Le récit des combats entre l’émir Nūr de Harar et le roi Zara Yaqob, un texte pseudo-médiéval de la fin du xixe siècle

Abstract

The following article offers an attempt to date and study the context in which was written a text that features and presents as contemporary Emir Nūr of Harar (r. c. 1552-1567) and the Christian king Zara Yaqob (r. 1434-1468) – two figures well known in Ethiopian history but who ruled a century apart. In the first part, the study of the text’s geography, of the enemies it points to and of the heroes it portrays allows us to understand that it reflects issues, threats and hopes that were those felt by the people of Harar in the late 19th century. The second part focuses on this historical context to show that the months and years following the Ethiopian conquest of Harar in 1887 were a time of crisis and upheaval.

Keywords

• historiography
• 19th century
• Ethiopia
• Harar
• Nūr b. Mujāhid
• Emir Nūr