Abdullah Tahir

Abdullah Tahir was governor of Jigjiga in Ethiopia at the end of the nineteenth century.[1]

Abdullah Tahir
Governor of Jigjiga
Reign1896–1913
ReligionSunni Islam
OccupationTrader, diplomat

Early life and political career

Abdullah was of Yemeni descent and spent his early years in the city of Harar as an affluent merchant.[2]

In 1896 he became the earliest appointed administrator of Jigjiga following the Abyssinian invasion by Ras Makonnen, it would lead to the emergence of Jigjiga's urban development.[3][4][5] Governor Tahir created a security force to protect the town which consisted mainly of Somalis and Harari people as the Dervish militia had begun its activities in the region.[6] Under his leadership the grand mosque of Jigjiga was built, this was in contrast to other parts of Abyssinian occupied Hararghe in which churches were erected to indicate Amhara supremacy over the traditionally Muslim region.[7] According to British diplomat Christopher Addison, Abdullah was a collaborator with the UK.[8]

In 1912 the appointment of Abdullahi Sadiq as governor of Ogaden by Lij Iyasu was opposed by both Abdullah Tahir and Haile Selassie.[9]

References
  1. Puddu, Luca. STATE BUILDING, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE MAKING OF A FRONTIER REGIME IN NORTHEASTERN ETHIOPIA, c. 1944–75. Cambridge University Press. p. 112.
  2. Eshete, Tibebe. TOWARDS A HISTORY OF THE INCORPORATION OF THE OGADEN: 1887-1935. Institute of Ethiopian Studies. p. 73.
  3. Gebresenbet, Fana. Perishable state-making: Vegetable trade betweenself-governance and ethnic entitlement in Jigjiga,Ethiopia (PDF). Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS). p. 5.
  4. Pankhurst, Richard. Menilek and the Utilisation of Foreign Skills in Ethiopia. Institute of Ethiopian Studies. p. 52.
  5. Emmenegger, Rony. Urban Planning and the Contemporary Dynamics of Land Formalization in the City of Jigjiga. Centre français des études éthiopiennes.
  6. Proceedings of the Fourth Seminar of the Department of History (Awasa, 8-12 July 1987). Addis Ababa University. p. 158.
  7. Thompson, Daniel. Capital of the imperial borderlands: urbanism, markets, and power on the Ethiopia-British Somaliland boundary, ca. 1890–1935. Taylor & Francis. p. 541.
  8. Addison, Christopher. With the Abyssinians in Somaliland. Hodder and Stoughton. p. 80.
  9. Barnes, Cedric. Provinces and Princes - Power and the Eastern Ethiopian Periphery C 1906-1916. Institute of Ethiopian Studies. p. 109.
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