BRAVA. A coastal city in the South founded probably in the 10th century by Arabs or Persians and governed at that time by a council of chiefs. More Arab and Persian immigrants came to Brava, and by the 12th or early 13th century, Somalis from the north were moving in. By the 15th century, Brava rivaled Mogadishu as a center of trade. In 1503, Portuguese seamen captured vessels carrying some of the leaders of Brava and forced them to place the city under Portuguese protec¬ tion. When the leaders repudiated the agreement in 1506, Portuguese ships bombarded the town and looted it. Brava was defeated, and remained under Portu¬ guese domination until the middle of the 17th century, when the Iman of Oman ousted the Portuguese. The city then remained under the nominal control of the Sultans of Oman and Zanzibar until 1888 and was the center of Zanzibari government for the Benadir Coast. In the 17th century, the Tunni Somali arrived in the environs of Brava. Thereafter, they and the descendants of the original Arab and Persian inhabi¬ tants, who had intermarried with Negroid and Somali Bride Wealth 26 groups, constituted the city's permanent inhabitants. In 1840, the city was attacked by the tariqa of Bardera, which found allies among the BimaL In-rebuffing this attack, the Tunni allied themselves with the Geledi, who ruled the hinterland beyond the port. Brava was some¬ thing of a pawn in the later Bimal-Geledi wars, and in 1871 appealed to the Sultan of Zanzibar for protection. In 1875, Egyptian warships appeared at Brava. They withdrew a year later, under pressure from the British, and the Zanzibari increased their force and built a wall around the city. In 1888, the Imperial British East Africa Com¬ pany obtained from the Sultan of Zanzibar a 50-year concession to Brava and the other Benadir ports. Great Britain transferred this concession to Italy in 1889. Brava was administered by the Filonardi Com¬ pany (1893-1896) and the Benadir Company (1898-1905). In 1905, the Italian government purchased the Benadir ports north of the Juba River from the Sultan of Zanzi¬ bar and placed them under direct government control. From its earliest history, Brava was an im¬ portant center of trade, particularly for livestock and ivory exports, and was at one time the most important Benadir port. The merchants of Brava served as middlemen between Arabian, European, and American merchants (mid-1800s) and the peoples of the interior. When the caravan routes became disrupted, when there was a drought, or when the livestock of the area were struck by disease, Brava suffered. All these factors as well as the abolition of slavery and the development of other ports more suitable for ocean-going vessels combined in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to undermine the city's prosperity and led to its decline
Thursday, September 1, 2022
BIIMAAL MAXAMED DIR MERKA
BIMAL. The Bimal are the largest Dir clan-family group. They have occupied the town of Merca and its hinter¬ land since perhaps 1690 when their traditions claim they overthrew the representatives of the Sultan of Ajuran. Predominantly pastoralists, the Bimal from time to time controlled the caravan trade routes to Merca. They also engaged (and continue to engage) in agriculture in the lower Shebelle area. When the im¬ portation of slaves for farming became widespread in the mid-1800s, the Bimal grew rich and powerful, ex¬ changing agricultural products as well as livestock and goods from the interior (ivory, hides, skins, horses, slaves) for imported goods at Merca. The Bimal engaged periodically in wars with the Geledi, their traditional rivals, who controlled the trade routes to Mogadishu and Brava and a great share of the wealth of the Shebelle farming country; the two clans were opponents in the Bardera wars. In this rivalry, the Bimal sought assistance from the Sultan of Zanzibar, who established a garrison at Merca in the 1860s—the only Zanzibari garrison on the coast at the time. In the recurrent Bimal-Geledi wars, the politically cohesive Bimal were largely successful, kill¬ ing at least two powerful Geledi sultans. Italian efforts to abolish slavery and engage in trade were strongly resisted by the Bimal, as well as by sections of the Geledi, both of whom depended on slaves to