Does the name of the Adal Sultanate have any relation to the Awdal region?

We know the etymology of the Ajuraan, Geledi, and Hobyo sultanates because their names either relate to a region/city or a somali qabil. That's why I believe the Adal sultanate probably got its name from the Awdal region, and it makes sense because its original Capital was Saylac, and it expanded from this region.

I don't have concrete evidence of this but it seems very plausible when you think about it. Awdal sultanate also sounds more pleasing the ear when said.
 

Hamzza

VIP
No, Awdal is the Somali name of the ancient city of Zeyla.
Adal is something else, probably derived from the Afar clan with the same name.
 
No, Awdal is the Somali name of the ancient city of Zeyla.
Adal is something else, probably derived from the Afar clan with the same name.
Any history that afars claim should be taken with a grain of salt tbh. Demographically they are langaabs with only 1.5 million people. They have the historical relevance of Sentinelese people.
 
Last edited:

Hamzza

VIP
Why are u giving Adal sultanate to the afars it was a somali sultanate ruled by Samaroon of Awdal
Don't listen to him, the name came from Awdal, or عدل meaning justice
Any history that afars claim should be taken with a grain of salt tbh. Demographically they are langaabs with only 1.5 million people. They have the historical relevance of Sentinelese people.
Adal was already part of the greater Yifat Sultanate which was based in the Shewan highlands of Ethiopia, both Ethiopian and Arabic sources mention Adal as being the Eastern province of Yifat.

Let's remember the principle enunciated by Herodotus:

Egypt is all that country which is inhabited by Egyptians, just as Cilicia and Assyria are countries inhabited by Cilicians and Assyrians.

that is for Ancient and Medieval geographers a country took its name from its inhabitants, not the other way around.

So my theory is that Adal took its name from the Afar clan 'Adali'.
 
From what I read the Ifat Sultanate was started by the Walashma Dynasty who descend from Aw Barkhadle who was Somali. Both the original capitals of Ifat and Adal was Saylac before being moved. If the founding dynasty was Somali, and the original capital was a Somali city then it leaves little room for these sultanates being anything other than Somali.
 
Awdal comes from the Somali word Aw-daal ama daalka awaliyada or the land of the saints. Afars are genetically habesha mostly.
 

killerxsmoke

2022 GRANDMASTER
THE PURGE KING
VIP
We know the etymology of the Ajuraan, Geledi, and Hobyo sultanates because their names either relate to a region/city or a somali qabil. That's why I believe the Adal sultanate probably got its name from the Awdal region, and it makes sense because its original Capital was Saylac, and it expanded from this region.

I don't have concrete evidence of this but it seems very plausible when you think about it. Awdal sultanate also sounds more pleasing the ear when said.
Yes it is, when an arab historian went to adal in the medival ages he didnt call it adal he called it awdal
 

Aurelian

Forza Somalia!
VIP
Adal was already part of the greater Yifat Sultanate which was based in the Shewan highlands of Ethiopia, both Ethiopian and Arabic sources mention Adal as being the Eastern province of Yifat.

Let's remember the principle enunciated by Herodotus:



that is for Ancient and Medieval geographers a country took its name from its inhabitants, not the other way around.

So my theory is that Adal took its name from the Afar clan 'Adali'.
A principle by pseudo historian is your base? Is Russia’s name based on the fact the inhabitants are from Sweden?
 
We know the etymology of the Ajuraan, Geledi, and Hobyo sultanates because their names either relate to a region/city or a somali qabil. That's why I believe the Adal sultanate probably got its name from the Awdal region, and it makes sense because its original Capital was Saylac, and it expanded from this region.

I don't have concrete evidence of this but it seems very plausible when you think about it. Awdal sultanate also sounds more pleasing the ear when said.

ajuraan were ruled by the Gareen clan, not by the modern clans that call themselves ajuuran
 

Aurelian

Forza Somalia!
VIP
Danakil and other Afars were on Abyssinia’s side in Adal vs Abyssinia wars
1668935575182.png
 

Hamzza

VIP
A principle by pseudo historian is your base? Is Russia’s name based on the fact the inhabitants are from Sweden?
Herodotus is the father of History.

Yes, Rus were an early medieval people who gave their name to the lands of Russia, Ruthenia, and Belarus. In the mid-800s they were centered around Kiev.

This perfectly aligns with Herodotus's principle.
 

