Afgooye ( Somali : Afgooye , Arabic : أفجويى , Italian : Afgoi ) is a town in the southeastern Somalia Lower Shebelle (Shabellaha Hoose) region of Somalia . It is the center of the Afgooye District . Afgooye is the third largest city of Southwest State . Afgooye is one of the oldest towns on the lower Shebelle valley, 30 kilometers north of Mogadishu . Afgooye is the site of Lafoole college, the first college of education in Somalia , built on the site of the battle of Lafoole of 1896. Afgooye is also known for the Istunka , the annual "stick fight" carnival commemorating the New Year in the riverine region. It was a trade center for the Silcis Dynasty in the medieval period then fell under Ajuran rule. Around the late 17th century, Afgooye became the capital of Geledi Sultanate .
105-619: In the Somali language , Afgooye translates to split mouth or open/ split closing. It is situated about 30 kilometres west of Mogadishu , the capital of Somalia. The Shabelle River passes through the middle of the town. The Silcis Dynasty were a section of Ajuran that governed the Afgooye district. Neither the Silcis nor the Ajuran developed the town, but limited themselves to controlling
210-747: A Latin orthography as the official national alphabet over several other writing scripts that were then in use. Concurrently, the Italian -language daily newspaper Stella d'Ottobre ("The October Star") was nationalized, renamed to Xiddigta Oktoobar , and began publishing in Somali. The state-run Radio Mogadishu has also broadcast in Somali since 1951. Additionally, other state-run public networks like Somaliland National TV , regional public networks such as Puntland TV and Radio and, as well as Eastern Television Network and Horn Cable Television , among other private broadcasters, air programs in Somali. Somali
315-667: A Greek travel document dating from the first century AD, as one of a series of commercial ports on the Somali littoral. According to the Periplus , maritime trade already connected peoples in the Mogadishu area with other communities along the Indian Ocean. During ancient times Mogadishu was part of the Somali city-states that engaged in a lucrative trade network connecting Somali merchants with Phoenicia , Ptolemic Egypt , Greece, Parthian Persia , Sabaeans , Nabataea and
420-458: A Muslim medieval geographer in the year 1220 describes Mogadishu as the most prominent town on the coast. Yaqut also mentioned Mogadishu as being a town inhabited by Berbers, described as "dark-skinned" and considered ancestors of modern Somalis. By the thirteenth century, Ibn Sa'id described Mogadishu, Merca and Barawa located in the Benadir coast had become Islamic and commercial centers in
525-480: A base in the area. Istunka , also known as isgaraac , was the name for annual mock combat festival in Afgooye, which marks the new year and one of the best known tourist attractions in the region. The festival was developed during the medieval Ajuran period . It was later expanded upon by Sultan Ahmed Yusuf (Gobroon) becoming a centralized tournament separate teams were established, each supported by an assembly of poets, female vocalists and dance groups throughout
630-584: A bloodless takeover. The putsch was spearheaded by Major General Mohamed Siad Barre , who at the time commanded the army. Alongside Barre, the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) that assumed power after President Sharmarke's assassination was led by Lieutenant Colonel Salaad Gabeyre Kediye and Chief of Police Jama Ali Korshel . Kediye officially held the title of "Father of the Revolution," and Barre shortly afterwards became
735-468: A historic ally of Somalia. In October 2017, over 500 people were killed by a truck bombing . In March 2022, al-Shabaab killed over 60 people in a series of attacks . In October 2022, an al-Shabaab double car bombing killed over 120 people. On 14 March, militants attacked and sieged the SYL Hotel in Mogadishu . In July 2024, At least eight people are killed and twenty-one others injured in
840-499: A king over it, and is a place of great trade in merchandise. Ships come there from the kingdom of Cambay (India) and from Aden with stuffs of all kinds, and with spices. And they carry away from there much gold, ivory, beeswax, and other things upon which they make a profit. In this town there is plenty of meat, wheat, barley, and horses, and much fruit: it is a very rich place. In 1542, the Portuguese commander João de Sepúvelda led
945-474: A measure (suus) of grain every day from each household; it was collected and loaded on a camel, others say a donkey. A tax was also imposed on those who brought their stock to water at the river”. Barile also describes the taxes levied by the Silcis. The final ruler of the Silcis in Lama Jiidle (Afgooye) was the sultan 'Umur Abukar Abroone. According to Luling, "His daughter Imbia used to go round collecting
1050-463: A new technocratic government was elected to office, which enacted numerous reforms, especially in the security sector. By August 2011, the new administration and its AMISOM allies had managed to capture all of Mogadishu from the Al-Shabaab militants. Mogadishu has subsequently experienced a period of intense reconstruction spearheaded by the Somali diaspora, the municipal authorities, and Turkey,
1155-583: A period of decline and disarray near the end of the Hiraab Imamate . Following a struggle between the two leading figures of each respective quarter ( Shingani and Hamarweyn ) Sultan Yusuf marched into the city with an 8,000 strong army and ruled in favour of the Shingani leader, with the loser fleeing the city. Yusuf would nominate a relative of the deposed chief to lead the Hamarweyn quarter ending
SECTION 10
#17327733489321260-426: A period of major reconstruction commenced. The origins of the name Mogadishu (Muqdisho) have many theories but it is most likely derived from a morphology of the Somali words Muuq and Disho which mean "Sight Killer" or "Blinder", possibly referring to the city's blinding beauty. Magh'ad-e shāh ( Persian : مقعد شاه ) is another phrase from which the name of Mogadishu is believed to be derived, meaning "seat of
