How do u know they didn't get influenced by Somalis?
Somali royal clothing?
- Thread starter Wind
- Start date
Internet Nomad
✪͓̽W͓͓̽̽i͓͓̽̽n͓͓̽̽t͓͓̽̽e͓͓̽̽r͓̽ ͓̽A͓͓̽̽r͓͓̽̽c͓̽✪͓̽
It depends on who has the oldest mention of these styles is the one who can claim it.
I talked to the most knowledgeable person i kno about the Somalian culture about these "royal" clothes.
He said it isn’t royal, those who wear it are the Somali Hadramis, who live in coastal cities such as Zeila, Berbera, Mogadishu and Ras Hafun in the past...It is coming and mixed from other countries.
He said Basically, there is no such thing as a "special Somali dress," as everyone wore what they wanted at the time, such as macawees, western suits, Arabs bishts and shemaghs, or anything else.
He said: Commoners and Bedouins wear these fabrics, upper and lower. the sheikhs and scholars wear something like the ihram with a white turban around the head; Like the Tablighis do (you will know them if you come to the country).
After reviewing many pictures like this;
Actually, There is nothing better than what he said in describing the dress culture of the Somalis, which is the reason for the lack of "fixed clothing". When he finished speaking, I found myself agreeing with him.
But of course, we are in the 21st century. If you wear anything random like the ancients, then for some reason other people will look down on you as uneducated. And that's nonsense, damn it, I'll wear what I want. Except those ugly and tight western suits.
I'll give you a good tip for creating a local clothing culture: find a collection of old photos with cool clothes (I'll help if I can), then show them to a group of fashion designers, and make a collection of Somali outfits out of them; May it be diverse!
I will summarize my words in three points
1- The Somali clothing culture revolves around openness and wearing whatever one wears.
2- the Luxurious black dress was an urban wear for residents of coastal cities (because of relations with foreigners). It is largely imported like others, and it was worn in Sudan, and it resembles many of the clothes of the Indians and Hadramis of Indonesia.
3- We need a fashion designer to make a modern set of vintage style like a bowl!
That’s all, thank you for reading.
He said it isn’t royal, those who wear it are the Somali Hadramis, who live in coastal cities such as Zeila, Berbera, Mogadishu and Ras Hafun in the past...It is coming and mixed from other countries.
He said Basically, there is no such thing as a "special Somali dress," as everyone wore what they wanted at the time, such as macawees, western suits, Arabs bishts and shemaghs, or anything else.
He said: Commoners and Bedouins wear these fabrics, upper and lower. the sheikhs and scholars wear something like the ihram with a white turban around the head; Like the Tablighis do (you will know them if you come to the country).
After reviewing many pictures like this;
Actually, There is nothing better than what he said in describing the dress culture of the Somalis, which is the reason for the lack of "fixed clothing". When he finished speaking, I found myself agreeing with him.
But of course, we are in the 21st century. If you wear anything random like the ancients, then for some reason other people will look down on you as uneducated. And that's nonsense, damn it, I'll wear what I want. Except those ugly and tight western suits.
I'll give you a good tip for creating a local clothing culture: find a collection of old photos with cool clothes (I'll help if I can), then show them to a group of fashion designers, and make a collection of Somali outfits out of them; May it be diverse!
I will summarize my words in three points
1- The Somali clothing culture revolves around openness and wearing whatever one wears.
2- the Luxurious black dress was an urban wear for residents of coastal cities (because of relations with foreigners). It is largely imported like others, and it was worn in Sudan, and it resembles many of the clothes of the Indians and Hadramis of Indonesia.
3- We need a fashion designer to make a modern set of vintage style like a bowl!
That’s all, thank you for reading.
somalis always wore those kinda clothings ibnu batutta even described it so, i don't think they originate from hadramis, nobody is unique when it comes to their traditional clothing somalis are way more unique compared to other sub saharen africans, look at west/sahel africa all of their male traditional clothings originate from tuareg/berbers even the christians wear it, comoros are deff influence by both arabs,indian and somalis as they wear 'alindi'' so it's not a good to take them as exempel
the chinese described somalis very carefully, saying that they lived in stone houses and army wore armor but this describtion caught my eyes
''The man have the knees covered by short trousers. The women are clothed in simple textiles, draped over the head. Your eyes rove round to meet only sights and stares; Desolation, the whole country nothing but hills.
