The Ajuraan: Excerpts from Cassanelli

[Grant]

http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/...3&page=mo04-033-004648&offsetId=mo04033004567

The Ajuraan material starts at page 90, but you have to get access.

Cassanelli, Lee V., 1946-. The shaping of Somali society: reconstructing the history of a pastoral people, 1600-1900
Publication Information[/paste:font]

Front Matter
Body

Page 90:

"According to most accounts, the Ajuraan appeared in the interriver area of southern Somalia some sixteen to twenty generations ago. Traditions are vague and contradictory about the provenance of the earliest rulers. Some sources say that they came from Berbera, on the northern Somali coast; others, that they came from the sea via Muqdisho, on the southern coast; still others, that they arrived from the Ogaadeen region of central Somalia.Traditional history (173
The imams, it is said, lived at various places in the interior and were surrounded by personal followings of advisers and slave soldiers. Most accounts mention that emirs were posted to govern the various districts of the realm, which included vast grazing areas and some of the more important trading centers along the Indian Ocean littoral. The Ajuraan leaders were said to have been allied to the Muzaffar dynasty of mixed Persian-Somali ancestry that is known to have ruled the coastal town of Muqdisho from the early sixteenth century to the mid-seventeenth) 12 and to the Madanle (a legendary race of giants who traditions say preceeded the Rahanwiin as inhabitants of the southern interior between Baydhabo and the Jubba River). 13 Some sources say that the imam and his allies possessed horses and firearms, which would have been unusual, as both items were relatively uncommon in southern Somalia before the twentieth century.

The Ajuraan collected tribute in the form of durra and bun (coffee beans roasted in butter) from the cultivators who farmed the alluvial land along the lower Shabeelle River. They also demanded cattle, camels, and goats from the nomads of the region. (Some informants commented that the name Ajuraan came from the Arabic rootajara —“to tax”—and a few claimed that the Ajuraan were mercenaries paid by the Gareen imams to extort tribute from their subjects.)The people under Ajuraan rule were forced to dig canals for irrigating the land along the river and storage pits for preserving the grain that was taken in tribute. They dug wells for the imam’s livestock and built fortifications for the imam’s soldiers. They shepherded the camels and sheep and horses of the Ajuraan.Traditional history (173)


The population was large in Ajuraan times, according to tradition. A popular account says that the birth of an imam’s son at Marka was reported the same day at Mareeg, on the northern confines of the “state.” 16The imam had wives in every district, and he remained in each part of his dominions for one or two months of every year. The[Page 93] custom in Ajuraan times was for the ruler to spend seven nights with every new bride before she went to the bed of her husband. The imam also collected half [some sources say all] of the bride-wealth normally given by the husband’s kinsmen to the father of the bride. The bride-wealth was in those days 100 camels. 17

Ultimately, the people rose up against the tyranny of Ajuraan rule. According to most accounts, the first to rebel were the pastoral Darandoolle whose descendants today live on the outskirts of Muqdisho and in the pasturelands north of it. Sometime between 1590 and 1625—the approximate dates appear to be corroborated by a Portuguese document dated 1624Traditional history (173)
After the successful rebellion of the Darandoolle, other clans [Page 94] began to challenge Ajuraan hegemony. Along the middle reaches of the Shabeelle valley, the pastoral Gaaljacal and Baddi Addo waged several unsuccessful campaigns before they eventually united to drive the Ajuraan out of the area. 22 In the region of the Shabeelle bend, the Geledi clan formed an alliance with the Wacdaan to expel a group of tyrants known as the Silcis, who were either allies of the Ajuraan or their immediate successors in that district. 23 Similarly, the Ajuraan lost control of the town of Marka to a people known as the El Amir (perhaps the followers of a rebellious regional governor), who then ruled that town for thirty-four years. 24 Toward the end of the seventeenth century, the El Amir were in turn defeated and driven out by the Biimaal, whose descendants today occupy the hinterland of Marka.

Most traditions agree that the Ajuraan fought long and hard to preserve their position of dominance, but in the end they were defeated and scattered throughout the country. Some of the survivors went to the upper Shabeelle, where a group of cultivators still claimed, in the early twentieth century, to be descendants of the slaves of the Ajuraan. Other Ajuraan crossed the Jubba where they today pursue a pastoral existence in the district of Wajir, in modern-day Kenya.Traditional history (173)
The foregoing narrative contains the major elements of the Ajuraan saga, which can be related in greater or lesser detail by [Page 95] informants from any number of clans today resident in southern Somalia. There appear to be no glaring discrepancies among the accounts obtained in different districts, nor have there occurred any notable distortions or deletions in the story since Guillain first recorded it in the 1840s. The most significant variations occur in accounts of Ajuraan decline, for which traditions are generally much fuller than those dealing with Ajuraan origins and with the nature of their rule. The significance of this last observation will be discussed below. The point here is that oral traditional accounts of the Ajuraan period are generally consistent through space as well as time. Such consistency regarding events that purportedly occurred more than three hundred years ago suggests that the Ajuraan saga has become part of the folklore of southern Somalia. It clearly contains a number of stock cultural and literary themes which must be recognized before one can assess the historicity of the episode as a whole.

