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95-563: The Ajuran Sultanate ( Somali : Saldanadda Ajuuraan , Arabic : سلطنة الأجورانية ), natively referred to as Ajuuraan , and often simply Ajuran , was a medieval Muslim Empire in the Horn of Africa . Founded by Somali Sultans it ruled over large parts of the Horn of Africa during the Middle Ages via control over water. Its rise to prominence began during the 13th and 14th century. By

190-747: 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

285-551: A flourishing trade with foreign nations. The southeastern city-states of Kilwa , Mombasa , Malindi , Pate and Lamu were all systematically sacked and plundered by the Portuguese. Tristão da Cunha then set his eyes on Ajuran territory, where the Battle of Barawa was fought. After a long period of engagement, the Portuguese soldiers burned the city and looted it. Fierce resistance by the local populace and soldiers resulted in

380-665: A long-time practice in the Horn of Africa, continued unchanged in Ajuran times. Today, numerous ruined and abandoned towns throughout the interior of Somalia and the Horn of Africa are evidence of a once-booming inland trade network dating from the medieval period. With the centralized supervision of the Ajuran, farms in Afgooye , Kismayo and other areas in the Jubba and Shabelle valleys increased their productivity. A system of irrigation ditches known locally as Kelliyo fed directly from

475-522: A number of castles and forts in various areas within its realm, including a fortress at Ras Hafun. Pottery found in Oponean tombs date back to the Mycenaean Kingdom of Greece that flourished between the 16th and 11th century BC. Its major periods of activity were during the 1st century BC and the 3rd to the 5th centuries AD. Opone was mentioned by an anonymous Greek merchant in

570-493: 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

665-704: A skillful combination of warfare , trade linkages and alliances . In the fifteenth century, for example, the Ajuran Empire was the only hydraulic empire in Africa at the time. As a water dynasty, the Ajuran state monopolized the water resources of the Shebelle and Jubba rivers . Through hydraulic engineering , it constructed many of the limestone wells and cisterns of the state that remain in use til today. The rulers developed new systems for agriculture and taxation, which continued to be used in parts of

760-670: A wide range of fish products to international markets. Among these are lobsters , frozen fish, dried shark meat , and fin, which it mainly sends to Yemen , the United Arab Emirates , and Oman , as well as some products to Kenya . The company is exploring additional global markets for its fish. In late 2014, the Udug Ltd. Company, in conjunction with the United States –based REDD Engineering & Construction Incorporated, began conducting feasibility studies for

855-524: 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

950-448: 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

1045-732: Is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch. It 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

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1140-597: 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,

1235-627: Is produced, (the arebo and moto), and a great quantity of tortoiseshell , better than that found elsewhere. Opone served as a port of call for merchants from Phoenicia , Egypt , Greece , Persia , Yemen , Nabataea , Azania , the Roman Empire and elsewhere, as it sat at a strategic location along the coastal route from the Mochan trading center of Azania to the Red Sea . Merchants from as far afield as Indonesia and Malaysia passed through

1330-481: 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

1425-584: 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

1520-542: Is regarded as a successor to its more influential predecessor, the Adal Sultanate . The precise origins of the Ajuran vary as they are rooted in traditional Somali folklore. It was in the 13th century the Ajuran first appeared and began gaining power. For several centuries they exerted strong political influence on the inland pastoralists, while also embracing coastal trade and infrastructure. The sultanate functioned for approximately three centuries. The House of Garen

1615-467: 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

1710-738: Is spoken by an estimated 95% of 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

1805-562: Is spoken in Somali inhabited areas of Somalia , Djibouti , Ethiopia , Kenya , Yemen and by members of 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

1900-718: 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

1995-646: The Arabic script and several Somali scripts like Osmanya , Kaddare and 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

