Sultanate of Dawaro

Sultanate of Dawaro
10th Century–1329
Status	Sovereign state
Religion	Islam
Government	Sultanate
Sultan
• 10th Century
• ?-1329	Ḥaydar
History
• Established	10th Century
• Conquered by Abyssinia	1329
Succeeded by Ethiopian Empire
Today part of	Hararghe

The Sultanate of Dawaro was a Somali Muslim Sultanate founded around the 10th century by the Jarso people, sub-clan of the Dir, centred in Hararghe.^[1]

Origins[]

The founder of Dawaro Sultanate was Jarso people belonging to the Ali Madaḥweyne branch which is a sub-clan of the Somali Dir clan. After the Oromo migrations, the jārso along with other Somali ʿAli Madaḥweyne Dir clans were absorbed into the Afran Qallo Barentuma confederation, and today the Jarso are reckoned as Jārsō Daggā Qāllō Barentuma Oromō. Although a large amount of the Jārso clan have assimilated into the Oromo ethnic group, they were not originally Oromo but rather Somali.^[2]

Conquest of Dawaro[]

Amda Seyon I of Ethiopia conquered many independent Muslim sultanates adjacent to his Empire during his reign. In 1329, Sulṭān Ḥaydar of Dawaro was captured and imprisoned together with his ally Sulṭān Sabir ad-Dīn Maḥamed. Despite several rebellions and a brief period when Ahmeduddin Badlay, a powerful Somali ruler of the Adal Sultanate, captured Dawaro and turned it into a vassal, expanding opportunistic Oromos took control of the land and assimilated the native Somali population due to the weakening of Adal during the Ethiopian-Adal war. Just like many Somalis in Hararghe, the Jarso people were also assimilated into the Oromo ethnic group.^[3]

Legacy[]

Dawaro was a major power prior to its defeat and subjugation. It was roughly equal in size, population and power to the early Ifat Sultanate.^[4]

Sultans of Dawaro[]

References[]