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The Last Great Caliph: Abdülhamid II

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Throughout Islamic history, one of the uniting aspects of the Muslim world was the caliphate. After the death of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, his close companion, Abu Bakr, was elected as the first khalifah, or caliph, of the Muslim community. His job as leader combined political power over the Muslim state as well as spiritual guidance for Muslims. It became a hereditary position, occupied at first by the Umayyad family, and later by the Abbasids. In 1517, the caliphate was transferred to the Ottoman family, who ruled the largest and most powerful empire in the world in the 1500s.

For centuries, the Ottoman sultans did not place much emphasis on their role as caliphs. It was an official title that was called in to use when needed, but was mostly neglected. During the decline of the empire in the 1800s, however, a sultan came to power that would decide to revive the importance and power of the caliphate. Abdülhamid II was determined to reverse the retreat of the Ottoman state, and decided that the best way to do it was through the revival of Islam throughout the Muslim world and pan-Islamic unity, centered on the idea of a strong caliphate. While Abdülhamid’s 33-year reign did not stop the inevitable fall of the empire, he managed to give the Ottomans a final period of relative strength in the face of European encroachment and colonialism, with Islam being the central focus of his empire.

Islamic Reform
Throughout the 1800s, the Ottoman government had been trying desperately to slow the decline of the empire. Beginning with Mahmud II and throughout the reigns of Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz, attempts at reforming the empire were at the forefront of the government agenda. These Tanzimat(reorganization) reforms attempted to rebuild the Ottoman state along liberal, European lines. Islam (and religion in general) was given a back seat in public life, as secular ideas began to influence laws and government practices.

These reforms proved to do nothing to reverse the decline of the empire. If anything, the increased emphasis on non-Islamic identities of Ottoman subjects just further promoted the nationalistic aims of the Ottoman Empire’s numerous subjects, which created further disunity in the empire. During the Tanzimat Era, the Ottoman provinces of Serbia, Greece, Wallachia, Modova, Abkhazia, Bulgaria, and Algeria were all lost to European encroachment or nationalism.

Abdülhamid decided to take a radically different approach. Because of the loss of European territory that had occurred just before and in the first few years of his reign, the empire was now overwhelmingly Muslim. Throughout Ottoman history, Christians had been a major part of the population, at some times being about 80% of the population. Throughout the 1800s, however, the Ottoman Empire was losing Christian-majority lands in Europe, and was getting a net influx of Muslim immigrants coming into the empire. With about 3/4th of his empire Muslim, Abdülhamid decided to emphasize Islam as the dominant uniting factor among his subjects.

The rest of Europe was experiencing powerful nationalistic movements in the 1800s. Pan-Slavism and Pan-Germanism were examples of uniting factors for people who spoke the same languages and had similar cultures. The Ottoman empire had always been multi-cultural. Turks, Arabs, Albanians, Bosnians, Kurds, Armenians, and many others made up the empire. Abdülhamid attempted to make Pan-Islamism a uniting factor for Muslims, both inside and outside of the empire’s borders.

To show his role as supreme leader of Muslims worldwide, Abdülhamid placed much emphasis on the holy sites of Makkah and Madinah. In the 1800s, a building program commenced in the holy cities, with hospitals, barracks, and infrastructure being built in the Hejaz to aid in the yearly gathering of Muslims in Makkah – the Hajj. The Ka’aba itself and the Masjid al-Haram that surrounded it were also renovated with a modern water system that helped reduce the severity of floods.

In 1900, Abdülhamid commenced the beginning of the Hejaz Railway. It began in Istanbul and traveled through Syria, Palestine, and the Arabian desert, ending in Madinah. The goal of the railway was to better connect the holy sites with the political authority of Istanbul, as well as make the pilgrimage easier. To show his emphasis on the protection of Makkah and Madinah, Abdülhamid decided that the gauge (width of the rails) of the Hejaz Railway should be slightly smaller than standard European ones. His reasoning for this was that if Istanbul were to ever fall to European imperialists, he wanted to make sure they could not use the Hejaz Railway with European trains to easily invade Makkah and Madinah.

Non-Ottoman Muslims
Throughout Ottoman history, there have been examples of the sultans helping Muslim communities outside their borders whenever the opportunity arose and the Ottoman state was capable. For example, in the 1500s, the Ottoman navy was a key force in the Indian Ocean, aiding local Muslims fighting Portuguese colonialism as far away as India and Indonesia. Abdülhamid considered it his duty to do the same in the 1800s, especially since large populations of Muslims in Africa and Asia were under European imperial control.