1365-437: A powerful military machine but, by its use of Asraar or Ta'daar the feared "secret mystical language" was a formidable force in other respects as well. Afgooye at that time was a trading hub center controlling the trade route between the coast and interior. All roads were linked to Afgooye which gave the city immense leverage. During the early 19th century, the city's population was estimated to have exceeded 80,000 making it one of
1470-493: A prominent 40,000-entry Somali dictionary. Most of the terms consisted of commonly used nouns. These lexical borrowings may have been more extensive in the past since a few words that Zaborski (1967:122) observed in the older literature were absent in Agostini's later work. In addition, the majority of personal names are derived from Arabic. The Somali language also contains a few Indo-European loanwords that were retained from
1575-468: A small fleet on an expedition to the Somali coast . During this expedition, he briefly attacked Mogadishu, capturing an Ottoman ship and firing upon the city, which compelled the sultan of Mogadishu to sign a peace treaty with the Portuguese. According to the 16th-century explorer, Leo Africanus indicates that the native inhabitants of the Mogadishu polity were of the same origins as the denizens of
1680-706: A small team of African Union troops, the coalition government also began a counteroffensive in February 2009 to retake control of the southern half of the country. To solidify its control of southern Somalia, the TFG formed an alliance with the Islamic Courts Union, other members of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia , and Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a , a moderate Sufi militia. In November 2010,
1785-504: A variety of fruits and vegetables. The Afgooyans say "Laka Beere beerwaye" (you can count on your farm), as opposed to the nomads who counted their camels. Afgooyans raised cows, goats, sheep, and chicken for meat, milk, and ghee. It is said that every household in Afgooye was wealthy and you could not find a single poor person. Afgooye merchants boasted their wealth; one of their wealthiest said Moordiinle iyo Mereeyey iyo mooro lidow, maalki jeri keenow kuma moogi malabside . Bring all
1890-471: A vast trading network, dominated the regional gold trade, minted its own currency , and left an extensive architectural legacy in present-day southern Somalia. A local city-state which much influence over the hinterland neighbouring coastal towns. For many years Mogadishu functioned as the pre-eminent city in the بلد البربر ( Bilad al Barbar – "Land of the Berbers "), as medieval Arabic-speakers named
1995-646: Is a geodetic datum used in Somalia. Afgooye datum is based on the Krasovsky ellipsoid and the Greenwich prime meridian . Somali language Somali ( / s ə ˈ m ɑː l i , s oʊ -/ sə- MAH -lee, soh- ; Latin script: Af Soomaali ; Wadaad : اف صومالِ ; Osmanya : 𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘 [af soːmaːli] ) is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch. It
2100-524: Is a result of a long series of southward population movements over the past ten centuries from the Gulf of Aden littoral. Lamberti subdivides Northern Somali into three dialects: Northern Somali proper (spoken in the northwest; he describes this dialect as Northern Somali in the proper sense), the Darod group (spoken in the northeast and along the eastern Ethiopia frontier; greatest number of speakers overall), and
2205-448: Is a tonal language, whereas Banti (1988) suggests that it is a pitch system. The syllable structure of Somali is (C)V(C). Root morphemes usually have a mono- or di-syllabic structure. Clusters of two consonants do not occur word-initially or word-finally, i.e., they only occur at syllable boundaries. The following consonants can be geminate: /b/, /d/, /ɖ/, /ɡ/, /ɢ/, /m/, /n/, /r/ and /l/. The following cannot be geminate: /t/, /k/ and
SECTION 20
#17327733489322310-563: Is located in the coastal Banaadir region on the Indian Ocean, which, unlike other Somali regions, is considered a municipality rather than a maamul goboleed (federal state). Mogadishu has a long history, which ranges from the ancient period up until the present, serving as the capital of the Sultanate of Mogadishu in the 9th-13th century, which for many centuries controlled the Indian Ocean gold trade and eventually came under
2415-597: Is not marked, and front and back vowels are not distinguished. Writing systems developed in the twentieth century include the Osmanya , Borama and Kaddare alphabets , which were invented by Osman Yusuf Kenadid , Abdurahman Sheikh Nuur and Hussein Sheikh Ahmed Kaddare , respectively. Several digital collections of texts in the Somali language have been developed in recent decades. These corpora include Kaydka Af Soomaaliga (KAF), Bangiga Af Soomaaliga,
2520-481: Is rarely pronounced as a velar fricative, Partially the reason why is that it is mostly found in Arabic loanwords. It is pronounced as the phoneme χ when it is an allophone for the letter ⟨q⟩ in syllabic codas. As in A kh ri from A q ri meaning (read). Pitch is phonemic in Somali, but it is debated whether Somali is a pitch accent , or it is a tonal language . Andrzejewski (1954) posits that Somali
2625-584: Is recognized as an official working language in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Although it is not an official language of Djibouti , it constitutes a major national language there. Somali is used in television and radio broadcasts, with the government-operated Radio Djibouti transmitting programs in the language from 1943 onwards. The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation also broadcasts in the Somali language in its Iftin FM Programmes. The language