The land of Mou-kou-tou-chou; They live along the sea shore. The people construct the walls with pilled up stones. As military exercise they practice with bow and arrow. Their habits include quarrels and violence. The houses are build of cut stone and four or five stories high, with their kitchens, lavatories and reception rooms all on the upper floors. The men do up their hair in knots hanging all around and wrap cotton cloth around their waists. The women do up their hair in a chignon behind and brighten up the crown with yellow varnish. From their ears hang a number of strings (of coins) around their necks they wear silver rings, and a fringe hangs down on the breast. When they go out, they cover themselves with a cotton sheet, and veil their faces with blue gauze. On their feet they wear shoes or leather slippers. Towards the foot of the mountain (the granite upland stretching from the Shebelle basin to the Juba) the country is a dessert of brown soil and stones. The soil is poor the crops sparse. Rain might not fall for a period of several years. They make very deep wells and draw up the water in sheep-skin bags by means of cog-wheels. They also feed their camels, horses, cattle and sheep on them. The native products are frankincense, gold coins, leopards, ambergris. The goods used in trading (here by the Chinese) are gold, silver, and colored taffetas''
''This country is formed on the coast and the population is established in groups. The land is a vast salted plain. There are salt lakes, in which you throw branches, when taking them out after some time there is coagulated a white salt. There are no fields to feed the people, but they fish. Man and women roll up their hair, the ones wear short dresses, the others put a piece of cloth around them. The married women wear in both ears gold coins and jewellery around the neck. There are only onions and garlic but no cucumbers or aubergines.''
''The man have the knees covered by short trousers. The women are clothed in simple textiles, draped over the head. Your eyes rove round to meet only sights and stares; Desolation, the whole country nothing but hills.
The land of Mou-kou-tou-chou; They live along the sea shore. The people construct the walls with pilled up stones. As military exercise they practice with bow and arrow. Their habits include quarrels and violence. The houses are build of cut stone and four or five stories high, with their kitchens, lavatories and reception rooms all on the upper floors. The men do up their hair in knots hanging all around and wrap cotton cloth around their waists. The women do up their hair in a chignon behind and brighten up the crown with yellow varnish. From their ears hang a number of strings (of coins) around their necks they wear silver rings, and a fringe hangs down on the breast. When they go out, they cover themselves with a cotton sheet, and veil their faces with blue gauze. On their feet they wear shoes or leather slippers. Towards the foot of the mountain (the granite upland stretching from the Shebelle basin to the Juba) the country is a dessert of brown soil and stones. The soil is poor the crops sparse. Rain might not fall for a period of several years. They make very deep wells and draw up the water in sheep-skin bags by means of cog-wheels. They also feed their camels, horses, cattle and sheep on them. The native products are frankincense, gold coins, leopards, ambergris. The goods used in trading (here by the Chinese) are gold, silver, and colored taffetas''
''This country is formed on the coast and the population is established in groups. The land is a vast salted plain. There are salt lakes, in which you throw branches, when taking them out after some time there is coagulated a white salt. There are no fields to feed the people, but they fish. Man and women roll up their hair, the ones wear short dresses, the others put a piece of cloth around them. The married women wear in both ears gold coins and jewellery around the neck. There are only onions and garlic but no cucumbers or aubergines.''
Internet Nomad
✪͓̽W͓͓̽̽i͓͓̽̽n͓͓̽̽t͓͓̽̽e͓͓̽̽r͓̽ ͓̽A͓͓̽̽r͓͓̽̽c͓̽✪͓̽
Thats not a habbit
Really appreciate the response and thorough information. I’ll be sharing my thoughts to some of them.
I appreciate the input from ur knowledgeable friend and would love a source on this, however. My definition of these “Somali royal cloths” would be the unique style I noticeably showcased. And the bearer of the unique style was various known Somali Kings and Ugaz’s. To not repeat myself, I’m aware that coastal Somalis and rich Somali merchants most likely got influenced and ended up with their unique version of this cloak. But that doesn’t make it less Somali in fact it makes it more. Somalis have traded with the know world for millenniums literally thousands of years, would be weird if we didn’t have any influence, but more importantly our unique adaptation of it. Think of it like our cultural cuisines(how boring would they be without influence)
Everyone wore what they could afford, there’s no mentions of the cloak being exclusive in terms of social status. But naturally wealthier people have higher status in society and wear clothes distinct to the commoners.
I didn’t get the first part. Yes you’re right the sheikhs and scholars wore distinctive clothes from the commoners themselves! U could make a thread on that and I’ll surely contribute with pictures.
Magnificent suggestions
I do hope for a huge development to take place for Somali men’s attire. Props to the gabdho for holding up their attire with time.
Last edited:
That’s my thought on it, but I got nothing to back it up with so I’ll have to just mention the instances of them wearing it.
Either u didn’t articulate ur thoughts well enough or u misunderstood something. I didn’t prove any point u had, but I’ll let u be the judge of it.
here’s our whole conversation:
There is no specific source. He was raised among the Bedouins in the Ogaden region for a long time, and then resided in other cities. I find him sensible honestly se, so I believe him…pardon me.