Delegations were sent to African Muslim kingdoms such as Zanzibar, giving gifts from Abdülhamid and asking them to acknowledge the caliph as their protector against European imperialism. Similar delegations were sent to Muslims living within Russian and Chinese borders.

In 1901, Abdülhamid sent one of his advisors, Enver Pasha, along with numerous Islamic scholars, to China. When they arrived in Shanghai, they were warmly greeted by the Chinese authorities, and especially so by the local Chinese Muslims, who had lived in China for centuries. Abdülhamid later helped establish a Muslim university in Beijing, called the Peking (Beijing) Hamidiye University. Even as far away as China, Abdülhamid wanted to create a sense of belonging and unity among Muslims, centered on the caliphate.

Abdülhamid’s efforts resulted in the caliph of the Muslim world being acknowledged in Friday prayers from small towns throughout Africa to the major Muslim communities of India and China.

The Issue of Palestine
In the late 1800s, a potent nationalist movement was forming among European Jews: Zionism. Zionist ideology called for a Jewish state to be established in their ancient homeland, Palestine. Although European Jews were dispersed throughout Europe, the unique financial and political power of numerous Jewish families was able to make Zionism a major force in the late 1800s.

Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement, personally requested from Abdülhamid II special permission to settle in Palestine, in exchange for 150 million pounds of gold, which could have helped the Ottomans repay their enormous debts. Herzl’s aims were not to settle there and live under Ottoman authority, he clearly wanted to establish a Jewish state carved out of Muslim lands (as of course happened in 1948). Abdülhamid realized that his role as caliph required him to protect the sanctity and sovereignty of Muslim land, so he responded to Herzl with the following:

™Even if you gave me as much gold as the entire world, let alone the 150 million English pounds in gold, I would not accept this at all. I have served the Islamic milla [nation] and the Ummah of Muhammad for more than thirty years, and never did I blacken the pages of the Muslims- my fathers and ancestors, the Ottoman sultans and caliphs. And so I will never accept what you ask of me.

He further prevented the purchase of tracts of land within Palestine by Zionist organizations, ensuring that their attempts at establishing a foothold there were futile. Ultimately, the Zionists were allowed to purchase land and settle in Palestine after the reign of Abdülhamid II, when the Young Turk movement was in charge of the Ottoman Empire.

Legacy
Abdülhamid II was the last of the Ottoman sultans who had any real power. He was overthrown in 1909 by a group known as the Young Turks. They were Western-educated liberal secularists who vehemently disagreed with the Islamic direction that Abdülhamid took the empire in from 1876 to 1909. After his overthrow, his brother Mehmed Reshad was chosen as sultan by the Young Turks, but he effectively had no power, and the empire was run by an oligarchy of three ministers in the Young Turk government.

Three more people held the office of caliph after Abdülhamid II: Mehmed V, Mehmed VI, and Abdülmecid II, none of which had any power. In 1924, the caliphate was abolished by the new Turkish parliament and Abdülmecid and the rest of the Ottoman family were forced into exile. As such, Abdülhamid II was the last of the caliphs to have had any power over the Muslim world. The tradition of a strong, in charge caliph that commenced with Abu Bakr in 632 was upheld by Abdülhamid in the late 1800s before finally being overthrown by liberal elements within the empire.

Abdülhamid II died in Istanbul in 1918, and was buried in a mausoleum along with Sultans Mahmud II and Abdülaziz near Sultanahmet Square.

Ottoman-Empire-Abdulhamid.png

Tughra of Abdul Hamid II
Abdulhamid-I.jpg

The opening of the Hamidiye University in Beijing
hamidiye-01.jpg

abdulhamit.jpg


The Last Great Caliph: Abdülhamid II | Lost Islamic History
 
May Allah reward Sultan Abdul Hamid with Janat-ul-Firdous for his immense services to the Muslim Ummah. Ameen.
 
Throughout Islamic history, one of the uniting aspects of the Muslim world was the caliphate. After the death of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, his close companion, Abu Bakr, was elected as the first khalifah, or caliph, of the Muslim community. His job as leader combined political power over the Muslim state as well as spiritual guidance for Muslims. It became a hereditary position, occupied at first by the Umayyad family, and later by the Abbasids. In 1517, the caliphate was transferred to the Ottoman family, who ruled the largest and most powerful empire in the world in the 1500s.

