Leaders and statesmen
Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din II of Ifat (Sacad ad-Diin)
Sa'ad ad-Din II was a sultan of Ifat, called by the historian Richard Pankhurst its last great ruler, a Muslim state of the Walashma family in the Horn of Africa, around 1400. He fought the Ethiopian empire and was killed at Zeila around 1403 or 1410. His sons founded the Sultanate of Adal, his tomb near Zeila was venerated for centuries, and the Sacadiin islands off Zeila carry his name.
Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din II of IfatSa'ad ad-Din · Saad ad-Din
- Lived
- ? to 1410
- Known as one of
- Leaders and statesmen
- Places
- Boorama and Awdal
- Era
- Before 1500: Adal, Ajuran and the coast
- Sources
- 2 sources
Who was he?
Sa'ad ad-Din II was a sultan of Ifat, a Muslim state ruled by the Walashma family in what is now Awdal, Djibouti and eastern Ethiopia (Wikipedia, Sa'ad ad-Din II). The historian Richard Pankhurst calls him "the last great ruler of Ifat" (same source). He died around 1403 or 1410.
His reign
Wikipedia records that he was born at the court of the Ethiopian Emperor Newaya Krestos. With his brother Haqq ad-Din II he broke with the empire and moved the family's base east to the Harar plateau (Wikipedia). For years he and the Ethiopian emperors fought over the trade routes and highlands between them (same source).
His death at Zeila
After a lost battle he withdrew to Zeila, on the coast of today's Awdal. The forces of Emperor Dawit besieged him there. The Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi wrote that his water ran out, and after three days he was killed (Wikipedia).
When Richard Burton visited Zeila in 1854, people told him the legend that when Sa'ad ad-Din was killed, the wells dried up and the island sank. Burton writes that his sons fled to the prince of Sana'a in Yemen and later came back (Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, 1856, ch. 3). Burton names four sons, Sabr ad-Din, Ali, Mansur and Jamal ad-Din, who "retrieved the cause" (same source).
Adal after him
His sons returned and founded the Sultanate of Adal. The family now used the title "kings of Adal" (Wikipedia). In the 18th century, records of the Emirate of Harar still called Adal Barr Sa'ad ad-Din, "the land of Sa'ad ad-Din" (same source). A century after him, Imam Ahmad led Adal at its height.
His tomb and islands
Burton saw his tomb on an island off Zeila: "a mound of rough stones surrounding an upright pole". He wrote that Sa'ad ad-Din was "formerly the hero, now the favourite patron saint of Zayla", with the signs of recent offerings around it (Burton 1856, ch. 3). By about 1950 the sea had washed the tomb away (Wikipedia).
The Sacadiin (Sa'ad ad-Din) islands off Zeila are named after him (same source). See medieval and early modern states.
In short
A sultan of Ifat in the 1300s and 1400s. His family's state continued as Adal.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Sa'ad ad-Din II · en.wikipedia.org
- Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, 1856, ch. 3 · gutenberg.org
Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din II of IfatSa'ad ad-Din · Saad ad-Din
- Lived
- ? to 1410
- Known as one of
- Leaders and statesmen
- Places
- Boorama and Awdal
- Era
- Before 1500: Adal, Ajuran and the coast
- Sources
- 2 sources
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