Trade For Peace Not For Conflict: Harari Experience.

• Author: Abubaker, Abdulmalik

1. Introduction

   Many scholars and travelers (Abbas Ahmed, 1992, Ahmed Zekaria, 1997, Burton, 1966, Caulk, 1977, Muhammad Hassen, 1973 Pankhurst, 1968, Stitz, 1976 and Waldron, 1984 etc.) wrote about Harar trade history. While some wrote about the coins of Harar others wrote on how the Hararis preserved Harar as a market place and secured the trade route applying various methods to regulate the relations they had with the surrounding people. Nevertheless, they have not said much about how Hararis used trade as a means of avoiding conflict and maintaining peace. That inspired me to identify and discuss some of those methods relying on the literature and reports produced by scholars and travelers in order to examine their relevance to contemporary Ethiopian society. It is worthy, however, first briefly to discuss how Harar moved from being the capital city of the militant kingdom of Adal into a mercantile city-state.

2. From Capital City to Mercantile City State

   Sir Richard F. Burton visited the Islamic city of Harar in 1885 staying ten days disguised as Sheikh Abdullahi from Yemen (Yusuf Ahmed, 1961:375). Quoting Makrizi Burton (1966, 180) informs us Harar was a capital of Hadiya whereas others (Hussein Ahmed, 2010:112, Mahfuz Zekaria, 2000:9, Waldron, 1984: 23) tell us Harar was the capital city of Adal. Before Harar became the capital city Dakar was the capital city of Adal. In 1470 Harar replaced Dakar which started to decline.

   As early as the fourteenth century, some members of the ruling family of the Walasma dynasty of Ifat shifted their political centre from the eastern Shewa region to the highlands of Harar. Under the control of the rulers from Ifat, the town of Harar and its environs thus became the nucleus of the sultanate of Adal, which gradually extended its hegemony into large parts of the hinterland of Zeila, and challenged the Christian kingdom in the north. (Hussein Ahmed, 2010: 112)

   While Burton (1966:182) suggested that Harar was established in the 7th Century and described it as a mere mass of Bedouin villages before the reign of Imam Muhammad (or properly Ahmed ), Haggai (1994:29) described Harar as an urban center in the 13th century. According to Burton (1966:182) and (Abbas Ahmed, 1992:3-4) Harar was founded by Arab invaders or those Arab groups who Harris (1844: 221) refers to as sons of Yemen migrated from Hadhramaut who in the 7th century conquered and colonized the low tract between the Red Sea and the high lands. Nicholl (1997:120) also agrees with Abbas Ahmed on who founded Harar though the twelfth century is the period he prescribed for its establishment. Other sources, for instance, David (2007: 1) informs us "Harari tradition has witnessed a certain Haboba, the true founder of the city and its Emir."

   It seems there is a difference between Burton and Abbas Ahmed as to who those Arabs were. While Abbas Ahmed specified the Arabs as migrants from Yemen Hadhramaut, Burton identified them simply as Arab warriors. Furthermore, since conquest presupposes the subjugation of the inhabitants of the area conquered then we may say Burton assumed the original inhabitants were people who were conquered by the Arabs, the migration explanation may or may not presume the existence of original inhabitants nor relationship based on subjugation.

   Unlike Burton, Mahfuz Zekaria ( 2000:4) agrees with Haggai for he noted that Harar was found by Aw Abadir, the legendary father of Hararis who settled Haran, Aware, Gasa, Wergar, Gature, Addis and Abogn clans establishing advanced administration in 940-950 A.D. in the present site of Harar. Similar folklore is told about who selected the present location of Harar. "A group of religious and civic leaders who met one day to determine a suitable site to establish a new city chose four sites. After long argument, a choice was made and Harar was built on the site of the present old walled city. The choice was made because of the suitable elevation, the splendid landscape and the many rivers and streams in the area." (Amare Getachew & A.D. Krikorian, 1973: 354)

   Whoever was the founder, Harar acquired its present shape in the days of Amir Nur Ibn AL-Mujahid (1551-1568). According to Harari tradition, the Amir on one occasion sitting on Gey Humburti- the Navel of Harar- begged Khadir, (the nearest equivalent figure in the literature of Christians and Jews, is Melchizedek or Melchisedek) that some Sharif might be brought from Mecca and build a permanent city (Burton, 1966:186 Mahfuz, 2000:17) His request was accepted and Sharif Yonis, his son Fekr-el Din and a descendant from the Ansar or Auxiliaries of the Prophet were settled at Harar.