2730-467: Is similar to the stem alternation that typifies Cairene Arabic . Somali has two sets of pronouns: independent (substantive, emphatic) pronouns and clitic (verbal) pronouns. The independent pronouns behave grammatically as nouns, and normally occur with the suffixed article -ka/-ta (e.g. adiga , "you"). This article may be omitted after a conjunction or focus word. For example, adna meaning "and you..." (from adi - na ). Clitic pronouns are attached to
2835-718: Is spoken in the Somali territories within North Eastern Kenya , namely Wajir County , Garissa County and Mandera County . The Somali language is regulated by the Regional Somali Language Academy , an intergovernmental institution established in June 2013 in Djibouti City by the governments of Djibouti, Somalia and Ethiopia. It is officially mandated with preserving the Somali language. As of October 2022, Somali and Oromo are
2940-686: Is spoken primarily in Greater Somalia , and by the Somali diaspora as a mother tongue. Somali is an official language in both Somalia and Ethiopia , and serves as a national language in Djibouti , it is also a recognised minority language in Kenya . The Somali language is officially written with the Latin alphabet although the Arabic script and several Somali scripts like Osmanya , Kaddare and
3045-710: Is traditionally inhabited by four clans. These are the Moorshe, Iskashato, DhabarWeyne, and the Bandawow. Moorshe is regarded the oldest group in Mogadishu and is considered to be a sub-clan of Ajuran who established one of the most powerful medieval kingdoms in Africa, the Ajuran Sultanate . The Gibil Madow (Dark Skins) faction of the Benadiri are said to hail from the Somali clan groups from inland which make up
3150-490: The Ajuran Sultanate in the 13th century which was an important player in the medieval Silk Road maritime trade. Mogadishu enjoyed the height of its prosperity during the 14th and 15th centuries and was during the early modern period considered the wealthiest city on the East African coast, as well as the center of a thriving textile industry. In the 17th century, Mogadishu and parts of southern Somalia fell under
3255-621: The Battle of Ras Kamboni , raged, TFG President and founder Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed , a former colonel in the Somali Army, entered Mogadishu for the first time since being elected to office. The government then relocated to Villa Somalia in Mogadishu from its interim location in Baidoa , marking the first time since the fall of the Barre regime in 1991 that the federal government controlled most of
Afgooye - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-626: The Borama script are informally used. Somali is classified within the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic family, specifically, Lowland East Cushitic in addition to Afar and Saho . Somali is the best-documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies of the language dating back to the late 19th century. The Somali language is spoken in Somali inhabited areas of Somalia , Djibouti , Ethiopia , Kenya , Yemen and by members of
3465-585: The Hiraab Imamate . In the 19th century, it came under the Sultanate of the Geledi 's sphere of influence. In 1894, the Somali chief had signed a treaty of peace, friendship, and protection with Filonardi of the Commercial Company of Benadir. The onset of Italian colonial rule occurred in stages, with treaties signed in the 1880s followed by economic engagement between Somali clans and the Commercial Company of Benadir, and then direct governance by
3570-571: The Indian Ocean . He said the local people in the Benadir coast and the interior were predominantly inhabited by Somalis with a minority of Arab, Persian and Indian merchants living in the coastal towns. Ibn al-Mujawir mentions the Banu Majid who fled the Mundhiriya region in Yemen in the year 1159 and settled in Mogadishu and also traders from the port towns of Abyan and Haram. Mogadishu
3675-574: The Islamic Courts Union (ICU), an Islamist organization, assumed control of much of the southern part of the country and imposed sharia law. The new Transitional Federal Government (TFG), established two years earlier, sought to establish its authority. With the assistance of Ethiopian troops , AMISOM peacekeepers and air support by the United States, it drove out the rival ICU and solidified its rule. On 8 January 2007, as
3780-615: The Italian Empire after 1906, British Military Administration of Somalia after World War II and the Trust Territory of Somaliland administered by Italy in the 1950s. This was followed by independence in 1960, the Somali Democratic Republic era during Siad Barre 's presidency (1969–1991). The three-decade long Somali Civil War afterwards devastated the city. As of the late 2010s and 2020s,
3885-455: The Near East and South Asia (e.g. khiyaar "cucumber" from Persian : خيار khiyār ). Other loan words have also displaced their native synonyms in some dialects (e.g. jabaati "a type of flat bread" from Hindi: चपाती chapāti displacing sabaayad). Some of these words were also borrowed indirectly via Arabic. As part of a broader governmental effort of linguistic purism in
3990-520: The Ottoman Empire , and with the import of firearms such as muskets and cannons . Most were Muslims, although a few adhered to pre-Islamic beliefs ; there were also some Orthodox Tewahedo Christians further inland. Mogadishu itself was a wealthy, and well-built city-state, which maintained commercial trade with kingdoms across the world. The metropolis city was surrounded by walled stone fortifications. The Ajuran Sultanate collapsed in
4095-588: The Roman Empire . Somali sailors used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the beden to transport their cargo. The founding ethnicity of Mogadishu and its subsequent sultanate has been a topic of intrigue in Somali Studies . Ioan Lewis and Enrico Cerulli believed that the city was founded and ruled by a council of Arab and Persian families. However, the reference I.M Lewis and Cerulli received traces back to one 19th century text called
