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.
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.
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