Medri Bahri

Common card · No. 390881

Medri Bahri or Mereb Melash was a semi-autonomous province of the Ethiopian Empire, located north of the Mereb River, in the Eritrean Highlands, primarily comprising the historical regions of Hamasien and Seraye. It was governed by the Bahr Negash. The province originally held authority over coastal territories, including the port of Hirgigo and Massawa, but lost control of the coast to the Ottomans in 1557. The highlands of Hamasien and Seraye had been part of the ancient Aksumite kingdom, whose influence reached the Red Sea port of Adulis. After Aksum's decline in the seventh century, waves of Beja and then Agaw peoples moved into the region, before it came to be dominated by Tigrinya-speaking communities under the early Solomonic dynasty. From at least the twelfth century the coastal region was ruled by local governors bearing various titles. In the mid-fifteenth century, Emperor Zara Yaqob extended the Bahr Negash's authority over Hamasen, Seraye, Shiré and Bur. Control of the trade...

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