4200-553: The Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain, scientist Johann Maria Hildebrandt noted upon visiting the area that "we know from ancient authors that these districts, at present so desert, were formerly populous and civilised[...] I also discovered ancient ruins and rock-inscriptions both in pictures and characters[...] These have hitherto not been deciphered." According to the 1974 report for Ministry of Information and National Guidance, this script represents
4305-431: The Somali diaspora . It is also spoken as an adoptive language by a few ethnic minority groups and individuals in Somali majority regions. Somali is the most widely spoken Cushitic language in the region followed by Oromo and Afar . As of 2021, there are approximately 24 million speakers of Somali, spread in Greater Somalia of which around 17 million reside in Somalia. The language is spoken by an estimated 95% of
Afgooye - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-522: The State of Somaliland , and the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somaliland) followed suit five days later. On 1 July 1960, the two territories united to form the Somali Republic, with Mogadishu serving as the nation's capital. A government was formed by Abdullahi Issa and other members of the trusteeship and protectorate governments, with Haji Bashir Ismail Yusuf as President of
4515-448: The Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) declared it the Somali Democratic Republic 's primary language of administration and education. Somali was thereafter established as the main language of academic instruction in forms 1 through 4 , following preparatory work by the government-appointed Somali Language Committee. It later expanded to include all 12 forms in 1979. In 1972, the SRC adopted
4620-622: The United Nations Operation in Somalia II several gun battles took place in Mogadishu between Somali factions, volunteers and peacekeepers . Among these was the Battle of Mogadishu of 1993 , a US apprehension of two high-ranking lieutenants of the Somali National Alliance . The UN soldiers withdrew altogether from the country on 3 March 1995, having incurred more significant casualties. In 2006,
4725-496: The 16th century, Duarte Barbosa noted that many ships from the Kingdom of Cambaya sailed to Mogadishu with cloths and spices for which they in return received gold , wax and ivory . Barbosa also highlighted the abundance of meat, wheat, barley, horses, and fruit on the coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants. Mogadishu, the center of a thriving weaving industry known as toob benadir (specialized for
4830-768: The 17th century due to heavy taxation against their subjects, which started a rebellion. The ex-subjects became a new wave of Somali migrants, the Abgaal , moved both into the Shebelle River basin and Mogadishu. A new political elite led by Abgaal Yaquub imams , with ties to the new leaders in the interior, moved into the Shangani District of the city. Remnants of the Ajuran lived in the other key-quarters of Hamar Weyne District . Ajuran merchants began to look for new linkages and regional trade opportunities since
4935-521: The 1980s, Afgooye was a common destination for investors from the Gulf States . The Emir of Kuwait also reportedly used to visit the town during the holy month of Ramadan . After the outbreak of the civil war in 1991, parts of the town became a place of refuge for many of southern Somalia's internally displaced people. On May 25, 2012, Somali government forces backed by AMISOM tanks re-captured Afgooye from Al-Shabaab , which had established
5040-535: The Abgaal had commandeered the existing trading networks. By the 17th century, the Hiraab Imamate was a powerful kingdom that ruled large parts of southern and central Somalia. It successfully revolted against the Ajuran Sultanate and established an independent rule for at least two centuries from the seventeen hundreds and onwards. By the late 19th century, the Imamate began to decline due to internal problems,
5145-641: The Cushitic and Semitic Afroasiatic languages spoken in the Horn region (e.g. Amharic ). However, Somali noun phrases are head-initial, whereby the noun precedes its modifying adjective. This pattern of general head-finality with head-initial noun phrases is also found in other Cushitic languages (e.g. Oromo), but not generally in Ethiopian Semitic languages. Somali uses three focus markers: baa , ayaa and waxa(a) , which generally mark new information or contrastive emphasis. Baa and ayaa require
5250-581: The Hiraab Imam to acquiesce to the decision. Omani and later Zanzibari officials were mere representatives of the Sultan to collect customs and needed the fort for their own security rather than control of the city. The Fort of Garessa was eventually constructed in 1870. The Sultan of Zanzibar later leased and then sold the infrastructure that he had built to the Italians, but not the land itself, which
5355-797: The Imamate also faced challenges from Imperialist kingdoms, the Zanzibari Sultan from the coast and Geledi Sultanate , and Hobyo Sultanate from the interior from both directions. The Sultanate of Geledi and the Omani Empire vied over who would be the superior power on the Benadir Coast, with Sultan Yusuf Mahamud ultimately being the dominant force with the Omanis having a nominal presence and Said bin Sultan even paying tribute to him in order to keep Omani representatives in Mogadishu. Mogadishu under Abgaal control had been in
SECTION 50
