Modern ethnicities
63-532: Mijikenda Luhya Hadimu Shirazi The Kilwa Sultanate was a sultanate , centered at Kilwa (an island off modern-day, Kilwa District in Lindi Region of Tanzania ), whose authority, at its height, stretched over the entire length of the Swahili Coast . According to the legend , it was founded in the 10th century by Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi , a Persian prince of Shiraz . The history of
126-634: A UNESCO World Heritage Site , the Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests. Mijikenda people are also known for creating wooden kigango funerary statues which have been displayed in museums around the world and sold in the international art market. These artifacts were at one time legally sold by reputable art galleries and curio shops during the early 1970s to the 1990s; however, other kigango statues were found to have been stolen from cultural sites and illegally sold. Each Mijikenda ethnic group has its own unique customs and dialects of
189-475: A commercial and alliance treaty with Emir Ibrahim. But emir prevaricated and no agreement was reached. The well-armed Fourth Armada of 1502, under Vasco da Gama again, came in a more mean-spirited mood, indisposed to take no for an answer. Having secured separate treaties with Malindi , Mozambique and all-important Sofala , the Portuguese brought their menacing fleet to bear on Kilwa itself, and extorted
252-542: A commercial center challenged the dominance once held by Mogadishu over the East African coast. Suleiman Hassan, the ninth successor of Ali (and 12th ruler of Kilwa, c. 1178–1195), wrested control of the southerly city of Sofala from the Mogadishans . Wealthy Sofala was the principal entrepot for the gold and ivory trade with Great Zimbabwe and Monomatapa in the interior. The acquisition of Sofala brought
315-408: A complex patron-client relationship which was important for the establishment of large scale plantations on the East African coast. This account goes on to say that these enslaved Giriama peoples were integrated into Swahili and Arab land owning families and were sometimes referred to as dependents rather than slaves. Overall the treatment of these slaves was not very harsh, due to the ease of escape,
378-409: A couple of times, but it met tremendous resistance from the population of Kilwa. Eventually, Emir Muhammad decided that, in the interests of constitutional propriety and civic peace, Kilwa sultans should always come from the royal dynasty, not families of viziers. Muhammad held that line more or less down to the end, thwarting Hassan's ambitions. The last sultan installed by Emir Muhammad before his death
441-482: A cultural time from a common origin. It promotes a higher unity among the group of the nine individual ethnic groups that makes up the Mijikenda peoples. Singwaya is considered by the Mijikenda to be their common origin point, and the birthplace of their language and traditions. This origin legend also defines some of the relationships of the ethnic groups that make up the Mijikenda peoples, for example one version of
504-503: A governor or overseer, but even his authority was not consistent – in some places (e.g. outposts like Mozambique Island) he was a true governor in the Sultan's name, whereas in more established cities like Sofala, his powers were much more limited, more akin to an ambassador to the city than its governor. Despite its origin as a Persian colony, extensive inter-marriage and conversion of local Bantu inhabitants and later Arab immigration turned
567-399: A magistrate Nuno Vaz Pereira to inquire into the matter. Arriving in late 1506, Pereira convened the competing sultans Micante and Hussein, and asked them present their cases. Pereira ruled in favor of Hussein, confirming him as sultan, but softened the blow by relieving the unpopular commander Fogaça and lifting the mercantilist restrictions on Kilwa shipping. The Kilwan refugees returned and
630-752: A modicum of peace resumed, but only briefly. For Hussein put it in his head to lead the Kilwan army against Tirendicunde, to avenge his father's murder. The town was brutally sacked, and numerous prisoners taken. Hussein then dispatched emissaries to all the vassal cities of the Kilwa Sultanate, ordering them to return to obedience, or else meet the same fate. Fearing that Hussein's spate of tyranny might jeopardize Portuguese interests in East Africa, viceroy Almeida reversed Pereira's decision, deposed Hussein and reinstated Micante. The chronology of rulers of
