Top 10 Somali cities?

[Zak12]

Let's have a qabil rage fun thread about what you think were the most important and greatest cities in Somaliweyn's history from 7th-20th century. Perhaps some underrated cities could be highlighted here.

The metrics are simple: its based on size, wealth, strength, influence and overall relevance.

1. Mogadishu
2. Zeila
3. Harar
4. Berbera
5. Bosaso
6. Merca
7. Barawe
8. Kismayo
9. Hobyo
10. Afgooye

 

[CABDULWALI XASAN.]

I see a common trend with your ranking, most are coastal towns with no towns in the interior. Is this due to there not being information on them? I mean you have harar down but thats known its on that trade corridor and its history spanning since antiquity. And all the documents.

I can make my own list based on present day in terms of general development and observation

1. Muqdisho
2. Djibouti
3. Jigjiga
4. Dire Dawa
5. Hargeisa
6. Kismayo
7. Garowe
8. Godey
9. Borama
10. Bosaso
11.Berbera
12. Lascanod
12. Dhagaxbuur

 

[Almis]

1-Berbera
2-Saylac
4-Xamar
Your whole race was named after the city of Berbera also the Gulf of Aden used to be named as Gulf of Berbera.

 

[Zak12]

1-Berbera
2-Saylac
4-Xamar
Your whole race was named after the city of Berbera also the Gulf of Aden used to be named as Gulf of Berbera.

Our race/ethnicity is Somali. Why do you care what ajnabis called us?

 

[The Oponian Guild]

1. Galkacyo (North Galkacyo, Sinaay)
2. Burtinle
3. Garowe
4. Bosaso
5. Lascanood
6. Jigjiga
7. Kismayo
8. Borame
9. Djibouti City
10. Harar

 

[Idilinaa]

1. Zayla
2. Mogadishu
3. Berbera
4. Harar
5. Barawa
6. Merca
7. Luuq
8.Bosaso
9. Afgoye
10. Kismaayo
11. Hobyo

I picked Zayla as Nr.1 for the obvious reason it was the cradle of Somali medieval Islamic civilization and it held the most prestige in so far as many Somalis generally known to the world as ''Zayla'i'' or ''Zayluuns'' . It was seen as ''The Frontier of Islam'' in the region.

For a big chunk of our history, it was the most important city, that was known for clock making, ship building, scholarship and manuscript production.

It's provincial name ''Awdal'' actually means ''Homeland of Scholars/Saints''

"Awdal is a local name given by the Somalis to the city of Zayla and its surrounding country. It is composed of (AW), meaning Sheikh. Dal means the homeland, and it is the homeland of the sheikh or scholars."

 

[Zak12]

1. Zayla
2. Mogadishu
3. Berbera
4. Harar
5. Barawa
6. Merca
7. Bosaso
8. Afgooye
9. Kismaayo
10. Hobyo

I picked Zayla as Nr.1 for the obvious reason it was the cradle of Somali medieval Islamic civilization and it held the most prestige in so far as many Somalis generally was gernerally knonw to the world as ''Zayla'i'' or ''Zayluuns'' . It was seen as ''The Frontier of Islam'' in the region.

For a big chunk of our history, it was the most important city, that was known for clock making, ship building, scholarship and manuscript production.

It's provincial name ''Awdal'' actually means ''Homeland of Scholars/Saints''

Neat how your list is the same as mine but with the order slightly changed lol. It was pretty hard to name interior cities besides Harar so I stuck with coastal towns. Not really a surprise since Somali civilization prospered the most through ocean based trade.

Although if the list was extended to top 20 or 30, then interior towns like Luuq, Hubat, and Kelafo would be added in

 

[Almis]

Our race/ethnicity is Somali. Why do you care what ajnabis called us?

Thats how the whole word used to refer to us not to mention a sea being named after it. No somali city had that influence.

 

[Zak12]

Thats how the whole word used to refer to us not to mention a sea being named after it. No somali city had that influence.

Well yeah but that word originally came from the region not the city. Berbera got that name as a remenant of that ancient Somali region.

Its like saying Puntland is the most important historical area of Somalia because it was named after Punt lol

 

[Idilinaa]

Neat how your list is the same as mine but with the order slightly changed lol. It was pretty hard to name interior cities besides Harar so I stuck with coastal towns. Not really a surprise since Somali civilization prospered the most through ocean based trade.

Although if the list was extended to top 20 or 30, then interior towns like Luuq, Hubat, and Kelafo would be added in

I forgot Luuq, i added it back. I could probably add Hafun as well.

I would name a number of historical interior cities but i thought you were asking for towns that had continuity and relevance until modern times. I could also probably add JigJiga to the list if it wasn't for that.

Other abandoned interior cities that we know of through sources and archeology are Badda, Awfat, Abassa , Awsa, Hoobad, Dakar/Doggor

An another coastal city called Al-Juba only through sources and others through archeology but none of these survived the test of time.

 

[Almis]

Well yeah but that word originally came from the region not the city. Berbera got that name as a remenant of that ancient Somali region.

Its like saying Puntland is the most important historical area of Somalia because it was named after Punt lol

No you are wrong. There is no city called punt and what was called the land of punt extents from modern day SL till Eritrea and frankly its location is debatable. Scientists had to used mummified baboons dna just to exclude Arabia from being part of punt. However, the land of berbera, the sea of berbera are all related to ancient city of berbera and located at the same place waqooyi.

 

[Zak12]

extents from modern day SL till Eritrea

It extended from Eastern Sudan to the cape of gardafui.

land of berbera, the sea of berbera are all related to ancient city of berbera

Other way around. Berbera was named after the region. Its ancient predecessor was called Malao but after Islam it was renamed Berbera as a reference to the ancient region.

