BARDERA (Tall palm). A town on the Juba River, about 150 miles inland, founded in 1819 as the site of one of 21 Benadir Coast the first jamaha in southern Somalia. The settlement may have been affiliated with the Qadiriya Sufi order, although some authorities feel that its puritanical regu¬ lations point to links with the Ahmadiya.
The founder of the settlement, Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Jebro, died shortly after his arrival in Bardera. He was succeeded by Ali Dure. The community outlawed the use of to¬ bacco, abolished frivolous dancing, compelled its women to wear the veil, and condemned the ivory trade. In 1836, the settlement entered a militant phase, first under Sheikh Abiker Aden Durow, then under Sherifs Abdurahman and Ibrahim. The reformers de¬ clared a jihad (holy war) against the "lax" Muslims of the region, and in 1840 sacked the coastal town of Brava. In 1843, Bardera was besieged and destroyed by an alliance of the Tunni of Brava and the Geledi, whose trade in ivory and other products was interrupted by the militant Bardera religionists. In the 1843 war— a vivid event in Somali oral tradition—Bardera found allies among the Bimal, old enemies of the Geledi. Bardera was not reoccupied until the 1860s. Throughout the late 19th century, Bardera was governed by a series of fundamentalist Muslim sheikhs who engaged in sporadic warfare with the Galla inhabi¬ tants of the right bank of the Juba. Bardera's leaders also apparently condoned the attack on the ill-fated von der Decken expedition which ascended the Juba River as far as Bardera in 1865. The remains of the German explorer's boat can still be seen in the rapids above Bardera. Though never openly hostile to the Italian colonizers who arrived in the 1890s, elements of the Bardera community may have collaborated with the der¬ vishes of Sayyid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan. The town is today an important religious settlement.
BENADIR COAST. The southern coastal area from Itala (Adale) to Kismayu. The area came under the nominal control of the Sultan of Oman in the late 17th century. When the seat of the sultanate was permanently shifted to Zanzibar in 1840, the Benadir Coast fell under the close scrutiny of the Sultan of Zanzibar, from whom Britain and Italy acquired it in 1888-1889. BENADIR COMPANY (1898-1905). This company, the Societa Anonima Commerciale Italiana del Benadir, replaced the Filonardi Company in administering the Italian-controlled ports of the Benadir Coast, after a two-year period of Benadir Cotton 22 direct government control. It, like the Filonardi Com¬ pany, did little to upset the traditional Somali political and social system. The Benadir Company was largely organized by Antonio Cecchi, an avid colonialist who initially hoped to build up agricultural concessions in the Benadir and carry on trade with the Somalis of the interior. After Cecchi was killed in 1896, the company was headed by Ernesto Dulio. It was unable to estab¬ lish any agricultural enterprises and its staff was torn by internal disputes. The threat of Somali uprisings and Ethiopian incursions and a scandal stemming from the continuation of the slave trade and domestic slavery also contributed to the company’s failure. In 1905, the Italian government assumed direct responsibility for the Somali areas.
BENADIR COTTON. A cotton cloth produced at Mogadishu, Brava, and Merca. The cloth, plain or striped, in red, yellow, blue, and other colors, with a white back¬ ground, is handwoven by men. It is used locally and has been an article of export since the 14th century, if not before
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