693-560: A portion of the crop as compensation in a similar patron-client relationship as before. However some accounts state that the slavery that the Giriama people endured was harsher than was previously believed. Enslaved Giriama people were known to have fled by the hundreds to any sanctuary they could, in some cases seeking refuge in Christian Missionary stations, in other cases fleeing to runaway slave settlements. Additionally
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#1732757369165756-541: A sizeable tribute from Emir Ibrahim. Some have speculated whether Emir Ibrahim missed a golden opportunity to restore his fortunes, that had a treaty with Cabral been reached back in 1500, he might have secured the assistance of the Portuguese navy in bringing the half-independent vassals back under his sway. At least one Kilwan nobleman, a certain Muhammad ibn Rukn ad Din (known to the Portuguese as Muhammad Arcone), certainly advised Emir Ibrahim to strike up an alliance with
819-493: A small land bridge to the mainland that appeared in low tide. The king agreed to sell it to Ali ibn al-Hassan for as much colored cloth as could cover the circumference of the island. But when the king later changed his mind, and tried to take it back, the Persians had dug up the land bridge, and Kilwa was now an island. A genetic study, published on March 29, 2023, confirmed the presence of significant Iranian-origin ancestry in
882-504: A tendency to form eddies at this cape. It is also a confluence point of winds, with the capacity to produce unpredictably violent gusts and whirlwinds. Medieval dhows of the Kilwa Sultanate rarely (if ever) sailed below it, thereby making Cape Correntes the southern boundary of the Swahili Coast and cultural zone . Local legends said the cape was inhabited by mermaids that lured unfortunate sailors to their deaths. In
945-554: A windfall of gold revenues to the Kilwa Sultans, which allowed them to finance their expansion and extend their powers all along the East African coast. At the zenith of its power in the 15th century, the Kilwa Sultanate owned or claimed overlordship over the mainland cities of Malindi , Lamu , Mwiini , Kismaayo , Inhambane and Sofala and the island-states of Mombassa , Pemba , Zanzibar , Mafia , Comoro and Mozambique (plus numerous smaller places) – essentially what
1008-605: Is now often referred to as the " Swahili Coast ". Kilwa also claimed lordship across the channel over the myriad of small trading posts scattered on the coast of Madagascar (then known by its Arabic name of Island of the Moon ). To the north, Kilwa's power was checked by the independent Somali city-state of Mogadishu (the once-dominant city, Kilwa's main rival) and the Adal Sultanate (the Somali Sultanate to
1071-768: The Indian Ocean to India itself. Coins from the Kilwa Sultanate have been found as far as the Wessel Islands in Australia, which was inhabited by the Yolngu at that time. Kilwan ships made use of the seasonal monsoon winds to sail across to India in the summer and back to Africa in the winter. Kilwan pilots were renowned for their extraordinary sailing accuracy, and Portuguese sailors marveled at their navigational instruments, particularly their latitude staves, which they considered superior to their own. Nonetheless,
1134-591: The Mijikenda language , although the dialects are similar to each other and to Swahili . The orthodox view of the Mijikenda's origins is that the Mijikenda peoples originated in Shungwaya (Singwaya) and various other parts of the northern Somali coast, and where pushed south by the Galla ( Oromo ) and reached Kenya around the 16th century. This view of the origins of the Mijikenda people was argued by Thomas Spear in
1197-570: The Wessel Islands . Mijikenda peoples Diaspora Performing arts Government agencies Television Radio Newspapers Mijikenda ("the Nine Tribes") are a group of nine related Bantu ethnic groups inhabiting the coast of Kenya , between the Sabaki and the Umba rivers, in an area stretching from the border with Tanzania in the south to the border near Somalia in
1260-417: The kaya surrounding the settlement acted as a buffer between the settlement itself and the outside world. As the populations of these kaya grew, security grew which lead to a period of stability which allowed the Mijikenda people to spread outwards along the coasts and southwards along the border of Tanzania. Eventually all nine of the original kaya were abandoned as the Mijikenda settled elsewhere, however
1323-552: The 16th century, Portuguese ships on the ' India Run ' that charted an entry into the Mozambique Channel too near to the coast often had difficulty surpassing Cape Correntes, and were sometimes pushed backwards by the fast contrary current and complicated winds (most famously, Vasco da Gama , in January, 1498, the first European captain to attempt to surpass it from below, was forced backwards to Inharrime ). Sailing in
