Somalis believe that an internal slave trade never happen in Somali history. We could never would never enslave our own and we would never export said slaves to foreigner, but that exact what happen from two relevant source about our ancient homeland. one is the "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea" write by a Greek sailor sometime in 1 century AD.
"After Avalites there is another market town, better than this called Malao, distant a sail of eight hundred stadia. The anchorage is an open road-stead, sheltered by a spit running out of the east. Here the natives are more peaceful. there are imported into this place the thing already mentioned, and many tunics, cloaks from Arsinoe, dressed and dyed; drinking cups, sheets of soft copper in small quantity,iron and gold and silver coins, not much. There are export from these place myrrh, a little frankincense, the hard cinnamon, duaca, Indian cloak and macir, which are imported into Arabia; and slaves, but rarely,"
"And then, after sailing four hundred stadia along a promontory, toward which place the current draws you, there is another market town called Opone, into which the same things are imported as those already mentioned, and in it the greatest quantity of cinnamon is produced( the arebo and moto), and slaves of the better sort, which are brought to Egypt in increasing numbers; a great quantity of tortoise-shell, better than that found elsewhere."
source: http://zethio.files.worldpress.com/2014/04/the-periplus-of-the-Erythraean-sea.pdf
The second is from a more interesting source Chau Ju-kua: on the Chinese and Arab trade; on the twelfth and thirteenth Centuries.
Berbera Coast
This an annotation from an early work by Chinese Yu-Yang-tsa-tsu
"Pi-P'a-lo is Berbera, the Somali coast generally. the earliest mention of the country in the Chinese works is probably in the YuYang-tsa-tsu which was written in the middle of the 9th century(850s). It runs as follows;The land of Pa-pa-li is in the south-west ocean. they do not eat cereal, but they eat meat; more frequently even they prick the vein of one of their oxen, mix the blood with milk and eat it uncooked. they have no clothes, but they wrap round their waist a sheep's skin which hang low and cover them. They women are clear skinned and well-behaved. The people of this country make their own country men prisoners which they sell to strangers at prices many times more than they would fetch(at home) the products of their country are elephant's tusk and a-mo perfume( Cantonese o-mut, Arabic anbar, i.e., ambergris)."
Library.uoregon.edu/ec/e-asia/reada/chau-ju-kua.pdf
from 100 AD to 1000 AD the Somalis engage in an internal slave trade. it was probably the birth of Islam that many have curb the pre-Somali
slave trade it may have also liberate the oppressed pre-Somalis peasants by freeing them from their exploitation by an elite who used superstition to terror the plebs. so Somalis history isn't what we were lead to believe and thus we may have to reevaluate our concept about the past to build a better future.
Chung-Li: Somalia coast
" The inhabitant of the Chung-li go bareheaded and barefooted, they wrap themelves in cotton stuffs, but they dare not wear jackets, for the wearing of jackets and turbans is a privilege reserved to the ministers and the king's courtiers. The king lives in a brick house covered with glazed tiles, but the people live in huts made of palm leaves and covered with grass-thatched roofs. Their daily food consists of baked flour cakes, sheep's and camel's milk. The are great number of cattle,sheep and camels. among the countries of the Ta-shi this is the only one which produces frankincense. The are many sorcerers among then who are able to change themselves into birds, beast or aquatic animals, and by these means keep the ignorant people in a state of terror. If some of them in trading with some foreign ship have a quarrel, the sorcerers pronounce a charm over the ship, so that it can neither go forward nor backward, and they only release the ship when it has settle the dispute. The government has formally forbidden this practice."
The description align well with Somalis folklore of the yabir king Bucur Bacayr.
"After Avalites there is another market town, better than this called Malao, distant a sail of eight hundred stadia. The anchorage is an open road-stead, sheltered by a spit running out of the east. Here the natives are more peaceful. there are imported into this place the thing already mentioned, and many tunics, cloaks from Arsinoe, dressed and dyed; drinking cups, sheets of soft copper in small quantity,iron and gold and silver coins, not much. There are export from these place myrrh, a little frankincense, the hard cinnamon, duaca, Indian cloak and macir, which are imported into Arabia; and slaves, but rarely,"
"And then, after sailing four hundred stadia along a promontory, toward which place the current draws you, there is another market town called Opone, into which the same things are imported as those already mentioned, and in it the greatest quantity of cinnamon is produced( the arebo and moto), and slaves of the better sort, which are brought to Egypt in increasing numbers; a great quantity of tortoise-shell, better than that found elsewhere."
source: http://zethio.files.worldpress.com/2014/04/the-periplus-of-the-Erythraean-sea.pdf
The second is from a more interesting source Chau Ju-kua: on the Chinese and Arab trade; on the twelfth and thirteenth Centuries.
Berbera Coast
This an annotation from an early work by Chinese Yu-Yang-tsa-tsu
"Pi-P'a-lo is Berbera, the Somali coast generally. the earliest mention of the country in the Chinese works is probably in the YuYang-tsa-tsu which was written in the middle of the 9th century(850s). It runs as follows;The land of Pa-pa-li is in the south-west ocean. they do not eat cereal, but they eat meat; more frequently even they prick the vein of one of their oxen, mix the blood with milk and eat it uncooked. they have no clothes, but they wrap round their waist a sheep's skin which hang low and cover them. They women are clear skinned and well-behaved. The people of this country make their own country men prisoners which they sell to strangers at prices many times more than they would fetch(at home) the products of their country are elephant's tusk and a-mo perfume( Cantonese o-mut, Arabic anbar, i.e., ambergris)."
Library.uoregon.edu/ec/e-asia/reada/chau-ju-kua.pdf
from 100 AD to 1000 AD the Somalis engage in an internal slave trade. it was probably the birth of Islam that many have curb the pre-Somali
slave trade it may have also liberate the oppressed pre-Somalis peasants by freeing them from their exploitation by an elite who used superstition to terror the plebs. so Somalis history isn't what we were lead to believe and thus we may have to reevaluate our concept about the past to build a better future.
Chung-Li: Somalia coast
" The inhabitant of the Chung-li go bareheaded and barefooted, they wrap themelves in cotton stuffs, but they dare not wear jackets, for the wearing of jackets and turbans is a privilege reserved to the ministers and the king's courtiers. The king lives in a brick house covered with glazed tiles, but the people live in huts made of palm leaves and covered with grass-thatched roofs. Their daily food consists of baked flour cakes, sheep's and camel's milk. The are great number of cattle,sheep and camels. among the countries of the Ta-shi this is the only one which produces frankincense. The are many sorcerers among then who are able to change themselves into birds, beast or aquatic animals, and by these means keep the ignorant people in a state of terror. If some of them in trading with some foreign ship have a quarrel, the sorcerers pronounce a charm over the ship, so that it can neither go forward nor backward, and they only release the ship when it has settle the dispute. The government has formally forbidden this practice."
The description align well with Somalis folklore of the yabir king Bucur Bacayr.
and what does these weird mythological remarks prove anyways?
