 125. JSTOR 41965965.
  8. ^ Hassan, Mohammed. Oromo of Ethiopia 1500-1850 (PDF). University of London. p. 4.
  9. ^ Pankhurst, Richard (1997). The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Red Sea Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780932415196.
  10. ^ Aregay, Merid (1980). "A Reappraisal of the Impact of Firearms in the History of Warfare in Ethiopia (C. 1500-1800)". Journal of Ethiopian Studies. 14: 109. JSTOR 41965889.
  11. ^ The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review and Oriental and Colonial Record. Oriental Institute. 1905.
  12. ^ Muth, Franz-Christoph. Allahs Netze: ʽArabfaqīhs Futūḥ al-Ḥabaša als Quelle für Netzwerkanalysen. Annales d'Éthiopie. p. 114.
  13. ^ History of Harar (PDF). Harar Tourism Bureau. p. 57.
  14. ^ History of Harar (PDF). Harari people regional state. p. 57.
  15. ^ Haile, Getachew. Reviewed Work: Tānāsee 106: Eine Chronik der Herrscher Äthiopiens. Äthiopistische Forschungen, Band 12 by Franz Amadeus Dombrowski. Northeast African Studies. p. 181. JSTOR 43661193.
  16. ^ Hassan, Mohammed. Reviewed Work: Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim-European Rivalry in the Region by M. Abir. Michigan State University Press. p. 64. JSTOR 43660165.
  17. ^ Aregay, Merid. Southern Ethiopia and the Christian kingdom 1508-1708 with special reference to the Galla migrations and their consequences. University of London. p. 135.
  18. ^ Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays. LIT Verlag Münster. 2002. p. 59. ISBN 9783825856717.
  19. ^ Kropp, Manfred (1990). "Mäläsay: Selbstbezeichnung Eines Harariner Offizierskorps und Ihr Gebrauch in Äthiopischen und Arabischen Chroniken". Paideuma. Frobenius Institute. 36: 108. JSTOR 40732663.
  20. ^ Kropp, Manfred (1990). "Mäläsay: Selbstbezeichnung Eines Harariner Offizierskorps und Ihr Gebrauch in Äthiopischen und Arabischen Chroniken". Paideuma. Frobenius Institute. 36: 111. JSTOR 40732663.
  21. ^ Ethiopianist Notes Volumes 1-2. African Studies Center, Michigan State University. p. 37.
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