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#17327573691651386-510: The 16th century, captains returning from India to Portugal with heavy-laden (and thus less manoeuvrable) ships were forbidden from sailing into the Mozambique Channel and were required to chart a course via the 'outer route', that is, east of Madagascar island, through the Mascarenes , coming back under the island, thereby avoiding the treacherous and fast waters of Cape Correntes. The peculiar terrors of Cape Correntes were alleviated with
1449-496: The Kilwa Sultanate begins around 960–1000 AD. According to legend, Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi was one of seven sons of a ruler of Shiraz , Persia, his mother was not ethnically habesha but rather a slave from the Land of Abyssinia. Upon his father's death, Ali was driven out of his inheritance by his brothers. Setting sail out of Hormuz , Ali ibn al-Hassan, his household and a small group of followers first made their way to Mogadishu ,
1512-577: The Kilwa Sultanate in quite some detail. The first Portuguese ships, under Vasco da Gama , on their way to India , reached the sultanate in 1497. Da Gama made contact with the Kilwa vassals of Mozambique , Mombassa and Malindi , seeking to secure their cooperation as staging posts for the Portuguese India Armadas . In 1500, the 2nd Portuguese India Armada , under Pedro Álvares Cabral , visited Kilwa itself, and attempted to negotiate
1575-473: The Kilwa Sultanate into a veritable melting pot, ethnically indifferentiable from the mainland. Recent ancient DNA studies have confirmed that Asian ancestry in the medieval period originally came from Iran, and that Asian and African ancestors began mixing at least 1,000 years ago. The mixture of Perso-Arab and Bantu cultures is credited for creating a distinctive East African culture and language known today as Swahili (literally, 'coast-dwellers'). Nonetheless,
1638-488: The Kilwa Sultanate is reported in a chronicle translated into Portuguese in the 16th century, and recorded by the chronicler João de Barros . There is another surviving chronicle (Zanzibar chronicle) by an unknown author, written in the early 16th century, and compiled in 1862 by (or for) sheikh Moheddin ( Majid ?) of Zanzibar . The Barros and Zanzibar chronicle are not always in concordance with each other. The following follows Barros in its outlines, but fills in details from
1701-402: The Kilwa Sultanate. Emir Ibrahim's murderous coup had run roughshod over it. Most of the local governors of the Kilwa vassal cities, many who were either relatives or had owed their positions to Emir Muhammad and the royal dynasty, refused to acknowledge the usurpation of Emir Ibrahim, and began charting an independent course for their own city-states. The writ of Emir Ibrahim probably only covered
1764-550: The Mijikenda peoples are the Chonyi , Kambe , Duruma , Kauma , Ribe , Rabai , Jibana , Giriama , and Digo . The Digo are southern Mijikenda while the others are northern Mijikenda. The Digo are also found in Tanzania due to their proximity to the common border. Each of the Mijikenda groups has a sacred forest, a kaya , which is a place of prayer. Eleven of the approximately 30 kaya forests have been inscribed together as
1827-438: The Mijikenda peoples. Sometime during the late 19th century the Mijikenda peoples began leaving their kaya homesteads and settling areas elsewhere. The layout of the kaya settlements usually had centrally positioned areas devoted to leadership and worship, with other areas devoted to initiation ceremonies, areas for developing magic and medicine, and areas devoted to burials and entertainment placed around them. The forests of
1890-469: The Muslims of Kilwa (whatever their ethnicity) would often refer to themselves generally as Shirazi or Arabs, and to the unconverted Bantu peoples of the mainland as Zanj or Kafir ('infidels'). The Kilwa Sultanate was almost wholly dependent on external commerce. Effectively, it was a confederation of urban settlements, with trade being the backbone of its economy. While there was some local agriculture,
1953-565: The Portuguese (and for his pains, was given up as a hostage to the Portuguese by the Emir, who then refused ransom him back – allowing him to be subjected to da Gama's wrath). As it turns out, the vassals used the Portuguese, one by one, to secure their permanent break from the Sultanate. The ruler of Malindi was the first to embrace the Portuguese, forging an alliance in 1497 (largely to be directed against Mombassa). After Emir Ibrahim's coup, it