For centuries, the Ottoman sultans did not place much emphasis on their role as caliphs. It was an official title that was called in to use when needed, but was mostly neglected. During the decline of the empire in the 1800s, however, a sultan came to power that would decide to revive the importance and power of the caliphate. Abdülhamid II was determined to reverse the retreat of the Ottoman state, and decided that the best way to do it was through the revival of Islam throughout the Muslim world and pan-Islamic unity, centered on the idea of a strong caliphate. While Abdülhamid’s 33-year reign did not stop the inevitable fall of the empire, he managed to give the Ottomans a final period of relative strength in the face of European encroachment and colonialism, with Islam being the central focus of his empire.

Islamic Reform
Throughout the 1800s, the Ottoman government had been trying desperately to slow the decline of the empire. Beginning with Mahmud II and throughout the reigns of Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz, attempts at reforming the empire were at the forefront of the government agenda. These Tanzimat(reorganization) reforms attempted to rebuild the Ottoman state along liberal, European lines. Islam (and religion in general) was given a back seat in public life, as secular ideas began to influence laws and government practices.

These reforms proved to do nothing to reverse the decline of the empire. If anything, the increased emphasis on non-Islamic identities of Ottoman subjects just further promoted the nationalistic aims of the Ottoman Empire’s numerous subjects, which created further disunity in the empire. During the Tanzimat Era, the Ottoman provinces of Serbia, Greece, Wallachia, Modova, Abkhazia, Bulgaria, and Algeria were all lost to European encroachment or nationalism.

Abdülhamid decided to take a radically different approach. Because of the loss of European territory that had occurred just before and in the first few years of his reign, the empire was now overwhelmingly Muslim. Throughout Ottoman history, Christians had been a major part of the population, at some times being about 80% of the population. Throughout the 1800s, however, the Ottoman Empire was losing Christian-majority lands in Europe, and was getting a net influx of Muslim immigrants coming into the empire. With about 3/4th of his empire Muslim, Abdülhamid decided to emphasize Islam as the dominant uniting factor among his subjects.

The rest of Europe was experiencing powerful nationalistic movements in the 1800s. Pan-Slavism and Pan-Germanism were examples of uniting factors for people who spoke the same languages and had similar cultures. The Ottoman empire had always been multi-cultural. Turks, Arabs, Albanians, Bosnians, Kurds, Armenians, and many others made up the empire. Abdülhamid attempted to make Pan-Islamism a uniting factor for Muslims, both inside and outside of the empire’s borders.

To show his role as supreme leader of Muslims worldwide, Abdülhamid placed much emphasis on the holy sites of Makkah and Madinah. In the 1800s, a building program commenced in the holy cities, with hospitals, barracks, and infrastructure being built in the Hejaz to aid in the yearly gathering of Muslims in Makkah – the Hajj. The Ka’aba itself and the Masjid al-Haram that surrounded it were also renovated with a modern water system that helped reduce the severity of floods.

In 1900, Abdülhamid commenced the beginning of the Hejaz Railway. It began in Istanbul and traveled through Syria, Palestine, and the Arabian desert, ending in Madinah. The goal of the railway was to better connect the holy sites with the political authority of Istanbul, as well as make the pilgrimage easier. To show his emphasis on the protection of Makkah and Madinah, Abdülhamid decided that the gauge (width of the rails) of the Hejaz Railway should be slightly smaller than standard European ones. His reasoning for this was that if Istanbul were to ever fall to European imperialists, he wanted to make sure they could not use the Hejaz Railway with European trains to easily invade Makkah and Madinah.

Non-Ottoman Muslims
Throughout Ottoman history, there have been examples of the sultans helping Muslim communities outside their borders whenever the opportunity arose and the Ottoman state was capable. For example, in the 1500s, the Ottoman navy was a key force in the Indian Ocean, aiding local Muslims fighting Portuguese colonialism as far away as India and Indonesia. Abdülhamid considered it his duty to do the same in the 1800s, especially since large populations of Muslims in Africa and Asia were under European imperial control.

Delegations were sent to African Muslim kingdoms such as Zanzibar, giving gifts from Abdülhamid and asking them to acknowledge the caliph as their protector against European imperialism. Similar delegations were sent to Muslims living within Russian and Chinese borders.

In 1901, Abdülhamid sent one of his advisors, Enver Pasha, along with numerous Islamic scholars, to China. When they arrived in Shanghai, they were warmly greeted by the Chinese authorities, and especially so by the local Chinese Muslims, who had lived in China for centuries. Abdülhamid later helped establish a Muslim university in Beijing, called the Peking (Beijing) Hamidiye University. Even as far away as China, Abdülhamid wanted to create a sense of belonging and unity among Muslims, centered on the caliphate.

