Sultanate of Dawaro

The founder of Dawaro Sultanate was Jarso people belonging to the Ali Madaḥweyne branch which is a sub-clan of the Somali Dir clan. After the Oromo migrations, the jārso along with other Somali ʿAli Madaḥweyne Dir clans were absorbed into the Afran Qallo Barentuma confederation, and today the Jarso are reckoned as Jārsō Daggā Qāllō Barentuma Oromō. Although a large amount of the Jārso clan have assimilated into the Oromo ethnic group, they are culturally Oromo and ethnically somali .[2]

Amda Seyon I of Ethiopia conquered many independent Muslim sultanates adjacent to his Empire during his reign. In 1329, Sulṭān Ḥaydar of Dawaro was captured and imprisoned together with his ally Sulṭān Sabir ad-Dīn Maḥamed. Despite several rebellions and a brief period when Ahmeduddin Badlay, a powerful Somali ruler of the Adal Sultanate, captured Dawaro and turned it into a vassal, expanding opportunistic Oromos took control of the land and assimilated the native Somali population due to the weakening of Adal during the Ethiopian-Adal war. Just like many Somalis in Hararghe, the Jarso people were also assimilated into the Oromo ethnic group.[3]

Dawaro was a major power prior to its defeat and subjugation. It was roughly equal in size, population and power to the early Ifat Sultanate.[4]