Mora (historical region)

Mora (Harari: ሞረ Morä) also known as Mura was a historical Muslim state located in the Horn of Africa.^[1][2][3][4] It was positioned northward of Ifat within reach of Aussa city in modern Afar region of Ethiopia.^[5] Mora neighbored other states in the medieval era including Adal, Hubat, Hargaya, Gidaya, Hadiya, and Fatagar.^[6][7]

Location of Mora state in the middle ages

History

In 1264 Sultan Dil Gamis of Makhzumi defeated the overlord of Mora state in battle.^[8][9] Following Walasma deposing the Makhzumi dynasty in 1285, Mora was incorporated into the Ifat Sultanate circa 1288.^[10]

In the fourteenth century Mora was among the states referenced by an Abyssinian emperor for raids conducted in his realm purely to capture slaves.^[11] During Abyssinian Emperor Amda Seyon's invasion of the Ifat Sultanate in the fourteenth century, Mora joined a coalition with Adal and elected Imam Salih as their leader.^[12] The so-called Amda Seyon chronicle states that the people of Mora had the ability to prophesize weather conditions.^[13]

References

1. Loimeier, Roman (5 June 2013). Muslim Societies in Africa A Historical Anthropology. Indiana University Press. p. 184. ISBN 9780253007971.
2. Bausi, Alessandro (2017). Ethiopia History, Culture and Challenges. Michigan State University. p. 234. ISBN 9783643908926.
3. Kissling, H.J. (August 1997). Last Great Muslim Empires. BRILL. p. 170. ISBN 9004021043.
4. Ende, Werner (15 December 2011). Islam in the World Today: A Handbook of Politics, Religion, Culture, and Society. Cornell University Press. p. 436. ISBN 978-0801464898.
5. Mora. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
6. Schneider, Madeleine. Stèles funéraires musulmanes de la province du Choa (PDF). Annales d'Éthiopie. p. 78.
7. Ayana, Daniel (2019). "The Northern Zanj, Demadim, Yamyam, Yam/Yamjam, Habasha/Ahabish, Zanj-Ahabish, and Zanj ed-Damadam – The Horn of Africa between the Ninth and Fifteenth Centuries". History in Africa. 46 (1). Cambridge University Press: 75. doi:10.1017/hia.2019.10.
8. Mahzumi dynasty. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
9. Cerulli, Enrico. Islam yesterday and today. pp. 238–239.
10. Jenkins, Everett (7 May 2015). The Muslim Diaspora (Volume 1, 570-1500) A Comprehensive Chronology of the Spread of Islam in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas · Volume 1. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 235. ISBN 9781476608884.
11. Hathaway, Jane (30 August 2018). The Chief Eunuch of the Ottoman Harem From African Slave to Power-Broker. Cambridge University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-107-10829-5.
12. Trimingham, J. Spencer (13 September 2013). Islam in Ethiopia. Taylor & Francis. p. 72. ISBN 9781136970221.
13. Huntingford, G.W.B (1965). The Glorious Victories of 'Āmda S̥eyon, King of Ethiopia. Clarendon Press. p. 117.