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2090-574: The Arabs and Swahilis under Portuguese rule and sent an envoy to the Turkish corsair Mir Ali Bey for a joint expedition against the Portuguese. He agreed and was joined by a Somali fleet in order to attack the Portuguese colonies in Southeast Africa . The Somali-Ottoman offensive managed to drive out the Portuguese from several important cities such as Pate , Mombasa and Kilwa . However,

2185-683: The Gaal Madow Wars on the Oromo invaders, converting those that were captured to Islam . The Ajuran Empire slowly declined in power at the end of the 17th century. In this period the rulers of the empire abandoned Sharia , became oppressive and enacted heavy taxation. The dethronement of the Muzaffar clients in Mogadishu and other coastal cities by the Abgaal imam who then established

2280-669: The Hiraab Imamate taking residence in Mogadishu was a significant setback, and the defeat of the Silis Kingdom by a former Ajuran general in the interior of the state, Ibrahim Adeer , who established the Gobroon dynasty . Taxation and the practice of primae noctis were the main catalysts for the revolts against Ajuran rulers. The loss of port cities and fertile farms meant that much needed sources of revenue were lost to

2375-571: The Horn of Africa as late as the 19th century. The rule of the later Ajuran rulers caused multiple rebellions to break out within the empire, and at the end of the 17th century, Ajuran disintegrated into several successor states, the most notable being the Geledi Sultanate . 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] )

2470-488: The Horn of Africa was among the largest in the region. At the height of its reach, the empire covered most of southern Somalia as well as eastern Ethiopia , with its domain at one point extending from Hafun in the north to Kismayo in the south, and Qelafo in the west. The European Age of Discovery brought Europe's then superpower the Portuguese Empire to the coast of East Africa, which enjoyed

2565-550: The Majeerteen Darod clan. It reached prominence during the 19th century, under the reign of the resourceful Boqor (King) Osman Mahamuud . In the mid-17th to early 20th centuries city was among the area ruled by Majeerteen Sultanate Migiurtinia . Later forming a part of Italian Somaliland . Hafun was most strategic place of the Majeerteen Sultanate .The historical city of Hafun likewise had

2660-583: The Mycenaean kingdom of Greece that flourished during the 16th century BC. Opone was primarily known for its trade with the Ancient Egyptians , Romans , Greeks , Persians , and the states of ancient India . Through archaeological remains, the historic port has been identified with the city of Hafun. It is possible that it corresponds to the Land of Punt as known by the ancient Egyptians during

2755-455: 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

2850-481: The Old , Middle , and New Kingdom . Merchants from as far afield as Indonesia and Malaysia also passed through the settlement. By 50 CE, the area was well known as a centre for the cinnamon trade, along with the bartering of cloves and other spices , ivory , exotic animal hides , and incense . It also traded in tortoiseshells . The Majeerteen Sultanate was established possible around 1600s by Somalis from

2945-553: 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

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3040-468: The Shabelle river , large homes and stone fortifications along with the creation of large stone wells, many of which were still in use well into the 20th century. Notably, the Ajuran were the first to impose a regular system of tribute on the surrounding population. The empire fielded a powerful army, which may have employed firearms towards the end of its dominant period around 1650. As a 'water dynasty',

3135-466: The Shebelle and Jubba rivers into the plantations where sorghum , maize , beans, grain and cotton were grown during the gu ( Spring in Somali) and xagaa ( Summer in Somali) seasons of the Somali calendar . This irrigation system was supported by numerous dikes and dams. To determine the average size of a farm, a land measurement system was also invented with moos , taraab and guldeed being

3230-610: 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

3325-495: The 15th century noted that it was a large city with houses of four or five storeys high and big palaces in its centre and many mosques with cylindrical minarets. In 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

3420-546: The 15th century, the Ajuran were Africa's only ' Hydraulic empire'. Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuran Empire successfully resisted Oromo invasions from the west and fought against Portuguese incursions from the east. The Ajuran were among the great centres of commerce in the contemporary African world. Trading routes dating from ancient and early medieval periods of Somali maritime enterprise were strengthened and re-established, foreign trade and commerce in

