During the Middle Ages there were six Beja kingdoms that were established. These kingdoms stretched from the lowlands of Eritrea to Aswan in Egypt. The Beja kingdoms occupied much of the former territory of the Aksum empire. [1] [2] These kingdoms were first noted by the famous Arab historian Al-Yaqubi during the 9th century A.D. [2] The names of the kingdoms were Nagash, Tankish, Belgin, Bazin, Jarin and Qita'a. These kingdoms bordered each other and the powerful Nubian Alodia kingdom. [2] To the south of the Beja kingdoms was a Christian kingdom called Najashi. [1] Gold, precious stones and emeralds were found in many of the kingdoms. Al-Yaqubi noted that Muslim Arabs visited the kingdoms for trading purposes. He also noted that Arabs worked in the mines of the kingdoms. [1]
The rise of the Beja tribes was one of the main reasons for the demise of the Aksumite empire in the 7th century. Raids and invasions by the Beja tribes weakened the state of the Aksum empire. Also due to the rise of Islam they lost control of their trading routes on the Red Sea coast. The Beja capitalized on this and managed to take over much of Aksum's territory. Towards the end of the 7th century A.D, a powerful Beja tribe called the Zanafaj acquired a unified structure and penetrated the Eritrean plateau through the valley of Gash-Barka and raided the Aksumites. Much of the Eritrean Highlands were overrun by Beja tribes and many of the dispersed Aksumites fled southwards. After the fall of Aksum the coastal regions were occupied by the Beja. [1]
The Beja kingdoms were subdivided by tribes and clans. These clans were noted by Al-Yaqubi to be the Hedareb, Suhab, Amarar, Kubir, Manasa, Ras'a, Arbari'a and Zanafaj. It is also noted that the Kunama were a part of the Bazin kingdom, due the fact that they are called Bazen by Abyssinians. [1] [2] The Beja tribes were on good terms with Muslim Arabs that worked and visited their kingdoms. [1] At the time that Al-Yaqubi visited the kingdoms, the Bazin kingdom was at war with the Nubian kingdom of Alodia. [2] The Beja kingdoms were warlike and powerful nations who were skilled at warfare. There was a Beja tribe that was described as a warrior clan. The name of the clan was Dar As-Sawa. The young men of this particular tribe were sent to military training school, where they were trained for war and combat. [2]
The inhabitants of the kingdoms that were located in Eritrea were agriculturalist and pastoralist. These kingdoms established some of the modern day cities. After 600 years, [3] the former Beja kingdoms were replaced by the powerful Belew kingdom (also called Mezega/Bellou/Kelew) whom were also Beja (Balaw). [3] [4] [5]
During the decline of the Axumite Empire the Beja people are said to have encroached on its heartland, raiding and dealing significant defeats to the armies of later kings. Afterwards these "Balaw" would establish the kingdoms across much of the Eritrean highlands, the Beja took on the title of shemagele (ሽማገሌ: lit. elder, opposite to vassal) [6] meaning “nobleman” while the conquered retained the name “Tigray.” This feudal dynamic would continue into the modern day, with natives of the region historically avoiding identifying as “Tigrayan” and it being repeatedly described as imposed by an Amhara elite.
Andrzej Zaborski states an "endowment" was offered to the Beja. "This treaty which most probably offered certain privileges to the Beğa must have favored further Beğa-Ethiosemitic contact and interference. Thanks to Arab historians and geographers, we know that, at least in the 9th century, or probably earlier, a group of Northern Ethiosemites, whose territory was called Baqulin (the name has survived in the name of a village it is possible that this was a kind of capital), was dominated by southern Beğa. These Northern Ethiosemites were at least predecessors, perhaps even ancestors of the part of Tǝgre dominated as vassals by the Arabized Nabtab 'aristocratic' caste and the Hadarab Beğa in the frame of the Beni 'Amer or Min Amer group described in the 19th century, e.g. by Heuglin and Munzinger, in the 20th century e.g. by the Selig-mans, by Nadel and Paul, and more recently (but still largely on the basis of the aforementioned sources) by Jordan Gebre-Medhin." Only with the ascension of Amhara Emperor Amde Seyon would many of these northern environs be re-incorporated into the Christian Ethiopian sphere.
After his crushing of a rebellion in Tigray the emperor established a military colony (Chewa) of non-Tigrayan troops at Amba Senayata, the center of the rebellion, and appointed his queen consort as governor of Enderta Province, along with a new batch of officials. The Queen ruled indirectly however, which caused unrest in the province as the population heavily resented Amhara rule. This induced the Emperor to appoint one of his sons, Bahr Seged (Amharic: ባሕር ሰገድ, the one the sea prostrates to), as governor, who was later in 1328 also given control of the maritime provinces under the title of Ma'ikele Bahr ("Between the Rivers/Seas"). [7] Amda Seyon was also wary of Muslim power along the Red Sea coast and therefore headed to area in modern Eritrea bordering it: "I, King Amdä-ṣiyon, went to the sea of Eritrea [i.e. "Red Sea"]. When I reached there, I mounted on an elephant and entered the sea. I took up my arrow and spears, killed my enemies, and saved my people." [8]
The Mansa (መንሳዕ) Social Concept
The traditional social structure of the Mansa' can be classified as a 3-layer society: a) The ruling class is of Saho origin, hence their organization has been aristo-cratic with a ruling caste, the Səmagalle (ሽማገሌ), b) a caste characterized as serfs or vassals, the Tagre (ትግሬ) and c) a third class constituted the slaves that could be purchased and sold by the Šəmāgalle and even by some Tagre.
The Səmāgalle, also described as nobility, ruled over the serf population, the Tagre, who did not share the Arabian descent of their masters. This distinction between ruling class and serfs reminds one of the Beni Amar (ቤኒ ዓምር;; Arabic: Bani 'Amir /بني عامر social division, although the Mansa-tribes were never part of the Beni 'Amǝr conglomerate which politically united many peoples of the north and west of present-day Eritrea. Traditionally, every Beni 'Amər section (badāna) and clan was divided between Nabtab, the ruling class (the only ones considered "sons of 'Amir b. Kunnu" proper), and Tǝgre, or serfs. The Nabtab, each of whom created their own autonomous sub-tribe, were loosely allied in the Beni 'Amar confederacy under the rule of either a Dəglāl (ድግላል) or a Nazir (نظر) who functioned as the paramount chief of their respective local community. [9]
Through to today many Tigre and Tigrinya people claim descent from and links to the Beja, particularly the Balaw.
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