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2016-664: The Y-chromosomal DNA of medieval inhabitants of the Swahili Coast, strongly supporting elements of the Persian-admixture narrative. Kilwa's fortuitous position made it a much better East African trade center than Mogadishu . It quickly began to attract many merchants and immigrants from further north, including Persia and Arabia. In just a few years, the city was big enough to establish a satellite settlement at nearby Mafia Island . Kilwa's emergence as
2079-578: The Zanzibar chronicle. Alternative spellings and nicknames, mainly given in Barros's chronicle, are in italics. Dates are approximate years of ascension. End of Persian Shirazi dynasty c. 1277, beginning of Mahdali dynasty of Yemeni Arab sayyids , or what the Zanzibar chronicle calls the "family of Abu al-Mawahib". End of Mahdali dynasty c. 1495, beginning of a series of usurpers and Portuguese puppets. In 1944, nine coins were found on Marchinbar Island ,
2142-426: The book The Kaya Complex , and was also confirmed by many Mijikenda oral traditions. Furthermore, oral tradition states that the precise reason for the Galla pushing the Mijikenda from Singwaya was the murder of a Galla Tribesman by a Mijikenda youth, and the Mijikenda tribes subsequent refusal to pay compensation to the Galla. However it has also been theorized that the Mijikenda peoples may have originated in roughly
2205-409: The city of Kilwa itself and possibly Mozambique Island . This was more or less the condition of the Kilwa Sultanate when the Portuguese arrived. Portuguese scout Pêro da Covilhã , disguised as an Arab merchant, had travelled the length of the Kilwa Sultanate in 1489–90, and visited the ports of Malindi, Kilwa and Sofala, and delivered his scouting report back to Lisbon, describing the condition of
2268-548: The city, driving sultan Hussein (and the partisans of Arcone) to seek refuge by the Portuguese Fort Santiago. Street fighting and soon fires broke out. In the chaos, streams of Kilwan residents fled the city, leaving it practically deserted, save for a handful of roving partisan gangs and the terrified Portuguese garrison. Hearing of the Kilwan chaos all the way in India, the Portuguese viceroy Almeida dispatched
2331-412: The city. Almeida installed the aforementioned Muhammad Arcone on the throne, as a Portuguese vassal. Remembering constitutional proprieties, Arcone insisted that Micante, the son of the late sultan al-Fudail be his designated successor. The Portuguese erected a fortress (Fort Santiago) on Kilwa and left a garrison behind, under the command of Pedro Ferreira Fogaça, to keep an eye on things. Portuguese rule
2394-509: The coast, the coconut palm was the mainstay of Kilwan life in every way – not only for its fruit, but also for timber, thatching, and weaving. Kilwan merchant ships – from the large lateen-rigged dhows that plied the open oceans to the small zambucs used for local transit – were usually built from the split trunks of coconut palm wood, their sails made from coconut leaf matting, and the ships held together by coconut coir . Kilwa Sultanate conducted extensive trade with Arabia, Persia, and across
2457-671: The coastal areas also extended to the Hinterland regions where the Mijikenda people resided. One group of Mijikenda peoples, Known as the Giriama peoples were mistrustful of the British colonial government, as prior to Britain's colonization of the coastal and hinterland areas this group had had its people captured by Arab and Swahili slave traders during the 19th century. Differing accounts of this period exist, with some sources stating that these enslaved Giriama peoples participated in
2520-517: The coir-sewn Kilwan ships were not seaworthy enough to brave the treacherous waters and unpredictable violent gusts around Cape Correntes , so the entire region south of that point was rarely sailed by Kilwan merchants. Inhambane was the most southerly settlement that can be considered part of the Kilwan trading empire. In its later years, the Sultans of Kilwa began falling into the hands of their ambitious ministers ( viziers and emirs ), who played
2583-429: The establishment of the kaya and was portrayed as a time of stability by these oral traditions, this period ended in the mid to late 19th century with the rise of colonialism. The kaya also represented an important political symbol to the Mijikenda peoples, as well as being an important cultural symbol to the Mijikenda peoples. The political symbolism of the kaya also played a part in the resistance to colonialism for
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2646-588: The idea that the transition from ex-slaves to manual laborers was made difficult due to fear among members of the colonial government that the fugitive and freed slaves would start a rebellion. Cape Correntes Cape Correntes (sometimes also called "Cape Corrientes" in English ) ( Port. : "Cabo das Correntes") is a cape or headland in the Inhambane Province in Mozambique . It sits at
