Sultanate of Dawaro


The Sultanate of Dawaro was a Muslim Sultanate founded around the 10th century by the Jarso people sub-clan of the Dir clan centred in Hararghe.

Origins

By Somali reckoning, the founder of Dawaro Sultanate was Jārso people belonging to the Ali Madaḥweyne branch which is a sub-clan of Dir. After the Oromo migrations, the ʿAli Madaḥweyne Dir were absorbed into the Afran Qallo Barentuma confederation, and today the Jarso are reckoned as Jārsō Daggā Qāllō Barentuma Oromō.

Vassal state

Emperor Amda Seyon I of Abyssinia conquered many of the adjacent independent Muslim sultanates during his reign. In 1329, Sulṭān Ḥaydar of Dawaro was captured and imprisoned together with his ally Sulṭān Sabir ad-Dīn Maḥamed. Despite several rebellions and a brief period when Ahmeduddin Badlay a powerful Somali ruler from Adal Sultanate captured Dawaro and turned it into a vessel of Adal and after the weakening of Adal Sultanate, the opportunist Oromos captured the vessel state and assimilated the local native Somali population. Just like many Somalis in Hararghe, the Jarso people were also assimilated into the Oromo confederation after the weakening of Adal Sultanate by its war with the Ethiopian Empire and Portuguese Empire.

Legacy

Dawaro was a major power prior to its defeat and subjugation. It was roughly equal in size, population and power to the early Ifat Sultanate.

Sultans of Dawaro