Adal (historical region)
[10][11] According to Portuguese explorer Francisco Alvarez, Adal in 1520 bordered on the Abyssinian frontier province of Fatagar in the west and stretched to Cape Guardafui in the east.
[12] He further stated that it was confined by the Kingdom of Dankali in the north west and that the leaders of Adal were considered saints by the locals for their warfare with neighboring Abyssinia.
Including north of the Awash River towards Lake Abbe in modern Djibouti–Ethiopia border as well as the territory between Shewa and Zeila on the coast of Somalia.
[18] According to Amélie Chekroun, Adal designated the region east of the Awash River, replacing Ifat as the Muslim power which had come under Ethiopian Christian control in the 1300s.
[19][20] The region was mostly located in modern-day Awdal and had Zeila as a capital city but also controlled other interior towns like Abasa or Dakkar extending into the Harar plateau to the south-east and modern day Djibouti in the west.
He entered Hararge with 500 riders, praising God and cheering with innumerable and incalculable booty.Islam was first introduced to the area early on from the Arabian Peninsula, shortly after the Hijrah.
[27] According to fourteenth century Arab historian Al Umari, Adal was one of the founding regions of the Ifat Sultanate alongside Biqulzar, Shewa, Kwelgora, Shimi, Jamme and Laboo.
[28] In the fourteenth century Emperor Amda Seyon of Ethiopia battled against Adal leader Imam Salih who allied with Jamal ad-Din I of Ifat.
[44] According to Enrico Cerulli, local discontent for the Walasma dynasty of Ifat which occupied Adal region led to the rise of Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi in the sixteenth century.
[54][14] Clans of Adal mentioned in the fourteenth century Emperor Amda Seyon I chronicles during the Ethiopian invasion included; Wargar, Tiqo, Paguma, Labakala and Gabala.
[57] However, according to historian Enrico Cerulli, Harla people who originate from the Harari region were assimilated by Somalis following the decline of the Adal principalities.
