Walasma dynasty

The Walashma dynasty was a medieval Muslim dynasty of the Horn of Africa. It governed the Ifat and Adal Sultanates in what are present-day northern Somalia, Djibouti and eastern Ethiopia.

The Walashma princes of Ifat and Adal all possessed Arab genealogical traditions. According to both Maqrizi and the chronicle of the Walashma, ʿUmar Walashma, the founder of the dynasty, was of Quraysh or Hashimite origin. Dr. E. Cerulli has suggested that one of the ancestors of the Walashma dynasty of Ifat was the venerated Sheikh Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn.

In terms of lineage, Walashma traditions trace descent from Akīl ibn Abī Tālib, the brother of the Caliph ʿAlī and Djaʿfar ibn Abī Tālib. The latter was among the earliest Muslims to settle in the Horn region. However, the semi-legendary apologetic History of the Walasma' asserts that ʿUmar ibn-Dunya-hawz had as a progenitor Caliph ʿAlī's son al-Hasan with this genealogy being owed to their supposed ancestor Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn, a famous Somali saintly figure.

Although as do most Somali and other Muslim tribes in the Horn of Africa possess mythical Arab genealogies connected to Hashimite origin, Walashama was probably of local origin.

The 19th century Ethiopian historian Asma Giyorgis suggests that the Walashma themselves spoke Arabic. He additionally describes the family as among the first Muslims to enter Abyssinia ("Habasha"), which he writes was originally inhabited by the Saba, Balaw, Kalaw and Noba.

According to Maqrizi, the forefathers of 'Umar Walashma first settled in the Zeila-controlled Jabarta region. From there, they slowly expanded into the hinterland.

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