Abdülhamid’s efforts resulted in the caliph of the Muslim world being acknowledged in Friday prayers from small towns throughout Africa to the major Muslim communities of India and China.

The Issue of Palestine
In the late 1800s, a potent nationalist movement was forming among European Jews: Zionism. Zionist ideology called for a Jewish state to be established in their ancient homeland, Palestine. Although European Jews were dispersed throughout Europe, the unique financial and political power of numerous Jewish families was able to make Zionism a major force in the late 1800s.

Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement, personally requested from Abdülhamid II special permission to settle in Palestine, in exchange for 150 million pounds of gold, which could have helped the Ottomans repay their enormous debts. Herzl’s aims were not to settle there and live under Ottoman authority, he clearly wanted to establish a Jewish state carved out of Muslim lands (as of course happened in 1948). Abdülhamid realized that his role as caliph required him to protect the sanctity and sovereignty of Muslim land, so he responded to Herzl with the following:

™Even if you gave me as much gold as the entire world, let alone the 150 million English pounds in gold, I would not accept this at all. I have served the Islamic milla [nation] and the Ummah of Muhammad for more than thirty years, and never did I blacken the pages of the Muslims- my fathers and ancestors, the Ottoman sultans and caliphs. And so I will never accept what you ask of me.

He further prevented the purchase of tracts of land within Palestine by Zionist organizations, ensuring that their attempts at establishing a foothold there were futile. Ultimately, the Zionists were allowed to purchase land and settle in Palestine after the reign of Abdülhamid II, when the Young Turk movement was in charge of the Ottoman Empire.

Legacy
Abdülhamid II was the last of the Ottoman sultans who had any real power. He was overthrown in 1909 by a group known as the Young Turks. They were Western-educated liberal secularists who vehemently disagreed with the Islamic direction that Abdülhamid took the empire in from 1876 to 1909. After his overthrow, his brother Mehmed Reshad was chosen as sultan by the Young Turks, but he effectively had no power, and the empire was run by an oligarchy of three ministers in the Young Turk government.

Three more people held the office of caliph after Abdülhamid II: Mehmed V, Mehmed VI, and Abdülmecid II, none of which had any power. In 1924, the caliphate was abolished by the new Turkish parliament and Abdülmecid and the rest of the Ottoman family were forced into exile. As such, Abdülhamid II was the last of the caliphs to have had any power over the Muslim world. The tradition of a strong, in charge caliph that commenced with Abu Bakr in 632 was upheld by Abdülhamid in the late 1800s before finally being overthrown by liberal elements within the empire.

Abdülhamid II died in Istanbul in 1918, and was buried in a mausoleum along with Sultans Mahmud II and Abdülaziz near Sultanahmet Square.

The Last Great Caliph: Abdülhamid II | Lost Islamic History

Without criticism, this becomes an unbalance hagiography.

When the Americans asked Abdulhamid II to help before the Americans were getting ready to invade the Moro Muslims in the Sulu Sultanate, Abdulhamid II sent a letter to the Sulu Moros in Mecca, telling them that America was their friend and that they should help and not resist the Americans. The letter was taken back to Sulu and the Moros listened to Abdulhamid's advice. With disastorous results, the Americans violated the Bates Treaty and conquered the Moros. Now they are in the Philippines.

The Politicization of Islam: Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and ... - Kemal H. Karpat - Google Books

Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty - Mustafa Akyol - Google Books

Turkish Foreign Policy in Post Cold War Era - Google Books

Political Science Quarterly - Google Books

American Statecraft: The Story of the U.S. Foreign Service - J. Robert Moskin - Google Books

Abdulhamid II also brought the Ottoman Empire into an alliance with the German Empire, which waged war against Arab Muslims in East Africa in 1888-1889. The Omani Arab leader Bushiri bin Salim al-Harthi nearly defeated and broke the back of the German East Africa Company, setting East Africa on fire, but he was unfortunately defeated when the German Imperial forces arrived and was hung after his capture.

Arabs in sub-Saharan Africa. | Page 2

When You Kill Ten Million Africans You Aren’t Called ‘Hitler’ | Page 9

The Portuguese invaded the East African Swahili coast. After decades of misrule, cruelty, and harsh treatment, the people there sent a letter to the Omani Arabs asking them to liberate East Africa from the Portuguese, which they did. The Omani Arabs then took over the Swahili coast and incorporated it into their empire, where Arabs ruled over East africa.