 

[Grant]

"Some of the more readily apparent stock themes in the preceeding narrative are the auspicious appearance of a stranger whose marriage into a local family holds out the promise of a large and supernaturally gifted progeny; the ius primae noctis enjoyed by the imam, a practice commonly attributed to tyrants in northeast Africa; the imam’s possession of “wives in every district,” a literary exaggeration of the polygamy customarily practiced by a few prominent Somali sultans in more recent historical times; and the supernatural sign—in this story, a golden ring—attending the birth of a challenger to the existing ruling order. These and other formulaic representations of Ajuraan oppression found in some of the variant versions clearly have didactic functions in a society known for its egalitarianism and its suspicion of all forms of centralized authority. One can reasonably argue that the preservation of the Ajuraan legend (whatever its historical foundation) served to remind Somalis of the dangers of autocratic rule. The Somali proverbs cited at the beginning of the chapter, and many others, speak to this same concern.

The Ajuraan saga also contains a number of eteological elements designed to explain the origins of stone ruins found scattered through southern Somalia. Many deep wells and large abandoned earthworks are popularly attributed to Ajuraan technology. While there is no reason to assume that the Ajuraan period could not have witnessed considerable construction in stone, the historian must be wary of attributing all such remains to a single historical period. Ruins have been discovered (though, unfortunately, rarely investigated) [Page 96] in many parts of the Somali Peninsula; the dates of their original construction probably span the past millennium. 26Until more systematic archaeological work is carried out, we cannot regard these ruins as definitive evidence of Ajuraan engineering accomplishments.

To give an example: the traditions we have summarized indicate that the Ajuraan ruled according to a theocratic (Islamic) model. Most accounts refer to the Ajuraan leaders as imams, a title rarely used to identify Somali religious figures in more recent times. Oral accounts further allude to emirs and naa’ib s as agents of Ajuraan government, in contrast to the much more commonly used Somali titles of boqor, islao, and malaakh to indicate special military and ritual leaders. Furthermore, unusual topynyms which purportedly date from Ajuraan times—Awal el-amir (“tomb of the emir”) and Cusk Naa’ib Samow (“the seat of Naa’ib Samow”)—further convey the impression of a distinctly theocratic polity. Lest it be thought that such titles are simply glosses added in the process of the traditions’ transmission, we have external corroboration in a Portuguese letter of 1624, which refers to a ruler in the southern Somali interior as an imam.Traditional history (173

With this evidence from the traditions in hand, we can turn to the wider religious history of the Horn of Africa in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries for clues to the Ajuraan phenomenon. Briefly, the two centuries after 1400 witnessed the immigration into northeast Africa of substantial numbers of Hadrami and Yemeni Muslims. Brad Martin has shown how many sayyids and sherifs came with the hope of spreading Islam and assuming positions of leadership among [Page 99] newly converted populations. 29 They were drawn to the Somali lowlands by the revival of militant Islam on the eastern fringes of the Christian state of Ethiopia; and Arab migrations reached their peak in the fifty years after 1490, when a series of jihad s (holy wars) pushed the frontier of Islam into the Ethiopian foothills. The success, however ephemeral, of the Muslim offensive must have affected many of the pastoral tribes of the Ogaadeen, including some sections of the Hawiyya who are mentioned in chronicles of the period. 30 A string of roughly contemporaneous Islamic principalities emerged along the eastern borders of Ethiopia. Although some disappeared after the reversal of Muslim fortunes in 1543, others shifted their bases eastward into the lowlands. 31 This evidence suggests a historical context for the Ajuraan “theocracy”: it very probably was the southernmost in a series of Islamic polities that were inspired if not founded by zealous Muslim clerics from Arabia.

The link between the activities of these immigrants on the frontiers of Ethiopia and the founding of the Ajuraan state in the Shabeelle Valley may be the Gareen lineage. As local traditions indicate, the imams of Ajuraan came from the Gareen. In Ogaadeen traditions, the Gareen are remembered as having been rulers of a small “state” near the upper Shabeelle River before they settled farther south. 32 The idea of theocratic government may have been planted in the south by this displaced lineage. On the other hand, one may not have to look any further than the Benaadir coast for the origins of the Ajuraan theocracy. The Islamic city-state of Muqdisho had been governed as a sultanate since the twelfth century by a series of Arab and Persian dynasties. The last of these, the Muzaffar, were allies of the Ajuraan rulers and apparently provided officials in Ajuraan administration. 33

Whatever the antecedents of the Ajuraan polity, its development seems to have been aided by the religious and legal expertise of Islamic immigrants. Many Arab families today resident in the Benaadir have traditions of arriving there in the sixteenth century. Along the lower Shabeelle River, they are known by the local Somalis as gibilcaad(“white-skins”). Most continue to live in distinct endogamous communities and even today retain a certain aura of religious prestige.External migration (167)"

 

[Grant]

