Markaniš

Markaniš (or Maria Kanis) Bint Karbinâl, was a legendary Christian queen somewhere in the Harär area. Following the Fath Madinat Harar, an unpublished legendary history of Harär in the 13th century A.D., Markaniš was a queen of the infidels fighting against the Haräri under the leadership of their most important saint, Abadir ‘Umar ar-Rida and his followers. In the Fath she is anachronistically designated as a “Portuguese.” She succeeded her brother Jurniyal, in 651 H. (1253 A.D.) after he had been converted to Islam. She killed her brother in battle in 655 H. (1257 A.D.). In 689 H. (1290 A.D.) she herself was killed in battle by Abdal at Kurumnu, a Galla village on the way from Harär to the Argobba district. She was succeeded by her uncle Sayadar b. Mahrawal.

Ewald Wagner

Bibliography

R. Paret, “Eine fragwütdige arabische Chronik von Harar,”* IV Congresso Internationale di Studi Etiopici, Roma 1972*, Vol. I (Roma, 1974), 433.

This article is reproduced, with permission, from The Dictionary of Ethiopian Biography, Vol. 1 ‘From Early Times to the End of the Zagwé Dynasty c. 1270 A.D.,’ copyright © 1975, edited by Belaynesh Michael, S. Chojnacki and Richard Pankhurst, Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All rights reserved.