Sa'ad ad-Din II
| Sa'ad ad-Din سعد الدين زنكي |
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| Sultan of the Sultanate of Ifat | |||||
| Reign | c. 1400 | ||||
| Predecessor | Haqq ad-Din II | ||||
| Successor | Sabr ad-Din II | ||||
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| Dynasty | Walashma dynasty | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
| Full name | |
|---|---|
| Sa'ad ad-Din II |
Sa'ad ad-Din II (Arabic: سعد الدين زنكي) (ruled circa 1400) was a Sultan of the Ifat Sultanate. He was the brother of Haqq ad-Din II, and the father of Mansur ad-Din, Sabr ad-Din II and Badlay ibn Sa'ad ad-Din. The historian Richard Pankhurst describes him as "the last great ruler of Ifat."
Sa'ad ad-Din II was born at the court of Emperor Newaya Krestos. He continued the revolt against the Ethiopian Emperors, and the Gadla Marqorewos records that he "easily destroyed" an army of Emperor Dawit I. The Egyptian encyclopedist Ahmad al-Qalqashandi (died 1418) also praises Sa'ad ad-Din's victories against the Ethiopians. Pankhurst adds that Sa'ad ad-Din also fought against the kingdom of the Hadiya and a pastoral people called the Zalan, both of whom were Ethiopian allies. However, as Taddesse Tamrat notes, these successes were short-lived, and in response to the growing Muslim power in the region Emperor Dawit I strengthened the Ethiopian defenses along the border and established his court at Tilq in Fatagar.
Despite these steps, Sa'ad ad-Din's practice of making quick raids into Ethiopian territory presented a difficult challenge to the Ethiopian Emperor, and it was not until the sultan was pursued deep into Adal territory that the Ethiopians got purchase on the problem. After a battle between Sa'ad ad-Din and the Ethiopian general Barwa, in which the Ifat army was defeated and "no less than 400 elders, each of whom carried an iron bar as his insignia of office" were killed, Sa'ad ad-Din with his remaining supporters were chased to Zeila in modern Somalia. There, the Emperor besieged Zeila, finally capturing the city and killing Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din.
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