3515-599: The 16th and 17th centuries the Ajurans successively defied Portuguese hegemony on the Indian Ocean by employing a new coinage which followed the Ottoman pattern, thus proclaiming an attitude of economic independence in regard to the Portuguese. The late 15th and 17th centuries saw the arrival of Muslim families from Arabia , Persia , India and Spain to the Ajuran realm of territories, the majority of whom settled in

3610-479: The 1st century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea . The town is featured in the ancient document's thirteenth entry, which in part states: And then, after sailing four hundred stadia along a promontory, toward which place the current also draws you, there is another market-town called Opone, into which the same things are imported as those already mentioned, and in it, the greatest quantity of cinnamon

3705-780: The Ajuraan period is Sheikh Hussein , who was born in Merca , one of the power jurisdiction and cultural centers of the Ajuran Empire. He is credited with converting the Sidamo people living in the area of what is now the Bale Province, Ethiopia to Islam . He is also credited with establishing the Sultanate of Bale . Despite the Bale Sultanate not being directly under Ajuran rule, the two kingdoms were deeply connected and Bale

3800-598: The Ajuran Empire sent ambassadors to China to establish diplomatic ties, creating the first ever recorded African community in China and the most notable Somali ambassador in medieval China was Sa'id of Mogadishu who was the first African man to set foot in China in medieval history. In return, Emperor Yongle, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), dispatched one of the largest fleets in history to trade with

3895-632: The Ajuran monopolized the Jubba and Shabelle rivers through hydraulic engineering. Historically, the Sultanate of Mogadishu was confined by the Adal Sultanate in the north. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Ajurans routinely aligned themselves politically with the Adalites. Described as one country by Ibn Battuta , a journey to Mogadishu from the town of Zeila took him eight weeks to complete. The Ajuran Empire's sphere of influence in

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3990-590: 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

4085-533: The Garen rulers effectively held a monopoly over their nomadic subjects as they were the only hydraulic empire in Africa during their reign. Large wells made out of limestone were constructed throughout the state, which attracted Somali and Oromo nomads with their livestock. The centralized regulations of the wells made it easier for the nomads to settle disputes by taking their queries to government officials who would act as mediators. Long distance caravan trade,

4180-520: The Garen rulers styled Imam . These leaders were the empire's highest authority, and counted multiple Sultans , Emirs , and Kings as clients or vassals . The Garen rulers also had seasonal palaces in Mareeg , Qelafo and Merca , important cities in the Empire were Mogadishu and Barawa . The state religion was Islam , and thus law was based on Sharia . Through their control of the region's wells,

4275-496: The Indian Ocean , and commercial enterprise as far as East Asia . The Ajuran Empire also minted its own Ajuran currency . Many medieval bronze coins inscribed with the names of Ajuran Sultans have been found in the coastal Benadir province , in addition to pieces from Muslim rulers of Southern Arabia and Persia . Through the use of commercial vessels, compasses, multiple port cities, light houses and other technology,

4370-606: The Latin nor Osmanya scripts accommodate this numerical switching. *the commas in the Osmanya number chart are added for clarity Hafun Hafun has been identified as the ancient trading port of Opone , an ancient proto-Somali city which was described in the 1st century CE Greek travelogue the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea . Pottery found by an expedition led by Neville Chittick , in Oponean tombs at Damo , date back to

4465-526: 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

4560-454: The Portuguese governor sent envoys to Portuguese India requesting a large Portuguese fleet. This request was answered and it reversed the previous offensive of the Muslims into one of defense. The Portuguese armada managed to re-take most of the lost cities and began punishing their leaders, but they refrained from attacking Mogadishu, securing the city's autonomy in the Indian Ocean. The Ottoman Empire would remain an economic partner. Throughout