#17327733489325460-587: The Kitab Al-Zunuj, which has been discredited by modern scholars as unreliable and unhistorical. More importantly, it contradicts oral, ancient written sources and archaeological evidence on the pre-existing civilizations and communities that flourished on the Somali coast, and to which were the forefathers of Mogadishu and other coastal cities. Thus, the Persian and Arab founding "myths" are regarded as an outdated false colonialist reflection on Africans ability to create their own sophisticated states. It has now been widely accepted that there were already communities on
5565-425: The Latin nor Osmanya scripts accommodate this numerical switching. *the commas in the Osmanya number chart are added for clarity Mogadishu Mogadishu , locally known as Xamar or Hamar , is the capital and most populous city of Somalia . The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has an estimated urban population of 2,610,483. Mogadishu
5670-526: The Lower Juba group (spoken by northern Somali settlers in the southern riverine areas). Benadir (also known as Coastal Somali) is spoken on the central Indian Ocean seaboard, including Mogadishu . It forms a relatively smaller group. The dialect is fairly mutually intelligible with Northern Somali. The language has five basic vowels . Somali has 22 consonant phonemes . The retroflex plosive /ɖ/ may have an implosive quality for some Somali Bantu speakers, and intervocalically it can be realized as
5775-409: The Mogadishu-based new regime's foreign policy placed an emphasis on Somalia's traditional and religious links with the Arab world , eventually joining the Arab League in 1974. After fallout from the unsuccessful Ogaden campaign of the late 1970s, the Barre administration began arresting government and military officials under suspicion of participation in the 1978 coup d'état attempt . Most of
5880-400: The Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) group of Islamist rebels participated in peace talks in Djibouti brokered by the UN. The conference ended with a signed agreement calling for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops in exchange for the cessation of armed confrontation. Parliament was subsequently expanded to 550 seats to accommodate ARS members, which then elected a new president. With the help of
5985-409: The Semitic Himyarite and Sabaean languages that were largely spoken in what is modern day Yemen —"there is an extensive and ancient relationship between the people and cultures of both sides of the Red Sea coast" Mire posits. Yet, while many more such ancient inscriptions are yet to be found or analyzed, many have been "bulldozed by developers, as the Ministry of Tourism could not buy the land or stop
6090-409: The Shah/merchant Shah" which reflects the city's early Persian influence. The Arabic ' mads ', meaning "hallowed (place)" may also be a root after establishment. The 16th century explorer Leo Africanus knew the city as Magadazo (alt. Magadoxo ). The ancient city of Sarapion is believed to have been the predecessor state of Mogadishu. It is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea ,
6195-418: The Somali National Assembly, Aden Abdullah Osman Daar as President of the Somali Republic , and Abdirashid Ali Shermarke as Prime Minister (later to become president from 1967 to 1969). On 20 July 1961 and through a popular referendum , the people of Somalia ratified a new constitution , which was first drafted in 1960. In 1967, Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal became Prime Minister, a position to which he
6300-547: The Somali Web Corpus (soWaC), a Somali read-speech corpus, Asaas (Beginning in Somali) and a Web-Based Somali Language Model and text Corpus called Wargeys (Newspaper in Somali). For all numbers between 11 kow iyo toban and 99 sagaashal iyo sagaal , it is equally correct to switch the placement of the numbers, although larger numbers is some dialects prefer to place the 10s numeral first. For example 25 may both be written as labaatan iyo shan and shan iyo labaatan (lit. Twenty and Five & Five and Twenty). Although neither
6405-412: The Somali coast with ethnic Somali leadership, to whom the Arab and Persian families had to ask for permission to settle in their cities. It also seems the local Somalis retained their political and numerical superiority on the coast while the Muslim immigrants would go through an assimilation process by adopting the local language and culture. Mogadishu along with Zeila and other Somali coastal cities
SECTION 60
#17327733489326510-421: The Somali coast. Following his visit to the city, the 12th-century Syrian historian Yaqut al-Hamawi (a former slave of Greek origin) wrote a global history of many places he visited Mogadishu and called it the richest and most powerful city in the region and was an Islamic center across the Indian Ocean . During his travels, ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi (1213–1286) noted that Mogadishu city had already become
6615-441: The Somali language, the past few decades have seen a push in Somalia toward replacement of loanwords in general with their Somali equivalents or neologisms . To this end, the Supreme Revolutionary Council during its tenure officially prohibited the borrowing and use of English and Italian terms. Archaeological excavations and research in Somalia uncovered ancient inscriptions in a distinct writing system . In an 1878 report to
6720-426: The Somali people's extensive social, cultural, commercial and religious links and contacts with nearby populations in the Arabian peninsula. Arabic loanwords are most commonly used in religious, administrative and education-related speech (e.g. aamiin for "faith in God"), though they are also present in other areas (e.g. kubbad-da , "ball"). Soravia (1994) noted a total of 1,436 Arabic loanwords in Agostini a.o. 1985,
6825-409: The Somali poems by Sheikh Uways and Sheikh Ismaaciil Faarah. The rest of the existing historical literature in Somali principally consists of translations of documents from Arabic. Since then a number of writing systems have been used for transcribing the Somali language. Of these, the Somali Latin alphabet , officially adopted in 1972, is the most widely used and recognised as official orthography of
