Abdullah Tahir Explained
| Abdullah Tahir |
|
| Succession: | Governor of Jigjiga |
| Reign: | 1896–1913 |
| Occupation: | Trader, diplomat |
| Religion: | Sunni Islam |
Abdullah Tahir was a Yemeni-Ethiopian governor of Jigjiga in Ethiopia at the end of the nineteenth century.[1]
Early life
Abdullah was of Yemeni descent and spent his early years in the city of Harar as an affluent merchant.[2]
Political career
In 1896, he became the earliest appointed administrator of Jigjiga following the Abyssinian invasion by Ras Makonnen, it would lead to the emergence of Jigjiga's urban development.[3] [4] [5] Governor Tahir created a security force to protect the town which consisted mainly of Somalis and Harari people as the Dervish militia had begun its activities in the region.[6] Under his leadership the grand mosque of Jigjiga was built, this was in contrast to other parts of Abyssinian occupied Hararghe in which churches were erected to indicate Amhara supremacy over the traditionally Muslim region.[7] According to British diplomat Christopher Addison, Abdullah was a collaborator with the UK.[8]
In 1912, the appointment of Abdullahi Sadiq as governor of Ogaden by Lij Iyasu was opposed by both Abdullah Tahir and Haile Selassie.[9]
Notes and References
- Puddu . Luca . STATE BUILDING, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE MAKING OF A FRONTIER REGIME IN NORTHEASTERN ETHIOPIA, c. 1944–75 . The Journal of African History . 2016 . 57 . 1 . Cambridge University Press . 112 . 44509245 .
- Eshete . Tibebe . Towards a History of the Incorporation of the Ogaden: 1887-1935 . Journal of Ethiopian Studies . 1994 . 27 . 2 . Institute of Ethiopian Studies . 73 . 41966038 .
- Book: Gebresenbet . Fana . Perishable state-making: Vegetable trade betweenself-governance and ethnic entitlement in Jigjiga,Ethiopia . Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) . 5 .
- Pankhurst . Richard . Menilek and the Utilisation of Foreign Skills in Ethiopia . Journal of Ethiopian Studies . 1967 . 5 . 1 . Institute of Ethiopian Studies . 52 . 41965750 .
- Book: Emmenegger . Rony . Urban Planning and the Contemporary Dynamics of Land Formalization in the City of Jigjiga . Centre français des études éthiopiennes .
- Book: Proceedings of the Fourth Seminar of the Department of History (Awasa, 8-12 July 1987) . 1989 . Addis Ababa University . 158 .
- Thompson . Daniel . Capital of the imperial borderlands: urbanism, markets, and power on the Ethiopia-British Somaliland boundary, ca. 1890–1935 . Journal of Eastern African Studies . 2020 . 14 . 3 . Taylor & Francis . 541 . 10.1080/17531055.2020.1771650 . free .
- Book: Addison . Christopher . With the Abyssinians in Somaliland . Hodder and Stoughton . 80 .
- Barnes . Cedric . Provinces and Princes - Power and the Eastern Ethiopian Periphery C 1906-1916 . Journal of Ethiopian Studies . 2001 . 34 . 2 . Institute of Ethiopian Studies . 109 . 41966123 .