4655-439: The Portuguese who sent a punitive expedition under João de Sepúlveda, where he bombarded Mogadishu and captured Turkish vessels, compelling its ruler to sign a peace deal with the Portuguese. Barawa would also sign peace with the Portuguese after being sacked. The Ottoman-Somali cooperation against the Portuguese on the Indian Ocean reached a high point in the 1580s when Ajuran clients of the coastal cities began to cooperate with

4750-409: 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

4845-547: 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

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4940-442: The Somali coast in exchange for grain and wood. Trading relations were established with Malacca in the 15th century, with cloth, ambergris and porcelain being the main commodities of the trade. In addition, giraffes, zebras and incense were exported to the Ming Empire of China. Hindu merchants from Surat and Southeast African merchants from Pate seeking to bypass both the Portuguese blockade and Omani interference used

5035-441: 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

5130-541: The Somali nation. The fleet, under the leadership of the famed Hui Muslim Zheng He , arrived at Mogadishu while the city was at its peak in economic and social vibrancy. Along with gold , frankincense and fabrics , Zheng brought back the first ever African wildlife to China, which included hippos , giraffes and gazelles . The Ajurans developed a very rich culture combining various forms of Somali culture with Islamic architecture , astronomy , and art. Society evolved and flourished during this period. The majority of

5225-426: 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,

5320-409: 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

5415-429: The cities and towns were abandoned or destroyed: The Ajuran Empire relied on agriculture and trade for most of its income. Major agricultural towns were located on the Shebelle and Jubba rivers , including Kismayo and Afgooye . Situated at the junction of some of the busiest medieval trade routes, the Ajuran and its clients were active participants in the East African gold trade , the Silk Road commerce , trade in

5510-407: The city, exchanging spices, silks, and other goods, before departing south for Azania or north to Yemen or Egypt on the trade routes that spanned the length of the Indian Ocean 's rim. As early as 50 AD, it was well known as a center for the cinnamon trade, along with the barter of cloves and other spices , ivory , exotic animal skins and incense . During the early modern period, Hafun

5605-405: The city. Nevertheless, Tristão opted to storm and attempt to conquer the city, although every officer and soldier in his army opposed this, fearing certain defeat if they were to engage their opponents in battle. Tristão heeded their advice and sailed for Socotra instead. Over the next decades tensions remained high and the increased contact between Somali sailors and Ottoman corsairs worried

5700-443: The coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants. Mogadishu, the center of a thriving weaving industry known as toob benadir (specialized for 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 . There were Jewish merchants from the Hormuz who brought their Indian textile and fruits to

5795-403: The coastal provinces flourished with ships sailing to and from kingdoms and empires in the Near East , East Asia , and the wider world. The Ajuran are believed to be the first Africans to have contact with China . The Ajuran Empire traces its name back to the Arabic word; إيجار (Ījārā), which means to rent or tax. A name well deserved for the exorbitant tributes paid to the Empire. The Ajuran

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5890-460: The coastal provinces. Some migrated because of the instability in their respective regions, as was the case with the Hadhrami families from Yemen and the Muslims from Spain fleeing the Inquisition . Others came to conduct business or for religious purposes. Due to their strong tradition in religious learning, the new Muslim communities also enjoyed high status among the Somali ruling elite and commoners. The most famous Somali scholar of Islam from

5985-543: 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

6080-534: 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

6175-402: 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

6270-458: The early period, the army's weapons consisted of traditional Somali weapons such as swords , daggers , spears , battle axes , and bows . The Empire received assistance from the Ottoman Empire , and with the import of firearms through the Muzzaffar port of Mogadishu , the army began acquiring muskets and cannons . The Ottomans would also remain a key ally during the Ajuran-Portuguese wars . Horses used for military purposes were raised in

6365-413: The failure of the Portuguese to permanently occupy the city, and the inhabitants who had fled to the interior eventually returned and rebuilt the city. After Barawa , Tristão set sail for Mogadishu , the richest city on the East African coast. Word had spread of what had happened in Barawa, and a large troop mobilization took place. Many horsemen, soldiers and battleships in defense positions were guarding

