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Historical Context
In the middle of the 16th (10th
AH) century, as a result of an economic crisis due to a shortage
of precious metals (specially gold) in the Ottoman Empire, the
Porte followed an active policy of searching for and exploiting
sources of wealth in Africa, starting from the Egyptian border
southwards to Mombasa in East Africa including today’s Djibouti,
Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. The Ottomans decided to establish a
province in Habeshistan (Abyssinia / Ethiopia), in order to
control the trade in gold, ivory and slaves which were available
there in regular supply. The Ottomans started a military action in
southern Egypt under the command of Özdemir Pasha, when Khadim
Sulayman Pasha was beylerbeyi in Egypt (1524-1535). As a
result quite a large portion of this area came under the control
of the Ottomans (Qasr Ibrim and Derr in southern Egypt) and later
also the port of Sawakin on the Red Sea coast.
On occasion the Ottoman military authorities in
Yemen had supported the Muslim Sultanate Adal across the Red Sea
with Ottoman soldiers armed with muskets, in their struggle
against the Christian Amhara and Tigre rulers of Ethiopia, further
to the north, who in turn, had called on Portuguese assistance
against the Muslim invaders.
In 1554 (962 AH) the Ottoman army
under former Yemeni beylerbeyi Özdemir Pasha started
military actions in and managed to take control of the Red Sea
ports of Massawa and Arkiko in 1557 (965 AH) in order to counter
Portuguese influence there.
“The Ottomans estimated and expected nearly
60.000 sultanis worth in gold in return by establishing a province
in Habeshistan". It is also documented that they intended
to strike coins, sikke, in the Sultan's name, and mention
his name in the khutbah.10)
"The Ottoman Turks under Özdemir
Pasha seized Massawa and Arkiko [Harkiko] in 1557 and fought their
way up into Hamasien, where they built a fortress at Debarwa,
south of Asmara.This provoked strong Tigrayan resistance. The
Tigrayans drove the Turks back toward the coast but could not
dislodge them from Suakin, Massawa and Arkiko, and the Turks made
repeated incursions into northern Ethiopia during the remainder of
the century, at times gaining the support of rivals of the
[Ethiopian] emperors."11)
Devarya (Debarva, Davaro, Debaroa,
Debarwa etc.) and its environs were under the control of the
Ottomans in 1559. Devarya (Dawariya) had a strategic importance
for military action and for controlling the region. The Ottomans
built a strong fortress with a big mosque (jam'i) and many
mescids (masajid) there. It was a central and strong
fortress to keep the spoils safely. After Özdemir Pasha died in
Devarya from a serious illness in 1560, the Ethiopians captured
Devarya and destroyed everything there. Özdemir's son Uthman Pasha
took back Devarya and its environs again from King Minas in 1562.
In 1576 the Ethiopians captured Devarya again but the Ottomans
took it back again in 1577. In 1579 Sarsa Dengel, King of Ethiopia
attacked the Ottomans and took back Devarya again. Devarya was in
the hands of the Ottomans again from 1582 till 1588. After this
date political relations were established between the
beylerbeyi of the Habesh Eyalet and the Ethiopian kings. In
the middle of the 18th century the Habesh Eyalet lost its
importance as there was not sufficient revenue for its
administration.12)
From the 1820's onwards, a much
reduced Habesh Eyalet became part of the Egyptian controlled
territories along the western Red Sea coast after Mehmet Ali
assumed the rule of Egypt as its Khedive. From the middle of the
19th century the western Red Sea coast ports became much
contested territory by the expansionist policies of the European
colonial powers (France, Britain, Italy mainly), especially so
after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
From the numismatic point of view
there is no better attribution for this coin than the Devarya
fortress. Clear proof of this would come in new finds of such
coins or other denominations / metals for the same mint in Eritrea
or Ethiopia. Apart from these copper coins, up to now only one
Ottoman gold sultani from the mint of Tacura (Tajoura) is known,
presumed by some to be from the western Red Sea region.13)
General Note
The location of Debarwa /
Devarya in present day Eritrea is still known. It is shown as
Debaroa, at coordinates 15o 5' North by 36o
33' (map) East approximately, according to an old map of the area
produced by Werner Munzinger in 1862 and published in his book
Ostafrikanische Studien (Schaffhausen, 1864). There are
several publications by early European explorers of those lands
from the middle of the 19th century onwards, who mention the name
Debaroa / Debarwa as an existing settlement, but without any
further information on its status or condition. However, on
Munzinger's map it is shown in extremely small letters, and does
not even merit a dot for its exact location, just west of the
upper reaches of the river Mareb, which eventually flows into
Sudan near Kassala under the name Gash.
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