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Tinto Maps #15 - 23rd of August 2024 - Horn of Africa

Hello, and welcome one more week to Tinto Maps! After a short break, we’re back to the duty of sharing more maps! Today the region we will look at is the Horn of Africa! So let’s take a look at it, without further ado:

Countries:
Countries.PNG

Here we have the countries around Nubia, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The first ones are organized around the ancient kingdoms of Makuria and Alodia, which control the Upper Nile region. In the second area, the Empire of Ethiopia stands as the main power, with some smaller countries around it. Finally, the two Islamic sultanates of Ifat and Ajuraan stand as the main powers in the Horn and Somalia. Finally, around the African Great Lakes, there is a country that can be considered a ‘settled’ one, Kitara.

Dynasties:
Dynasties.PNG

The dynasties of the Horn. There are some historical ones, while others are randomly generated. The most famous one is probably the Ethiopian House of Solomon, from where all their Negus come. The Walshma ruler over both Ifat and Ajuraan and we have some others, such as the Medri of Medri Bahri, the Umar of Mogadishu, the Banu Kanz of Makuria, or the Baranzi of Kitara.

Societies of Pops:
Pop-Based.PNG

A new map has popped up! Here you can see the countries that we consider as ‘Societies of Pops’, as they were presented in the last Tinto Talks. We have the famous Oromo people in the lands between Ethiopia, Ifat and Ajuraan; the Kunama, Gumuz, and Berta in the lands between Ethiopia; and Alodia, and the Zaghwa to the north of Wadai; there are a few more to the west, but I’ll share that picture in the Western Africa thread, as it’s more appropriate there. There are more Stateless Societies of this kind that we would like to add in the future, if it is possible due to our schedule.

Locations:
Locations.PNG

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Locations! You might notice that the density is quite unequal. Unfortunately, the archaeological findings for the period are scarce, specially out of the most known areas and a lack of urbanization in most of the territory has made the finding of proper non-anachronistic settlements quite a challenge. Keep this in mind when making suggestions. ;) It has been that dramatic in some areas that we had to use names of tribes and rivers, a bit contradicting our own rules, but the areas had to be represented as they were active parts in the development of the region.
One thing: a big chunk of the Arabian peninsula can be seen in today’s Tinto Maps; but, please, reserve the feedback for its future DD, when we’ll show all of the peninsula. Apart from that, you can see more detailed maps if you click on the spoiler button, as usual.


Provinces:
Provinces.png


Areas:
Areas.png


Terrain:
Climate.png

Vegetation.png

Topography.png

The terrain types of the region are quite interesting and diverse. It is marked by the Rift Valley, which creates different biomes, such as the Ethiopian Highlands and Plateau, or the African Great Lakes. That also marks a divide between Arid, Tropical, and Oceanic climates. The vegetation of the region also ranges from desertic and sparse, to jungle forests. And one more note: you may also note that 'Marshes' have been renamed into 'Wetlands', as we could put some work into that suggestion the last week.

Natural Harbors:
Natural Harbors.png


Cultures:
Cultures.png

Another interesting map this week… You might notice that the lands of Ethiopia have a very mixed cultural situation. While more to the west and south, we are representing ‘tribal lands’ in a more homogeneous way, with kind of fixed boundaries to represent the different groupings. This doesn’t mean that there wouldn’t be a mixing of cultures, but this was one of the first areas to receive a minority's review and the scope was limited mostly to Ethiopia.

Religion:
Religion.png

Another interesting map! Miaphysite and Sunni are the more widespread religions in the region (while not all areas have their mixed populations, such as Nubia as you might notice, they eventually will as we cover more of the map in our sprints). Animism is completely placeholder, as usual, and you might see some pockets here and there (If you have specific suggestions, please do them). You may also notice a purple minority inside Ethiopia… That is representing the Beta Israel Judaism in the provinces of Semien, of course!

Raw Materials:
Raw Materials.png

The raw materials of this week! A big chunk of the region has livestock as its main raw material, while also having some agricultural goods as Wheat or Sturdy Grains here and there. The most unique good in the region is Coffee, which is cultivated in the Ethiopian highlands. And there are also some precious resources spread here and there, such as Gold, Ivory, Gems, and Incense.

Markets:
Markets.png

The main market centers of the region are Axum and Mogadishu, with ‘Adan/Aden being the main one controlling the access to the Red Sea. There are some weird calculations ongoing on the Somalian inner lands, that are already reported, and we’ll take a look at why is that happening.

