Most Arabs in Zeila were prisoners

[Saleh]

Contrary to popular belief, majority of Arabs in Zeila were exiled from the peninsula to be imprisoned. A minority of skilled masons and musketeers were imported from hadhramaut, their descendants mixed with the local Somali populace thus creating the saylacaawi people. Zeila had 3 main inhabitants, Somalis, saylacaawis, and Arabs

 

[Saleh]

For foreign merchants and Somali nomads to do business in Zeila they were required to stay in the house of a local Somali merchant. Many of them were subject to discrimination

 

[Saleh]

It is without a doubt this city was Somali even throughout its *brief* ottoman period of nominal rule

 

[NidarNidar]

It pretty much died since the 17th century and onwards, and Djibouti finished it off.

 

[Garaannabad]

It is without a doubt this city was Somali even throughout its *brief* ottoman period of nominal rule

?? Ottoman ever ruled Somalia?

 

[Saleh]

It pretty much died since the 17th century and onwards, and Djibouti finished it off.

There was a short revival in the 19th century but youre correct the establishment of Djibouti killed it

 

[Saleh]

?? Ottoman ever ruled Somalia?

It was nominal for a short period of time. whoever the emir was were to pay tribute to the sharif of mocha on behalf of the ottomans

 

[Garaannabad]

It was nominal.

 

[NidarNidar]

?? Ottoman ever ruled Somalia?

Ottomans, from what I recall, supported the local Somali governments; they were actively fighting the Portuguese in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Sea to the Zanj coast.

 

[Cartan Boos]

It is without a doubt this city was Somali even throughout its *brief* ottoman period of nominal rule

the fact that we need to even state such questions in the first place shows you we are defeated people

 

[Saleh]

Ottomans, from what I recall, supported the local Somali governments; they were actively fighting the Portuguese in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Sea to the Zanj coast.

They did an awful job at it btw. In 1516 the portugese burned zeila to the ground, the following year they burned berbera

 

[Garaannabad]

Ottomans, from what I recall, supported the local Somali governments; they were actively fighting the Portuguese in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Sea to the Zanj coast.

So it was a cooperation.

They did an awful job at it btw. In 1516 the portugese burned zeila to the ground, the following year they burned berbera

Guys where do you find those useful infos?

 

[NidarNidar]

So it was a cooperation.

Guys where do you find those useful infos?

East Africa

The Portuguese appear to have been the first European visitors to encounter East Africa, with the arrival of a lone traveller, Pero da Covilham, in c.1491. Covilham left no account of his experiences, so Vasco da Gama had little idea of what to expect when he led his first voyage to the region...

www.routledge.com

https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9789027283252_A24761205/preview-9789027283252_A24761205.pdf

https://www.dirzon.com/file/telegram/BRANA%20BOOK/FUTUH_AL_HABASA%E1%8B%A8%E1%8C%8D%E1%88%AB%E1%8A%9D_%E1%8A%A0%E1%88%85%E1%88%98%E1%8B%B5_%E1%8D%80%E1%88%90%E1%8D%8A_%E1%8A%A5%E1%8A%95%E1%8B%B0%E1%8D%83%E1%8D%88%E1%8B%8D.pdf

https://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/1336/1/Masterthesis_PD_Lavies.pdf

These are a few resources you can use, I mainly source books from https://archive.org/ .

 

[Idilinaa]

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, both the northern and southern Somali coasts experienced waves of Indian and Yemeni/Arab migration linked to British colonial activity and the British East India Company. This was a deliberate move to economically undermine and marginalize Somalis.

It's part of why the name "Gulf of Berbera" gradually disappeared and was replaced by "Gulf of Aden," and why many Somalis migrated to escape growing poverty and deteriorating conditions.

The same pattern occurred in Mogadishu and other key coastal areas, where colonial powers empowered loyal non-Somali groups to dominate trade and edge Somalis out.

Whereas for Somalia most of the 1800s was actually a revival period , rebuilding/repairing of trade routes and diplomatic channels , that resulted in urban growth, rural agricultural production and trade increase like you said by early 1900s Mogadishu had a population of 30.000 -40.000.

The late 1800s and early 1900s actually represented a period of impoverishment and economic decline for Mogadishu and coastal towns because of the Italians and British East India company. (This also happened up north as well). Part of colonization was to appropriate Somali commercial activity or dismantle it to weaken us. What they did to us was similar to what happened to Algerians vs French.

''The period after 1880s was fraught with social and economic crisis''

From reading Scott Reeses book which includes Reer Xamar interviews and archive data what happened in the late 1800s and early 1900s is that a lot of Somali urban families in Mogadishu were bankrupted by a flood of Arab/Indian merchants connected to the British Company and were forced the sell off or lease their property because of the unequal trading relationships that the British India company created.