The East Africa Protectorate - Sir Charles Eliot - Google Books

The Land of Zinj: Being an Account of British East Africa, its Ancient ... - C.H. Stigland - Google Books

The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf - Samuel Barrett Miles - Google Books

There was an Arab merchant and slave trader named Bushiri bin Salim al-Harthi led an Arab revolt against the German East Africa Company from 1888-1890. Guess what? The black Africans supported his revolt and even joined his army to fight the German invaders who were brutal to the natives.

Bushiri was initially succesful against the German East Africa Company forces, but when the German government sent its army over the revolt was defeated (with British assistance in implementing a blockade), it ended when German forces under Hermann von Wissmann assaulted Bagamoyo and Bushiri was executed. Bushiri was a rival of the Zanzibar Sultanate, but after the Germans defeated Bushiri, they forced Zanzibar to sell them the coastal strip the Sultanate owned on the African mainland. Bushiri had opposed to the Zanzibar Sultan in part because of its cooperation with the colonial powers and it gave up alot of the Swahili coast to German and Britain, Bushiri explicitly mentioned the fact that their lands were being given to the foreigners as his reason for war.

After the Germans won the war against Bushiri, they promptly took the same chains that were used by Arabs to trade African slaves, and put them back on the Africans and put them to work for more harsh treatment and forced labor

Bushiri and his followers are regarded as freedom fighters in modern Tanzania which is run by black Africans.

Freundeskreis Bagamoyo e.V.: Famous Sights

Hanging-Place

Bushiri rebellion
On the compound of Badeco Beach Hotel we find a monument, reminding freedom fighters who were hanged to death by the Germans during German colonialism.
According to all available sources here supporters of Bushiri were hanged in December 1889, after Bushiri himself was hanged to death on the 12/15/1889 in Pangani.
Bushiri-supporters in Bagamoyo were Simba Mbili, Marera, Mbomboma, Kriolhe, Salim bin Abdalla, Pori and Kisoko.
An old German photograph shows gallows near to the Old Fort with one hanged person. In the background behind trees the Old Fort can be seen.
We did not know if the present monument stands exactly on the place where we had the gallows. And it also seems not be really true what the present inscription tells which was written during the Anti-Colonial time.
The Hanging Place is a national memorial today.

Oman Virtual Museum documents a private collection of antiques from Oman and Zanzibar.

Starting 1884 Germans traders lead by Carl Peters (and without support of the German government) negotiated directly with local chiefs for control of large parts of East Africa. Later they rented for 50 years a coastal strip of East Africa opposite Zanzibar from Sultan Khalifa. After the Germans started developing their activities in East Africa (with the DOAG company) the role of the Arabs in the ivory / slave-trade greatly diminished and was replaced by German forced labor, with "prisoners" chained by their necks. The local population was also forced to work for the Germans in various ways e.g. via taxes and "delivering stones for food"

The Arabs in East Africa revolted against the invading German traders and against their own Sultan (because of his lack of support) but were beaten by the Germans led by von Wissman once the German navy / army in 1889 came to their rescue. The leader of the Arab revolt was hanged by the Germans (see photo below).

11075 Heavily chained prisoners at work in German East Africa

l_hvw1895c1.jpg


Photographer Keystone View Company Copyrighted Underwood & Underwood / Meadville USA 1890-1900
Description
Stereo photo showing many chained prisoners carrying heavy cans on their heads in German East Africa. The laborers are chained with a steel collar by their necks and are guarded by black Ashkari soldiers trained by and working for the German occupants.
The Germans replaced Omani slavery of the black population by German forced labor. From a the black populations perspective there was not much improvement. Each photo is approx 8 by 8 cm.

Prisoners / forced laborers chained by the neck (!!) with their DOAG German guards for Kilwa fort taken around 1891

l_hvw1891d1.jpg


Photographer Unknown
Title
German fortress with chained slaves or prisoners (fort Bonia/Boma On Kilwa?)

Description
Rare photo. The black prisoners have been chained to each other by the Germans, like Arab slaves previously. Including steel bands around their necks.
Customs station of Deutsch-Ostafrikanischen Gesellschaft.
In 1888 two employees of D.O.A.G were killed by the uprise of the Arabs against the Germans and the Sultan.
In May 1890 the D.O.A.G station was taken by Wissmann.
Condition fine
References Slavernij en bevrijding in Oost Afrika in de 19e eeuw by Afrika museum Berg en Dal 2003.

Three original photos of Bushiri bin Salim the leader of the Arab revolt against the Germans taken 1888

l_hvw1889c1.jpg


Photographer Unknown
Description
Scarce photo. The revolt was led by Buschiri and by Bwana Heri
The slide-show contains three fine photos. One blue photo has been printed in a special technique named....

