Zeila (Somali: Saylac) is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast and is located in the Awdal region of the Somali Republic. The coast is defined as the part of the land adjoining or near the Ocean. Somali ( Af Soomaali, الصوماليه is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by ethnic Somalis The Gulf of Aden (خليج عدن transliterated: Khalyj 'Adan Somali: Khaleejka Cadan) is located in the Arabian Sea between Awdal (Awdal is a region in northwestern Somalia. Its capital is Boorama. Somalia ( Soomaaliya; الصومال) officially the Somali Republic ( Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliya, جمهورية الصومال) and formerly known
It is located at , surrounded on three sides by the sea; landward the country is unbroken desert for some fifty miles. Berbera is 170 miles southeast of Zeila, while the Ethiopian city of Harar is 200 miles to the west. History The city was first described in the eighth chapter of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea written by a Greek merchant in the first century CE NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page Harar (var Harrar, Hārer, Harer; Adari) is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari
The town is known for its offshore islands, coral reef and mangroves. Coral reefs are Aragonite structures produced by living organisms found in marine waters with little to no nutrients in the water Mangroves (generally are Trees and Shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the Tropics and Subtropics. Its lack of a sufficient supply of good drinking water has historically hobbled its commercial value, pointed out as late as 1698, (in this instance in a Dutch East India Company report). The Dutch East India Company ( Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in old-spelling Dutch, literally "United East Indian [1]
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History
Zeila has been identified with what was called in Classical Antiquity the city of the Avalitae. Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean According to Richard Pankhurst, the city first appears under its own name at least as early as 891, when the geographer al-Ya'qubi mentions Zeila in his Kitab al-Balden ("Book of the countries"). Ahmad ibn Abu Ya'qub ibn Ja'far ibn Wahb Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi (? – 897 known as Ya'qubi, was a Muslim historian and Geographer [2] Zeila is described by successive geographers who include al-Mas'udi, who wrote his Murugal al-Dahab wa-Ma'adin al-Guwahir ("Meadows of Gold and Mines of Precious Stones") c. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn íbn Ali al-Mas'udi (transl) (born c 935; and Ibn Hawqal who described it as the port of embarkation from Ethiopia for Hijaz and Yemen in his Kitab Surat al-'Ard ("Configuration of the Earth"), which he completed in 988. Events and Trends Simple930s Zh-yue930年代 Mohammed Abul-Kassem ibn Hawqal (محمد أبو القاسم بن حوقل born in Nisibis; travelled 943-969 CE was a 10th century Arab writer geographer and al-Hejaz (also Hijaz, Hedjaz; الحجاز al-Ḥiǧāz, literally "the barrier" is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia Yemen ( Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman officially the Republic of Yemen ( Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhuuriyya
Its importance as a trading port is further confirmed by al-Idrisi and ibn Said, who describe Zeila as a considerable town, a center of the slave trade, and under Ethiopian control. Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti or simply El Idrisi ( Arabic أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريسي Latin: Ali ibn Musa ibn Said al-Maghribi ( علي بن موسى المغربي بن سعيد) (1213-1286 was a famous geographer historian and the most important collector of poetry The history of slavery uncovers many different forms of human exploitation across many cultures throughout history Pankhurst, amongst other writers, thought Marco Polo was referring to Zeila (then the capital of Adal) when he recounts how the "sultan of Aden" seized a bishop of Ethiopia travelling through his realm, attempted to convert the man by force, then had him circumcised according to Islamic practice. Marco Polo ( September 15 1254 – January 9 1324 at earliest but no later than June 1325 was a Venetian trader and explorer The Adal Sultanate ( Somali: Adaal, Ge'ez: አዳል ʾAdāl, Arabic: عدل (c Sultan (سلطان is an Islamic title with several historical meanings Aden (ˈeɪdən Arabic: عدن) is a city in Yemen, 170 kilometers east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Male circumcision is the removal of some or all of the Foreskin (prepuce from the Penis. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. This outrage provoked the Emperor into raising an army and capturing the Sultan's capital. [3]
The traveller Ibn Battuta visited Zeila in 1329, but was not impressed at the city, writing that it was "the dirtiest, most disagreeable, and most stinking town in the world", which he blamed on the fish and the blood from the camels that they slaughtered in the streets. Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta (أبو عبد الله محمد ابن عبد الله اللواتي الطنجي بن بطوطة (born February Camels are Even-toed ungulates within the Genus Camelus. The Dromedary, one-humped or Arabian camel has a single hump and the He claimed to have found the town so revolting that he spent the night aboard ship, despite the rough seas. [4]
By this time, Zeila was subject to the Walashma dynasty, who also ruled over Ifat. The Walashma dynasty was a Muslim noble family who ruled Ifat - parts of whatis now eastern Ethiopia, Djibouti, and western Somalia Ifat may refer to Ifat Sultanate Although later in the 14th century Zeila came under the sway of the rulers of Yemen, by the reign of Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din II the Walashma family had sufficient control of the town for that sultan to take refuge there in 1403 (other sources say 1415) from Emperor Dawit I. Sa'ad ad-Din II (ruled circa 1400) was a Sultan of Ifat, and the brother of Haqq ad-Din II. Dawit I ( Ge'ez ዳዊት dāwīt, "David" was {{IPA|nəgusä nägäst}} ( 1382 - 6 October 1413) of The Ethiopian Emperor besieged the sultan there for several days, depriving sultan Sa'ad ad-Din of water, until at last the Ethiopians entered the city and killed the unfortunate ruler. Following his death, the sultan came to be considered a saint, and his tomb was venerated for the next several centuries. A saint (from the Latin sanctus) is a human being to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated a high level of Holiness and Sanctity [5]