"A second clue provided by oral tradition about the circumstances in which the Ajuraan state emerged concerns the role of the pastoral Hawiyya clans. Both the origin story (p. 88) and the scattered references to the components of the Ajuraan confederacy suggest that Hawiyya-related clans formed the core of the polity. External evidence indicates that the present pattern of Hawiyya settlement along both sides of the middle Shabeelle River took shape between 1300 and 1600. Apart from Hawiyya clan traditions, which provide us with a rough chronology of particular clan movements, we find corroboration in Arabic accounts from the coast, which document the spread of Hawiyya trading settlements along the Indian Ocean littoral, and also in Muqdisho town chronicles, which record the intrusion of Hawiyya pastoralists in town life from the mid-fifteenth century.History and culture change (170)
These roughly contemporaneous population movements—the religiously inspired immigration of Arab clerics, and the predominantly pastoral migrations of Hawiyya Somali from the center of the Peninsula toward the south—can both be seen as contributing to the consolidation of a regional polity that fits well with what we know of the Ajuraan from traditions. While the traditions can do no more than indicate the general circumstances in which Ajuraan power was exercised, they do help us weight the external evidence from the period. By juxtaposing oral sources with other fragmentary evidence, it has been possible to suggest a historical explanation for the appearance of the Ajuraan “state” around 1500.

The Structure of Ajuraan RuleThe oral sources also provide us with recurrent themes that point to certain structural features of Ajuraan rule. In the origin story cited above, Ajuraan is seen as the descendant of the extraordinary outsider Balad and the Jambelle line of Hawiyya. The descendants of the Ajuraan (among which are the Gareen imams) can therefore be understood to have inherited the spiritual (Islamic?) power of Balad and the secular (numerical) power provided by the alliance of the first three Hawiyya “brothers,” who in the story contribute gifts to seal the marriage of Jambelle’s daughter Faaduma. Ajuraan power reposed on the twin pillars of spiritual preeminence and Hawiyya kinship solidarity, a potent combination in the Somali cultural context. In historical terms, a theocratic ideology superimposed on an extensive network of Hawiyya-affiliated clans helped uphold Ajuraan dominance over a wide region.

The centrality of the Gareen lineage (from which, traditions [Page 102] agree, the imam was always chosen) is also a recurrent them. While sources assert that the “tribes of the Ajuraan confederacy” did not intermarry, they also state that the imams had “wives in every district” of the realm and took a portion of the bridewealth for every marriage contracted. In such images the imam is portrayed as husband and father to all: he assumes in tradition a unique place at the apex of the Ajuraan political and social system. 38
The straightforward interpretation of the foregoing is that the primary cohesive force in the Ajuraan polity—as in virutally all pastoral polities—was the network of agnatic and affinal ties that linked the leading lineages of the region. We can effectively view the boundaries of this pastoral “state” as coincident with the outer limits of the alliance system. Such an interpretation makes it easier to comprehend how Ajuraan authority could be said to have extended from Mareeg (the territorial center of the Darandoolle, a segment of the Gurqaate Hawiyya) to Qallaafo (the probable homeland of the Jambelle Hawiyya, where their clan ancestor is buried), when in fact it is evident that the polity was not an integral territorial one. In the vast grazing areas between these nodes of Hawiyya control lived sizable numbers of Biimaal, Digil. and Oromo pastoralists who do not appear to have been incorporated fully into the alliance system.

Like many of the pastoral polities that periodically emerged in the Sahara and central Arabian deserts, the Ajuraan state was not a cohesive territorial entity; rather it consisted of several clan territories joined together by the kin, marriage, and patron/client ties of the inhabitants. Wherever a Hawiyya group had settled and could be incorporated into the alliance system, the “state” could be said to exist. On the local level, lineage segments might opt into the larger confederation for military, labor-sharing, or resource-sharing reasons; [Page 103] others might be compelled to pay tribute in order to gain access to watering sites controlled by the Ajuraan. The state also incorporated groups of riverine cultivators that were settled at various places along the Shabeelle from Qallaafo in the north to Torre in the southeast, near Baraawe. These cultivators probably formed the bulk of the servile labor force that was conscripted to construct the dikes and canals popularly attributed to the Ajuraan period. Although they are remembered in tradition as the “slaves” of the Ajuraan, they probably resembled the communities of client-cultivators known from more recent times. 39 In exchange for supplying grain and labor to the dominant pastoral stratum, the cultivators corporately received the latter’s patronage and “protection.” Thus a series of local and regional alliances underpinned and legitimized the apparent concentration of power in the hands of the Gareen imams.

From this perspective, the phenomenon of Ajuraan “domination” represented not a break with the typical Somali system of clan alliances and patron/client links but an extension and elaboration of it. What gave the polity its overall cohesiveness and unusual longevity were the rudimentary administrative procedures and the theocratic ideology introduced by the Gareen. The taking of tribute, for example, is one of the most salient features of Ajuraan rule recorded by tradition. There is no reason to doubt that this practice actually occurred in the sixteenth century, particularly having noted the presence of literate Muslim record-keepers and “slave soldiers” during that period. The posting of naa’ibs to the various districts and the conscription of labor for public works are other indications from tradition of an embryonic bureaucracy at work. Alliances contracted at the local level continued to be based on mutual interest; but now techniques of Ajuraan administration and the titles and practices of an Islamic hierarchy—a new technology and ideology so to speak—were grafted on to these various local arrangements to produce an overarching political structure.Determining whether there were any links between the Ajuraan and the wider Islamic world is problematic.There is no evidence to date that the Ajuraan state was known to Muslims outside of Somalia.40 At the same time, the muskets and luxury goods associated [Page 104] with the governing elite were almost certainly imported from the Ottoman Empire or its neighbors. The Gareen alliance with the Muzaffar dynasty of Muqdisho must have given the former access to engineers and architects from abroad. If the Muslim advisers of the of the imams corresponded with statesmen elsewhere in the Islamic world, no record of their contact has come to light. On the basis of the evidence presently available, we must assume that the Ajuraan state was essentially Somali-oriented, more concerned with domestic developments than with international politics."

