I'm a very interested in somali history but this forum is sometimes confusing.
On one hand somalis deny or minimize arab presence in Mogadishu but on the other hand so many biased people claim that Mogadishu was an arab city with little or nothing to do with somalis.
The truth is always in the middle, from most sources it seems mogadishu was and still is a multiethnic city inhabited by arabs, somalis and persians .
This is my short timeline of Mogadishu's history according to my understanding of the available evidence. I'm an amateur and don't want to upset anyone, feel free to correct me and let me know if you agree with my analysis.
- 2nd century AD , Sarapion is mentioned by greek geographers. Scholars place ancient sarapion between modern day Mogadishu and Warsheikh. The coast of somalia was inhabited by barbaroi(barbarians in greek) but not much is said about their identity.
-9th-10th century. Arabs and persians settled in what is now Mogadishu and founded the city.
12th century. Al idrisi mentions the Hawiye in Merca for the first time . This proofs somalis already lived on the coast.
-12th century ibn Sa'id mentions Merca as the capital of the Hawiye country. Mote evidence of somali presence south of Mogadishu.
-13th century Yaqut Hamawi mentions Merca as a city inhabited by black berbers.
-13th century Hamawi mentions Mogadishu as a city inhabited by dark skinned people but says blacks aren not the majority
-14th century Ibn Battuta visits Mogadishu, the sultan is described as a berber who spoke both arabic and "mogadishan".. This is the first sources suggesting a somali ruled over Mogadishu.
-15th century Vasco da Gama visits the Mogadishu and describes it as a moorish city inhabited by tawny, black and white skinned people. This means Mogadishu was probably a multiethnic city with arabs, somalis and maybe bantus.
-16th century other Portuguese sources mention blacks living in Mogadishu.
-Late 16th - early 17th century . Mogadishu starts to decline , omanis occupy the city for a brief period but leave shortly after. Portuguese try to establish a stable presence in Mogadishu, Barawe and Merca but fail.
-17th century Mogadishu is captured by Hawiyes who defeated the Ajuuran and the muzzafar(arab or mixed dinasy).
-From the late 17th century the city started to become more somalized and arabs(cadcads) lost most of their power.
-17th century An ottoman explorer Evliya Celebis(died in 1682) describes Mogadishu as a city of merchants with a strong nomadic carachter.
He describes the people as practicing muslims who speak arabic and a strange local dialect.
-18th century, Hawiyes become imams of the city but arabs are still allowed to nominate Qadi. Present day benadiri clans change their arabic names to somali ones.
It's pretty unique because arabs in most cases in Africa arabs arabize locals , but in this case arabs have been somalised.
- mid 19th century Omanis from Zanzibar start to get interested in the city which is ruled by them untill the arrival of the italians.
The rest is recent history.
My conclusion is that Mogadishu was predominantly arab untill at least the 12th-13th century, then it became mixed Arab-Somali and stayed like that until the 17-18th centruy. In 1700s mogadishu becase somalized and started to resemble the ethnic composition of today.
The only question left unanswered it the identity of the arabs. Benadiris are their descendants but they have a lot of somali blood. I don't know whether somalis and benadiris mixed before the arrival of the hawiye imamate or if the so called arabs were already mixed in the middle ages.
Anyway it's inaccurate to say Mogadishu was exclusively somali but it's also wrong to assume it was an only arab-persian enclave.
The sources are easily available online.
I used the cambridge history of africa volume 3.
Ottoman explorations of the Nile by Evilya Çelebi
And other sources.
On one hand somalis deny or minimize arab presence in Mogadishu but on the other hand so many biased people claim that Mogadishu was an arab city with little or nothing to do with somalis.
The truth is always in the middle, from most sources it seems mogadishu was and still is a multiethnic city inhabited by arabs, somalis and persians .
This is my short timeline of Mogadishu's history according to my understanding of the available evidence. I'm an amateur and don't want to upset anyone, feel free to correct me and let me know if you agree with my analysis.
- 2nd century AD , Sarapion is mentioned by greek geographers. Scholars place ancient sarapion between modern day Mogadishu and Warsheikh. The coast of somalia was inhabited by barbaroi(barbarians in greek) but not much is said about their identity.
-9th-10th century. Arabs and persians settled in what is now Mogadishu and founded the city.
12th century. Al idrisi mentions the Hawiye in Merca for the first time . This proofs somalis already lived on the coast.
-12th century ibn Sa'id mentions Merca as the capital of the Hawiye country. Mote evidence of somali presence south of Mogadishu.
-13th century Yaqut Hamawi mentions Merca as a city inhabited by black berbers.
-13th century Hamawi mentions Mogadishu as a city inhabited by dark skinned people but says blacks aren not the majority
-14th century Ibn Battuta visits Mogadishu, the sultan is described as a berber who spoke both arabic and "mogadishan".. This is the first sources suggesting a somali ruled over Mogadishu.
-15th century Vasco da Gama visits the Mogadishu and describes it as a moorish city inhabited by tawny, black and white skinned people. This means Mogadishu was probably a multiethnic city with arabs, somalis and maybe bantus.
-16th century other Portuguese sources mention blacks living in Mogadishu.
-Late 16th - early 17th century . Mogadishu starts to decline , omanis occupy the city for a brief period but leave shortly after. Portuguese try to establish a stable presence in Mogadishu, Barawe and Merca but fail.
-17th century Mogadishu is captured by Hawiyes who defeated the Ajuuran and the muzzafar(arab or mixed dinasy).
-From the late 17th century the city started to become more somalized and arabs(cadcads) lost most of their power.
-17th century An ottoman explorer Evliya Celebis(died in 1682) describes Mogadishu as a city of merchants with a strong nomadic carachter.
He describes the people as practicing muslims who speak arabic and a strange local dialect.
-18th century, Hawiyes become imams of the city but arabs are still allowed to nominate Qadi. Present day benadiri clans change their arabic names to somali ones.
It's pretty unique because arabs in most cases in Africa arabs arabize locals , but in this case arabs have been somalised.
- mid 19th century Omanis from Zanzibar start to get interested in the city which is ruled by them untill the arrival of the italians.
The rest is recent history.
My conclusion is that Mogadishu was predominantly arab untill at least the 12th-13th century, then it became mixed Arab-Somali and stayed like that until the 17-18th centruy. In 1700s mogadishu becase somalized and started to resemble the ethnic composition of today.
The only question left unanswered it the identity of the arabs. Benadiris are their descendants but they have a lot of somali blood. I don't know whether somalis and benadiris mixed before the arrival of the hawiye imamate or if the so called arabs were already mixed in the middle ages.
Anyway it's inaccurate to say Mogadishu was exclusively somali but it's also wrong to assume it was an only arab-persian enclave.
The sources are easily available online.
I used the cambridge history of africa volume 3.
Ottoman explorations of the Nile by Evilya Çelebi
And other sources.
