The Kingdom of Jarin was an early medieval

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

centered in

Northeast Africa Northeast Africa, or ''Northeastern Africa'' or Northern East Africa as it was known in the past, is a geographic regional term used to refer to the countries of Africa situated in and around the Red Sea. The region is intermediate between North ...

. According to

Al-Yaqubi ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer and perhaps the first historian of world cult ...

, it was one of six Beja kingdoms that existed in the region during the 9th century. The kingdom's territory was located between

Gash-Barka Gash-Barka ( ti, ጋሽ-ባርካ, it, Regione di Gasc-Barca) is an administrative region of Eritrea. It is situated in the south-west of the country, bordering the Anseba region to the north, and the Maekel (Central) and Debub (Southern) region ...

and Massawa. The king of Jarin rule extended from Massawa on the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

coast, to the frontier of

having borders with the Baqlin kingdom.It was one of the five Beja kingdoms noted by Al-Yaqubi.

History

During the Middle Ages there were five Beja kingdoms established. These kingdoms stretched from Eritrea to

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. The Beja kingdoms occupied much of the former territory of the Axum empire. These kingdoms were first noted by the famous Arab historian

during the 9th century A.D. The names of the kingdoms were Naqis, Baqlin, Bazin, Jarin and Qat'a. The kingdoms had borders with each other and the Nubian kingdom

Alodia Alodia, also known as Alwa ( grc-gre, Aρουα, ''Aroua''; ar, علوة, ''ʿAlwa''), was a medieval kingdom in what is now central and southern Sudan. Its capital was the city of Soba, located near modern-day Khartoum at the confluence of t ...

. To the south of the Beja kingdoms was a Christian kingdom referred to as Najashi. Gold, precious stones and emeralds were found in many of the kingdoms.

noted that Muslim Arabs visited the kingdoms for trading purposes. He also noted that the Arabs worked in the state mines. The primary commercial activities of the Beja kingdoms were mining and slave trade. An important slave-trade center was established on the Dahlak islands. Slaves were traded out of the African interior to the Arabian peninsula and beyond. Amid Beja rule, most of the descendants of the Axum empire were either driven out of the region or sold as slaves. Cities within the Kingdom of Jarin's territory included

Suakin Suakin or Sawakin ( ar, سواكن, Sawákin, Beja: ''Oosook'') is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about north. Suakin used to b ...

and ‘Aydhab. However, both towns were independent of the polity and were also under the protection of

Notes

History of Africa Former sultanates in the medieval Horn of Africa {{Africa-hist-stub

History

See also

Notes