Population:
Population.png

Population 2.png

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The population of the region! There are approximately 12.3M people in the Eastern African subcontinent; although take into account that it also comprises the regions of the Southern Great Lakes and the Swahili Coast, which we haven’t shown today, so we probably have to discount around 4M people from it (Swahili Coast accounts for 1.7M, and the Great Lakes for 4M, although that region is divided between today’s and next week’s Tinto Maps), for a total of around 8M.

That’s all for today! Speaking of next week’s Tinto Maps, it will be meaty, as it will cover Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa! See you!
 
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How is it that the Sudanese Arabs who border the Beja and Tigrinya are Christians? Is this an oversight or did some convert?

Interesting case of the Kunama SoP, who are totally enclosed in an LBC.
 
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Much like I did with West Africa, I'm going to talk about my thoughts on East Africa, because I have a few thoughts about it.
View attachment 1178511
Is it wrong for me to say that I'm a bit disappointed?

For the past two maps that have had them, aka this one, and Egypt, I was hoping that there would be something for the Beja, since they have had states since the 9th century, and this was a period prior to Arabization and Islamization of their people, where their states didn't use Arabic, and they were Miaphysite practicing religion-wise. Alas, they're currently shown with very little, which is disappointing. Only two of their states are present on the map which are Bazin and Jarin, which there definitely were more. There was Belgin, Qita'a, Nagash, and Tankish, all of which were Miaphysite Beja states recorded since the 9th century, which were all conquered by another Beja state that was more islamized, Belew in the 15th century. Adding in more Beja states could better represent them and their people as right now it's rather dull in my opinion.

Moving outside of the Beja, the Harla are also weirdly absent from the map as well, despite the fact they had a state of their own as well that was subordinate to Ifat, not being a part of it directly. Adding in a Harla kingdom would give us the opportunity to play with them a bit more, which I'd appreciate.

Oddly enough, a nation that was present in EU4 but is missing here despite being around at this time is Hadiya, which existed since the 13th century, adding them in would bring in another independent nation to the area, which I think would be appreciated.

In Somalia, the absence of the Warsangali Sultanate as a vassal of Ifat is also troubling especially when they existed at this time as well, and out of all of the Somali states present in 1337, lasted by far the longest, being present in the timeframe of Victoria 3, so adding them in to the start would be something I'd appreciate.

Ennarea also should be present in some of the Gonga territories as Ethiopia did not own that area, and they had just emerged independent from Damot, so that could add in another player to the region.

Alongside Harla annd Warsangali, there's also the absence of the Dawaro Sultanate, which was aligned with Ifat as another Muslim principality that was located into lands that are currently apart of Ethiopia, so that could be added as well.

Heading over to the lands of the Omotic groups, both the Welayta are missing their culture (which should really be in the part currently represent as Oromo as the Oromo were not in most of that area at that time and were located further south as they had yet to migrate north yet) and kingdom which both were present in 1337, so adding them in could give us an option to playing the Omotic groups earlier, especially since the Kefficho of Kaffa hadn't properly formed their state yet in 1337 according to their oral history.

Recently created during this time was the Kingdom of Simien, a Beta Israeli vassal state of Ethiopia, so representing them could give people an option to play with Judaism much earlier and easier than any other method.

Finally, we have to talk about the Great Lakes, as there's only Kitara there... and it's ahistorically smaller than it should be. Realistically it should cover more territory, as it had control over all of what would be Ankole, Tooro, and Bunyoro at this point, and likely had some vassal states of their own before they too collapsed. It is assumed that Buganda was created in the late 13th century, so they absolutely should be present at game start, either as subservient to Kitara or as an independent kingdom. Rwanda has some rulers as well, albeit the first one dated appears later on in the 14th century, so I'm hesitant to include it. Finally, there's the Luhya people and their kingdom of Wanga, which existed since the 11th century, so adding them in Western Kenya wouldn't be a bad idea.

Hopefully some of these ideas can help formulate this area a bit better, since many other states had yet to emerge at this time, albeit there's definitely a good chunk of nations that are missing and could be added.

As for SoP's, I really can only say that the Oromo should not be one, but two. Split them into the Borana and Barentu to more accurately represent them since the Borana and Barentu Oromo ultimately ended up very different with one another by the time of Victoria 3, and that more groups should probably get them such as the Shilluk, who would form their own kingdom by the 16th century.

For cultures, again, push the Oromo further south and add in the Welayta, I cannot stress that enough. They would come into Ethiopia later on, but they certainly shouldn't have all of that just yet, especially when Oromia at this time was more so Kenya than Southern Ethiopia.