6460-441: 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⟩

6555-400: 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

6650-471: 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

6745-399: The important groups of the empire. The rulers would also claim a large portion of the bride's wealth, which at the time was 100 camels. For trade, the Ajuran Empire minted its own Ajuran currency . It also utilized the Mogadishan currency originally minted by the Sultanate of Mogadishu , which later became incorporated into the Ajuran Empire. Mogadishan coins have been found as far away as

6840-407: The inhabitants were ethnic Somali but there were also Yemeni , Persian , and Turkish minorities. The vast majority of the population adhered to Sunni Islam with a Shia minority. The Somali language was the most commonly spoken language while Arabic was prominently used for commercial and religious purposes. The traditional martial art Istunka , also known as Dabshid , was born during

6935-426: The interior, and numerous stone fortifications were erected to provide shelter for the army in the coastal districts. In each province, the soldiers were under the supervision of a military commander known as an emir . The coastal areas and the lucrative Indian Ocean trade were protected by a navy . The State collected tribute from the farmers in the form of harvested products like durra , sorghum and bun, and from

7030-519: The landscapes of southern Somalia today are attributed to the Ajuran Empire's engineers, including a number of the pillar tomb fields, necropolises and ruined cities built in that era. During the Ajuran period, many regions and people in the southern part of the Horn of Africa converted to Islam because of the theocratic nature of the government. The royal family , the House of Garen, expanded its territories and established its hegemonic rule through

7125-685: The location of the old harbour . As of 2000 , Hafun had a population of around 13,200 inhabitants. Mainly dominated by Majeerteen . According to the Puntland Ministry of Education, there are eight primary schools in Hafun District . Among these are Hurdiya, Laamiye, Gardush, and Xandha. The Hafun Fishing Company (HFC) was established in July 1992, in Bosaso . It was named after Hafun, where HFC also has an office. The firm exports

7220-582: The merchants of the Ajuran Empire did brisk business with traders from the following states: With their maritime pursuits, the Ajuran Empire established trading and diplomatic ties across the old world, especially in Asia, from being close allies of the grand power of the Ottomans to having cordial ties with the mighty Ming Dynasty , paving the way for merchants from Ajuran to embark on great maritime expeditions, as far away as Java and Vietnam . The ruler of

7315-414: The nomads, cattle, camels and goats. The collecting of tribute was done by a wazir . Luxury goods imported from foreign lands were also presented as gifts to the Garen rulers by the coastal sultans of the state. A political device that was implemented by the Garen rulers in their realm was a form of ius primae noctis , which enabled them to create marriages that enforced their hegemonic rule over all

7410-424: The oldest on the continent, with Masjid Fakhr al-Din being one of the oldest mosques in Africa. Artistic carving was considered the craft of men similar to how the Somali textile industry was mainly a women's business. Amongst the nomads , carving, especially woodwork , was widespread and could be found on the most basic objects such as spoons, combs and bowls, but it also included more complex structures such as

7505-523: 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

7600-453: 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

7695-399: The portable nomadic tent, the aqal . In the Merca area, various pillar tombs still exist, which local tradition holds were built in the 16th century, when the Ajuran Empire's naa'ibs governed the district. The empire left an extensive architectural legacy , being one of the major medieval Somali powers engaged in castle and fortress building. Many of the ruined fortifications dotting

7790-478: The ports of Merca and Barawa (which were out of the two powers' jurisdiction) to conduct their trade in safety. The Ajuran Empire was an influential Somali kingdom that held sway over several cities and towns in central and southern Somalia during the Middle Ages. With the fall of the Sultanate, a number of these settlements continued to prosper, eventually becoming major cities in present-day Somalia. A few of

7885-704: The present-day country of the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East . The urban centers of Merca , Mogadishu , Barawa , and their respective ports became profitable trade outlets for commodities originating from the interior of the State. The farming communities of the hinterland brought their products to the coastal cities, where they were sold to local merchants who maintained a lucrative foreign commerce with ships sailing to and coming from Arabia , India , Venice , Persia , Egypt , Portugal , and as far away as China . Vasco da Gama , who passed by Mogadishu in

