People or land · Nubia and the Horn of Africa · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Bale and Arsi

The highlands south of the Awash and on both sides of the upper Wabe Shebelle, round modern Asela, Robe and Goba.

In 1200 they were probably home to Highland East Cushitic peoples and to Oromo forebears on their southern edge; the shrine of Sheikh Nur Hussein at Anajina, which tradition dates early, marks the spread of Islam here. A Muslim state of Bali appears in the fourteenth century. Nothing is recorded for 1200.

Who holds it

Title
Clan elders; Muslim saints' lineages
Since
Not pinned
Confidence
low

Overlord

None recorded.

What it holds

  • The Arsi highlands
  • The Bale plateau and the upper Wabe Shebelle

How things stand that morning

Self-governing.

Customs

Clans; Islam spreading through saints' lineages (tradition).

Places of note

  • Sheikh Hussein shrine: Shrine of Nur Hussein (date not pinned).

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Tradition and later chronicles.

On the map: Rough outline; the eastern edge meets the Ogaden lowlands drawn with the Horn of Africa.

Sources and studies

  1. Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia 1270-1527 (Oxford 1972), ch. I-II (peoples of the highlands, the 'Sidama' plateau, Christian expansion into Amhara and Shewa)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.