Editing Somalia (section)

=== Birth of Islam and the Middle Ages ===

{{Main|Somali aristocratic and court titles|Ifat Sultanate|Walashma dynasty|Sultanate of Mogadishu|Adal Sultanate|Ajuran Sultanate|}}
[[File:Silk route.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The [[Silk Road]] extending from China to southern Europe, Arabia, Somalia, Egypt, Persia, India, and Java]]
[[Islam]] was introduced to the area early on by the first Muslims of Mecca fleeing prosecution during the first [[Hegira|Hejira]] with [[Masjid al-Qiblatayn (Somalia)|Masjid al-Qiblatayn]] in [[Zeila]] being built before the [[Qibla]]h towards [[Mecca]]. It is one of the oldest [[mosque]]s in Africa.<ref>{{cite book |last=Briggs|first=Phillip|title=Somaliland|year=2012|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-371-9|page=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6NI2FejIuwC}}</ref> In the late 9th century, [[Al-Yaqubi]] wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard.<ref name="Encyamer">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia Americana|volume =25 |year=1965|publisher=Americana Corporation|page=255|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OP5LAAAAMAAJ|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104929/https://books.google.com/books?id=OP5LAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> He also mentioned that the [[Adal Sultanate|Adal Kingdom]] had its capital in the city.<ref name="Encyamer"/><ref name="Lewispohoa">{{cite book |author=I. M. Lewis|title=Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho|year=1955|publisher=International African Institute|page=140 |url=https://archive.org/details/peoplesofthehorn007763mbp}}</ref> According to [[Leo Africanus]], the [[Adal Sultanate]] was governed by local [[Somali people|Somali]] dynasties and its realm encompassed the geographical area between the Bab el Mandeb and Cape Guardafui. It was thus flanked to the south by the [[Ajuran Empire]] and to the west by the [[Abyssinian Empire]].<ref name="Leo">{{cite book|last1=Africanus|first1=Leo|title=The History and Description of Africa|date=1526|publisher=Hakluyt Society|pages=51–54|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyanddescr03porygoog#page/n180/mode/2up|access-date=2 January 2017}}</ref>

Throughout the Middle Ages, Arab immigrants arrived in Somaliland, a historical experience which would later lead to the legendary stories about Muslim [[sheikh]]s such as [[Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti|Daarood]] and [[Ishaaq bin Ahmed]] (the purported ancestors of the [[Darod]] and [[Isaaq]] clans, respectively) travelling from [[Arabia]] to Somalia and marrying into the local [[Dir (clan)|Dir]] clan.<ref name="Lewis1994">{{cite book |last1=Lewis|first1=Ioan M.|author-link1=Ioan Lewis|date=1994|title=Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society|location=Lawrencewill, NJ|publisher=The Red Sea Press|isbn=0-932415-93-8|pages=102–106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9fAjtruUXjEC}}</ref>

In 1332, the Zeila-based King of Adal was slain in a military campaign aimed at halting Abyssinian emperor [[Amda Seyon I]]'s march toward the city.<ref>{{cite book|author=M. Th. Houtsma|title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936|year=1987|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-08265-4|pages=125–126|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJU3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA125|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104929/https://books.google.com/books?id=zJU3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA125|url-status=live}}</ref> When the last Sultan of Ifat, [[Sa'ad ad-Din II]], was also killed by Emperor [[Dawit I of Ethiopia|Dawit I]] in Zeila in 1410, his children escaped to Yemen, before returning in 1415.<ref>{{cite journal | volume =28 | issue = 2| pages =217–229 | year =2010 | doi = 10.1017/S0020743800063145 | title =A Sufi Response to Political Islamism: Al-Abāsh of Lebanon |last1=Nizar Hamzeh |first1=A. |last2=Hrair Dekmejian |first2=R. | journal =International Journal of Middle East Studies| s2cid = 154765577}}</ref> In the early 15th century, Adal's capital was moved further inland to the town of [[Dakkar]], where [[Sabr ad-Din II]], the eldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II, established a new base after his return from Yemen.<ref>{{cite book|last=Briggs|first=Philip|title=Bradt Somaliland: With Addis Ababa & Eastern Ethiopia|year=2012|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-371-9|page=10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6NI2FejIuwC&pg=PA10|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104930/https://books.google.com/books?id=M6NI2FejIuwC&pg=PA10|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Lewispd">{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=I. M.|title=A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa|year=1999|publisher=James Currey Publishers|isbn=0-85255-280-7|page=17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eK6SBJIckIsC&pg=PA17|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104930/https://books.google.com/books?id=eK6SBJIckIsC&pg=PA17|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Imaam Ahmed Gurey.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi|Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi]], [[Imam]] of the [[Adal Sultanate|Adal Empire]]]]
Adal's headquarters were again relocated the following century, this time southward to [[Harar]]. From this new capital, Adal organised an effective army led by Imam [[Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi]], (Ahmad "Gurey" or "Gran"; both meaning "the left-handed") and his closest top general and brother in law [[Matan ibn Uthman Al Somali|Garad Matan]]. Imam Ahmed clan is documented to be from the [[Geri Koombe]], a sub clan of Darod.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cerulli |first=Enrico |title=Somalia: Storia della Somalia. L'Islām in Somalia. Il Libro degli Zengi |date=1957 |publisher=Istituto poligrafico dello Stato P.V. |language=Italian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Enciclopedia italiana di scienze, lettere ed arti |date=1950 |publisher=Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Biovanni Freccani |volume=32}}</ref> This 16th-century campaign is historically known as the [[Abyssinian–Adal war|Conquest of Abyssinia]] (''Futuh al-Habash''). During the war, Imam Ahmad pioneered the use of cannons supplied by the Ottoman Empire, which he imported through Zeila and deployed against Abyssinian forces and their Portuguese allies led by [[Cristóvão da Gama]].<ref>Lewis, I.M. (1999) ''A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa'', LIT Verlag Münster, p. 17, {{ISBN|3-8258-3084-5}}.</ref>