Original photo. In 1888 the Omani / Zanzibari Arabs and some African tribes (Yao) in East Afrika started a revolt against the Germans and the Sultan of Zanzibar who were taking over control of East Afrika.

The livelihood of these Arabs and African tribes was threatened by the Germans taking control of the country, they were typically ivory and slave traders and owners of plantations with slaves.

They also revolted against the Sultan as he was seen as a puppet of the British.
The German army led by Hermann von Wissmann put down the revolt. Bushiri was arrested and hanged in 1889 (see next photos).

Ironically the Germans stopped slavery but at the same time they took large numbers of Africans prisoner and turned them into forced labor, often shackled with the same chains previously used by the Arabs for slaves.
So slavery effectively becomes forced labor (just a different name)!!.

Also the Germans do not involve the Africans in any way in the development of the country and they were without any rights.

Origin Taken in East Afrika
References Slavernij en bevrijding in Oost-Afrika in de 19e eeuw, Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal 2003 page 123 (incl background to the events and other photo of Bushiri)

Savage and Soldier Online

Bushiri bin Salim

Abushiri ibn Salim al-Harthi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abushiri Revolt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tanzania & Zanzibar - Annabel Skinner - Google Books

Religious Discourse, Social Cohesion and Conflict: Muslim - Christian ... - Thomas Joseph Ndaluka - Google Books

The Political Development of Tanganyika - James Clagett Taylor - Google Books

International Dictionary of Historic Places: Middle East and Africa - Google Books

Encyclopedia of Africa south of the Sahara - John Middleton - Google Books

Developing the Rivers of East and West Africa: An Environmental History - Heather J. Hoag - Google Books

Freundeskreis Bagamoyo e.V.: History of Bagamoyo

http://homepage.univie.ac.at/walter...l_Exploration_and_East_African_Resistance.pdf

Oman Virtual Museum documents a private collection of antiques from Oman and Zanzibar.

Bushiri, bin Salim : Dictionary of African Biography Oxford Reference

These are pictures of Bushiri and his fighters.

attachment.php


l_hvw1889c1.jpg


l_hvw1889c4.jpg


hvw1889c2.jpg


Bushiri_Aufstand.jpg

And actually, it was Arab Omanis who beat the Portuguese and ended their reign in the Indian Ocean. The Ottomans fought the Portuguese but did not drive them out. The Omani Ibadi Ya'aribah Imamate defeated the Portuguese in Muscat, defeated them in India, and defeated them in East Africa.

Arabs in sub-Saharan Africa. | Page 2

Arabs had been in contact with the Swahili coast since pre-Islamic times, and extensive development of commercial ties and urban growth occured in the medieval era. However, extensive Arab migration and political control of East Africa was spurred on by the invasion of the Portuguese.

The Portuguese invaded the Swahili Coast and went on to invade Muslim controlled cities in India and invaded the Khaleej itself and captured Muscat in 1507. Their conquests and conduct were particularly brutal because of their anti-Muslim feelings dating to the Reconquista. They would deliberately attack Arab shipping and sought to conquer all areas of Arab and Muslim political control, torturing and slaughtering women and children. The Portuguese took over Zanzibar, the Swahili coast, and several cities in India like Goa, Daman and Diu.

A History of the Precious Metals: From the Earliest Times to the Present - Alexander Del Mar - Google Books

Coastal Histories: Society and Ecology in Pre-modern India - Google Books

City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism - Jim Krane - Google Books

Dubai: The Story of the World's Fastest City - Jim Krane - Google Books

colonialism in africa 1870-1960 - Gan, Duignan - Google Books

Four Centuries of Portuguese Expansion, 1415-1825: A Succinct Survey - C. R. Boxer - Google Books

Maritime India: Trade, Religion and Polity in the Indian Ocean - Pius Malekandathil - Google Books

The Ottomans tried to put together an alliance of Muslim states to fight the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean, but after deacdes of fighting back and forth, with the Ottomans and their allies taking and then losing cities again to the Portuguese. they did not succeed.

It was the Ibadi Arabs in Oman who eventually drove out the Portuguese. Nasir bin Murshid Al Ya'arubi was elected as Imam in 1624 and united the Ibadi tribes to declare war on the Portuguese. The Ya'ariba Imams gathered their followers and defeated the Portuguese in Oman itself, retaking Muscat in 1650. They then started a fleet of warships and prepared to drive the Portuguese entirely out of the Indian Ocean. The inhabitants of the Swahili coast sent a letter to the Ya'ariba Imams asking them to liberate them from the Portuguese.

