This article aims to tackle three fundamental dimensions in Abyssinia-Ottoman friction in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. First, whether the sixteenth-century friction was the product of Ottomans and/ or Portuguese involvement...
moreThis article aims to tackle three fundamental dimensions in Abyssinia-Ottoman friction in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. First, whether the sixteenth-century friction was the product of Ottomans and/ or Portuguese involvement induced or not; second regarding the binary opposition that framed this friction as foreign vs. indigenous or as a Christian Abyssinians vs. Muslim outsiders discourse; and third, whether behind the success of Muslims' conquest was local resource and strong leadership or external support. Utilizing Turkish, Arabic, and other pertinent sources, the article concludes the war was the product of historically evolved frictions sustained over time between Christian rulers and Muslims in Abyssinia and the Ottomans which helped to restore a relative peace and stability in Abyssinia.
