Map and classification of the Omo-Tana languages (the language group Somali is in), OC (Revised)

[Idilinaa]

I don’t think decentralization had much to do with pastoralism or being nomadic. You actually showed that yourself in that thread on the Sahel , how many of those societies were organized under a kind of feudal structure.

The strangeness of somali nomads

Something I've been thinking about recently after reading about other nomadic societies to understand what's particular to our own. Is how weird and different we are compared to the others I've read about. The major other pastoral nomadic societies seem to be the sahelian and sahran nomads Of...

www.somalispot.com

In Somalia’s case, it has more to do with geography , the flat, open landscape combined with the long coastline naturally made us a trade-based society. That environment meant wealth and production were more dispersed rather than concentrated in one area or monopolized by a few. Communities were in constant contact and exchange with one another, fostering a more networked and decentralized social structure.

I think the Ancient Greek example I mentioned earlier is very comparable. They were also trade and commerce-oriented, while maintaining pastoralism as a rural economic base. They were divided into independent city-states that were loosely connected rather than unified under a single empire or centralized monarchy. Aristocratic elites often resisted any attempt by one ruler to establish lasting domination, preferring localized centers of power instead and greater autonomy.

Even though the ancient Greeks were divided into city-states and local centers, they all spoke the same language and shared a common religion and culture. They all existed in the same world and had a strong cultural and unified identity.

I believe even before the adoption of the camel, Somali society must have developed in a similar way.

@Midas
If anything, I think the camel was actually what enabled the rise of large kingdoms and sultanates , united collections of cities, towns, and villages , as well as empires like Bar Sa’adin, which was essentially a union of states or provinces.

The camel connected people across long distances far more effectively than cattle ever could, allowing for greater expansion and integration. It gave rulers the ability to control and tax trade routes, helping them consolidate power over vast regions.

However, given the trade and commercial nature of Somali society, its class structure evolved to be more bureaucratic rather than feudal. You can even see this reflected in the kind of scholarship Somalis produced , it differed significantly from what emerged in West Africa and the Sahel. Somali scholars placed a strong emphasis on the legal application of Sharia, producing extensive works on jurisprudence and taxation mechanisms.

By contrast, in the West African Muslim tradition, there was far less of this focus. Instead, their juridical writings were primarily concerned with religious duties rather than broader legal or administrative governance. As noted in:

What’s In the Manuscripts of Timbuktu? A Survey of the Contents of 31 Private Libraries | History in Africa | Cambridge Core

What’s In the Manuscripts of Timbuktu? A Survey of the Contents of 31 Private Libraries - Volume 48

www.cambridge.org

The paucity of Arabic language texts suggests an oligoliterate culture, and the absence of subjects like logic suggest legal reasoning was not a part of the limited juridical writing. Further, the lack of evidence of tension between customary law and the shari’a implies not an Islamic culture that rested on jurisprudence, but rather one where the overwhelming juridical preoccupation was with religious duties.

Somalis, on the other hand, produced some of the most authoritative texts on Islamic law:

14th century hanafi law manuscripts harar

I found out about this manuscript from an article. This is the oldest arabic manuscript in the region discovered so far. It obviously was brought to harar since harar didn't exist in the 1300s. I can't tell if there is a identifiable somali name in the author section. But it's intresting to...

www.somalispot.com

Somali Scholar - Uthman bin Ali Zayla'i (1342 A.D)

Consisting of four volumes, it is known as the Tabayin al-Haqa’iq li Sharh Kanz al-Daqa’iq - single most authoritative text on the Hanafi school of Islam. He studied in Al-Azhar University

www.somalispot.com

You can see it in how many were important jurists throughout the Muslim world, reflecting this deep juridical and administrative orientation.

This makes sense when you consider that Somali society was one where power and resources were shared, and maintaining a stable, peaceful environment was crucial for trade. Legal mechanisms were developed to protect property rights and ensure fair commerce.

In many ways, this tradition continued into modern times , as seen with the Islamic Courts Union which evolved into a highly elaborate, bureaucratized judicial and governing system

Structure of the ICU

After taking control of Mogadishu created the Court of the Union as the principal component in establishing for the city a new and centralized governing structure. The Court of the Union was composed of three courts: a) the highest court of the new court system; b) an appeals court; c) the Court...

www.somalispot.com

It’s not surprising that such a structure would emerge from Somalia’s long-standing legalistic and trade-oriented heritage.

 

[Midas]

@Midas
If anything, I think the camel was actually what enabled the rise of large kingdoms and sultanates , united collections of cities, towns, and villages , as well as empires like Bar Sa’adin, which was essentially a union of states or provinces.

The camel connected people across long distances far more effectively than cattle ever could, allowing for greater expansion and integration. It gave rulers the ability to control and tax trade routes, helping them consolidate power over vast regions.

However, given the trade and commercial nature of Somali society, its class structure evolved to be more bureaucratic rather than feudal. You can even see this reflected in the kind of scholarship Somalis produced , it differed significantly from what emerged in West Africa and the Sahel. Somali scholars placed a strong emphasis on the legal application of Sharia, producing extensive works on jurisprudence and taxation mechanisms.

By contrast, in the West African Muslim tradition, there was far less of this focus. Instead, their juridical writings were primarily concerned with religious duties rather than broader legal or administrative governance. As noted in:

What’s In the Manuscripts of Timbuktu? A Survey of the Contents of 31 Private Libraries | History in Africa | Cambridge Core

What’s In the Manuscripts of Timbuktu? A Survey of the Contents of 31 Private Libraries - Volume 48

www.cambridge.org

Somalis, on the other hand, produced some of the most authoritative texts on Islamic law:

14th century hanafi law manuscripts harar

I found out about this manuscript from an article. This is the oldest arabic manuscript in the region discovered so far. It obviously was brought to harar since harar didn't exist in the 1300s. I can't tell if there is a identifiable somali name in the author section. But it's intresting to...

www.somalispot.com

Somali Scholar - Uthman bin Ali Zayla'i (1342 A.D)

Consisting of four volumes, it is known as the Tabayin al-Haqa’iq li Sharh Kanz al-Daqa’iq - single most authoritative text on the Hanafi school of Islam. He studied in Al-Azhar University

www.somalispot.com

You can see it in how many were important jurists throughout the Muslim world, reflecting this deep juridical and administrative orientation.

This makes sense when you consider that Somali society was one where power and resources were shared, and maintaining a stable, peaceful environment was crucial for trade. Legal mechanisms were developed to protect property rights and ensure fair commerce.

In many ways, this tradition continued into modern times , as seen with the Islamic Courts Union which evolved into a highly elaborate, bureaucratized judicial and governing system

Structure of the ICU

After taking control of Mogadishu created the Court of the Union as the principal component in establishing for the city a new and centralized governing structure. The Court of the Union was composed of three courts: a) the highest court of the new court system; b) an appeals court; c) the Court...

www.somalispot.com

It’s not surprising that such a structure would emerge from Somalia’s long-standing legalistic and trade-oriented heritage.

Maybe it wouldn be fully accurate to say that the cattle herding somali society was more centralized since the time period where cattle was the main domesticated animal for somalis was the time period before 1000 b.c

Post 1000 b.c in the iron age was likely more centralized due to it being a larger economy in general.