The East Africa Protectorate - Sir Charles Eliot - Google Books

The Ya'ariba Imamate captured Portuguese ships in Muscat and began to raid Portuguese colonies in India and the Swahili coast in East Africa. Thry built their fleet by capturing more Portuguese ships in naval battles off the coast of India and sacked Portuguese ruled Diu in India. Eventually Zanzibar and the Swahili coast were liberated by the Ya'ariba from the Portuguese after they besieged Portuguese forts and fought for several decades. The forts fell and and the Swahili coast became part of the Ya'ariba Imamate.

Mozambique almost fell to Ya'ariba forces during a siege of a vital fort in 1670, but they gave up and Mozambique remained as a Portuguese colony.

Some remnants of the Portuguese rule include a fort in Muscat and Fort Jesus in Muscat, both of which were sieged and taken by Ya'ariba forces.

The Ya'ariba Imams appointed Arab governors (liwali) to rule over important cities on the Swahili coast. The major Arab family ruling Mombasa (now in modern day Kenya) were the Mazrui.
Ahmad bin Said overthrew the last Ya'ariba Imam and established the rule of the Al Busaid family over Oman and its colonies. He and his son Said bin Ahmed ruled as Ibadi Imams, but the next Al Busaid ruler Hamad bin Said used the title of Sultan only and established Muscat and Oman as a Sultanate.

The Al Busaid Sultans struggled for control of Mombasa with the Mazrui and eventually the Al Busaid conquered Mombasa from the Mazrui in 1837. The Mazrui were defeated through trickery when the Al Busaid invited their elders to celebrate a holiday, when they were seized and imprisoned.

Horn and Crescent: Cultural Change and Traditional Islam on the East African ... - Randall L. Pouwels - Google Books

Had it not been for modern European colonial rule (British took over Kenya and Germany took over Tanzania), the Al Busaid Sultans might have firmly consolidated their power over the Swahili coast and expand their empire further, but the colonial powers prevented it from happening.

Said bin Sultan was the last Al Busaidi Sultan to rule over a united Muscat and Oman, and Zanzibar and the Swahili coast. After his death, two of his sons divided the Sultanate between them. Muscat and Oman went to Sultan Thuwaini bin Said and Zanzibar went to Majid bin Said.
The British and Germans as I mentioned, took over the Swahili coast from the Zanzibar Sultans, leaving only Zanzibar and surrounding islands in control of the Sultanate.

These are sources for the Ya'ariba Imamate's war on the Portuguese, the Al Busaid and the Mazrui.

http://islamweb.us/mazrui-mazrum.html

Ajabu Africa

Fort Jesus, Kenya - Mombasa

Kenyalogy - Kenya Safari Web: History: The Omani domination

Zanzibar: The Island Metropolis of Eastern Africa - Francis Barrow Pearce - Google Books

Horn and Crescent: Cultural Change and Traditional Islam on the East African ... - Randall L. Pouwels - Google Books

Historical Muscat: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer - John Peterson - Google Books

The New Cambridge Modern History: The rise of Great Britain and Russia, 1688 ... - J. S. Bromley - Google Books

East Africa (British): Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources - Google Books

Zanzibar: Its History and Its People - W.H. Ingrams - Google Books
 
Without criticism, this becomes an unbalance hagiography.

When the Americans asked Abdulhamid II to help before the Americans were getting ready to invade the Moro Muslims in the Sulu Sultanate, Abdulhamid II sent a letter to the Sulu Moros in Mecca, telling them that America was their friend and that they should help and not resist the Americans. The letter was taken back to Sulu and the Moros listened to Abdulhamid's advice. With disastorous results, the Americans violated the Bates Treaty and conquered the Moros. Now they are in the Philippines.

The Politicization of Islam: Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and ... - Kemal H. Karpat - Google Books

Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty - Mustafa Akyol - Google Books

Turkish Foreign Policy in Post Cold War Era - Google Books

Political Science Quarterly - Google Books

American Statecraft: The Story of the U.S. Foreign Service - J. Robert Moskin - Google Books

Abdulhamid II also brought the Ottoman Empire into an alliance with the German Empire, which waged war against Arab Muslims in East Africa in 1888-1889. The Omani Arab leader Bushiri bin Salim al-Harthi nearly defeated and broke the back of the German East Africa Company, setting East Africa on fire, but he was unfortunately defeated when the German Imperial forces arrived and was hung after his capture.

Arabs in sub-Saharan Africa. | Page 2

When You Kill Ten Million Africans You Aren’t Called ‘Hitler’ | Page 9



And actually, it was Arab Omanis who beat the Portuguese and ended their reign in the Indian Ocean. The Ottomans fought the Portuguese but did not drive them out. The Omani Ibadi Ya'aribah Imamate defeated the Portuguese in Muscat, defeated them in India, and defeated them in East Africa.