6930-420: The caravan routes and collecting taxes and tribute. The Silcis center of power was in Lama Jiidle (present day Afgooye). Lama Jiidle means "two roads" in Somali. The Silcis imposed taxation on their subject clans, such as the Wacdaan, a fellow subclan of the Gurgate Hawiye, and the Geledi, a Rahanweyn subclan. According to Virginia Luling, "The Sil'is imposed their dominion on the Geledi, who had to pay as tribute
7035-465: The city's population of 50,000 residents. Mogadishu remained the capital of Italian Somaliland throughout the latter polity's existence. In World War II it was captured by British forces in February 1941. After World War II Mogadishu was made the capital of the Trust Territory of Somaliland , an Italian administered fiduciary political entity under the UNO mandate, for ten years (1950–1960). British Somaliland became independent on 26 June 1960 as
7140-543: The colonial period. Most of these lexical borrowings come from English and Italian and are used to describe modern concepts (e.g. telefishen-ka , "the television"; raadia-ha , "the radio"). There are 300 loan words from Italian, such as garawati for "tie" (from Italian cravatta ), dimuqraadi from democratico (democratic), mikroskoob from microscopio , and so on. Additionally, Somali contains lexical terms from Persian , Urdu and Hindi that were acquired through historical trade with communities in
7245-458: The country's inhabitants, and also by a majority of the population in Djibouti. Following the start of the Somali Civil War in the early 1990s, the Somali-speaking diaspora increased in size, with newer Somali speech communities forming in parts of the Middle East, North America and Europe. Constitutionally, Somali and Arabic are the two official languages of Somalia . Somali has been an official national language since January 1973, when
7350-464: The country. Following this defeat, the Islamic Courts Union splintered into factions. Some of the more radical elements, including a youth milita within the courts military wing known as al-Shabaab , regrouped to continue their insurgency against the TFG and oppose the Ethiopian military 's presence in Somalia. Throughout 2007 and 2008, al-Shabaab scored military victories, seizing control of key towns and ports in both central and southern Somalia. At
7455-406: The country. Mogadishu saw its first major outbreak of violence during the 14 July 1989 riots , during the crackdown Barres forces killed approximately 400 civilians. The July 1989 riots resulted in a large exodus of foreigners from the city and intensification of opposition towards the regime. This incident and other events over the following months led to the outbreak of the civil war in 1991,
7560-400: The daily tribute of grain, accompanied by her slaves" from her father's Wacdaan and Geledi subjects. Oral accounts hold that one day, "when the Sultan's daughter came round to collect the tribute, she got a beating instead of the grain", as the Geledi refused to pay. When Imbia reported this event to her father, he exclaimed "waa la i afgooye", literally "they have cut off my mouth", meaning that
7665-534: The destruction". Besides Ahmed's Latin script, other orthographies that have been used for centuries for writing the Somali language include the long-established Arabic script and Wadaad's writing . According to Bogumił Andrzejewski , this usage was limited to Somali clerics and their associates, as sheikhs preferred to write in the liturgical Arabic language. Various such historical manuscripts in Somali nonetheless exist, which mainly consist of Islamic poems ( qasidas ), recitations and chants. Among these texts are
7770-451: The dispute. Sultan Yusuf is even referred to as the governor of Mogadishu in some sources, highlighting the power he exerted over the city. Despite the Somali political decline, trade with Geledi Sultanate flourished during Geledi Sultan Ahmed Yusuf 's reign. British explorer John Kirk visited the region in 1873 and noted a variety of things. Roughly 20 large dhows were docked in both Mogadishu and Merka filled with grain produced from
7875-527: The duration of the contest. In the modern era, the festival evolved into a local attraction; particularly during the 1970s and 80s. It is still practised annually in the town. Afgooye has a population of around 79,400 inhabitants. The broader Afgooye District has a total population of 135,012 residents. Afgooye District is predominantly inhabited by the Geledi and Garre clans with a small minority of Begedi clan all sub-clans of Digil/Rahanweyn . Afgooye
7980-402: The earliest written attestation of Somali. Much more recently, Somali archaeologist Sada Mire has published ancient inscriptions found throughout Somaliland . As much for much of Somali linguistic history the language was not widely used for literature, Dr. Mire's publications however prove that writing as a technology was not foreign nor scarce in the region. These piece of writing are from
8085-548: The end of 2008, the group had captured Baidoa but not Mogadishu. By January 2009, al-Shabaab and other militias had managed to force the Ethiopian troops to retreat, leaving behind an under-equipped African Union peacekeeping force to assist the Transitional Federal Government's troops. Between 31 May and 9 June 2008, representatives of Somalia's federal government and the moderate Alliance for
8190-533: The farms of the Geledi in the interior. Kirk met the Imam Mahmood who reigned over Mogadishu. The Shabelle river itself was referred to as the 'Geledi river' by Kirk, perhaps in respect of the volume of produce that the Sultanate output. In Barawa there was little grain instead a large quantity of ivory and skins which had already been loaded onto ships destined for Zanzibar . The Geledi Sultans were at
