I’m back

[Homerlilian2.0]

I came back to ask a few questions on Somali nomadic history and this forum seems like the right place to ask .

1. @Idilinaa I saw a comment you were claiming that Somali nomads didn’t hold just one occupation but rather bad dual . Like nomad /merchant or nomad/farming . Why isn’t it a thing now if that was the case

2. Also was agr/ pastrolism
Unique to raxanwyen people only

 

[kamek]

not here to answer your question, just wanted to say welcome back sxb.

 

[Homerlilian2.0]

not here to answer your question, just wanted to say welcome back sxb.

Appreciate it Saxib .
Too early to judge but I’m glad the tik tok social media hate and the Ana Arab post are not taking over this forum

 

[balanbalis]

I've seen discussions on Soomaali being a nomadic title, tumal, biyomal, harar, etc being titles for other jobs in Somali history. I'm going to do an essay on this topic one day checking its validity as an argument

 

[wonyluvr]

Omgg heyyyy

 

[Homerlilian2.0]

Omgg heyyyy

Glad to see you’re still around

 

[wonyluvr]

Glad to see you’re still around

View attachment 359824

I left for like a month but I’m back I realised how addicted I was I now consume sspot in moderation!!!

 

[Homerlilian2.0]

I came back to ask a few questions on Somali nomadic history and this forum seems like the right place to ask .

1. @Idilinaa I saw a comment you were claiming that Somali nomads didn’t hold just one occupation but rather bad dual . Like nomad /merchant or nomad/farming . Why isn’t it a thing now if that was the case

2. Also was agr/ pastrolism
Unique to raxanwyen people only

Nobody gonna answer my question

 

[kamek]

@Idilinaa answer his question

 

[Idilinaa]

I came back to ask a few questions on Somali nomadic history and this forum seems like the right place to ask .

1. @Idilinaa I saw a comment you were claiming that Somali nomads didn’t hold just one occupation but rather bad dual . Like nomad /merchant or nomad/farming . Why isn’t it a thing now if that was the case

2. Also was agr/ pastrolism
Unique to raxanwyen people only

Somalis were not really nomadic in the way people frame it. There was mobility but it was highly structured, organized and territorial. Here is something i said to @Shimbiris a while back.

I see what you mean, and I think the way the term 'nomad' is often used creates misleading distinctions. Some people use it neutrally, but in many cases, it carries connotations that don't accurately reflect how Somali society functioned. You see it in the way certain European scholars like those Spanish archaeologists apply the term dismissively, as if pastoralism was a primitive or disorganized way of life. It’s also used to create artificial divisions between urban, agrarian populations and herding societies, when in reality, the boundaries were always fluid.

What’s frustrating is how this framing ignores the economic complexity and sustainability of livestock herding. Livestock wasn’t just a subsistence activity it was an economic engine, facilitating trade, wealth accumulation, and social organization. But the way some narratives are shaped, pastoralism is treated as inherently inferior to crop farming, when in reality, it was just as if not more strategic in many regions.

Take the Warsangeli, for example. Their principal town was Las Qoray, but they also had a network of smaller coastal settlements like Durduri, Elayo, Geelwayto, Ras Gahm, and Waqdariya. This pattern wasn’t unique, most Somali clans maintained settlements or economic hubs in parallel with their pastoral activities. Some groups focused on trade, others on fishing, and others on small-scale agriculture, while still engaging in livestock herding. It was a diversified system, not a simplistic ‘wandering herder’ existence.

Seasonal movement wasn’t random either it followed defined patterns within organized territorial structures. Clans had agreements over pastures, water sources, and migration routes, just as coastal settlements had trade networks and fortifications.

The idea that Somalis were purely 'nomadic' in the sense of being unstructured or constantly moving without stability is just inaccurate. What we actually had was a highly adaptable, multi-layered economic system that shifted based on season, need, and opportunity

So I personally prefer the term pastoralist or agro-pastoralist, because it better reflects the multi-functional economy people lived under. Even today, a huge part of the Somali economy is based on livestock, which is increasingly raised in a more structured, range-based way, similar to ranching in places like the U.S. or Greece.

Dual occupations were always common just region-dependent

Farming wasn’t exclusive to the Raxanweyn. Yes, they are more associated with agriculture, especially in fertile zones like Bay, Bakool, and Lower Shabelle but it’s not limited to them.

Darood-Kombe groups like Geri, Bartiree, and Abaskuul also practiced agriculture in areas like the Harar uplands and later on Harti/Darood groups in Waamo-Gedo. Meanwhile, parts of Isaaq, Dir, and Hawiye lived in more mixed terrain, so some were farmers and others were herders or traders. Same with riverine groups, some fished, others farmed, and many did both.

It was a question of geography and opportunity, not fixed identity. The economy was flexible and multi-sectoral, not confined to a single mode of livelihood.

Even within one family or lineage, you'd find one person trading, another farming, another doing livestock. So the whole “dual occupation” thing isn’t a contradiction it’s how Somali economic life actually worked.

What about today?

That same economic diversity still exists, just adapted to modern realities.

Pastoralism is now mostly ranch based and commercialized: Livestock is still huge:
Livestock is sold for export (especially to the Gulf), and people work in collection, transport, or processing.

Farming has expanded to many parts of Jubbaland, Southwest State, Galmudug, (some parts of Puntland even albeit small scale), Somaliand and Somali Region of Ethiopia.

Urban trade, construction, and services are booming, Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Garowe, Kismayo, Bosaso all have active business sectors.

Even fishing and maritime trade are growing again, something that’s been a historical constant.

Most Somalis today live interconnected economic lives: a pastoralist might have a brother who owns a shop in a town or city or a cousin in agriculture or logistics. So we still see multi-sector participation, even if it’s modernized.

 

[The alchemist]

Welcome.



Somalis were agro-pastoralist-traders.