During the [[Ajuran Sultanate]] period, the city-states and republics of [[Merca]], [[Mogadishu]], [[Barawa]], [[Hobyo]] and their respective ports flourished and had a lucrative foreign commerce with ships sailing to and from Arabia, India, [[Venetia (region)|Venetia]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fage |first1=John Donnelly |last2=Oliver |first2=Roland Anthony |title=Papers in African Prehistory|url=https://archive.org/details/papersinafricanp0000fage |url-access=registration |year=1970|isbn=978-0-521-09566-2|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> Persia, Egypt, Portugal, and as far away as China. [[Vasco da Gama]], who passed by Mogadishu in the 15th century, noted that it was a large city with houses several storeys high and large palaces in its centre, in addition to many mosques with cylindrical minarets.<ref>{{cite book|author=E. G. Ravenstein|title=A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco Da Gama, 1497–1499|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwcPInJC__gC&pg=PA88|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-01296-6|page=88|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104930/https://books.google.com/books?id=AwcPInJC__gC&pg=PA88|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Harla people|Harla]], an early [[Hamitic]] group of tall stature who inhabited parts of Somalia, Tchertcher and other areas in the Horn, also erected various [[tumulus|tumuli]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Joussaume|first1=Roger|title=Fouille d'un tumulus à Ganda Hassan Abdi dans les monts du Harar|journal=Annales d'Ethiopie|date=1976|volume=10|pages=25–39|doi=10.3406/ethio.1976.1157|url=http://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/ethio_0066-2127_1976_num_10_1_1157.pdf}}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> These masons are believed to have been ancestral to ethnic Somalis.<ref>{{cite book|last=Braukämper|first=Ulrich|title=Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGnyk8Pg9NgC&pg=PA18|page=18|year=2002|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-8258-5671-7}}</ref>[[File:ShenDuGiraffePainting.jpg|thumb|The [[Ajuran Sultanate]] maintained commercial ties with the [[Ming dynasty]] and other kingdoms.|left|268x268px]]

In the 16th century, [[Duarte Barbosa]] noted that many ships from the [[Khambhat|Kingdom of Cambaya]] in modern-day India sailed to Mogadishu with cloth and spices, for which they in return received gold, wax and ivory. Barbosa also highlighted the abundance of meat, wheat, barley, horses, and fruit on the coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants.<ref>Sir Reginald Coupland (1965) ''East Africa and its invaders: from the earliest times to the death of Seyyid Said in 1856'', Russell & Russell, p. 38.</ref> Mogadishu, the center of a thriving textile industry known as ''toob benadir'' (specialized for the markets in Egypt, among other places<ref>{{cite book|author=Edward A. Alpers|title=East Africa and the Indian Ocean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNHvb6nSN-AC&pg=PA79|year=2009|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|isbn=978-1-55876-453-8|page=79|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104930/https://books.google.com/books?id=DNHvb6nSN-AC&pg=PA79|url-status=live}}</ref>), together with Merca and Barawa, also served as a transit stop for [[Swahili people|Swahili]] merchants from [[Mombasa]] and [[Malindi]] and for the gold trade from [[Kilwa Sultanate|Kilwa]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Nigel Harris|title=The Return of Cosmopolitan Capital: Globalization, the State and War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S3oyoVIIlMQC&pg=PA22|year=2003|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-86064-786-4|pages=22–|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104931/https://books.google.com/books?id=S3oyoVIIlMQC&pg=PA22|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Jewish]] merchants from the [[Strait of Hormuz|Hormuz]] brought their Indian textile and fruit to the Somali coast in exchange for [[grain]] and wood.<ref>{{cite book |author=R. J. Barendse|title=The Arabian Seas: The Indian Ocean world of the Seventeenth Century /c R.J. Barendse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qvq9dN8j5MC&pg=PA343|year=2002|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-0729-4|pages=343–}}</ref>

Trading relations were established with [[Malacca]] in the 15th century,<ref>{{Harvnb|Alpers|1976}}.</ref> with cloth, ambergris and porcelain being the main commodities of the trade.<ref>Caroline Sassoon (1978) ''Chinese Porcelain Marks from Coastal Sites in Kenya: Aspects of Trade in the Indian Ocean, XIV–XIX Centuries'', Vol. 43–47, British Archaeological Reports, p. 2, {{ISBN|0-86054-018-9}}.</ref> Giraffes, zebras and incense were exported to the [[Ming Empire]] of China, which established Somali merchants as leaders in the commerce between East Asia and the Horn.<ref>Sir Reginald Coupland (1965) ''East Africa and Its Invaders: From the Earliest Times to the Death of Seyyid Said in 1856'', Russell & Russell, p. 37.</ref> Hindu merchants from [[Surat]] and Southeast African merchants from [[Pate Island|Pate]], seeking to bypass both the [[Portuguese India]] blockade ( and later the Omani interference), used the Somali ports of Merca and Barawa (which were out of the two powers' direct jurisdiction) to conduct their trade in safety and without interference.<ref>{{cite book|author=Edward A. Alpers|title=East Africa and the Indian Ocean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNHvb6nSN-AC&pg=PA79|year=2009|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|isbn=978-1-55876-453-8|page=21|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123104930/https://books.google.com/books?id=DNHvb6nSN-AC&pg=PA79|url-status=live}}</ref>
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