Dahlak Archipelago: Encyclopedia II - Dahlak Archipelago - History

Dahlak Archipelago - History

G.W.B. Huntingford has identified a group of islands near Adulis called "Alalaiou" in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, which were a source of tortoise shell, with the Dahlak archipelago. According to Edward Ullendorff, the Dahlak islanders were amongst the first in East Africa to convert to Islam, and a number of tombstones in Kufic writing attest to this early connection. In the 7th century an independent Muslim state emerged in the archipleago, but it was subsequently conquered by Yemen, then later by the Emperor of Ethiopia, and about 1559 by the Ottoman Turks, who placed the islands under the rule of their Pasha at Suakin.

In the late 19th century, the islands became part of the Italian protectorate of Eritrea, which was formed in 1885, and afterwards was part of the history of that territory through its independence in 1993.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki