Ancient civilization
Awdal civilization started long before any other ancient civilization
and continued to the 21st century. It traded with pre-Egyptian civilizations, ancient Egypt, and
the Arabian Peninsula of the present countries of Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. They also traded with
the Far East countries including India and china.
Unlike the other ancient civilizations that emerged and vanished, Awdal continued to prosper and sustain itself
with amazing adaptability to new beginnings. They embraced several religions through the civilization's reign
and outlasted them all.
That history is not written in any place, but is kept in the form of poems, short stories
and old sayings, and is passed on from generation to generation in that way. They also keep their
genealogy the same way. As a matter of fact Awdal people are the only people in this World
who can recite their paternal ancestral line to their 40th great grandfather; that dates back
the BC calendar. And if you ask the people about this genealogical practice, they will tell you about their relationship
with the Pharaohs. That oral history states when the ancient Egyptian Empire was defeated by Mosses and his
followers, the Pharaohs and their clique escaped into 3 different Empires that they were familiar and had traded with:
1: Central West Africa, (around present countries of Mali, and Niger; The Fulanies) and created the Mali Empire
2: South on the Nile, (around present countries of Rwanda, and Burundi; Bah Tutzi)
3: South on the Red Sea, (around present countries of D'Jibouti and Somalia), where they joined The Adal(Awdal)
Empire: The Gadabursi).
The Pharaohs named Awdal "The Land of Punt" (The Land of God), and traded with as late as 450 BC. That trade between the Adal(Awdal) Empire and Pharoah
Hatsepshut is the only
documented piece of that whole history, because the Pharoah insisted that her trade with Adal(Awdal) Empire, be put on her tomb. And anyone
who is interested in that story can visit Hatsepshut's Deir el-Bahri tomb in Egypt and read it for him/herself.
Early World historians did not write about or study the history of these parts of the World, because it did not go in line
with the stories they wanted to tell back then, and the contemporary ones did not bother to tell for the same reason,
therefore
it was never got included into the World history.
The stories of these regions are amazing, but what even makes them more mysterious, is the cultural,
physical, and the behavior similarities of the people of these three distant and unrelated regions of Africa.
1: Female circumcision which was an Ancient Egyptian culture is practiced in all three regions.
2: The authentic female dresses resemble those of the female Pharaohs.
3: They all have an unexplainable admiration and passion for each other and the country of Egypt, even though they
live thousands of miles apart.
4: These three regions have paternal family lines, while most Africans have maternal family line.
Unfortunately, because of the early invasions of the Christians, then the Muslims, followed by the European Crusaders' colonization of Africa,
much of that history was lost. However, some of it was salvaged, and is available to be studied by anyone who wants to learn more
about ancient civilization's science and sociology. All one has to do is visit Awdal, everything is out there in the open.
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Islamic Civilization
Introduction of Islam
Much is not known about the history of Awdal from 100 BC, after the fall of ancient,
Egypt to 615 AD when Islam was introduced by a number of Prophet Mohamed's (PBUH)
followers. These followers were running away from Mecca's powerful, reactionary Quraysh tribe,
and sought refuge in Awdal. Among this group was the Prophet's (PBUH) wife and cousin.
They were welcomed warmly in Awdal, and later protected from Qureysh emissaries that wanted
to take them back to Mecca and prosecute them.
And when the Prophet (PBUH) heard about
the incident, He (PBUH) thanked and blessed Awdal by saying " May Allah bless the Habasha"; the word
"Habasha" means "black" in ancient Arabic language and all East Africans are black, and fit the description.
Unfortunately, that word "Habasha" was later,
erroneously translated to mean "Ethiopia" by contemporary Ethiopian writers, and that is the reason many Ethiopian writers write about
the Prophet Mohamed's (PBUH) blessing of Ethiopia.
IF the Ethiopian writers' claim is true, why didn't
Ethiopians embrace Islam at the time(615 AD)? And even if the Ethiopian writers claim that Ethiopians were Christians already, why did seventy percent (70%)
of the Ethiopian population converted to Islam between 1450 AD and 1500 Ad, when Islam was actually introduced to Ethiopia for the first time? Furthermore,
since Ethiopia is a land-locked country the followers had to go through Awdal to get to Ethiopia. In fact, this geographical fact alone annuls Ethiopia writers' claim.
Even though the people of Awdal practiced many different religions through their Dynasty, they realized
this new religion of Islam is the truth and immediately accepted it. In order to understand the new religion
thoroughly, they started learning Arabic language
so they can practice and live the teachings of
Islam. And when they witnessed the holly Quran revelations they became staunch believers and started changing their names to
Arabic ones. Even today, most newborns are given Arabic names.
This new relationship and trade with the middle east marks the beginning of Awdal's
millennium of peace and prosperity. It lasted for about 1300 years, longer than any civilization at any time
including this current one.