8295-441: The flap [ɽ] . Some speakers produce /ħ/ with epiglottal trilling as / ʜ / in retrospect. /q/ is often epiglottalized . The letter ⟨dh⟩ is a retroflex flap when it is pronounced intervocalically, hence becoming the phoneme ( ɽ ): for example, Qu r aanjo (Ant) from Qu dh aanjo; But however, more often than not is the pronunciation of ɽ to the unretained-retroflex ɾ . The letter ⟨kh⟩
8400-400: The focused element to occur preverbally, while waxa(a) may be used following the verb. Somali loanwords can be divided into those derived from other Afroasiatic languages (mainly Arabic), and those of Indo-European extraction (mainly Italian). Somali's main lexical borrowings come from Arabic, and are estimated to constitute about 20% of the language's vocabulary. This is a legacy of
8505-471: The fricatives. Two vowels cannot occur together at syllable boundaries. Epenthetic consonants, e.g. [j] and [ʔ], are therefore inserted. Somali is an agglutinative language, and also shows properties of inflection . Affixes mark many grammatical meanings, including aspect, tense and case. Somali has an old prefixal verbal inflection restricted to four common verbs, with all other verbs undergoing inflection by more obvious suffixation. This general pattern
8610-564: The head of the SRC. The SRC subsequently renamed the country the Somali Democratic Republic , arrested members of the former civilian government, banned political parties, dissolved the parliament and the Supreme Court, and suspended the constitution. The revolutionary army established large-scale public works programmes, including the Mogadishu Stadium . In addition to a nationalization programme of industry and land,
8715-598: The height of their power. They dominated the East African ivory trade, and also held sway over the Jubba and Shebelle valleys in the hinterland. The Omani Sultans' authority in Mogadishu, however, was largely nominal (existing by name only). When Imam Azzan bin Qais of Oman sought to build a fort in the city, he was thus obligated to request permission from Sultan Ahmed Yusuf the real power broker who in turn convinced
8820-534: The hospitality of the people of Mogadishu and how locals would put travellers up in their home to help the local economy. Battuta added that the city was ruled by a Somali sultan , Abu Bakr ibn Shaikh 'Umar, He noted that Sultan Abu Bakr had dark skin complexion and spoke in his native tongue (Somali) but was also fluent in Arabic. The Sultan also had a retinue of viziers , legal experts, commanders, royal eunuchs , and other officials at his beck and call. Ibn Khaldun (1332 to 1406) noted in his book that Mogadishu
8925-466: The identification of ancient Sarapion with the city that would later be known as Mogadishu. When Ibn Battuta visited the Sultanate in the 14th century, he identified the Sultan as being of Barbara origin, an ancient term to describe the ancestors of the Somali people . According to Ross E. Dunn neither Mogadishu, or any other city on the coast could be considered alien enclaves of Arabs or Persians, but were in-fact African towns. Yaqut al-Hamawi ,
9030-538: The inter-riverine region and Benadir coast. Its headquarters was located in Afgooye which was an extremely wealthy and large city. Afgooye having some thriving industries such as weaving , shoemaking , tableware , jewellery , pottery and produced other various products. Afgooye was the crossroads of caravans bringing ivory, leopard skins, and aloe in exchange for foreign fabrics, sugar, dates, and firearms. Afgooyans also traded livestock and slaves. The outside inhabitants of Afgooye grew sorghum, beans, cotton, bananas, and
9135-494: The largest cities in East Africa of that time. The city was surrounded by a large wall with five fortified gates. It had many complex structures such as multi-story high buildings, big palaces in the center, mosques, residential houses, shops, roads, and bridges. They also built an advanced plumbing system, a drainage system, and a sewage system. The city was very vibrant and developed in its time. The Sultanate ruled most of
9240-473: The leading Islamic centre in the region. By the time of the Tangier -born traveller ibn Battuta 's appearance on the coastline of Somalia in 1331, the city was at the zenith of its prosperity. He described Mogadishu as "an exceedingly large city" with many rich merchants, which was famous for its high quality fabric that it exported to Mamluk Sultanate -ruled Egypt , among other places. He also describes
9345-470: The majority of Benadiris with a small minority being Gibil Cads (Light Skins) which descend from Muslim immigrants. The Mogadishu Sultanate was a medieval Somali sultanate centered in southern Somalia . It rose as one of the pre-eminent powers in the Horn of Africa under the rule of Fakhr ad-Din before becoming part of the expanding Ajuran Empire in the 13th century. The Mogadishu Sultanate maintained
9450-473: The markets in Egypt and Syria ), together with Merca and Barawa also served as transit stops for Swahili merchants from Mombasa and Malindi and for the gold trade from Kilwa . Jewish merchants from Ormus also brought their Indian textile and fruit to the Somali coast in exchange for grain and wood. Duarte Barbosa , the famous Portuguese traveller, wrote about Mogadishu (c 1517–1518): It has
9555-496: The northern people of Zeila the capital of Adal Sultanate . They were generally tall with an olive skin complexion, some darker. They would wear traditional rich white silk wrapped around their bodies and have Islamic turbans, and coastal people only wore sarongs and wrote in Arabic as a lingua franca . Their weaponry consisted of traditional Somali weapons such as swords , daggers , spears , battle axe , and bow and arrows . However, they received assistance from its close ally,