For religions, there's not a lot I can say, adding in Waaqeffanna for the Oromo and any Somali animists would be great, maybe some Nhialic for the Dinka which had slight variations for the Nuer and Shilluk as well, but other than that, I have no concrete ideas on what to add.
There shouldn’t be vassal-states made of clans at this point, let alone the warsengli which had not split from the stem Harti clan at this moment in time. Waaqefena as a system also wasn’t a thing at this point in time, Oromos practiced heaven worship ala Tengrism in the 1330’s.

Herder Warfare in East Africa: A Social and Spatial History

Is a good book on Oromo pre-history as well as

 
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I believe that southern Ethiopia should be broken up a bit more.

From the Cambridge History of Africa Vol. 3 (my usual go-to):

"By the end of the thirteenth century, there seem to have already existed many other Muslim principalities besides Ifat in the Ethiopian region... Both Arabic and Ethiopic documents indicate the existence of three Muslim kingdoms in the interior, other than Ifat.

The first of these was Dawaro, immediately to the west of the Harar region, and comprising parts of the area between the upper waters of the Webe Shebele and the Awash, extending perhaps as far east as the present-day district of Chercher in the Harar Plateau.

The second was called Sharka, a small Muslim settlement organized into an independent state in what is today the province of Arusi.

The third was Bali, a much more extensive kingdom, occupying the high plateau separating the basins of the Webe Shebele and the Rift Valley lakes.

Muslim influence had penetrated further inland in this direction, and by the first half of the fourteenth century al-'Umari included three other areas: Arababni, Darah, and Hadya - among the Muslim states of Ethiopia. It has not been possible to offer satisfactory identification for Arababni and Darah, which are only mentioned by al-'Umari, who was later copied by al-Maqrizi" (p. 141-142). More on Hadya: "... [it occupied] the area between the upper course of the Awash river in the north and the Rift Valley lakes in the south." Hadya is identified as being ruled by a Muslim family, but "most probably Hadya was still a pagan area in the days of al'Umari" (p. 142).

Given this information covers from around 1300-1350, four (and up to six) independent Islamic states can be added in southern Ethiopia, with three of them having been given approximate borders by scholarship. This indicates that the area between Ifat and Christian Ethiopia was populated by a wealth of different states; I even doubt that it was any less than the six mentioned as those are only the Muslim states.

Additionally, I would add Adal as a vassal of Ifat: "the king of Ifat could not have ruled directly over Zeila", apparently given the "existence of many mutually independent sheikhdoms in the intervening area" (p. 143). This gives the picture of a Sultanate of Ifat that was fractious and mainly focused on ruling areas of direct importance to trade rather than the direct routes between.

I suggest breaking this border area down into the various states mentioned, and perhaps looking into the chronicle of Emperor Amda-Siyon (1314-1344), which apparently contains a list of kingdoms and principalities of the time. No doubt, Christian Ethiopia is larger in the current map than it was (albeit it was strong at this exact time).

Edit: The chronicle can apparently be found here: https://archive.org/details/the-glorious-victories-of-amda-seyon-1/mode/2up . There is a list of Islamic kingdoms on page 16. What follows is a list of Muslim governors for those kingdoms, giving a detailed list of provinces. There a similar list for Christian governors/kings on page 1.
 
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Yes, 'Beyte Yisrael' is a separate culture. And regarding your question, those pops would fall under our criterion in the category of 'minority pops', not that of 'society of pops', as they're part of the Ethiopian state (while the Oromo people wouldn't be considered part of it, even it there are some Oromo pops inhabiting some of the southern provinces of Ethiopia).
So one of the criteria for a society of pops is being (practically) independent? If some group of people retain a tribal identity after being conquered/colonized by a state, but they pay taxes to the state, follow its laws, obey its ruler and fight in its wars, would they then be represented as merely a culture group instead of a SoP? Would the situation be different if the people had (to some degree) their own form of societal organization and/or a tribal leader?
 
Have you considered sub-dividing the climate even further?? I imagine that Belarus and Russia would have way more severe winters that for example Bohemia or Hungary, and yet they are all classified as 'Continental'.. I really want climate to be a significant factor in the game as it would have been historically.. Stuff like frozen rivers in the winter and a shorter growing season for crops are things which has historically played a big part in why Russia had a harder time developing than Western Europe.. I just feel like a complex climate system(coupled with complex terrain) would be very beneficial for the game..
 
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Been waiting for this one for a while. I am a little bit concerned about the representation of the Somali region. Unless there is a mechanic that I am not aware of, it seems like the Somali clan dynamics are being entirely ignored in favor of granting that region a historically dubious 'unified Ajuraan'. This reminds me of the situation with the Manchurian tribes and the tag 'Yeren' before it was updated to better reflect the tribal diversity of the region. However, in the case of Ajuraan, information on Somali clans are readily available, and there is a strong historical argument, of which I am citing a study below, that there was no such thing as a unified homogeneous Ajuraan that would be controlled as one single territorial entity. The same applies to Ifat to the north.