 

[Grant]

"To sum up our historical reconstruction: the Ajuraan appear to have been a confederation of Hawiyya clans led by the Gareen lineage, which was believed to possess religious power and a sound genealogical pedigree. This politico-religious leadership drew on the warrior strength of the predominantly pastoral Hawiyya and the ideology of an expanding Islam to establish a series of administrative centers in and around the well sites and irrigated riverbanks of southern Somalia. Marriage alliances reinforced ties of agnatic and religious loyalty among the leading families of the region. Perhaps with the aid of literate Arab scholars and mercenaries, the Gareen evolved a rudimentary administration which oversaw the collection of tribute from cultivators, herdsmen, and traders and which conscripted a servile labor force to undertake an unprecedented program of construction of wells and fortifications. Alliances with the leading families of Muqdisho and Marka bolstered the imam’s power by providing an outlet for surplus grain and livestockLabor supply and employment (464)

Details on the period of Ajuraan domination are sparse, and we have been forced to conjecture about many aspects of their political structure and ideology. As has been suggested, surviving oral traditions tend to elaborate the more stereotypic features of Ajuraan rule; as such, they alone cannot be taken as indisputable evidence for the existence of a fully developed autocracy. The primary value of these traditions is to reveal the principles on which the Ajuraan polity was [Page 105] constructed, the sources of power and authority believed to have underpinned the system. These principles—clan solidarity, religious baraka, political alliance (chiefly through marriage), control of natural resources—are the major forms of political capital in the Somali pastoral setting. To a greater or lesser degree, these same principles have been employed by virtually every leader or dynasty that has attempted to consolidate his or its authority over any portion of the Somali Peninsula in the past. The Ajuraan are unusual because, as traditions suggest, they exploited all four sources of power. It is the extent of Ajuraan domination and the range of techniques used to sustain it that probably account for the elaborate traditions associated with this period, as I will argue in the concluding section. The extent of Ajuraan domination may also account for the widespread traditions concerned with the overthrow of the dynasty."

 

[HIGH PRIESTESS]

Woah, woah, woah. The rulers of Ajuraan were of mixed Persian-Somali ancestry??? I thought they were native Somali

 

[MARAQ DIGAAG]

بارك الله في المجاهدين من اجوراان. الله يعفو عن خطاياهم.

 

[James Dahl]

Woah, woah, woah. The rulers of Ajuraan were of mixed Persian-Somali ancestry??? I thought they were native Somali

Ehhh... the author here is making a lot of assumptions. These assumptions are that Muzaffar was Persian (historical documents says he was Yemeni) and the second assumption is that Muzaffar and Ajuuraan are the same or related, which isn't supported by evidence either.

There's a lot of bullshit out there about the Ajuuraan. Because it was a great kingdom but also not very well known, the absence of information means a lot of unsourced assumptions get into books and then eventually Wikipedia.

 

[Grant]

Ehhh... the author here is making a lot of assumptions. These assumptions are that Muzaffar was Persian (historical documents says he was Yemeni) and the second assumption is that Muzaffar and Ajuuraan are the same or related, which isn't supported by evidence either.

There's a lot of bullshit out there about the Ajuuraan. Because it was a great kingdom but also not very well known, the absence of information means a lot of unsourced assumptions get into books and then eventually Wikipedia.

I agree about the Yemeni connection. I was taken back by that too. But I don't understand why you say he confuses Ajuraan and Muzaffar. He was not exactly clear about the Balad/Fadumo Jambelle connection, but he didn't say they were related to the Muzzaffar.

Woah, woah, woah. The rulers of Ajuraan were of mixed Persian-Somali ancestry??? I thought they were native Somali

Go back and read it again. It says the Muzzaffars were of mixed Persian-Somali ancestry. Later it says:

"On the other hand, one may not have to look any further than the Benaadir coast for the origins of the Ajuraan theocracy. The Islamic city-state of Muqdisho had been governed as a sultanate since the twelfth century by a series of Arab and Persian dynasties. The last of these, the Muzaffar, were allies of the Ajuraan rulers and apparently provided officials in Ajuraan administration. 33"

I agree with James and Cassanelli that the Ajuraan and Muzzaffars are not related.

 

[MARAQ DIGAAG]

Ehhh... the author here is making a lot of assumptions. These assumptions are that Muzaffar was Persian (historical documents says he was Yemeni) and the second assumption is that Muzaffar and Ajuuraan are the same or related, which isn't supported by evidence either.

