Medri Bahri

After the fall of the Aksumite Empire, Beja Kingdoms started appearing in the country north of the Mareb River to the Red Sea, which was known as Ma'ikele Bahr ("between the seas/rivers," i.e. the land between the Red Sea and the Mereb river).[4] Eritreans were some of the first East Africans to be converted to Islam in the 8th century AD, they founded their own independent Sultanate of Dahlak which controlled much of the Eritrean coastline. In 935 AD Massawa and Arkiko was reported by a contemporary source as being inhabited by Muslims. Thus it was clear that after the fall of Aksum, Muslims had controlled the area from the Eritrean coast to the Mareb River and were proselytizing the locals.[5][6] Ethiopian Emperor Amda Seyon I was wary of Muslim power along the Red Sea coast and therefore campaigned against them in 1332 AD. The regions of Hamasien and Akele Guzai would fall under Ethiopian rule following this campaign. It was later renamed as the Medri Bahri ("Land of the Sea", "Sea land" in Tigrinya, although it included some areas like Shire on the other side of the Mereb, today in Ethiopia).[7] The entire coastal domain of Medri Bahri was under the Adal Sultanate during the reign of Sultan Badlay.[8][9]

The first time the title Bahr Negash ("Ruler of the sea") appears is during the reign of Emperor Zara Yaqob (r. 1433–1468), who reconquered the region in 1448.[1] His chronicle explains how he put much effort into increasing the power of that office, placing the Bahr Negash above other local chiefs and eventually making him the sovereign of a territory covering Shire, in what is now Tigray, and the highlands (Tigrinya: ከበሳ) of what is now Eritrea including Hamasien and Seraye.[1][10] To strengthen the imperial presence in the area, Zara Yaqob also established a military colony consisting of Maya warriors from the south of his realm.[1] Near the end of his reign, in 1464/1465, Massawa and the Dahlak archipelago were pillaged by Emperor Zara Yaqob, and the Sultanate of Dahlak was forced to pay tribute to the Ethiopian Empire.[11]

In the 1520s, Medri Bahri was described by the Portuguese traveller and priest Francisco Alvares. The current Bahr Negash bore the name Dori and resided in Debarwa, a town on the very northern edge of the highlands. Dori was an uncle of emperor Lebna Dengel, to whom he paid tribute.[12] These tributes were traditionally paid with horses and imported cloth and carpets.[13] Dori was said to wield considerable power and influence, with his kingdom reaching almost as far north as Suakin, plus he was also a promoter of Christianity, gifting the churches everything they needed.[14] By the time of Alvares' visit, Dori was engaged in warfare against some Nubians after the latter had killed his son. The Nubians were known as robbers and generally had a rather bad reputation.[15] They originated somewhere five to six days away from Medri Bahri, possibly Taka (a historical province named after Jebel Taka near modern Kassala).[16][17]

During the Ethiopian-Adal War, Medri Bahri was one of the last parts of the empire to be confronted by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi due to its location in the far north. The Bahr Negash Za-Wangel was killed fighting the Adalites in the province of Tigray, soon after the forces of Imam Ahmad crossed the Mareb river into Medri Bahri in 1535. The Adalite occupation was resisted bitterly by the local population, who killed the Adalite governor Vizer Addole and sent his head to the Emperor. The Imam, deeply angered, marched into Seraye where upon the local population attempted to resist him. However, they were ultimately defeated, and it is reported that all of them perished. The Imam's occupation of the coastal highlands resulted in considerable destruction. In 1541 the Portuguese warrior Miguel de Castanhoso arrived in the region, he noted that the lands of the Bahr Negus was "depopulated, through fear" and the countryside was devastated. Many Christians upon seeing the Portuguese came out of their hiding with "crosses in their hands, in solemn procession, praying God for pity." The local monks informed the commander, Cristóvão da Gama, that their enemies had destroyed all their monasteries and churches. They called on de Gama to seek vengeance and many locals joined the Portuguese in their struggles against the Imam, most notably the Bahr Negus Yeshaq.[18]

After the death of Imam Ahmad in 1543, Emperor Gelawdewos immediately reestablished imperial suzerainty over the Eritrean highlands. In 1557 the Ottoman Turks conquered the port of Massawa and under Ozdemir Pasha led an expeditionary force inland where they occupied the capital Debarwa. The Turkish troops then built a large fort, but due to the local population's access to firearms, they were forced to retreat back to the coast. Around this time the Bahr Negus Yeshaq, a supporter of Gelawdewos, became very powerful due to the import of firearms through the coast. Although a ruler of a vassal state Yeshaq would heavily involve himself in internal Ethiopian affairs. After the death of Gelawdewos he attempted to place one of his nephews on the throne, but was defeated by Emperor Menas in battle. He then offered his submission to the Ottoman Turks and surrendered the fort of Debarwa, allowing him to continue his rebellion. Emperor Sarsa Dengel had attempted to make peace with the Bahr Negus, but conflict between the two men eventually erupted in 1576 after Yeshaq renewed his alliance with the Turks.[13]

Yeshaq and his Turkish allies marched into Tembien to face the army of Sarsa Dengel in battle, however this battle ended in disaster as the Bahr Negus was captured and then executed by the Emperor. Sarsa Dengel then proceeded to march into Debarwa were he captured large quantities of firearms and ordered the destruction of the Turkish fort.[18] This victory was of major importance as put an end to the hopes of the provincial nobility to achieve independence or autonomy from the Ethiopian Empire.[19]

Sarsa Dengel who was greatly angered by Yeshaq's treachery and arrogance, significantly reduced the Bahr Negash's status and autonomy. However, Emperor Susenyos I would revive the old tradition of appointing provincial rulers with the title of the Bahr Negus. According to the Scottish traveller James Bruce, the Bahr Negash was killed in 1772 fighting the warlord of Tigray, Ras Mikael Sehul. The rulers of Hamassien and Bogos were then nominally under the rule of the governor of Tigray.[20][21]

At its peak, the Kingdom of Medri Bahri stretched from the Red Sea to the Mareb River and beyond, covering areas of Shire (Including Inda Selassie) and its surrounding regions. This vast region was subdivided into three main provinces, namely Akele Guzai, Hamassien and Serae. Of these three, Serae was the most politically important district, as the most influential and important people took up residence there. As a consequence, this was also the wealthiest, the best maintained and the best protected district.[22] In the language of Tigrinya language "Medri Bahri" means "Land of the Sea" in reference to the Red Sea which Eritrea has a long coastline of this sea. This kingdom had a border to the south with Tigray Region, a province of the Ethiopian Empire also known as Abyssinia.

• Connel, Dan; Killion, Tom (2011). Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810875050.
• Pankhurst, Richard (1997). The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. The Red Sea Press. ISBN 9780932415196.
• Tamrat, Tadesse (1972). Church and State in Ethiopia (1270–1527).
• Tronvoll, Kjetil (1998). Mai Weini, a Highland Village in Eritrea: A Study of the People. Red Sea Press. ISBN 9781569020593.
• Werner, Roland (2013). Das Christentum in Nubien. Geschichte und Gestalt einer afrikanischen Kirche.

• d'Avray, Anthony (1996). Lords of the Red Sea. The History of a Red Sea Society from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries. Harrassowitz.