Migration to Abyssinia Migration to Abyssinia The Migration to Abyssinia (, "al-hijra ʾilā al-habaša"), also known as the First Hegira ( "hijrah"), was an episode in the early history of Islam, where Prophet Muhammad's first followers (the "Sahabah") fled from the persecution of the ruling Quraysh tribe of Mecca. They sought refuge in the Christian Kingdom of Aksum, present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia (formerly referred to as Abyssinia, an ancient name whose origin is debated), in or . The Aksumite monarch who received them is known in Islamic sources as the Negus ( "najāšī") "Ashama ibn Abjar". Modern historians have alternatively identified him with
Name of Georgia (country) also adopted in Abkhaz and Georgia is referred as Қырҭтәыла "Kyrţtwyla" (i.e. Sakartvelo). The European "Georgia" probably stems from the Persian designation of the Georgians – "gurğ" (), "ğurğ" – which reached the Western European crusaders and pilgrims in the Holy Land who rendered the name as "Georgia" (also "Jorgania", "Giorginia", etc.) and, erroneously, explained its origin by the popularity of St. George (Tetri Giorgi) among the Georgians. This explanation is offered, among others, by Jacques de Vitry and Franz Ferdinand von Troilo. Another theory, popularized by the likes of Jean Chardin, semantically linked "Georgia" to Greek ("tiller of the