There's a lot of bullshit out there about the Ajuuraan. Because it was a great kingdom but also not very well known, the absence of information means a lot of unsourced assumptions get into books and then eventually Wikipedia.

We also have to be careful with terms like “ethnic Somali”. Urbanised Somalis of the middle ages often joined new alliances and made new groups. The best examples are the Somali clan names in the Bajun and the settlement of Barawa. I think Somalis had much more of an influence on Shunguwaya and early Northern-Swahili civilisation than we are led to believe from the Shirazi myths.

 

[James Dahl]

Muzaffar in all the stories that reference him clearly state he was from Yemen and a "friend of the Ajuuraan". This is expanded in the imagination of various authors into more than it is.

 

[Factz]

Muzaffar in all the stories that reference him clearly state he was from Yemen and a "friend of the Ajuuraan". This is expanded in the imagination of various authors into more than it is.

Ask yourself this sir. Why are there Abgaal traditions stating that Ajuran dominated Mogadishu and that they drove Ajuran (Moorshe) inhabitants out of Mogadishu while Cadcads accepted this invasion and joined Hiraab Imamate? If Cadcads were the main inhabitants, they would've been driven out so it's all nonsense. We have to accept Abgaal traditions since they were the ones that conquered Mogadishu.

I've never came across with any sources stating they were Yemeni but I did hear the rulers of Mogadishu were Somali-Arab mixed or Somali-Persian mixed but it's all nonsense according to the Abgaal traditions.

The Mudaffar dynasty was a sub-dynasty of the Garen dynasty. They were Ajuran rulers that only ruled the Mogadishu province. They belong to an Ajuran sub-clan called Moorshe who once dominated Mogadishu but they were driven out by Abgaal. However, the Cadcads weren't kicked out but joined the Hiraab Imamate instead. If Cadcads were the main settlers then they would've been driven out so really none of this many any sense.

Mudaffar dynasty only ruled Mogadishu which was an Ajuran province and the dynasty was part of the Ajuran stock. They were not Yemeni, it's a complete lie because Ajuran is a Somali clan, not a Yemeni clan.

Check this interesting source @James Dahl @MARAQ DIGAAG @HIGH PRIESTESS

Also, in many authentic sources will tell you Mogadishu was always inhabited and ruled by Somalis from many medieval historians and when Ajuran Sultanate took over Mogadishu, it'll obviously be governed by Ajurans themselves. It's very stupid to assume foreigners ruled Mogadishu.

 

[Factz]

@James Dahl @MARAQ DIGAAG @HIGH PRIESTESS

According to Yaqut al-Hamawi who visited Mogadishu in the 12th century was not an Arab/Persian enclave. He even mentioned their characteristics and last time I checked Arabs and Persians are not dark skin nor where they ever referred as Bilad Al-Berber. That's a medieval name to describe Somalis back then.

In fact, Qadi in the 13th century debunks that when he visits Mogadishu and the Benadir coast and he stated that they were not Arab/Persian enclaves but instead they were African towns dominated and ruled by the native dark skin Africans that spoke their own native African language.

Source: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ROZs6lqW9RYC&pg=PA124&dq=mogadishu+dark+skin+enclave&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjs6PeXl7PcAhVCJVAKHY_xC0sQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=mogadishu dark skin enclave&f=false

Even when Ibn Battuta visited Mogadishu. He met the Somali ruler and stated he was of Bilad Al-Berber origin from northern Somalia. He even stated he was dark skin that spoke in his native Somali language. Mogadishu was always inhabited and ruled by Somalis.

So what major scholars like Abdullahi Abdurahman and Lewis said about the Mudaffar Dynasty being an Ajuran stock and a sub-dynasty of Garen Dynasty is absolutely true, even Abgaal traditions back up the testimony and will tell you Ajuran once dominated Mogadishu and they brag about driving Ajurans out of Mogadishu.

 

[Grant]

@Grant you are just anti somali,all you talk about is our history and civilization being foreign,ajuuran were not somalis but persian somalis now?

Read my response to High Priestess.

Ask yourself this sir. Why are there Abgaal traditions stating that Ajuran dominated Mogadishu and that they drove Ajuran (Moorshe) inhabitants out of Mogadishu while Cadcads accepted this invasion and joined Hiraab Imamate? If Cadcads were the main inhabitants, they would've been driven out so it's all nonsense. We have to accept Abgaal traditions since they were the ones that conquered Mogadishu.

I've never came across with any sources stating they were Yemeni but I did hear the rulers of Mogadishu were Somali-Arab mixed or Somali-Persian mixed but it's all nonsense according to the Abgaal traditions.

The Mudaffar dynasty was a sub-dynasty of the Garen dynasty. They were Ajuran rulers that only ruled the Mogadishu province. They belong to an Ajuran sub-clan called Moorshe who once dominated Mogadishu but they were driven out by Abgaal. However, the Cadcads weren't kicked out but joined the Hiraab Imamate instead. If Cadcads were the main settlers then they would've been driven out so really none of this many any sense.