cultivate their farms and both of whom were engaged in the caravan trade. The Bimals’ resistance to the Italians began in 1896. They besieged an Italian Bio 24 garrison at Merca in 1904, and repeatedly ambushed and attacked Italian-led troops. The Italian administra¬ tion decided to "pacify" the area, but the "Bimal re¬ volt, " which began in 1905, was not crushed until 1908. In their "revolt, " the Bimal gained some as¬ sistance in the way of firearms from Sayyid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan, the Salihiya leader of the jihad in the north. Some of the Salihiya followers in the south broke with the Sayyid in 1908 after he was denounced by the Salihiya leader in Mecca, and the split among the Salihiya undoubtedly worked to the advantage of the Italians in "pacifying" the Bimal. In these battles, the Italians appear to have received some assistance from the Geledi sultan. See HAJI ABDI ABIKAR
BARDHEERER fake land based jihaad GAALO MADOW STORY - banadir coast history
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
Documentary:1940- Yadii Ayaa Beesha Daarood Waxa Ay Maqleen (Sheikh Weyn Ee Direed Aw Buube Ee ilaa 1300 Loo Yiqiin Wali Duula)) Markaasay Hindiseen ama Ka Xadeen Sheekadii Aw Buube- Sheikh Daarood Wuu Duuli Jiray (( Magaciisu Wuxuu ka Yimid)) Taayuur ((Duulaagii Flying Saint))
Arab Immigrant theory Never made sense and has been Disproven By DNA NONO of Socalled Shariffs have the J1 Quraish DNA Marker of Arab Genes
Durther than coincidental. Nor could those customs and traditions be regarded as an acquisition through minimal acculturation, notwithstanding the Somalis’ deep predilection for Arab pedigree, which in ancient times was used as a qualification for the gain of access to the top seat of rulership. One of the most critical literatures on the Arab origin and homogeneity of the Somali people, whose contributors mostly consist of contemporary Somali professors and other distinguished scholars, professor of history, Mohamed Mukhtar comments that the Somalis’ claim for Arab origin “remains enigmatic,” arguing, “One would wonder, in the first instance, how the offspring of just two individual Arabs could become not only the dominant people of the northern part of the peninsula, but also the majority of the whole Somali nation today.”24 However, Mukhtar blames the concerned scholarship and Somali authorities in his retribution that, “Efforts have been made to discourage scholars from studying other Somali themes. Valuable sources for the study of Somalia’s past were ignored, among them, Arabic, Italian, French and German sources.”25ualeh wrote in the opening pages that all the Somali clans come from different Arab immigrants who escaped from persecution in Arabia; their port of entry was Mait and that Issak was the last to arrive – a reason why he (Issak) established himself in Mait town on the coast of Somaliland. Dualeh said: It is widely believed that the Dir was the first to arrive at the Somali coast, followed by the Hawiye and the Darod. The last to arrive was the Issaq clan, whose habitat today is the original point of entry for all the other Somali clans, the present Somaliland. The other Somali clans that preceded them have filled the hinterland, and therefore the Isaq was forced to live at the coastal areas.26 In his argument, the ex-army man turned diplomat points out that the Somali people belong to either one of the five groups of Dir, Issaq, Darod, Hawiye and Digil-Mirifle, all amalgamating into a one Somali tribe which otherwise consist of: “…A confederation of genealogically un-related clans. There are also a number of minority clans. There are no blood-links or other affinity between these five clans, or for that matter between the smaller clans… The commonality is the language and the religion…
The Invention Of Somalia: The Daarood, Hawiye and all were tribes who were Dir prior to 1400-1500 and gradually they Daarood suddenly asserted their indenpendency under Harit confederacy and saparated from Dir while still retaining the (Dir- Aji) part of decent name but developed a fake Arab decent in 1500 while still claiming to be Aji Noble lineal decendent of Dir. Hawiye recently also developed a Irir ancestory while still retaining the Aji name. Read the Invention of Somalia.