 

[Idilinaa]

No you are wrong. There is no city called punt and what was called the land of punt extents from modern day SL till Eritrea and frankly its location is debatable. Scientists had to used mummified baboons dna just to exclude Arabia from being part of punt. However, the land of berbera, the sea of berbera are all related to ancient city of berbera and located at the same place waqooyi.
View attachment 347270

There was the city of Berbera but they also called the general region of Somalia Bilad Al-Barbar and Babaroi/Barbaria in antiquity

In some maps medieval maps you can see how the divide it into Al-Habash, Al-Danakil and Al-Barbar . Al-Habash was a regional name for modern Ethiopia, Eritrean coast particularly Afar was called Al-Danakil and modern day Somalia in general was refered to as Al-Barbar.

They included towns like Mogadishu and Merca and Barawa in the Land of Barbar as well.

 

[Idilinaa]

I forgot Luuq, i added it back. I could probably add Hafun as well.

I would name a number of historical interior cities but i thought you were asking for towns that had continuity and relevance until modern times. I could also probably add JigJiga to the list if it wasn't for that.

Other abandoned interior cities that we know of through sources and archeology are Badda, Awfat, Abassa , Awsa, Hoobad, Dakar/Doggor

An another coastal city called Al-Juba only through sources and others through archeology but none of these survived the test of time.

By the way @Zak12 the interior city of Abasa is mentioned during the 1600s by a portuguese missionary

''I might be perhaps be to called from Abaxa, the Capital City of the Kingdom of Adel''

Archeology of Abasa

Abasa – Statehorn

statehorn.com

Kola’s Kingdom: The Territory of Abasa (Western Somaliland) during the Medieval Period - International Journal of Historical Archaeology

During the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, the territory of western Somaliland was integrated into a series of Muslim states which controlled large areas of the southeastern Horn of Africa. One of the ways this control manifested itself was in the emergence of a network of permanent...

link.springer.com

Ignore the Galla stuff repeated in those links by orientalist like Burton and others
Because its proven that it's local traditions referring to Gaal means camel or Gaalo(Non-Muslim) that they misrepresent.

They even say this which is false

Alexander T. Curle visited the ruins, which by then had lost the original name, and called them Abasa, describing the site as one of the biggest medieval settlements together with Amud, Gogesa o Au Bare.

We know this not to be true, because the city is mentioned in the 1600s, so its original name remained.

It had monumental walled entrances and buildings made of large blocks of stones as well, so it was most likely an administrative base. They also found villages and hamlets connected to the city , probably used for agricultural production to support it.


It's a shame people haven't looked at Dakar/Doggor yet either,

It's an interesting book for sure. Sade Mire is an archeologist who uses archeology to understand cultural heritage. Her main focus throughout the book is on the Aw Barkhadle shrine in Somaliland and uses it to propose the far-reaching impact of an archaeologically attested Eastern Cushitic ritual complex with an emphasis on fertility.

Somali style burial tombs near the Aw Barkhadle shrine.

Outside of this grand narrative, at it's core the book presents significant new material for example:

How the archeology of Aw Barkhadle fits within the medieval political landscape. It was a walled town whose remains features traces of a stone wall surrounding it , ruined houses, and couple of mosques and tombs. The old town in which the shrine is located is called ''Doggor'' or Dakkar which was the name of Awdal capital in the 15-16th century.

This connection is confirmed in the local chronicles from the 13th and 16th century.

How it relates to a synchronism of pasts practices, religions (christianity, pagan(waaq), islam) , pre-history, legends, rituals in one shared space.

Another interesting thing she points out elsewhere is how ''Awdal'' means ''The Land of Saints" in the Somali language. Aw(Saint) + Dal(Land) and how the walled town of Dakkar/Doggor was a pre-cursor to Harar. You prolly find this interesting @Shimbiris

Fardowsa/Sheikh was another interior city

Fardowsa – Statehorn

statehorn.com

Badda as well in the interior

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0067270X.2021.1925025

The three larger towns are located in the same region where the first interior city in Somalia was reported in 1154. It is possible that one of the newly reported sites represents that forgotten city

But yeah interior cities were often connected to trade routes leading to the coast and other settlements.

 

[Araabi]

By the way @Zak12 the interior city of Abasa is mentioned during the 1600s by a portuguese missionary

''I might be perhaps be to called from Abaxa, the Capital City of the Kingdom of Adel''

Archeology of Abasa

Abasa – Statehorn

statehorn.com

Kola’s Kingdom: The Territory of Abasa (Western Somaliland) during the Medieval Period - International Journal of Historical Archaeology

During the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, the territory of western Somaliland was integrated into a series of Muslim states which controlled large areas of the southeastern Horn of Africa. One of the ways this control manifested itself was in the emergence of a network of permanent...

link.springer.com

Ignore the Galla stuff repeated in those links by orientalist like Burton and others
Because its proven that it's local traditions referring to Gaal means camel or Gaalo(Non-Muslim) that they misrepresent.

They even say this which is false


We know this not to be true, because the city is mentioned in the 1600s, so its original name remained.

It had monumental walled entrances and buildings made of large blocks of stones as well, so it was most likely an administrative base. They also found villages and hamlets connected to the city , probably used for agricultural production to support it.


It's a shame people haven't looked at Dakar/Doggor yet either,


Fardowsa/Sheikh was another interior city

Fardowsa – Statehorn

statehorn.com

Badda as well in the interior

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0067270X.2021.1925025

But yeah interior cities were often connected to trade routes leading to the coast and other settlements.

Burton visited quite a few inland towns of great historical importance to Somali history such as Abasa, Awbare, Awbube and others. Good find