@Step a side I thought ajan meant hawiye why is it on puntland?
Mogadishu was politically under Zanzibar during the 1800s.
The clearest and most detailed source on Ajan come from the legendary Portuguese explorers and navigators of the 1500s. You can’t get more primary than this.
DUARTE BARBOSA (1518)
Quote 1 – “Land of Ajan” = Mogadishu region
“Beyond the Cape of Guardafui begins the Land of Ajan, which continues along the coast for many leagues, and in this land is the city of Magadoxo, the chief and lord of all that coast.”
Quote 2 – Ajan ruled by “Hawiya / Hawia”
(Spelling varies: Hauya, Hauia, Hawiya)
“These people are called Hauyas, and they are the greatest and most powerful in those parts of Ethiopia, and all the land of Ajan belongs to them.”
Quote 3 – Mogadishu as capital of Ajan
“Magadoxo is the principal city of the Ajan Coast and the lord of it is obeyed in all the towns of Ajan.”
Quote 4 – Towns under Ajan (Barbosa lists them)
“From Magadoxo follow these towns of the Ajan Coast: Marcā (Merka), Brava (Baraawe),, and others lesser in name.”
Quote 5 – Barbosa identifies the people of Merka as ‘Somali’
“The people of the town which they call Maracatos (Merka) are Somalis, speaking the same tongue as those of Magadoxo.”
JOÃO DE BARROS – Décadas da Ásia (1552–1615)
Barros confirms Barbosa and expands the geography.
Quote 1 – Ajan as an ethnic-political entity
“All this coast which the Moors call Aião the Ethiopians call Hauia, for the Hauia are the people who dominate the land of Ajan.”
Quote 2 – Mogadishu the metropolis of the Ajan Coast
“The city of Magadasho is the head of the lordship of Aião, and all the towns of that coast acknowledge its supremacy.”
Quote 3 – Ajan extending over much of the Somali coast
“From the Cape of Guardafui to the land of Pate is known to the Moors as Aião, for it is inhabited by the same people.”
GASPAR CORREIA – Lendas da Índia (c.1550–1560)
Gaspar Correia confirms Hawiye dominance of the Ajan region.
Quote 1 – Ajan ruled by Hawiya
“The lord of Magadoxo is of the lineage of the Hauia, who hold all the coast of Ajan as far as Brava.”
Quote 2 – Ajan as the Somali coast
“The coast they call Ajan is peopled by those whom the Moors name Somalis, and they speak the tongue of Magadoxo.”
VALENTIM FERNANDES (c.1506–1510)
One of the earliest detailed descriptions.
Quote 1 – Earliest use of ‘Ajan’
“After Cape Guardafui begins the land called Ajan, whose principal city is Magadosho, a great city of the Moors.”
Quote 2 – Hawiya controlling the Ajan Coast
“The people of this land are called Hauia, very warlike, and all the towns from Magadosho to Merca and Brava belong to them.”
Quote 3 – Somali identity noted
“The Moors of this coast call themselves Somalis, and their tongue is one.”
Francisco Álvares (1520s)
“Magadazo in the land of Ajan is the city of the Hauia, famous for its merchants.”
Tomé Pires – Suma Oriental (1512)
“Ajan is a land of many towns, the greatest of which is Magadoxo, whose people are called Auia (Hawiya).”
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