We will share the Southern Dir theories which support this theory. All who claim the Aji name are and were part of the Dir clan and later Fission and diffrent fussions created our clan system of today and all calim Aji which is the name of Dirs Father and some say its a nick name of Dir himself
Horn of Africa? Even if we accept the idea as that, how can we justify an Arab naming his children Sab and Samale, Cushitic names he was unaware they existed? For the section of the traditions which suggest Jaberti Ismail as the Arab newcomer marrying Dir’s daughter Donbira, we encounter a controversy because we hear some traditions opinionating the descent of Dir and Hawiye from Irir, who also came from Samale, one who tracks Hiil as his agnatic forefather. This version seems to support the thought that Dir fathered both the Ishak and the Darod, as Ioan M. Lewis illustrates.10 More suspicion encompasses the origin of some of the names in the ‘abtirsi’ genealogy, like ‘Kombe’, which can be classified as ethnic Bantu rather than a Semitic Arab name. Whatever the case, it is rather hard to regard credibility to any of these traditions because of their inconsistency and the controversies that make none of them plausible. Most of the Somali progenitors have their traditions based on imitations of either ancient Arab stories or other Cushitic traditional heroes found on a tree or watering animals from a well. Abdalla Mansur’s11 details on the subject reveal not only the confusion surrounding the topic but they also devaluate the authenticity of Qureishite genealogy of those who deem a high regard for the affiliation of their identity to an Arabite eponym. This specification being a basis for Somalia’s claim for Arab origin, which some scholars justify was exacted by population pressure from that region of Southern Asia in the proximity of Somalia, coupled with a recent Somali migration from the north Horn to the south of the country, have misled many seasoned scholars by placing northern Somaliland as the point of origin of the Somali race. As Professor Gunther Schlee enlightens, “Not only the more general historians (e.g. Low 1963: 321) but also the best specialists (e.g. Hunting Ford 1955:19; 1963:65-6; I.M.Lewis 1955: 45; 1980: 22-3) have succumbed to this error.”12 In a similar contention, Ali Abdirahman Hersi comments on the trend as “…puzzling,” explaining the implausibility of the theory as he states, “ Stranger yet is the fact that so many authorities have persisted in these far-fetched and untenable explanation.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Traditions ENO PAPER The oral traditions go that, in the beginning, an Arab immigrant arrived somewhere along the shores of what is located in the northern coastline of Somalia. He was washed away on the shores after experiencing trouble with his dhow, which was wrecked. He was received by the local residents in the area, married from them and caused an unusual human germination of massive multiplication, demographically outnumbering the host community. One Sheikh Ismail Jaberti, as he was called, became a symbol of a rare case as an immigrant hero who later became the factor behind the biogenesis as well as genealogical ‘transformation’ of an entire race of black Africans into what Ali Jimale ironically describes as “Arabs with a tan.”4 Douglas Colins writes about a tradition, which suggests that this ‘noble’ Arab was cast adrift many centuries ago as a boy and upon reaching manhood, fathered the Darod clan through his marriage to a local girl called Donbira. According to Collins, it was “Bereda, a small coastal fishing village,” that his informant Yusuf told him as the place where “Darod, an Arabian noble, many centuries ago was cast adrift as a small boy and later in life married a Somali girl named Donbirro and so founded the great Darod section of the Somali people.”5 A very peculiar situation arises in the implement of the traditions regarding the arrival of Darod as an individual, whether as a boy or a grown-up, or even if we consider, for the purpose of this discussion, that Jaberti Ismail begot him. Throughout the traditions, we are told about the coming of Darod, Issak or Ismail Jaberti (some traditions putting as Jaberti Ismail) as individuals who married from the local communities. Later, we find in the lineage construction that all the Somaloid stock, including Digil, Issak, Reewing (Mirifle), Darod, Hawiye and many others have descended from Samaale whose ascendancy is connected to Hiil, then Aqil and then further back to Qureishite lineage of Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam. In another tradition, ‘A Handbook of Abyssinia’ presents that the eponymous ancestor, one Sheikh Jaberti “was wrecked on the NE. Coast where he settled and died, leaving a son Darod, the father of the Darod branch,”6 who was later to foster the ‘noble’ people that make the great nation of the Darod clan, whose descendant sub-branches constitute the Marehan, Majerten, Ogaden, Dhulbahante and others. For this reason, the 19th century scholarship consisting of certain writers from the colonial regimes that occupied Somalia, have focused on the northern part of the country as being probably the cradle of the Somali nation since it was believed as the entry point through which the Arabs had arrived. Commenting on one of such writers, specifically Lewis, Christine Choi Ahmed says that the “first and best-known scholar to examine Somali society… almost all his field work was done in the northern Somaliland.”7 Yet Lewis himself acknowledged the paucity of factual substance in the content of the Somali traditions, often lacking in precision in dating and in names.8 The more peculiar scenario about Somali genealogy is in its lack of even two identical lineages in the more than five versions leading to the Arab ancestral father Aqil. Although generations of people kept the concept alive through the rehearsal of ‘abtirsi’ the count of the genealogy, few have thought of the nature and origin of names, which sound more Cushitic/African than Semitic/Arabian. Several of the same lineages are also often counted inconsistent with one another; for example, whereas some count 23 forefathers to their ancestor, others do fewer generations. The occurrence of such divergences and inconsistencies invite the notion that every Somali group has concocted at will a supposed chain of names to represent phoney ancestors of unreal existence. Some of these traditions narrate about the arrival of an Arab immigrant who dug a well in a strange newfound land. He helped a young herdswoman to water her flock from ‘his’ well. After sometime, her father who had been surprised by the good health of his animals followed her. Upon arriving at the site of the well, the Arab immigrant refused to open ‘his’ well unless and until the girl’s father promised him a marriage to his daughter. After he was made the promise, the Arab immigrant removed the cover from the mouth of the well and watered the flock. Though doubtful the tradition is, what is so certain about it is its contradiction with the Somali saying of “wax la yaqaan guurso, wax la yaqaan ha laguu dhalee”, which encourages marriage to someone known so as to foster offspring whose origin is known and propitious. This narrative though, seems to be a reconstruction of a modified replica of the Qur’anic story of Moses9 who, after committing a crime, emigrated from his home to a strange land where he helped to water animals for two sisters. He was called for by their father and upon agreement of providing service for several years, Moses was promised marriage to one of them. After the completion of the stipulated duties, Moses married the girl and later acquired prophethood from God. The dissimilarity of the two traditions lies in the fact that Moses was watering the two girls’ small ruminants from an existing well whereas in the Somali traditions, Darod dug the well himself in a strange land. How only one man could dig a well in a territory where he was alien, and how he acquired the tools are arguments that the oriental anthropologists and historians did not investigate substantively. The tradition also suggests that perhaps no other citizens either knew about this well or used it to water their flocks; or even possibly that Donbirro and her father were the only life existing in the area. In the Darod clan family, a section of the traditions say that Darod himself, the noble Arab, was cast adrift as a young boy, and that he got married to a local girl Donbirra upon his adulthood. Yet, it is bizarre that there is no mention of who Darod’s foster parent/s were, since this version of the historiography suggests Darod as an underage child. More doubt also entails how and where he acquired the cynical non-Arab name of ‘Darod’. Another question pursues about his ‘nobility’ because many immigrants fled from their home in Arabia due to persecution as slaves, and some or all those who might have allegedly escaped to the northern Horn region (if the Somali pedigree is one of them) could have as well been fugitive slaves who sought freedom away from their masters, the same as we have seen