Mudaffar dynasty only ruled Mogadishu which was an Ajuran province and the dynasty was part of the Ajuran stock. They were not Yemeni, it's a complete lie because Ajuran is a Somali clan, not a Yemeni clan.

Check this interesting source @James Dahl @MARAQ DIGAAG @HIGH PRIESTESS

Also, in many authentic sources will tell you Mogadishu was always inhabited and ruled by Somalis from many medieval historians and when Ajuran Sultanate took over Mogadishu, it'll obviously be governed by Ajurans themselves. It's very stupid to assume foreigners ruled Mogadishu.

There is something wrong with your reading apparatus.

The Abgaal and other Hawiyye traditions you talk of were the very ones collected by Cerulli and Cassanelli.

https://operationoverload.wordpress.com/?s=The+Muzzaffar


“In ancient times the Sirasi lived in Mogadiscio. The people called Halawani succeeded the Sirasi. The Mudaffar succeeded the Halawani. The Mudaffar came from the country of Yemen in Arabia. He had guns. He built the palace that is found under the Governor’s house. He was a friend of the Aguran. At that time the Mudaffar governed the coast; and the Aguran ruled in the woodland. The Hirabe were not nearby them; they lived in the northern places. At that time the people of the woodland could not spend the night in the city of Mogadiscio. At sunset a ban was put on the city: ‘Hawiyya, it is growing dark! Hawiyya, it is growing dark!’ Then they went away toward the woodland.

“Later the Mudaffar had an interpreter who was called ‘Ismankäy Haggi ‘Ali. This ‘Ismankäy had the idea of letting the Darandollä enter the city. A message was sent to the imam Mahmud ‘Umar, who lived at Golol. The imam, guiding his Page: 71 warriors, came south and approached Mogadiscio. Then what did ‘Ismankäy do? He spoke with the Mudaffar: ‘By now the Darandollä are near Mogadiscio, let me be accompanied by some soldiers, and I shall go to them.’ ‘How do you want to do it?’ ‘I shall do it this way. I shall come to an agreement with the leaders and make them return to the places in the north.’ ‘So be it!’ said the Mudaffar. Then ‘Ismänkäy took some soldiers with him, but without weapons: ‘Leave your weapons! We go out to conclude an agreement, not really for war.’ They put down the weaons. They went into the woodland. When they had gone into the woodland, the Darandollä came out and took all the soldiers prisoner. Then they continued the raid and entered Mogadiscio. The Mudaffar was caputred and they wanted to kill him. But he, looking at the people who had come close to him, saw among them ‘Ismankäy Haggi Ali. ‘Stop!’ he said then. ‘Before you kill me, I want to speak. O ‘Ismankäy, you are good for nothing, you are capable of nothing, you will not pass seven!’ he said. Thus was 248 ‘Ismankäy cursed. When the Mudaffar was killed, when seven days passed after his death, ‘Ismankäy died too. It happened exactly as he had been cursed.

‘After entering Muqdisho, the Darandoolle quarrelled with the Ajuraan. They quarrelled over watering rights. The Ajuraan had decreed: ‘At the wells in our territory, the people known as Darandoolle and the other Hiraab cannot water their herds by day, but only at night’’…Then all the Darandoolle gathered in one place. The leaders decided to make war on the Ajuraan. They found the imam of the Ajuraan seated on a rock near a well called Ceel Cawl. They killed him with a sword. As they struck him with the sword, they split his body together with the rock on which he was seated. He died immediately and the Ajuraan migrated out of the country.’

From the above quotation from the book titled: How a Hawiye tribed lived written by Enrico Cerulli, we can see that the Darandole Mudulood, Wacdaan been a member of the Darandole, came from Mudug region and conquered Mogadishu and its direct environs from the Muzaffar dynasty and the Ajuuraan rulers in the hinterland."
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There are several interesting things to note here: The Mudaffar needed a translator to communicate with the Hiraab, and the Imam of Ajuraan was killed at Ceel Cawl. He wasn't in Mog. The Mudaffar was killed because he wouldn't let the locals into the city after dark, and the Imam was killed over watering rights. It was two separate deals. We know this happened about 1624.

Sirazi is Shirazi. The Halawani were an Arab or Persian clan. "The Mudaffar came from the country of Yemen in Arabia. He had guns. He built the palace that is found under the Governor’s house. He was a friend of the Aguran. At that time the Mudaffar governed the coast; and the Aguran ruled in the woodland."

 

[Factz]

Read my response to High Priestess.



There is something wrong with your reading apparatus.

The Abgaal and other Hawiyye traditions you talk of were the very ones collected by Cerulli and Cassanelli.

https://operationoverload.wordpress.com/?s=The+Muzzaffar


“In ancient times the Sirasi lived in Mogadiscio. The people called Halawani succeeded the Sirasi. The Mudaffar succeeded the Halawani. The Mudaffar came from the country of Yemen in Arabia. He had guns. He built the palace that is found under the Governor’s house. He was a friend of the Aguran. At that time the Mudaffar governed the coast; and the Aguran ruled in the woodland. The Hirabe were not nearby them; they lived in the northern places. At that time the people of the woodland could not spend the night in the city of Mogadiscio. At sunset a ban was put on the city: ‘Hawiyya, it is growing dark! Hawiyya, it is growing dark!’ Then they went away toward the woodland.