Travellers' reports in the 16th century show that Zeila had become an important marketplace, despite being ravaged by the Portuguese in 1517 and 1528. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Later that century, destructive raids by nearby Somali nomads caused the ruler of the port, Garad Lado, to have a strong wall built around Zeila. Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that
Although, with Tadjoura, Zeila was one of the principal ports for the city of Harar and the regions of Aussa and Shewa, the town declined in importance over the next centuries. Tadjoura ( Afar: Tagórri; تجورة tağūrrah, tuğūrrah) is the oldest town in Djibouti, and is the capital of the Shewa ( Ge'ez ሽዋ šawā, modern šewā also spelled Shoa) is a historical region of Ethiopia Beginning in 1630, the port city became a dependency of the ruler of Mocha, who farmed out for a small sum the African port to one of the office-holders of Mocha, who in return collected a toll on its trade. Mocha ( Arabic: المخا) is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Zeila was ruled on the spot by an Emir, whom Mordechai Abir describes "has some vague claim to authority over all of the sahil, but whose real authority did not extend very far beyond the walls of the town. With the help of a small troop of mercenary matchlockmen and a number of canon, the governor defended the town against the disunited Somali nomads who roamed in the area, and against pirates who operated in the Gulf of Aden. The Gulf of Aden (خليج عدن transliterated: Khalyj 'Adan Somali: Khaleejka Cadan) is located in the Arabian Sea between [6] By the first half of the nineteenth century, Zeila was a mere shadow of its former self, "a large village surrounded by a low mud wall, with a population that varied according to the season from 1,000 to 3,000 people. "[7] Zeila retained what little importance as the port of Harar, and beyond it Shewa, but as a new route was opened between Tadjoura and Shewa, Zeila declined further. Harar (var Harrar, Hārer, Harer; Adari) is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari [8]
From about 1821 to 1841, Muhammad Ali, Pasha of Egypt came to control Yemen and the sahil with Zeila included. This article is about the leader of Egypt For other people named Muhammad Ali or Mehmet Ali see Muhammad Ali (disambiguation and Mehemet Ali (disambiguation This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Local merchants like Haj Ali Shermerki and Abu Bakr were made rulers of Zeila by the Egyptians in return for a small tribute, but in 1885 Zeila and its eastern neighbor Berbera were annexed into British Somaliland. History The city was first described in the eighth chapter of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea written by a Greek merchant in the first century CE British Somaliland was a British Protectorate in the north part of the Horn of Africa.
The construction of a railway from Djibouti to Addis Ababa in the late 19th century continued the decline of Zeila. The city of Djibouti (جيبوتي Somali: Jabuuti, Ville de Djibouti is the capital and largest city of Addis Ababa (sometimes spelled Addis Abeba, the spelling used by the official Ethiopian Mapping Authority Amharic At the beginning of the next century Zeila was described in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica as having a "good sheltered anchorage much frequented by Arab sailing craft. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica An anchor is an object often made out of metal that is used to attach a ship to the bottom of a body of water at a specific point The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding " However, heavy draught steamers are obliged to anchor a mile and a half from the shore. Small coasting boats lie off the pier and there is no difficulty in loading or discharging cargo. The water supply of the town is drawn from the wells of Takosha, about three miles distant; every morning camels, in charge of old Somali women and bearing goatskins filled with water, come into the town in picturesque procession. . . . [Zeila's] imports, which reach Zaila chiefly via Aden, are mainly cotton goods, rice, jowaree, dates and silk; the exports, 90% of which are from Abyssinia, are principally coffee, skins, ivory, cattle, ghee and mother-of-pearl. Cotton is a soft staple Fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant ( Gossypium sp Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many The Date Palm ( Phoenix dactylifera) is a palm in the genus Phoenix, extensively cultivated for its edible Fruit. Silk is a natural Protein Fiber, some forms of which can be woven into Textiles The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons CoFFEE is an Open source Software for computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL in a digital classroom Ivory is formed from Dentine and constitutes the bulk of the Teeth and Tusks of animals such as the Elephant, Hippopotamus, Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Ghee ( Hindi घी ghī, Urdu گھی ghī, Punjabi ਘਿਉ/گھیو ghiu, Kashmiri ग्याव/گیاو Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic Composite material produced by some Mollusks as an inner shell layer
Modern times
Since the war, Zeila has been bombed frequently and nearly all the buildings were either demolished or semi-demolished. Residents fled the town and emigrated to neighbouring countries such as Djibouti. Djibouti ( جيبوتي Jībūtī, Somali: Jabuuti) officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Remittance money sent from overseas relatives contributed tremendously in the reconstruction of the town as well as the trade and fishing industry.
Notes
- ^ Pankhurst, Richard K. P. (1982). History of Ethiopian Towns. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag.
- ^ Pankhurst, p. 54.
- ^ Pankhurst, p. 55.
- ^ Ross E. Dunn, The adventures of Ibn Battuta (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), pp. 122f.
- ^ Pankhurst, p. 57.
- ^ Abir, Mordechai (1968). Ethiopia: The Era of the Princes; The Challenge of Islam and the Re-unification of the Christian Empire (1769-1855). London: Longmans.
- ^ Abir, Era of the Princes, p. 14
- ^ Abir, Era of the Princes, p. 16
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