Arabs in sub-Saharan Africa. | Page 2

So he was not perfect but he was the last of the real Caliphs. Also German alliance was more due to Young Turk involvement and Young Turks were the ones who eventually drove the Ottomans into WW1.

Also America was more lenient to the Filipinos whereas the Spanish forcibly converted most of them so I guess in his view America was better than any other Europeans who taught about colonizing that region.
 
So he was not perfect but he was the last of the real Caliphs. Also German alliance was more due to Young Turk involvement and Young Turks were the ones who eventually drove the Ottomans into WW1.

Also America was more lenient to the Filipinos whereas the Spanish forcibly converted most of them so I guess in his view America was better than any other Europeans who taught about colonizing that region.

The article was written in a wholly uncritical manner, not as it should have been if it wanted to neutrally document Abdulhamid II's rule.

For example, the mission by Enver Pasha to China was not Abdulhamid's idea at all.

In the Boxer Rebellion, there were a unit of Muslims from Gansu in the Chinese army who fought against the Eight Nation Alliance (Germany, America, Japan, Russia, France, Britain, Italy). The westerners called them the Kansu Braves. They dismembered and butchered the Japanese legation chancellor, beat and assaulted German troops, besieged the International Legations in Beijing, and along with the Boxers, ambushed German led Alliance forces at Langfang and forced them to turn back to Tianjin.

The German Kaiser asked the Ottomans for help, for them to send a mission over to help the Eight Nation Alliance "pacify" the Muslims. Abdulhamid II then sent Enver Pasha and his delegation over, but they arrived late in 1901 when the war was already over.

The mission was a German idea to help them further German imperialist goals in China, and the article doesn't mention it.
 
The article was written in a wholly uncritical manner, not as it should have been if it wanted to neutrally document Abdulhamid II's rule.

For example, the mission by Enver Pasha to China was not Abdulhamid's idea at all.

In the Boxer Rebellion, there were a unit of Muslims from Gansu in the Chinese army who fought against the Eight Nation Alliance (Germany, America, Japan, Russia, France, Britain, Italy). The westerners called them the Kansu Braves. They dismembered and butchered the Japanese legation chancellor, beat and assaulted German troops, besieged the International Legations in Beijing, and along with the Boxers, ambushed German led Alliance forces at Langfang and forced them to turn back to Tianjin.

The German Kaiser asked the Ottomans for help, for them to send a mission over to help the Eight Nation Alliance "pacify" the Muslims. Abdulhamid II then sent Enver Pasha and his delegation over, but they arrived late in 1901 when the war was already over.

The mission was a German idea to help them further German imperialist goals in China, and the article doesn't mention it.

Actually it does mention it as I read through the whole thing.
 
Actually it does mention it as I read through the whole thing.

I said it doesn't mention that the mission was originally for Germany's interests.

In 1901, Abdülhamid sent one of his advisors, Enver Pasha, along with numerous Islamic scholars, to China. When they arrived in Shanghai, they were warmly greeted by the Chinese authorities, and especially so by the local Chinese Muslims, who had lived in China for centuries. Abdülhamid later helped establish a Muslim university in Beijing, called the Peking (Beijing) Hamidiye University. Even as far away as China, Abdülhamid wanted to create a sense of belonging and unity among Muslims, centered on the caliphate.

Abdülhamid’s efforts resulted in the caliph of the Muslim world being acknowledged in Friday prayers from small towns throughout Africa to the major Muslim communities of India and China.

It said nothing about the context of the delegation and their original purpose. It was originally requested by Germany to help them in the Boxer Rebellion, as you can see here.

The Politicization of Islam: Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and ... - Kemal H. Karpat - Google Books

Newspaper Article - The Straits Times. PRICE 15 CENTS. WEDNESDAY, 10th JULY.

The Spectator - Google Books
 
I said it doesn't mention that the mission was originally for Germany's interests.



It said nothing about the context of the delegation and their original purpose. It was originally requested by Germany to help them in the Boxer Rebellion, as you can see here.

The Politicization of Islam: Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and ... - Kemal H. Karpat - Google Books

Newspaper Article - The Straits Times. PRICE 15 CENTS. WEDNESDAY, 10th JULY.

The Spectator - Google Books

It did say Germany requested it but by the time the delegation arrived it was over. Anyway you have to understand Germans were the only allies Ottomans really had at the time.
 

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