Trade and Islam in the Towns of Bagemdir, 1900-1935

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Periodical article

Title:	Trade and Islam in the Towns of Bagemdir, 1900-1935
Author:	Ahmad, Abdussamad H.
Year:	1996
Periodical:	Journal of Ethiopian Studies
Volume:	29
Issue:	2
Period:	December
Pages:	5-21
Language:	English
Notes:	biblio. refs., maps
Geographic terms:	Ethiopia Northeast Africa
Subjects:	Islamization mercantile history History and Exploration Economics and Trade Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft History, Archaeology Islam trade history Bägemdir (Ethiopia)
Abstract:	Muslim merchants channelled the trade of the Christian highlands of Bägemdir (Ethiopia) to Matamma-Gallabat on the Ethio-Sudanese border and to the port of Massawa on the Red Sea. Trade was especially important along the North-South axis, from Massawa to Gondar, the capital of Bägemdir. In Bägemdir, where Christianity was long entrenched, there were Muslim minorities in a number of villages in the first three-and-a-half decades of the twentieth century (1900-1935). Pockets of Muslims, mostly merchants, were found in important market towns. Islam played an important role in the circulation of capital and goods between Italian Eritrea and the emerging economy of Bägemdir. The spread of Islam in Bägemdir was associated with trade, artisanship and market centres. In part, Islamization in the towns of Bägemdir was also the indigenization of Islam. There was an established modus vivendi between the Christian majority and the Muslim minority. Ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]