I believe that the region would be represented through the clans being represented as tags or through some sort of mechanics, with an international organization that would represent Ajuraan to some extent (as well as Ifat), similar to the HRE. Perhaps the tribal unity between Somali clans can be represented using the society of pops mechanic.

citation: The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900, By Lee V. Cassanelli
800px-Somali_clan_map.jpg
1724432650961.png
 
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Nuba is a geographical grouping of convenience for a million tribal groups, and there are some Nubians among them. I think the Nubians of Nuba mountains should be added and Nuba should be divided into two, with Rashad and other Kordofanians in a Kordofanian culture. I think numerous pastoralists on the map like Maasai, Nuer and Dinka definitely deserve to be societies of PoPs. Honestly I would want all cultures to have a SoP, with foraging ones being useless and agricultural ones being the best at forming a coherent state. Would feel a million times better. It's weird that you invented such a novel system and didn't use it for 90% of all natives
 
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Also, since SaintDave is away, after the gargantuan Tinto Maps 4, the next to get feedback is Anatolia! Yay!
 
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Religion:
View attachment 1178448
Another interesting map! Miaphysite and Sunni are the more widespread religions in the region (while not all areas have their mixed populations, such as Nubia as you might notice, they eventually will as we cover more of the map in our sprints). Animism is completely placeholder, as usual, and you might see some pockets here and there (If you have specific suggestions, please do them). You may also notice a purple minority inside Ethiopia… That is representing the Beta Israel Judaism in the provinces of Semien, of course!
Honestly, I have to stress that it'd be ideal to rename Miaphysite to Oriental Orthodox, which is the correct term for which the faith is known. It has generally been the proper term for them. The Oriental Orthodox churches reject the label "miaphysite" as they stress it doesn't accurately represent their beliefs at all, and Christology is such a mess, the more the game stirs away from it, the better (nowadays the Christological distinction is even seen as an almost non-issue by the Ethiopian and Catholic church, and a matter of vocabulary).

The name "Nestorian" is also quite inaccurate for the Church of the East because they don't actually subscribe to Nestorius' supposed ideas, though they do venerate him as a saint. Their main theologian and father of their church was Babai the Great. However, I understand for Nestorian that there may not be another term for it. That can't be said about Oriental Orthodox.
 
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There are wastelands to the north (Sahara) and west (the Congolian rainforests). We also have the only region of the world that is not yet mapped, the current lands of the Central African Republic, which we will most likely finish while addressing either the Western African or the Eastern African map review.

No, I know about the expected wastelands, I meant the blueish lands between Daju/Ethiopia/Kitara.

Unless I misunderstood you now and you meant to say you plan on adding many more Societies in that region.
 
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I believe that southern Ethiopia should be broken up a bit more.

From the Cambridge History of Africa Vol. 3 (my usual go-to):

"By the end of the thirteenth century, there seem to have already existed many other Muslim principalities besides Ifat in the Ethiopian region... Both Arabic and Ethiopic documents indicate the existence of three Muslim kingdoms in the interior, other than Ifat.

The first of these was Dawaro, immediately to the west of the Harar region, and comprising parts of the area between the upper waters of the Webe Shebele and the Awash, extending perhaps as far east as the present-day district of Chercher in the Harar Plateau.

The second was called Sharka, a small Muslim settlement organized into an independent state in what is today the province of Arusi.

The third was Bali, a much more extensive kingdom, occupying the high plateau separating the basins of the Webe Shebele and the Rift Valley lakes.

Muslim influence had penetrated further inland in this direction, and by the first half of the fourteenth century al-'Umari included three other areas: Arababni, Darah, and Hadya - among the Muslim states of Ethiopia. It has not been possible to offer satisfactory identification for Arababni and Darah, which are only mentioned by al-'Umari, who was later copied by al-Maqrizi" (p. 141-142). More on Hadya: "... [it occupied] the area between the upper course of the Awash river in the north and the Rift Valley lakes in the south." Hadya is identified as being ruled by a Muslim family, but "most probably Hadya was still a pagan area in the days of al'Umari" (p. 142).

Given this information covers from around 1300-1350, four (and up to six) independent Islamic states can be added in southern Ethiopia, with three of them having been given approximate borders by scholarship. This indicates that the area between Ifat and Christian Ethiopia was populated by a wealth of different states; I even doubt that it was any less than the six mentioned as those are only the Muslim states.