in the case of the Wa-Gosha people of Somalia. But none of the various traditions and scholars thinks about other possible postulates, nor did the early orientalist scholars present a variant speculation of the topic except the suggestion of population pressure being the reason of the Arab immigrants seeking a safe haven in Somalia. The historical construction as seen here, needs more corroboration. Obviously, it is not by genuine coincidence that all these foreign Arab immigrants arrived in the Somali peninsula at various dates while at the same time all trace their ‘asal’ origin, across varient routes, to Qureishi tribe or ‘Reer Banu-Hashem’ the offspring of Banu-Hashem. Because we do not have any evidence of Hiil, the descendant of Aqil stepping foot in Somalia, can one be of any hypothesis of whether his descendants Sab and Samale had an earlier plan to settle in separate parts of Somalia i.e. south and north, and transgerminate with the local females a new breed in the name of Somali and later to become the genealogical representatives of Qureish in the northern Horn of Africa? Even if we accept the idea as that, how can we justify an Arab naming his children Sab and Samale, Cushitic names he was unaware they existed? For the section of the traditions which suggest Jaberti Ismail as the Arab newcomer marrying Dir’s daughter Donbira, we encounter a controversy because we hear some traditions opinionating the descent of Dir and Hawiye from Irir, who also came from Samale, one who tracks Hiil as his agnatic forefather. This version seems to support the thought that Dir fathered both the Ishak and the Darod, as Ioan M. Lewis illustrates.10 More suspicion encompasses the origin of some of the names in the ‘abtirsi’ genealogy, like ‘Kombe’, which can be classified as ethnic Bantu rather than a Semitic Arab name. Whatever the case, it is rather hard to regard credibility to any of these traditions because of their inconsistency and the controversies that make none of them plausible. Most of the Somali progenitors have their traditions based on imitations of either ancient Arab stories or other Cushitic traditional heroes found on a tree or watering animals from a well. Abdalla Mansur’s11 details on the subject reveal not only the confusion surrounding the topic but they also devaluate the authenticity of Qureishite genealogy of those who deem a high regard for the affiliation of their identity to an Arabite eponym. This specification being a basis for Somalia’s claim for Arab origin, which some scholars justify was exacted by population pressure from that region of Southern Asia in the proximity of Somalia, coupled with a recent Somali migration from the north Horn to the south of the country, have misled many seasoned scholars by placing northern Somaliland as the point of origin of the Somali race. As Professor Gunther Schlee enlightens, “Not only the more general historians (e.g. Low 1963: 321) but also the best specialists (e.g. Hunting Ford 1955:19; 1963:65-6; I.M.Lewis 1955: 45; 1980: 22-3) have succumbed to this error.”12 In a similar contention, Ali Abdirahman Hersi comments on the trend as “…puzzling,” explaining the implausibility of the theory as he states, “ Stranger yet is the fact that so many authorities have persisted in these far-fetched and untenable explanation.”
Comparatively, the same investigation is applicable to Sheikh Jaberti as controversy also surrounds the identity of his wife Donbira, the so-called Somali girl married off to him. Some sources narrate that the early people to whom Donbira belonged were Galla who lived in the region prior to the arrival of the Somalis. Other traditions have it as Hawiye or Dir whom Donbira belonged to. Whichever source is considered, the conundrum toward the achievement of a satisfactory response to the hypothesis of immigrants of unsubstantial number exceeding their respective sedentary host communities does not only sound miraculous but also seems historiographically irresolvable. What has caused the disappearance from the scene of the local African people? Why are the Somalis more related to the Boran/Oromo, Baiso and Rendille culturally, physically and linguistically than to the Arabs? In another extreme but substantiated discordance with early colonial scholarship, c
IM LEWIS WROTE DOMBIRO IS A (FAKE NAME) AND BASED ON IMAM AXMED GUREYS WIFE BATI DEL-WAMBARA-- WHOM IMAM NUUR LATER MARRIED.
DEFINATELY WAMBER MEANS (WAMBER) GABER OR GAMBADH IN SOUTH SOMALI AN SIGNIFIES A WOMEN OF STATUS POWER SEAT OF POWER THORNE
KOMBE IS A BANTU NAME AND CANT BE CUSHITIC OR SEMETIC.