2709-403: The importance of these kaya did not diminish, and they were still held as sacred sites. During the precolonial period the Mijikenda people were horticulturalists and pastoralists , And had well established trade with the coastal Swahili peoples. The Hinterland people (The Mijikenda, Pokomo , and Segeju peoples) grew food that the coastal Swahili people depended on. This trade relationship
2772-462: The kin-based patron-client system, and Islam's prohibition of harsh treatment of slaves. This is contrasted by the treatment of the slaves on the nearby islands such as Pemba or Zanzibar where slaves were treated more harshly. As slave ownership declined on the East African coast many of the Ex-slaves moved on to find employment as manual laborers on their former master's plantations and were paid
2835-556: The largest island in the Wessel Islands of the Northern Territory of Australia . While four coins were identified as Dutch duits dating from 1690 to the 1780s, five with Arabic inscriptions were identified as being from the Kilwa Sultanate. The coins are now held by the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia. In 2018 another coin, also thought to be from Kilwa, was found on a beach on Elcho Island , another of
2898-467: The main commercial city of the East African coast. However, Ali failed to get along with the city's Somali elite and he was soon driven out of that city as well. Steering down the African coast, Ali is said to have purchased the island of Kilwa from the local Bantu inhabitants. According to one chronicle ( Strong (1895) ), Kilwa was originally owned by a mainland Bantu king 'Almuli' and connected by
2961-586: The majority of slaves coming from the Bantu peoples of the interior, as well as from the highland regions of East Africa and occasionally from Somali and other groups from the Horn of Africa . Slaves were often captured in raids or conflicts and sold to markets in the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, and India. A notable exception to Kilwa's reliance on external trade was the coconut palm tree . Grown all along
3024-413: The north). To the south, Kilwa's reach extended as far as Cape Correntes , below which merchant ships did not usually dare sail. While a single figure, the Sultan of Kilwa, stood at the top of the hierarchy, the Kilwa Sultanate was not a centralized state. It was more a confederation of commercial cities, each with its own internal elite, merchant communities and trade connections. The Sultan might appoint
3087-510: The north. Archaeologist Chapuruka Kusimba contends that the Mijikenda formerly resided in coastal cities, but later settled in Kenya's hinterlands to avoid submission to dominant Portuguese forces that were then in control. Historically, these Mijikenda ethnic groups have been called the Nyika or Nika by outsiders. It is a derogatory term meaning "bush people." The nine Ethnic groups that make up
3150-640: The oral tradition states that the Digo were the first to leave Singwaya and thus are accepted as the other groups as senior, then the Ribe left, followed by the Giriama, the Chonyi, and the Jibana. The kayas were the first homesteads of the Mijikenda peoples after their exodus from Singwaya. Oral tradition states that it was the Digo who were the first to migrate southward and establish the first kaya . The period after
3213-407: The original six kaya . At the turn of the 17th century the Mijikenda settled six fortified hilltop kaya , where they made their homesteads. These original six kaya were later expanded into nine kaya . The origin legend serves as a narrative of a real migration that happened at a specific point in time to a real place, but also serves as a narrative of a mythical migration that took place through
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#17327573691653276-414: The other direction was even more dangerous, as the velocity of the current at the cape could easily throw a ship headlong into the numerous shoals and protruding rocks that characterize this stretch of coast. It is estimated that 30% of the ships lost in the yearly Portuguese India Armadas in the 16th and 17th centuries capsized around Cape Correntes, more than any other location. As a result, for much of
3339-421: The pre-arranged succession rule, Micante ascended to the throne. But Fogaça, seeing that Micante's ascension was supported by the old faction of Emir Ibrahim, concluded he would not do as a Portuguese puppet. Consequently, he deposed Micante and installed Hussein ibn Muhammad, a son of Arcone, as the new sultan. Chaos broke out in the city of Kilwa. Partisans of Micante (and Emir Ibrahim) seized control of much of