Can u send me a link to that book, what a find!
Do u notice the only time an ajanbi is observed with that exact style of the Somali robe, he’s at the same city of Muqdisho where there’s records of a Somali sultan wearing similar style 700 years beforehand
“Somali royal clothing” Looks so neat and formal wlhi. I wonder how the wheel embellishment came to be.
@Ibn Abdon can u post every accounts u come across of someone wearing the “Somali royal cloths” attire. I was aiming to do that, but I realised I’m missing a lot when u posted this.
Yes I agree with you. The Al Busaidis usually do not wear this dress. In Oman, they have their clothes and something called "Dakla", which was spread in Zanzibar. But Solomon is an exception! He wears Somali dress—except for the Busaidi turban, which is a true sign of royalty.
This picture is a slap to everyone who denies the Omani presence in Somalia.
I do not know the name of the book, but in the picture above it says that it is in the British Museum in Bristol. Omanis have some records too!
I randomly find the image everywhere; Mostly Twitter and Google. Today I found the account of Banadry's brother and his user is @Az61519022. He loves to talk about the history of Benadir, and in fact he has many documented photos.
The history of Banadir is very interesting.
Don’t worry, i will post every good picture i found here!
This picture is a slap to everyone who denies the Omani presence in Somalia.
I do not know the name of the book, but in the picture above it says that it is in the British Museum in Bristol. Omanis have some records too!
I randomly find the image everywhere; Mostly Twitter and Google. Today I found the account of Banadry's brother and his user is @Az61519022. He loves to talk about the history of Benadir, and in fact he has many documented photos.
The history of Banadir is very interesting.
Don’t worry, i will post every good picture i found here!
@Shimbiris sxb what's up with these self hating somalis and their kink of ajnabi rulling over them kkkk
sxb their rule was nominal they claim they had conrol over mogadishu but they never did, it's like somalis claiming to rule afghanistan but never having the power to do so, those fovernors were custom officers nothing else the real guy who had power was yusuf, pls don't spread misinfo
At one point the Omanis had a self-gov/self-rule in xamar/marka but in exchange, they had to pay a large amount of gold to Geledi sultan who was ruling southern part of Somalia. One day they refused/couldn't pay so the Geledi sultan kicked them out. The majority of them want back to Oman, few went to Zanzibar and the rest stayed in xamar/marka
mogadishu was going thru inter imamites war and the omani funded british tried to bombar the city but it didn't work
Last edited:
if u really wanna know why custom officors were in the city mogadishu elites called them counterbalance to Geledi influence but it failed as geledi extracted annual trbiute from benadir coast aka mogadishu,berawe,merka
'' The Somali tribe of Ruhwaina. The Chief of this and other tribes behind Brava, Marka and Mogdisho is Ahmed Yusuf''
''Mogadishu on the other hand, was really controlled by the Sultan of the Geledi, and minor ports were in the hands of members of other clans. The only representatives of the Sultan of Zanzibar were customs officers''
waa la xoogay
''The Sultans of Zanzibar, in the meantime, were forced to respect the authority of Geledi rulers.........For example, the Sultan of Zanzibar sought to construct a fort in Mogadishu in 1870, he had to obtain the approval of the Sultan Ahmed Yusuf of Geledi''
'' The Somali tribe of Ruhwaina. The Chief of this and other tribes behind Brava, Marka and Mogdisho is Ahmed Yusuf''
''Mogadishu on the other hand, was really controlled by the Sultan of the Geledi, and minor ports were in the hands of members of other clans. The only representatives of the Sultan of Zanzibar were customs officers''
waa la xoogay
''The Sultans of Zanzibar, in the meantime, were forced to respect the authority of Geledi rulers.........For example, the Sultan of Zanzibar sought to construct a fort in Mogadishu in 1870, he had to obtain the approval of the Sultan Ahmed Yusuf of Geledi''
Last edited:
Honestly, I do not care at all who previously ruled the coast or owned it, whether it was Omani or other Europeans, as if this would change something of my reality today or contribute to changing it.
And the above words are not from me, the source is written — Bristol British Museum.
How strange my people are, ashamed of the Muslim Omani effect, and proud of the fascist Italian and British invasion... Wow!
omani never controlled anything stop spreading misinfo sxb bc u have humiliation kink, ajnabi is same to me wether muslim or christian
If you don't differentiate a Muslim from a Christian, then quit, I wouldn't bother talking to a humiliated insect.omani never controlled anything stop spreading misinfo sxb bc u have humiliation kink, ajnabi is same to me wether muslim or christian
ask that the people of yemen where their own muslim brother bombard them to oblivion, these day and age muslims are no better than christians