9660-523: The only Cushitic languages available on Google Translate . The Somali languages are broadly divided into three main groups: Northern Somali , Benadir and Maay . Northern Somali forms the basis for Standard Somali. It is spoken by the majority of the Somali population with its speech area stretching from Djibouti , and the Somali Region of Ethiopia to the Northern Frontier District . This widespread modern distribution
9765-428: The people who had allegedly helped plot the putsch were summarily executed. However, several officials escaped abroad and started to form dissident groups dedicated to ousting Barre's regime by force. By the late 1980s, Barre's regime had become increasingly unpopular. The authorities became ever more totalitarian , and resistance movements , encouraged by Ethiopia's communist Derg administration, sprang up across
9870-453: The plural of the masculine noun dibi ("bull") is formed by converting it into feminine dibi . Somali is unusual among the world's languages in that the object is unmarked for case while the subject is marked, though this feature is found in other Cushitic languages such as Oromo. Somali is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language. It is largely head final , with postpositions and with obliques preceding verbs. These are common features of
9975-531: The regime's source of provision had been terminated. Lama Jiidle's name became Afgooye to commemorate this victory over the Silcis. The Geledi mobilized and under Ibrahim Adeer a general who used to serve the Ajuran drove the Silcis out of Afgooye and established the Geledi Sultanate . Afgooye was in its golden age in the early modern period under the reign of the Gobroon dynasty which was not only
10080-622: The south near the capital, such as Janale and the Villaggio duca degli Abruzzi (present-day Jowhar ). In the 1930s, new buildings and avenues were built. A 114 km (71 mi) narrow-gauge railway was laid from Mogadishu to Jowhar. An asphalt road, the Strada Imperiale , was also constructed and intended to link Mogadishu to Addis Ababa . In 1940, the Italo-Somali population numbered 22,000, accounting for over 44% of
10185-557: The state. The script was developed by a number of leading scholars of Somali, including Musa Haji Ismail Galal , B. W. Andrzejewski and Shire Jama Ahmed specifically for transcribing the Somali language, and uses all letters of the English Latin alphabet except p , v and z . There are no diacritics or other special characters except the use of the apostrophe for the glottal stop , which does not occur word-initially. There are three consonant digraphs : DH, KH and SH. Tone
10290-479: The toppling of Barre's government, and the disbandment of the Somali National Army . Many of the opposition groups began competing for influence in the power vacuum that followed the ouster of Barre's regime. Armed factions led by United Somali Congress commanders General Mohamed Farah Aidid and Ali Mahdi Mohamed , in particular, clashed as each sought to exert authority over the capital. During
10395-408: The verb and do not take nominal morphology. Somali marks clusivity in the first person plural pronouns; this is also found in a number of other East Cushitic languages, such as Rendille and Dhaasanac. As in various other Afro-Asiatic languages, Somali is characterized by polarity of gender , whereby plural nouns usually take the opposite gender agreement of their singular forms. For example,
10500-486: The wealth of Moordiinle, Mereeyey, and the enclosures of lidow, I scarcely notice it. At the turn of the 20th century, Afgooye was incorporated into Italian Somaliland . The Italians occupied the town in 1908 and in the process abolished the local slave market . There was also a station in Afgooye on the Mogadishu-Villabruzzi Railway , which connected the town to the capital Mogadishu . In
10605-532: Was Somali owned. In 1905, Italy made Mogadishu the capital of the newly established Italian Somaliland . The Italians subsequently spelled the name of the city as Mogadiscio . After World War I , the surrounding territory came under Italian control with some resistance. Thousands of Italians and other people from the Italian empire began to settle in Mogadishu and founded small manufacturing companies across Somalia. They also developed some agricultural areas in
10710-496: Was a massive metropolis . He also claimed that the city was very populous with many wealthy merchants . This period gave birth to notable figures like Abd al-Aziz of Mogadishu who was described as the governor and island chief of Maldives by ibn Battuta. After him is named the Abdul-Aziz Mosque of Mogadishu, which survived for centuries. The island's appellation "Madagascar" is not of local origin but rather
10815-474: Was appointed by Shermarke. On 15 October 1969, while paying a visit to the northern town of Las Anod , Somalia's then President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards. His assassination was quickly followed by a military coup d'état on 21 October 1969 (the day after his funeral), in which the Somali Army seized power without encountering armed opposition — essentially
10920-501: Was founded upon an indigenous network involving hinterland trade and that happened even before significant Arab migrations or trade with the Somali coast. That goes back approximately four thousand years and are supported by archaeological and textual evidences. This is corroborated by the first century AD Greek document the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea , detailing multiple prosperous port cities in ancient Somalia, as well as
11025-542: Was popularized in the Middle Ages by Europeans. The name Madageiscar was first recorded in the memoirs of 13th-century Venetian explorer Marco Polo as a corrupted transliteration of the name Mogadishu, the famous port with which Polo had confused the island. Vasco da Gama , who passed by Mogadishu in the 15th century, noted that it was a large city with houses of four or five storeys high and large palaces in its centre and many mosques with cylindrical minarets. In
#931068