3402-535: The roles of kingmakers, and de facto rulers, and occasionally tried to foist themselves (or one of their family members) on the throne, in competition with the royal dynasty. The most successful was probably Emir Muhammad Kiwabi, who ruled Kilwa for nearly two decades through several sultans, including himself at one point. Throughout his long 'reign', Emir Muhammad fought an on-again and off-again battle with his nephew, Hassan ibn Suleiman (son of an earlier vizier). Muhammad had, in fact, tried to install Hassan as sultan
3465-573: The same places they currently reside. One possible explanation for this is that the Mijikenda peoples adopted the Singwaya narrative in order to create an ethnic identity that allowed them to create a relationship to the Swahili who also claimed Singwaya origins. Oral tradition also states that the Mijikenda peoples split into six separate peoples during this southern migration after they were driven out of Singwaya. These six groups would go on to settle
3528-471: The southern entry of the Mozambique Channel .• 23°55′36″S 35°31′48″E / 23.92667°S 35.53000°E / -23.92667; 35.53000 Cape Correntes was historically regarded as one of the most terrifying obstacles facing sailing ships in the Indian Ocean . It is named after the exceptionally fast southward current that passes here, part of the Mozambique Current , with
3591-540: The sultanate relied heavily on trade to sustain its urban populations. Grains (principally millet and rice ), meats (cattle, poultry), and other necessary supplies had to be purchased from the Bantu tribes of the interior. Kilwan traders encouraged the development of market towns in the Bantu -dominated highlands of what are now Kenya , Tanzania , Mozambique and Zimbabwe , where agricultural commodities such as grain and meat were exchanged for luxury goods and raw materials like gold and ivory. The Kilwan mode of living
3654-443: The title of emir , and claimed to be exercising rule in the name of a son of an earlier sultan Suleiman (ibn Muhammad?) of the old royal dynasty. That no one had seen or heard of this absent prince for years was quite convenient for Emir Ibrahim. Emir Ibrahim's usurpation was met with shock not only in Kilwa, but in the vassal cities as well. Emir Muhammad had (belatedly) recognized the importance of constitutional propriety for peace in
3717-722: Was based on economic, military, and political alliances. The Mijikenda peoples even participated in Mombasa politics. However, during the colonial period under the British power was given to the Coastal Swahili peoples and the Arab peoples of the area. The Coastal strip of land near the Hinterlands was recognized as belonging to the Sultan of Oman, subsequently the Mijikenda people could only go there as squatters and were in danger of expulsion at any time. The colonial power over
3780-634: Was certainly not hard to persuade the ruling sheikh Isuf of Sofala (Yçuf in Barros , Çufe in Goes ; he was apparently a nephew of the late Emir Muhammad) to break away. He signed a treaty with the Portuguese in 1502, and followed it up by allowing the construction of a Portuguese factory and fort in Sofala in 1505. It was in 1505 that Francisco de Almeida brought his fleet into the harbor of Kilwa, and landed some 500 Portuguese soldiers to drive Emir Ibrahim out of
3843-430: Was not very welcome. Particularly grating was the imposition of Portuguese mercantilist laws on the sultanate, forbidding all but Portuguese ships to carry trade to the principal coastal towns – essentially putting many leading Kilwan merchants out of business. The Portuguese did not stay very long. In May, 1506, Muhammad Arcone was lured and assassinated by the sheikh of Tirendicunde (a relative of Emir Ibrahim). As per
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#17327573691653906-479: Was that of middlemen traders, who imported manufactured goods (like cloth and spices) from Arabia, India, and Persia, and exchanged them in the interior for agricultural products and precious raw materials, like gold and ivory. These were then exported to other parts of the Indian Ocean world, including Arabia, Persia, India, and even China. Kilwa’s economy also saw significant involvement in the slave trade, with
3969-441: Was the royal prince al-Fudail ibn Suleiman in 1495. The man who succeeded to Muhammad's post, Emir Ibrahim (known as Mir Habrahemo in Barros , Abraemo in Goes ), helped al-Fudail crush the ambitious Hassan once and for all in a great battle outside Kilwa. But it was not long after this battle that Emir Ibrahim is said to have betrayed and murdered sultan al-Fudail. Rather than declare himself sultan, Ibrahim took power merely with
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