“Later the Mudaffar had an interpreter who was called ‘Ismankäy Haggi ‘Ali. This ‘Ismankäy had the idea of letting the Darandollä enter the city. A message was sent to the imam Mahmud ‘Umar, who lived at Golol. The imam, guiding his Page: 71 warriors, came south and approached Mogadiscio. Then what did ‘Ismankäy do? He spoke with the Mudaffar: ‘By now the Darandollä are near Mogadiscio, let me be accompanied by some soldiers, and I shall go to them.’ ‘How do you want to do it?’ ‘I shall do it this way. I shall come to an agreement with the leaders and make them return to the places in the north.’ ‘So be it!’ said the Mudaffar. Then ‘Ismänkäy took some soldiers with him, but without weapons: ‘Leave your weapons! We go out to conclude an agreement, not really for war.’ They put down the weaons. They went into the woodland. When they had gone into the woodland, the Darandollä came out and took all the soldiers prisoner. Then they continued the raid and entered Mogadiscio. The Mudaffar was caputred and they wanted to kill him. But he, looking at the people who had come close to him, saw among them ‘Ismankäy Haggi Ali. ‘Stop!’ he said then. ‘Before you kill me, I want to speak. O ‘Ismankäy, you are good for nothing, you are capable of nothing, you will not pass seven!’ he said. Thus was 248 ‘Ismankäy cursed. When the Mudaffar was killed, when seven days passed after his death, ‘Ismankäy died too. It happened exactly as he had been cursed.

‘After entering Muqdisho, the Darandoolle quarrelled with the Ajuraan. They quarrelled over watering rights. The Ajuraan had decreed: ‘At the wells in our territory, the people known as Darandoolle and the other Hiraab cannot water their herds by day, but only at night’’…Then all the Darandoolle gathered in one place. The leaders decided to make war on the Ajuraan. They found the imam of the Ajuraan seated on a rock near a well called Ceel Cawl. They killed him with a sword. As they struck him with the sword, they split his body together with the rock on which he was seated. He died immediately and the Ajuraan migrated out of the country.’

From the above quotation from the book titled: How a Hawiye tribed lived written by Enrico Cerulli, we can see that the Darandole Mudulood, Wacdaan been a member of the Darandole, came from Mudug region and conquered Mogadishu and its direct environs from the Muzaffar dynasty and the Ajuuraan rulers in the hinterland."
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There are several interesting things to note here: The Mudaffar needed a translator to communicate with the Hiraab, and the Imam of Ajuraan was killed at Ceel Cawl. He wasn't in Mog. The Mudaffar was killed because he wouldn't let the locals into the city after dark, and the Imam was killed over watering rights. It was two separate deals. We know this happened about 1624.

Sirazi is Shirazi. The Halawani were an Arab or Persian clan. "The Mudaffar came from the country of Yemen in Arabia. He had guns. He built the palace that is found under the Governor’s house. He was a friend of the Aguran. At that time the Mudaffar governed the coast; and the Aguran ruled in the woodland."

Grant, I told you this before. Anyone can make blogs, they're not supposed to be taken seriously. My sources comes from the most respected Somali historian called Abdullahi Abdurahman so the discussion is over. I've posted countless medieval historians who visited Mogadishu and they've debunked the theory of it being an Arab/Persian enclave. Mogadishu was always inhabited and ruled by ethnic Somalis.

The Mudaffar dynasty was an Ajuran stock and a sub-dynasty of Garen Dynasty that ruled Mogadishu only and it was a province of Ajuran Sultanate. The blog simply has too many errors and is completley erroneous.

Lastly, ask any Abgaal who are not even interested in history and if you tell them who owned Mogadishu before Abgaal? They'll say Ajuran. Like I said before, you're a foreigner so you wouldn't understand the basic Somali tradition.

 

[Grant]

Grant, I told you this before. Anyone can make blogs. My sources comes from the most respected Somali historian called Abdullahi Abdurahman so the discussion is over. I've posted countless medieval historians who visited Mogadishu and they've debunked the theory of it being an Arab/Persian enclave. Mogadishu was always inhabited and ruled by ethnic Somalis.

The Mudaffar dynasty was a sub-dynasty of Garen Dynasty that ruled the Mogadishu province of Ajuran Sultanate.

Lastly, ask any Abgaal who are not interested in history and if you tell them who owned Mogadishu before Abgaal? They'll say Ajuran. Like I said before, you're a foreigner so you wouldn't understand the basic Somali tradition.

As I said, there is something wrong with your reading apparatus.

Quoted above:

"the above quotation from the book titled: How a Hawiye tribed lived written by Enrico Cerulli."

I used "Explorations" because it is accessible. The scholastic link is here. Have at it.:

http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/...&forward=browseAuthorsFullContext&id=mo04-025

Abdullahi Abdurahman is a good source, but you have not quoted him.

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https://www.somalispot.com/threads/...yone-have-more-information-on-it.45990/page-2

https://www.somalispot.com/threads/why-islam-is-a-blessing-for-men.46027/page-9#post-1259488

 

[Factz]

As I said, there is something wrong with your reading apparatus.

