Muhammad ibn Nasir (), reigned 1573–1576, was a
sultan of the
Sultanate of Adal
The Adal Sultanate, or the Adal Empire or the ʿAdal or the Bar Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate, ''Adal ''Sultanate'') () was a medieval Sunni Muslim Empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din ...
in the
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
.
Reign
The son of Sultan
Nasir ibn Uthman and the grandson of
Uthman the Abyssinian. Muhammad ibn Nasir, desirous of resuming the old struggles against the Christian empire, relativized the administration of Adal, as a preparation for the grand plan. He made his brother Hamid,
wazir
Wazir often refers to:
* Vizier or wazir, a high-ranking political advisor or minister
Wazir may also refer to:
Places
* Wazirabad, a City in Punjab, Pakistan
* Waziristan, a region in tribal belt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
* Wazir Akbar K ...
of Harar.
Haygan Hashim was made the governor of
Aussa, while Hashim was made governor of
Zeila
Zeila ( so, Saylac, ar, زيلع, Zayla), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland.
In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila (or Hawilah) with the Bib ...
. Sultan Muhammed is also credited with having commissioned the building of a wall around the port of
Zeila
Zeila ( so, Saylac, ar, زيلع, Zayla), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland.
In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila (or Hawilah) with the Bib ...
to protect it from raids by Somali nomads.
A triple alliance was in the works involving Sultan Muhammed with the
Ottoman
Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to:
Governments and dynasties
* Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924
* Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...
leader
Özdemir Pasha
Özdemir Pasha (died 1561, Sana, Yemen Eyalet) was a Mamluk general for the Ottoman Empire, of Kumyk descent.''Mustafa Müftüoğlu.'' Yalan söyleyen tarih utansın!--. — Çile Yayınevi, 1981. — 384 с. He joined Hadım Süleyman Pasha's c ...
and
Yeshaq ruler of the Abyssinian province of
Medri Bahri
Medri Bahri ( ti, ምድሪ ባሕሪ, English: Land of the Sea Kingdom), also known as Mereb Melash, was an Eritrean kingdom emerged in 1137 until conquest by the Ethiopian Empire in 1879. It was situated in modern-day Eritrea, and was ruled by ...
. Nonetheless Sultan Muhammed carried out an expedition against the
Ethiopian Empire
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...
alone in 1573. This endeavor ended in total disaster. A great battle was fought between him and
Sarsa Dengel
Sarsa Dengel ( gez, ሠርጸ ድንግል ; 1550 – 4 October 1597), also known as Sarsa the Great, was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was throne name Malak Sagad I (መለክ ሰገድ ).
Biograp ...
at the
Battle of Webi River, "but God gave victory to the infidels" as the Muslim chronicles state. Muhammad was captured and promptly executed by the Emperor, he was the last member of the Uthman dynasty to rule Harar. Most of the Adalite
Harla
The Harla, also known as Harala, or Arla, are an extinct ethnic group that once inhabited Djibouti, Ethiopia and northern Somalia. They spoke the now-extinct Harla language, which belonged to either the Cushitic or Semitic branches of the Afroas ...
army was also killed or captured by the Abyssinians. The loss was blamed on the Sultan's commanders who began collaborating with the Abyssinians, prior to this four weeks into battle it had remained a stalemate. This major defeat ended the
Adal Sultanate
The Adal Sultanate, or the Adal Empire or the ʿAdal or the Bar Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate, ''Adal ''Sultanate'') () was a medieval Sunni Muslim Empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din ...
status as a major military power thus the
Harari state permanently ceased its aggression towards Ethiopia.
Notes
{{reflist
1576 deaths
16th-century monarchs in Africa
Year of birth unknown
People from Harari Region
Sultans of the Adal Sultanate