Sharkha (also transliterated as Sharka, Sharha, Xarha, Xerha, Xarkhah) was a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...

in the southern part of its realm. Its inhabitants were predominantly

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, and similar in customs, economic conditions, and ethnic affiliations to its neighboring provinces of Hadiya, Oromo and Arababni.Ulrich Braukämper, ''Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays'' (Hamburg: Lit Verlag, 2002), p. 68 According to the research of Ulrich Braukämper, the written sources allow one to determine only "that it was bordered by Hadiya,

Dawaro Dawaro or Doaro (Amharic: ደዋሮ) was a Muslim principality which laid near Hadiya. The state was originally independent until becoming a vassal and later a province due its subjugation by Emperor Amda Seyon I in the early 14th century. The reg ...

, and

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." Interviews with local Oromo and Hadiya, however, revealed they identified Sharka with " Širk in eastern Arsiland, to which the traditions of many Alaba and East Gurage refer to as their former dwelling areas."Braukämper, ''Islamic History'', p. 69

History

This earliest mention of this province is in the ''Royal Chronicle'' of Emperor

Amda Seyon Amda Seyon I, also known as Amda Tsiyon I ( , , "Pillar of Zion"), throne name Gebre Mesqel (ገብረ መስቀል , "Servant of the Cross"), was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1314 to 1344 and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He is best known ...

. During his reign, the governor of this province, Yusuf, was accused of cooperating with the Muslims of Dawaro against the Ethiopian army. As his army passed through Dawaro, Amda Seyon led a

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beha ...

against Sharka, plundering its land, which was rich in livestock, and capturing Yusuf. The historians Chihab al-Umari and

al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī (, full name Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī, ; 1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian historian and biographer during the Mamluk era, known for his interest in the Fat ...

simply mention the length of Sharka was three days and its breadth four, and its army could muster 3,000 cavalrymen and twice that many foot soldiers. Along with Dawaro and Arababni, Sharka made use of small pieces of iron called ''hakuna'', which served as primitive money. The next time Sharka is mentioned is in the ''Futuh al-Habasa'', the history of the conquests of

Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

Ahmad Gragn Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ; 21 July 1506 – 10 February 1543) was the Imam of the Adal Sultanate from 1527 to 1543. Commonly named Ahmed ''Gragn'' in Amharic and ''Gurey'' in Somali, ...

. At that time Sharka was administered by an Ethiopian governor named Limu. In 1531, the Imam sent the vizir 'Addoli to raid Ganbah, which is described as "above Sharka". Ten of his horsemen continued on to Sharka, where they encountered ''Fit Betuadad'' Badlai, who had 50 cavalry and 500 footmen with him, blocking their advance. Despite being outnumbered, the ten horsemen charged the forces of the ''Fit Betuadad'' and scattered them, taking two Ethiopians prisoner and much booty. When the Muslim horsemen returned to Imam Ahmad, he sent vizir 'Addoli to take the vizir Nur with him and raid Sharka a second time. which led to the capture of the wives and children of the Ethiopians who had been with ''Fit Betuadad'' Badlai and much booty. Sharkha was then governed by Siddiq b. Ali of

Adal Adal may refer to: *A short form for Germanic names in ''aþala-'' (Old High German ''adal-''), "nobility, pedigree"; see Othalan ** Adál Maldonado (1948–2020), Puerto Rican artist ** Adal Ramones (born 1969), Mexican television show host ** A ...

. The last reference to Sharka is in the ''Royal Chronicle'' of Emperor

Sarsa Dengel Sarsa Dengel ( ; 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 ). He is considered one of the greatest w ...

, who marched through Wag and Sharka in 1577 on his way to attack the army of

Harar Harar (; Harari language, Harari: ሀረር / ; ; ; ), known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey (Harari: ጌይ, ݘٛىيْ, ''Gēy'', ), is a List of cities with defensive walls, walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is al ...

. The Portuguese travellers of the 16th and 17th centuries are not familiar with Sharka, which leads to the assumption that it had vanished as a political unit by the 17th century.

References

{{coord missing, Ethiopia Provinces of Ethiopia