Quoted above:

"the above quotation from the book titled: How a Hawiye tribed lived written by Enrico Cerulli."

I used "Explorations" because it is accessible. The scholastic link is here. Have at it.:

http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/...&forward=browseAuthorsFullContext&id=mo04-025

Abdullahi Abdurahman is a good source, but you have not quoted him.

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https://www.somalispot.com/threads/...yone-have-more-information-on-it.45990/page-2

https://www.somalispot.com/threads/why-islam-is-a-blessing-for-men.46027/page-9#post-1259488

I have quoted Abdullahi Abdurahman stating Mogadishu as a province of Ajuran Sultanate. He even designed a map for it. He also stated the Mudaffar dynasty being an Ajuran stock. There is no misinterpretation here, it's just you reject any source that gives credits to Somalis because you have an agenda here.

I will stick to my authentic sources. The point is you don't stick to your sources, your blog says Yemeni and Cerulli, Enrico claims Mudaffar dynasty being Somali-Persian mixed which neither has any evidence for it. You're all over the place, conflating with reading comprehension + intellectually dishonest. You're a troll and I'm done with you.

By the way, your link is not accessible so have a nice day.

 

[Grant]

I have quoted Abdullahi Abdurahman stating Mogadishu as a province of Ajuran Sultanate. He even designed a map for it. He also stated the Mudaffar dynasty being an Ajuran stock. There is no misinterpretation here, it's just you reject any source that gives credits to Somalis because you have an agenda here.

I will stick to my sources. The point is you don't stick to your sources, your blog says Yemeni and Cerulli, Enrico claims Mudaffar dynasty being Somali-Persian mixed which by the way has no evidence for it. You're all over the place, conflating with reading comprehension + intellectually dishonest. You're a troll and I'm done with you.

By the way, your link is not accessible so have a nice day.

If you had any sources you'd post them.

I told you I used Explorations because the link wasn't accessible. LOL

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https://www.somalispot.com/threads/...yone-have-more-information-on-it.45990/page-2

https://www.somalispot.com/threads/why-islam-is-a-blessing-for-men.46027/page-9#post-1259488

 

[Factz]

If you had any sources you'd post them.

I told you I used Explorations because the link wasn't accessible. LOL

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https://www.somalispot.com/threads/...yone-have-more-information-on-it.45990/page-2

https://www.somalispot.com/threads/why-islam-is-a-blessing-for-men.46027/page-9#post-1259488

Mr "conflater", a new word meaning someone who conflates which is obviously you, Grant. Pick a source next time and stick with it. You need to stop with the confusion. I've already posted my sources above or do you need Specsavers for it?

 

[Grant]

Mr "conflater", a new word meaning someone who conflates which is obviously you, Grant. Pick a source and stop with the confusion. I've already posted my sources above or do you need Specsavers for it?

Cerulli says Yemeni. Cassanelli says Persian/Somali. Neither one is Somali if you assume the Male is Persian or Yemeni, using Somali logic. They would not have had a clan. Cassanelli's second mention does not include Somali.

BS on your sources. You don't connect them with accessible links. Luling and Sudan Notes were even fraudulent. Even when you get a good one, like the Pungwe River Basin paper, you don't understand what you're reading.

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https://www.somalispot.com/threads/...yone-have-more-information-on-it.45990/page-2

https://www.somalispot.com/threads/why-islam-is-a-blessing-for-men.46027/page-9#post-1259488

 

[Factz]

Cerulli says Yemeni. Cassanelli says Persian/Somali. Neither one is Somali if you assume the Male is Persian or Yemeni, using Somali logic. They would not have had a clan. Cassanelli's second mention does not include Somali.

BS on your sources. You don't connect them with accessible links. Luling and Sudan Notes were even fraudulent. Even when you get a good one, like the Pungwe River Basin paper, you don't understand what you're reading.

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https://www.somalispot.com/threads/...yone-have-more-information-on-it.45990/page-2

https://www.somalispot.com/threads/why-islam-is-a-blessing-for-men.46027/page-9#post-1259488

I mentioned a Somali historian called Abdullahi Abdurahman and gave the quotes of his sources above.

Here is his link: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=X1dDDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Abdullahi+Abdurahman&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjR6t2J78fcAhXSJVAKHZWLAZkQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=Abdullahi Abdurahman&f=false

At the end of the day, whatever Abdullahi Abdurahman says is true since he's one of the most respected Somali historians out there. Your fake blog or inaccessible link about Cerulli are all false with no basis of evidence. You're just basically conflating and not sticking to one source. Mudaffar dynasty was an Ajuran stock, period!

I've also given you multiple sources why Mogadishu was always inhabited and ruled by Somalis and you simply rejected them and call those sources false even though they are authentic written by medieval historians who visited Mogadishu themselves so you can't make excuses here. I also proved to you about Sofala being colonized by Somali merchants and you still reject those sources. The point is you never accept you're wrong so please don't bother responding to me ever again. You're a historical revisionist troll with a reading comprehension and everyone on this forum knows that.

Don't bother responding to me or wasting my time, you troll.