Why didn't Somali expand

[Khaemwaset]

Somali empires like Adal & Ajuuran had modern gunpowder weapons In the 1540s, meanwhile just beyond Tana river there was a vast plain of fertile lands sparsely populated by iron age bantu tribes who were 5 million max population back then.

Why didn't it happen? Horner states through history literally only invaded and conquered each other except for one time where Axumites conquered Yemen in 500ad and the Kushites conquered Egypt and invaded middle east in the 700BC. Those are the only two times.

Somalis only set up small trading ports in distant Madagascar in search of gold mines and founded city of Sofala in Mozambique during the Mogadishu Sultanate, but these never expanded into becoming Colonies.

 

[Khaemwaset]

 

[Internet Nomad]

Honestly idk we could’ve wiped the floor with half continent being ours in just two centuries.

Im guessing any type of Calvary take over would be impossible

All I just wished for was a naval expedition to Madagascar it could’ve been our Caribbean.

 

[Khaemwaset]

Honestly idk we could’ve wiped the floor with half continent being ours in just two centuries.

Im guessing any type of Calvary take over would be impossible
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Somalis didn't really focus on Calvary like the Oromo or Abyssinians did we could've pushed more inland from coastal towns and cleared the whole region but we didn't

 

[berberaboy66]

Lack of centralisation here really hurt us here

 

[Internet Nomad]

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[Internet Nomad]

Lack of centralisation here really hurt us here

The fall of Adal still haunts us till this day.

 

[Urabrask]

If we had united like other ethnic groups, maps of Africa would look very different. Somalia would be twice as large.

 

[Kizaru]

somlis control the entire horn of africa (somaliwayne) , even though they are the smallest of the bunch in the entire african continent. We are mearly a population of roughly 28 million but own more land then hausa people which are nearly 100 million, in fact we own triple if not quadruple more land then any ethnic group west or sub saharan africa. We are 28 million and somaliwayne got more land then 90% of europe lol.

 

[Khaemwaset]

Lack of centralisation here really hurt us here

Lack of centralisation still hurts us now. Think of all people that went from 0 to global power. Arabs erre just nomadic tribes in the desert until they were united by the Caliphatse where they conquered most the known world. Same with the Mongols who were nothing but another group of Barbarians on the frontier of China thay conquered the world fighting the Japanese, Egyptians, Indians and Europeans at the same time, conquering and enslaving Russia for centuries and destroying the Bulgarian empire.

 

[Urabrask]

Also important to note Somalia put up the fiercest resistance against European colonialism of any colonized Sub-Saharan country. If we had a bone of unity in our bodies we would have been an unconquered people like the Habesha. Somalia would span to Dirdhaba at the minimum.

 

[attash]

We did, but we got cockblocked by the British.

Adal was too preoccupied with the Abyssinians. Ajuuraan wasn't really a centralized empire, it was more of a confederation of polities who paid taxes to the Gareen clan. They couldn't expand because they were too preoccupied with maintaining control over rebellious tribes.

 

[berberaboy66]

The fall of Adal still haunts us till this day.

Adal was diverse too. There was harari afar and Muslims from up to Eritrea. In another world we could have created a Muslim Horn state and the world looks completely different.

 

[Internet Nomad]

Adal was diverse too. There was harari afar and Muslims from up to Eritrea. In another world we could have created a Muslim Horn state and the world looks completely different.

Diversity is our strength

 

[Emir of Zayla]

How many times have you asked this? You’re starting to sound like a broken record, were you expecting a different answer every time?

 

[Hilmaam]

somlis control the entire horn of africa (somaliwayne) , even though they are the smallest of the bunch in the entire african continent. We are mearly a population of roughly 28 million but own more land then hausa people which are nearly 100 million, in fact we own triple if not quadruple more land then any ethnic group west or sub saharan africa. We are 28 million and somaliwayne got more land then 90% of europe lol.

Control desert. the prime land is Ethiopian highlands. Good chunk of Somalis land is barren and only good for grazing. Highlands you can farm due to plenty of rain and good soil. We missed out because of lack of centralization and once they secured that land it’s easier for population to grow in agricultural society. Our population was kept in check for long time due to our harsh terrain. We are now growing because of aid and support from abroad with interconnected world

 

[berberaboy66]

Control desert. the prime land is Ethiopian highlands. Good chunk of Somalis land is barren and only good for grazing. Highlands you can farm due to plenty of rain and good soil. We missed out because of lack of centralization and once they secured that land it’s easier for population to grow in agricultural society. Our population was kept in check for long time due to our harsh terrain. We are now growing because of aid and support from abroad with interconnected world

The craziest thing is having a lot of land regardless of quality is so important now. Any extra land increases your chances of striking gold on a valuable mineral. That’s why there’s so many land/border disputes.

We have enough oil reserves (both on and offshore), natural gas and uranium to lift every Somali kid out of poverty.

It’s not like we don’t have farmland either it’s enough to work with, Jubaland alone if cultivated properly is enough to look after us.

 

[zeila2wajir]

Lack of centralisation. Somalis historically always did their own thing. If they centralised and stopped fighting each other every five minutes, not only would we have likely avoided colonisation, but likely we’d have had even more land.

 

[Hilmaam]

The craziest thing is having a lot of land regardless of quality is so important now. Any extra land increases your chances of striking gold on a valuable mineral. That’s why there’s so many land/border disputes.

We have enough oil reserves (both on and offshore), natural gas and uranium to lift every Somali kid out of poverty.

It’s not like we don’t have farmland either it’s enough to work with, Jubaland alone if cultivated properly is enough to look after us.

Yes there is potential even in desert land with modern world.

a lot of the claims about us being oil and resource rich is exaggerated. There is no proven oil reserves in Somalia. There is potential of course but just as easily be no oil that can economically be recovered. it’s unknown

Look how long Kenya has struggled with oil project in Turkana. I think it’s been since 2012 they been at it And latest update I heard was 2028

 

[Khaemwaset]

The fall of Adal still haunts us till this day.

We literally never recovered fully