Zeila under the Ottomans

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Qadi of Zeila in ottoman eras were administrative rulers. Richard burton didn’t understand the true role of the qadi and how the ottomans saw them. Here are what Turkish historians saw about their rule.

‘Districts in the Ottoman state are administrative units ruled by civil administrators with a scholarly background, called kadi’

Again read the next line. Kadiships/districts were established aside of sanjaks (ottoman provinces). They weren’t just judges.

‘In the Ottoman system, the shaykh al-Islam (Turkish seyhulislam) was the chief mufti (jurisconsult) and head of the state hierarchy of ulama. Often served as adviser to the sultan's court on political affairs’

When it says they came under the sheikh Ul Islam it means the ultimate authority over them came from the ottoman shaykh not that they were individually run by sheikhs

Haji sharmarke was a proxy governor for the eyalet of Yemen he was deposed by an ‘adjacent’ governor( he was a puppet) he wasn’t the head of a kadiship.

This is why historical context is important. It’s referring to two different deposings. The first is of Mohamed Al barr being removed in favour of hajj sharmarke and the second is the hajj being removed himself. Burton made this super clear

Sharmaarke was deposed by the eyalet of Yemen which means the Turkish rulers of the region.

Burton didn’t understand how the ottomans saw the kadis even Turkish historians disagree completely with his narrative.