Medri Bahri

Medri Bahri ('Land of the Sea')
Medri Bahri ምድሪ ባሕሪ
1137–1890
Capital		Debarwa
Languages		Geez · Tigrinya
Government		Monarchy
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Established	1137
•	Italian Eritrea	1890
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Aksum Italian Eritrea
Today part of		Eritrea

Medri Bahri (Tigrinya: ምድሪ ባሕሪ^?) was a medieval kingdom in the Horn of Africa. Situated in modern-day Eritrea, it was ruled by the Bahri Negus (also called the Bahri Negasi), whose capital was located at Debarwa.^[1]

Overview

After the end of the Kingdom of Aksum, the Eritrean highlands were under the domain of Bahr Negash, which was ruled by the Bahr Negus. The area was then known as Ma'ikele Bahr ("between the seas/rivers," i.e. the land between the Red Sea and the Mereb river).^[2] It was later renamed under Emperor Zara Yaqob as the domain of the Bahr Negash, the Medri Bahri ("Sea land" in Tingrinya, although it included some areas like Shire on the other side of the Mereb, today in Ethiopia).^[3] With its capital at Debarwa,^[1] the state's main provinces were Hamasien, Serae that formed one district, and this was politically, the most important district in the territory, and Akele Guzai. Later, Akele Guzai rejected the rule of the Bahr Negassi and remained independent, but was internally divided into several small free districts.^[4]

Turks briefly occupied the highland parts of Baharnagash in 1559 and withdraw after they encountered resistance and pushed back by the Bahrnegash and highland forces. In 1578 they tried to expand into the highlands with the help of Bahr Negash Yisehaq who has switched alliances due to power struggle, and by 1589 once again they were apparently compelled to withdraw their forces to the coast. After that Ottomans abandoned their ambitions to establish themselves on the highlands and remained in the lowlands until they left the region by 1872.^[5][6]

The Scottish traveler James Bruce reported in 1770 that Medri Bahri was a distinct political entity from Abyssinia, noting that the two territories were frequently in conflict. The Bahre-Nagassi ("Kings of the Sea") alternately fought with or against the Abyssinians and the neighbouring Muslim Adal Sultanate depending on the geopolitical circumstances. Medri Bahri was thus part of the Christian resistance against Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi of Adal's forces, but later joined the Adalite states and the Ottoman Empire front against Abyssinia in 1572. That 16th century also marked the arrival of the Ottomans, who began making inroads in the Red Sea area.^[7]

James Bruce in his book published in 1805 reported Hadawi, the seat of Baharanagash, was part of the Tigré province of Abyssinia which was ruled by Ras Mikael Sehul at the time of his travel. The officer in Hadawi watches over the Naybe of Masawa (province of Turk's Habesh Eyalet), and starve him into obedience by intercepting his provisions, whenever the governor of Tigré and the officer in Hadawi find it necessary. Bruce also located Tigré between Red Sea and the river Tekezé and stated many large governments, such as Enderta and Antalow, and the great part of Baharhagash were part of Tigré province.^[8][9][10]

Another British traveler by the name Henry Salt (Egyptologist) traveled in the interior of Abyssinia by the beginning of the 19th century and described Baharanegash geographically, politically and economically through his book titled "A voyage to Abyssinia" which was published in 1814.^[11] Henry divided Abyssinia into three distinct and independent states.^[12] These three great divisions are Tigré, Amhara, and the province of Shoa.^[12] Henry considers Tigré as the more powerful state of the three; a circumstance arising from the natural strength of the country, the warlike disposition of its inhabitants, and it’s vicinity to the sea coast; an advantage that has secured to it the monopoly of all the musquets imported into the country.^[13] Then, he divided the kingdom into several provinces as the centre where it was considered the seat of the state being referred as Tigré proper. According to Henry, provinces of the Tigré kingdom includes Enderta, Agame, Wojjerat, Temben, Shiré and Baharanegash.^[13] Hamasien, a district of Baharanegash, is the furthest north and narrowest part of Tigré, and Henry places Bejas or Bojas as the people who leave north of Tigré state and Abyssinian empire.^[14][15][16] By the time he made his travel in 1809, Gondar was the seat of the empire and it was ruled by the Yejju dynasty under Ras Gugsa who ruled from 1798 up to 1825 as Enderase to the powerless emperors.^[17][18]

The territory became an Ottoman province or eyalet known as the Habesh Eyalet. Massawa served as the new province's first capital. When the city became of secondary economic importance, the administrative capital was soon moved across the Red Sea to Jeddah. Its headquarters remained there from the end of the 16th century to the early 19th century, with Medina temporarily serving as the capital in the 18th century.^[19]

The Ottomans were eventually driven out in the last quarter of the 16th century. However, they retained control over the seaboard until the establishment of Italian Eritrea in the late 1800s.^[7]

References