Garaad diinle

 
The name awdal is indeed a seconde name of zaylac. At the tail end of the 13th century a man which would be later be known as walashama would conquer a vast tract of territory that would be named the land of zayla. The egyption historian Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti in his book ‘Aja’ib al-athar fi’t-tarajim wa’l-akhbar wrote that his ancestor come from the land of zayla and as we just wrote zayla had two name which means the land of zayla was also called the land of awdal pronounced often times by arabs as adal.


The land was also called the lands of al-Jabarti which was a city and the capital of the walashama. Al-Jabarti city had a seconde name which was awfat pronounced by most arabs as ifat. In the book writing by Al-Maqrizi he writes awfat not ifat.


In regard to the afars they say that adal is a corrpted name from one of their clans named ad ali meaning white ali because ad is white in afar in fact somalis that live in close proximity to
afar call them adali not adals or awdals. Afars crossed the awash river and toppeld the Imamate of Aussa along side the harla somalis. Later on the harla somalis were also toppeld after their allies that helped them rise to power wanted to also rule over the small area. The harla somalis become afarizazed and today speak afar language but still retain somali geneology. In the spacequant centuries afar expanded more and more until they reached their current territorial extend in modern day ethiopia. They are still trying to expand even more just this year they took over adayito from somalis and previous year took over garbaissa. Just yesterday somalis pushed back an afar raiding militia.
 
The Afars were consistently allied with the Abyssinians, and would raid and try to destabilize the Adal Sultanate because they viewed it as an enemy. Them founding it, and ruling it would be illogical.

 
Last edited:

Hamzza

VIP
The Afars were consistently allied with the Abyssinians, and would raid and try to destabilize the Adal Sultanate because they viewed it as an enemy. Them founding it, and ruling it would be illogical.

Who said they founded or ruled Adal bro?
We are talking about the origin of the name "Adal".
Btw, the land was called Adal before the Sultanate of Adal was established in the 15th century.

Adal Sultanate adopted its name from Adal country/region which took its name from the Adali clan.
 

Aurelian

Forza Somalia!
VIP
Herodotus is the father of History.

Yes, Rus were an early medieval people who gave their name to the lands of Russia, Ruthenia, and Belarus. In the mid-800s they were centered around Kiev.

This perfectly aligns with Herodotus's principle.
The father of history who was and still being debunked and classified as an reliable person

I can’t believe you are taking him as a reliable source :reallymaury:
 

Garaad diinle

 
We know the etymology of the Ajuraan, Geledi, and Hobyo sultanates because their names either relate to a region/city or a somali qabil. That's why I believe the Adal sultanate probably got its name from the Awdal region, and it makes sense because its original Capital was Saylac, and it expanded from this region.

I don't have concrete evidence of this but it seems very plausible when you think about it. Awdal sultanate also sounds more pleasing the ear when said.
It's truly sad that somalis don't write their own history but alhamdulillah other people wrote
about the somalis instead so we have something to go on from. If you're looking for a historical source here is something right around the time of walashama establishing their kingdom at the tail end of the 13th century an arab writer by the name of Shams al-Din
al-Ansari al-Dimashqi wrote the following

جبل خافونى بأرض الهاوية وسميت الهاوية تشبيها بجهنم في حرها ونارها ثم بأرض بربرا وبعض بلاد دمدم
( والحبش السفلى ثم بأرض جبرة ثم بأرض باضع ( ثم بساحل زنجبار وأرض الزيلع ثم بأرض أوتل

meaning

mountain of hafun in the land of hawiya and it's called hawiya because it's like jahanam in it's heat and fire (hawiya is one of the names of jahanam) then at the land of berbera and some of the land of damdam and then lower habasha then the land of jabart then badhe' and then the coast of zanzibar and the land of zeila and the land of awdal.

In this text it's writen أرض أوتل meaning the land of awdal.


How do modern day arab understand this. Here is a text from the 90s explaining it.

وأرض أوتل . ويقصـد بـأرض جبرة بلاد مملكة أوفات ، كما أن اسـم " أوتـل " تحريف اسم عدل أو أودل الصومالي

meaning
and the land of awdal, and they mean when they say land of jabart the land of the kingdom of awfat, and the name adal is corrupted form of awdal Al-Somaliya.

Al-Dimashqi is also the first to write xamar.

مقدشو الحمراء


meaning

the red mogadishu or mogadishu al hamra'
 

Trending

Top