7980-625: The rebels. Somali maritime enterprise significantly declined after the collapse of the Ajuran Empire. However, other polities such as the Isaaq Sultanate , Geledi Sultanate , Majeerteen Sultanate , Sultanate of Hobyo , and the Dervish state in a way ensured its continuity. By 1700, there was effectively no trace of Ajuran polity left in Baanadir . The Ajuran nobility used many of the typical Somali aristocratic and court titles , with

8075-408: The reign of Ajuran. An annual tournament is still held every year for it in Afgooye . Carving, known in Somali as Qoris , was practiced in the coastal cities of the state. Many wealthy urbanites in the medieval period regularly employed the finest wood and marble carvers in Somalia to work on their interiors and houses. The carvings on the mihrabs and pillars of ancient Somali mosques are some of

8170-583: The renovation of the salt production plants in Hafun, Hurdiyo, and other littoral areas in Puntland. The first phase of the initiative was completed in March 2015 and saw the historic salt works in both towns refurbished following community-wide consultations. According to the Puntland Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the project focuses on stimulating entrepreneurship and sustaining job creation. It

8265-491: The saint Balad (who was known to have come from outside the Kingdom). The Ajuran gradually became a notable and respected empire. Around 1500, they rose to dominance in the interior of Banaadir region, after which they maintained a hegemony for approximately 150 years. The introduction of a great variety of technological innovations to the Somali territories are attributed to the empire, such as systems of dykes and dams on

8360-557: 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

8455-468: The terms used. The Ajuran State had a standing army with which the governors ruled and protected their subjects. The bulk of the army consisted of recruited soldiers who did not have any loyalties to the traditional Somali clan system, thereby making them more reliable. The soldiers were recruited from the inter-riverine area; other recruits came from the surrounding nomadic region. Arab , Persian and Turkish mercenaries were at times employed as well. In

8550-552: The town was made the official centre of Hafun District . Ancient Egyptian , Roman and Persian Gulf pottery has been recovered from the site by an archaeological team from the University of Michigan . In the 1970s, Neville Chittick , a British archaeologist , initiated the British-Somali expedition where he and his Somali colleagues encountered remains of ancient drystone walls , houses with courtyards , and

8645-408: 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,

8740-517: Was heavily influenced by Ajuran. His tomb lies in the town of Sheikh Hussein in what is considered the most sacred place in the country for Ethiopian Muslims, in particular those of Oromo ethnic descent. In the mid-17th century, the Oromo people collectively began expanding from their homeland towards the southern Somali coast at a time when the Ajurans were at the height of their power. The Garen rulers conducted several military expeditions known as

8835-580: Was inspired by calls for national reinvestment by the Puntland presidential office and the Puntland Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, REDD Engineering official Lowry Redd indicated that the initiative's second phase aims to restore the Hafun plant to its place as one of the main global suppliers of salt. In 2012, the Puntland Highway Authority (PHA) announced a project to connect Hafun and other coastal towns in Puntland to

8930-515: Was part of the Majeerteen Sultanate 's realm. In 1930, an Italian firm invested capital to exploit salt deposits in Hafun and Hurdiyo. The Italians renamed the city Dante and created the biggest salt production plant in the world. By 1933 or 1934, the Hafun salt works were producing more than 200,000 tonnes of salt, most of which was exported to the Far East . Following independence in 1960,

9025-553: Was the ruling hereditary dynasty of the Ajuran Empire. Its origin lies in the Garen Kingdom that during the 13th century ruled parts of the Somali Region of Ethiopia . With the migration of Somalis from the northern half of the Horn region southwards, new cultural and religious orders were introduced, influencing the administrative structure of the dynasty . A system of governance began to evolve into an Islamic government. Through their genealogical Baraka , which came from

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