They pretty much bypassed a lot of the local economic protection barriers, the abaan system, export control and prohibition of foreign traders to enter the interior, and they assigned fixed false prices to goods that undervalued them in the market that ended up bankrupted local merchants and making them indebted to them.

They applied the same tactics in Kenya as well:

Somali trade with Hamar, Konso, and Arbore-

As for the idea that the Reer Zayla or Reer Awdal were some sort of ethnic mixture, that seems to originate from speculative colonial writings. You can see this idea repeated in later sources, but the fact that these communities speak Somali and identify as “Reer Awdal” should raise questions about those assumptions.

Keep in mind that the same colonial writers especially in that period were also describing the Isaaq in Berbera as a mix of Oromo (Galla), Abyssinians (Habash), and Arab settlers, often relying on their misunderstanding of Somali claims to Qurayshi or Aqīlī descent.

That copied text is highly unreliable , it relies on Somali Quraishi genealogies to claim that Somalis are the product of Arab patriarchs intermarrying with Oromo. Anyone with half a brain can see how bogus that is.

In reality, the Afar (Danakil) presence in Zayla came much later, particularly with French intervention. The French backed an Afar chieftain, Abu Bakr of Tadjourah, to displace Sharmarke Ali Salehwho had resisted their expanding influence in favor of British.

You can tell this was a later development because early visitors like Richard Burton never mention the Afar presence in Zayla. He simply describes the inhabitants as settled Somalis, calling them “citizens,” while referring to the pastoralists of the interior as their “brethren.” Arabs are mentioned, but not as dominant or prison-keeping groups.

Burton also notes that Zayla had both a permanent population and a floating one, with about 3,000–4,000 people. He describes a strong economic link between Zayla and the rural interior: Bedouins would bring ivory, hides, gum, milk, and grain to trade for imported goods. The Abaan/Nazil would come from the pastoral communities. This made Zayla an important commercial outlet for interior Somali communities.

The final blow came with the construction of the French railway, which diverted inland trade toward the new port at Djibouti. As a result, many Reer Zayla eventually resettled in Ethiopia and Djibouti, leaving Zayla behind as a shadow of its former commercial role.

 

[Saleh]

As for the idea that the Reer Zayla or Reer Awdal were some sort of ethnic mixture, that seems to originate from speculative colonial writings. You can see this idea repeated in later sources, but the fact that these communities speak Somali and identify as “Reer Awdal” should raise questions about those assumptions.
View attachment 365652

Keep in mind that the same colonial writers especially in that period were also describing the Isaaq in Berbera as a mix of Oromo (Galla), Abyssinians (Habash), and Arab settlers, often relying on their misunderstanding of Somali claims to Qurayshi or Aqīlī descent.

I agree with everything but this. Saylacaawis are a real people they left saylac for Djibouti the past few decades. The writer of the Somaliland national anthem was of them

 

[Idilinaa]

I agree with everything but this. Saylacaawis are a real people they left saylac for Djibouti the past few decades. The writer of the Somaliland national anthem was of them

Reer Zayla was a real community. That's what i said they left for Djibouti and Ethiopia.

 

[Saleh]

Reer Zayla was a real community. That's what i said they left for Djibouti and Ethiopia.

Yea but you put to question their ethnic identity. They are Arab-Somali hybrids indeed

 

[Idilinaa]

Yea but you put to question their ethnic identity. They are Arab-Somali hybrids indeed

Yeah because they spoke Somali and went on the under the Somali name Reer Audal. So the bulk of them were mostly likely just made up of different Somali tribes from the interior like we see in other commercial coastal communities and some could have been of mixed ancestry of our Arab neighbors.

 

[Saleh]

Yeah because they spoke Somali and went on the under the Somali name Reer Audal. So the bulk of them were mostly likely just made up of different Somali tribes from the interior like we see in other commercial coastal communities and some could have been of mixed ancestry of our Arab neighbors.

Theyre not Somali tribes from the interior. Heres a first hand account from Major Henry Rayne from 1921. Somalis and saylacaawis coexisted in saylac and Somalis predate them in the city

 

[Idilinaa]

Theyre not Somali tribes from the interior. Heres a first hand account from Major Henry Rayne from 1921. Somalis and saylacaawis coexisted in saylac and Somalis predate them in the city View attachment 365702

The text i shown before is from a visitor that visited the place in 1888 Captain J.S King

.

He says they are called Reer Audal. The speak both Arabic and Somali but prefer Somali.

He recounts the same thing as Burton who says they called the town by the Somali name Audal.

Large parts of that population was a floating population meaning they stayed and came and there was a permanent population of 1500.

Earlier than both Henry and Captain was Richard Burton which is far more accurate because later assessments don't factor in the demographic changes that happened to the city as a result of the British, Egyptian and French involvement and they just build on speculations. That involvement ultimately resulted in the destruction of its remaining and trade and dispersal of its original urban population.