   Nicholl (1997: 120) broadens the rule of Harar to include a large and fertile province, Hararghe, and its peaceable agricultural inhabitants. The Amirs who ruled Harar were Seventy two in number according to Wagner (1974:213) or 76 as mentioned by Abdu-Khalil (2007:30-34) For the purpose of this paper it is only necessary to mention the most prominent Amirs.

   Amir Mahfuz was a religious-military leader fought the Abyssinians for almost thirty years taking advantage of the forty days rigorous fasting days when the Abyssinians were less capable of carrying arms (Harris, 1844:269,Burton,1966:181, Haggai, 1994:30). After his defeat and death he was succeeded by his son in law Imam Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim known as Gragn by the Abyssinians who occupied and ruled Ethiopia for 15 years till he was defeated by the Portuguese army (ibid, 182).

   Imam Ahmed was succeeded by his nephew, Amir Nur who after defeating Galaudius (1) returned to Harar with the beheaded head of Galaudius as trophy. As a consequence, both Abyssinians and Harar were weakened. Thus, "taking the advantage of the exhaustion of the two states, the migrating Oromos overran both, damaging them irreparably for long time."(Muhammad Hassen, 1980:228) As a consequence the Adal kingdom shifted its capital to Awsa leaving Harar to its own fate. Surprisingly while Harar survived miraculously Awsa disappeared. Harar was possibly saved by the Jagol, the wall around the city built by Amir Nur (Ahmed Zekaria, 1997:18).

   The effects of the occupation of those territories by the Oromo people were multi-dimensional. The Oromos over-ran many cities such as Sem, Shoa, Negeb, Dekker, and Haragaya (Ahmed Zekaria, ibid) which were probably satellites of Harar either eliminating the people or adopting them. The internal revolt also was another factor to weaken Harar (Caulk, 1977:369). Harar then was isolated from its vassals and continued to be "the seat for an Amirate which, although small in size, was noted as a center of trade and Islamic learning in the horn of Africa." (Abir, 1968:9) How did Harar manage to survive?

   Before we proceed it is worthy to throw light on the socio-political system of the Oromos that enabled them to defeat and invade villages and hold a grip from time to time on Harar. The Alla, Jarso, Nole, Obora, Anniya and Ittu are the main Oromo clans living around Harar and Harar province (Muhammad Hassen, 1973: v&vi). (2) Each Gosa or clan consisting the confederation had its own government headed by a Bokko (ibid, VI). They also had a common political institution called the Raba-Dori situated at Gara Mullata, "about three days to the South-West" of Harar (Neumann, 1902:374).

   They were organized in " a system of classes (luba) that succeed each other every eight years in assuming military, economic, political and ritual responsibilities" (Waldron,1984:1) where there was especial age group assigned to defend and wage war against enemies and sometimes one clan against another (Caulk, 1977:371). That made it hard to defeat the Oromos. Describing their skill in warfare Burton (1966:189-190) has the following to say: "These Oromos are tolerably brave; avoid matchlock balls by throwing themselves upon the ground when they see the flash, ride well, use the spear skillfully."

   Mukhtar described the courage of the Oromos who mustered thousands of armed and mounted men (Caulk, 1977: 371; Muhammad Hassen 1980:232) as follows:

   The Oromos might well have been equal or superior of the Egyptians. In numbers they were overwhelmingly superior; in knowledge and skilful use of terrain, they certainly surpassed the Egyptians. But the possession of firearms and artillery gave the Egyptians a decisive victory wherever and whenever they fought with the Oromos. Using that skill and courage they, however, defeated a British agent Piten who had ridden with his 500 militiamen trained by British officers to restore order (Pankhurst, 1958: 57). Hararis, however, resorted to various mechanisms to have peace with the Oromos.

   Caulk (1977:372-373) informs us that Amirs used various mechanisms to smooth their relations with the neighboring Oromos. They offered clothes either made in Harar by Hararis or imported. Amir Abd al-Shakur ibn Yusuf (1783-1794), went with a friend to the Jarso and other Nole clans, taking bales of sheeting for the first time to these Oromos in order to deal in peace with them. Caulk further noted that these gifts may have been a subsidy to free the way for salt and other caravans which must have arrived through the Nole country. Cloth imported by the Hararis initially as luxury turned into a necessity for the Oromos who replaced leather wrap with it.

   As we will see when we discuss price setting Hararis applied preferential treatment by allowing Oromos to buy goods in Harar for fixed prices while they normally sold their products at market price. Hararis taught advanced methods of farming to those who were settled and allowed them to sell their products to the town people. Moreover, they taught them and converted them into Islam. (Caulk, ibid)

   To win the Oromos' friendship the Amirs encouraged intermarriage and inter-adoption. Oromo chiefs and their lineages and commoners involved in such marriages and adoptions received special treatment and services when they came to the Harar...