Additionally, I would add Adal as a vassal of Ifat: "the king of Ifat could not have ruled directly over Zeila", apparently given the "existence of many mutually independent sharkhdoms in the intervening area" (p. 143). This gives the picture of a Sultanate of Ifat that was fractious and mainly focused on ruling areas of direct importance to trade rather than the direct routes between.

I suggest breaking this border area down into the various states mentioned, and perhaps looking into the chronicle of Emperor Amda-Siyon (1314-1344), which apparently contains a list of kingdoms and principalities of the time. No doubt, Christian Ethiopia is larger in the current map than it was (albeit it was strong at this exact time).

Edit: The chronicle can apparently be found here: https://archive.org/details/the-glorious-victories-of-amda-seyon-1/mode/2up . There is a list of Islamic kingdoms on page 16. What follows is a list of Muslim governors for those kingdoms, giving a detailed list of provinces. There a similar list for Christian governors/kings on page 1.
Adal was the successor state of Ifat, and both the Chronicles of Amda Siyon and of Sa’ad-Ad-Din call governors kings to glorify themselves.
 
In Somalia, the absence of the Warsangali Sultanate as a vassal of Ifat is also troubling especially when they existed at this time as well, and out of all of the Somali states present in 1337, lasted by far the longest, being present in the timeframe of Victoria 3, so adding them in to the start would be something I'd appreciate.
Going to emphasize this one. The Warsangali Sultanate, ruled by Hassan Ibrahim Hamar Gale of the Garaad dynasty (ruler name is harder to verify than dynasty, so take it with a grain of salt) should control the locations Maydh, Las Khorey, El Ayum, Bosaso, Qandala, Haylan, and maybe Bargaal and Alula.

The extent of Sudanese Arab culture seems wrong, since the start date is at the very earliest moments of the tribal migrations that would destroy Makuria and Alodia and give Sudan an Arab character.

I'd recommend giving both Berbera and Bosaso minor natural harbours - in both cases, the terrain has been extensively modified (sandspit at Berbera, and bay at Bosaso) but these features are natural in origin.

The sources for Warsangali are poor, but I am happy to provide them if needed.
 
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No, I know about the expected wastelands, I meant the blueish lands between Daju/Ethiopia/Kitara.

Unless I misunderstood you now and you meant to say you plan on adding many more Societies in that region.
Those are lands inhabited by 'horizontal societies', which are not represented by any type of tag in our game, neither settled nor the society of pops. But they aren't empty lands, there are plenty of pops inhabiting those locations, as you may notice in the culture, religion, and population map modes.
 
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How come the Nubian nile isn’t farmlands? (like Egypt)

Because... it's not?

During the Messinian Salinity Crisis, when the connection between the Mediterranean and Atlantic closed some 5.96 million years ago, the Mediterranean dried up, and the Nile eroded down to the now-dry seafloor level of the Mediterranean basin. This created a huge canyon many thousands of meters/feet deep, all the way back to the Aswan area. After the Straits of Gibraltar formed (not re-formed, as the previous connection was through the Guadalquivir valley) and the Mediterranean re-filled 5.33 million years ago, this canyon was at first filled with sea water then, eventually, by sediment from the Nile. So Egypt is located on a rich sediment base very suitable for farmland, while areas further south are not. As an added result, the annual flood's effects are intensified in Egypt due to these wide, flat sedimentary plains, unlike the rocky, narrower river valley further south. Thus, the area around the Nile in Egypt is fertile farmland, while further south, it's mostly just rocky desert.
 
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Adal was the successor state of Ifat, and both the Chronicles of Amda Siyon and of Sa’ad-Ad-Din call governors kings to glorify themselves.
I see this "glorification" in some ways, such as the list saying that there is a king of Mora, Adal, and Zeila, but the list also lists kings that were independent from Ifat (according to scholarship), such as Dawaro. Obviously not all the states listed are independent, but it gives a sense there needs to be more division here. The idea that some of the "kings" listed were in-fact independent is supported by scholarship such as in Cambridge History of Africa and by Loimeier in "Muslim Societies in African History". The relationship between some states such as Ifat, Hadiya, and Dawaro (in addition to the Beta Israelis) is as an "alliance" rather than suzereignty (Loimeier, p. 179).

As for the Adal situation, the sultan of Zeila and of Adal were somewhat synonymous (if I can recall), but the Adal Sultanate existed prior to Ifat's supremacy over Zeila, during which there was, again according to History of Africa, a vassal relationship between Adal/Zeila and Ifat. Yes, Adal was a successor to Ifat but it was also existent alongside it. The primary sources and the contemporary scholarship support a vassal-liege relationship between Adal/Zeila and Ifat.
 
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