Awdal Empire of 700 AD -->1900 AD
Right after the Prophet's (PBUH) death, an influx of religious teachers and merchants
from the middle east, Oman and Yemen poured into
Awdal and started doing business with the Empire. The Empire expanded. And, at the height of
its power and prosperity in the sixteenth century, Awdal under the
leadership of Sheikh Ahmed Guray,
extended from Zeila to as far west
as the city of Akxum; what is now western Ethiopia. Even though the
colonial anthropologist I.M. Lewis
intentionally gives a distorted image of Skeikh Ahmad Guray's
origin, calling him the issue
of a Coptic priest and a Muslim harlot, the Sheikh is from the
Abrain sub-clan of the Maxaad Casse'
clan of The Gadabursi. His off springs still
live in the city of Zeila where he was the king of.
There are many writings in several different languages
about this long and peaceful
era, but I
chose to include some excerpts from the US Military Strategic Handbook of
Somalia written after the Black Hawk down.
The military wanted to learn everything about Somalia and be prepared
for future occurrences if any. So they offered grants
to ten US universities to study Somalia from the beginning to the present,
(everything there is to know ).
And the best beginning these researchers found was Awdal, where they say was the
first place the word "Somali" was ever spoken. That alone emphasizes
Awdal's importance in the history of the Horn.
========Here is what the US military wrote about Awdal=====
Emergence of Adal
In addition to southward migration, a second factor in Somali
history from the fifteenth century onward was the emergence of
centralized state systems. The most important of these in
medieval times was Adal, whose influence at the height of its
power and prosperity in the sixteenth century extended from
Saylac, the capital, through the fertile valleys of the Jijiga
and the Harer plateau to the Ethiopian highlands. Adal's fame
derived not only from the prosperity and cosmopolitanism of its
people, its architectural sophistication, graceful mosques, and
high learning, but also from its conflicts with the expansionist
Ethiopians. For hundreds of years before the fifteenth century,
goodwill had existed between the dominant new civilization of
Islam and the Christian neguses of Ethiopia. One tradition holds
that Muhammad blessed Ethiopia and enjoined his disciples from
ever conducting jihad (holy war) against the Christian kingdom in
gratitude for the protection early Muslims had received from the
Ethiopian negus. Whereas Muslim armies rapidly overran the more
powerful empires of Persia and Byzantium soon after the birth of
Islam, there was no jihad against Christian Ethiopia for
centuries. The forbidding Ethiopian terrain of deep gorges, sharp
escarpments, and perpendicular massifs that rise more than 4,500
meters also discouraged the Muslims from attempting a campaign of
conquest against so inaccessible a kingdom.
Muslim-Christian relations soured during the reign of the
aggressive Negus Yeshaq (ruled 1414-29). Forces of his rapidly
expanding empire descended from the highlands to despoil Muslim
settlements in the valley east of the ancient city of Harer.
Having branded the Muslims "enemies of the Lord," Yeshaq invaded
the Muslim Kingdom of Ifat in 1415. He crushed the armies of Ifat
and put to flight in the wastes along the Gulf of Tadjoura (in
present-day Djibouti) Ifat's king Saad ad Din. Yeshaq followed
Saad ad Din to the island off the coast of Saylac (which still
bears his name), where the Muslim king was killed. Yeshaq
compelled the Muslims to offer tribute, and also ordered his
singers to compose a gloating hymn of thanksgiving for his
victory. In the hymn's lyrics, the word Somali appears for
the first time in written record.
By the sixteenth century, the Muslims had recovered
sufficiently to break through from the east into the central
Ethiopian highlands. Led by the charismatic Imam Ahmad Guray
(1506-43), the Muslims poured into Ethiopia, using scorched-earth
tactics that decimated the population of the country. A
Portuguese expedition led by Pedro da Gama, a son of Vasco da
Gama who was looking for the Prester John of medieval European
folklore--a Christian, African monarch of vast dominions--arrived
from the sea and saved Ethiopia. The joint Portuguese-Ethiopian
force used cannon to route the Muslims, whose imam died on the battlefield.
At early nineteenth century Awdal was one of the most civilized Empires in the World. The city
of Zeila was the biggest commerce center on the red sea, catering to the inlands of
Africa, the Middle east, the Far east, and southern Europe, while the city of Harar was the
pillar of Islamic education in Africa, rivaling Timbuktu university of west Africa. The British
navy intelligence officer Richard Burton
who was sent to spy on Awdal on 1855, wrote a lot about the Awdal city of
Harar's academic advancement, and the city of Zeila's economic prosperity. He was amazed with
the region's sophistication, and reported that back to England. That report
coupled with the people of Awdal's complacency and trusting nature , and the
Christian Crusaders' commitment to destroy the powerful Islamic
civilization, will eventually trigger Awdal's downfall.
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