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71-529: 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 is located in the coastal Banaadir region on the Indian Ocean, which, unlike other Somali regions, is considered a municipality rather than

142-561: 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 the Ajuran Sultanate in the 13th century which was an important player in the medieval Silk Road maritime trade. Mogadishu enjoyed

213-506: 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, 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

284-519: 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

355-514: 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,

426-415: 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 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

497-461: 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 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

568-410: A renaissance of this rich past. Galal later documented the Somali astrological , meteorological and calendrical systems. He devoted two major works to traditional Somali science, The terminology and practice of Somali weather lore, astronomy, and astrology (1968) and Stars, seasons and weather in Somali pastoral traditions (1970), both of which are regarded as classics in Somali studies. One of

639-521: 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 , a Greek travel document dating from the first century AD, as one of a series of commercial ports on the Somali littoral. According to

710-579: A shootout between security forces and inmates in a Mogadishu prison during an escape attempt. The prisoners who attempted to escape were members of Al-Shabaab. On 14 July, 10 people were injured in a cafe due to a car bombing done by Al-Shabaab. In August 2024, 37 people were killed by an Al-Shabaab suicide bomber at Lido Beach. List of cities in Somalia by population This is a list of districts in Somalia by population . As of March 2017 ,

781-705: 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,

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852-544: 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 the dispute. Sultan Yusuf is even referred to as the governor of Mogadishu in some sources, highlighting

923-507: Is by far the best documented language from the Cushitic branch of Afro-Asiatic, with academic studies of it dating from before 1900. Linguists such as Bogumil Witalis Andrzejewski , Giorgio Banti , Annarita Puglielli, Cabdalla Cumar Mansuur, Mohamed Haji Rabi , Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi and Martin Orwin are considered among the foremost scholars on the study of the Somali language and

994-993: Is little reliable statistical information on urbanization in Somalia. However, rough estimates have been made indicating a rate of urbanization of 7.2% per annum (2016–10 est.), with many towns quickly growing into cities. Due to the lack of reliable and accurate census data in Somalia , the information presented above is merely an estimation provided by the United Nations and other organizations. Somali Studies The academic platform that would become Somali studies has its formal origins with religious, linguistic and historical research done by 18th and 19th century Somali scholars , such as Uways al-Barawi and Shaykh Aidarus. However, Somalis since antiquity have exchanged ideas with polities in North Africa , West Asia , South Asia and as far as East Asia . Through early 20th century scholars like Osman Yusuf Kenadid and

1065-564: 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 the Shah/merchant Shah" which reflects the city's early Persian influence. The Arabic ' mads ', meaning "hallowed (place)" may also be

1136-695: 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 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

1207-546: 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, 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

1278-621: 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

1349-760: The International Congress of Somali Studies has been held to discuss developments in the field. The 10th Congress was held in Djibouti City in December 2007. The triennial Somali Studies Conference also brings together some scholars and specialists in Somali studies. As of 2021, Jigjiga has hosted the 14th International Congress of Somali Studies. Since the early 1970s, the Academy of Somali Studies began to hold professional award-winning poetry competitions after having been inspired by

1420-573: 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

1491-710: 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 a period of decline and disarray near the end of the Hiraab Imamate . Following

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1562-556: 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 the Roman Empire . Somali sailors used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as

1633-568: 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, a period of major reconstruction commenced. The origins of the name Mogadishu (Muqdisho) have many theories but it

1704-621: 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,

1775-560: 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 the city's population of 50,000 residents. Mogadishu remained the capital of Italian Somaliland throughout

1846-404: The 1970s. In late 1975, Neville Chittick led a British-Somali archaeological expedition in the northern half of Somalia. Financed by the Somali authorities, the reconnaissance mission found numerous examples of historical artefacts and structures, including ancient coins, pottery, drystone buildings, cairns , mosques , walled enclosures , standing stones and platform monuments . Many of

1917-596: 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 was founded upon an indigenous network involving hinterland trade and that happened even before significant Arab migrations or trade with

1988-638: 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 the majority of Benadiris with a small minority being Gibil Cads (Light Skins) which descend from Muslim immigrants. The Mogadishu Sultanate

2059-509: The History of a Pastoral People, 1600 to 1900 (1982). Enrico Cerulli and Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi in their respective works Somalia: scritti vari editi ed inediti (1957) and Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001) have also summarized the origins and ethnogenesis of the Somali people. In terms of linguistics , Somali studies examines the inter-relationships between the Somali language and other related Afro-Asiatic languages . Somali

2130-583: 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 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

2201-502: 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

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2272-574: 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 the Italian Empire after 1906, British Military Administration of Somalia after World War II and

2343-416: The Somali coast in exchange for grain and wood. Duarte Barbosa , the famous Portuguese traveller, wrote about Mogadishu (c 1517–1518): It has 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

2414-420: 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 the identification of ancient Sarapion with the city that would later be known as Mogadishu. When Ibn Battuta visited

2485-496: 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 was Somali owned. In 1905, Italy made Mogadishu the capital of the newly established Italian Somaliland . The Italians subsequently spelled

2556-467: 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 , a Muslim medieval geographer in the year 1220 describes Mogadishu as

2627-544: 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 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

2698-674: 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, 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

2769-569: The country has an estimated population of 15,626,039 inhabitants. According to the Central Intelligence Agency , the total population count in Somalia is complicated by internal movements of nomads and individuals displaced during the civil war . CIA estimates are extrapolated from the Somali national census of February 1975. As of 1992 , towns are defined as all communities with 5,000 or more persons, as well as any regional or district headquarters, regardless of size. There

2840-519: 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

2911-403: 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,

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2982-426: The earliest examples of archaeology in Somalia can be traced back to the 19th century when George Revoil a French explorer excavated several ancient sites in northern Somalia where he found large quantities of glass and pottery , including Roman pottery. After independence, Somali government officials in collaboration with Soviet and British archaeologists began excavating various parts of Somalia during

3053-547: 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

3124-569: The field of Somali Islamic studies , scholars like Ioan Lewis , Said Sheikh Samatar and Lee V. Cassanelli have written on the traditional Muslim structure of Somali society in books such as A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa (1961), Oral poetry and Somali nationalism: the case of Sayyid Mahammad 'Abdille Hasan (1982) and The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing

3195-454: The finds were of pre-Islamic origin and associated with ancient settlements described by the 1st century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea , among other documents. Somali anthropology studies the way of life of the Somali people. Somalist anthropologists have in various books and papers documented traditional Somali social systems such as the ancient Xeer ( customary law ) and the clan system, and examined their role within Somali society. In

3266-527: 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 the Hiraab Imamate . In the 19th century, it came under the Sultanate of the Geledi 's sphere of influence. In 1894,

3337-470: 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 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

3408-519: 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 the Hiraab Imam to acquiesce to the decision. Omani and later Zanzibari officials were mere representatives of

3479-647: 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 is traditionally inhabited by four clans. These are the Moorshe, Iskashato, DhabarWeyne, and

3550-593: 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 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

3621-598: 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 the State of Somaliland , and the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somaliland) followed suit five days later. On 1 July 1960,

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3692-458: 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 the Indian Ocean . He said the local people in the Benadir coast and

3763-562: 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 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

3834-554: 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 the south near the capital, such as Janale and the Villaggio duca degli Abruzzi (present-day Jowhar ). In

3905-638: 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 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

3976-428: The polymath Musa Haji Ismail Galal , other disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and archaeology would eventually form part of Somali studies. Kenadid published many works on various subjects related to Somali history and science, including textbooks on the Somali language , astronomy , geography and Somali philosophy . He borrowed significantly from the vast ancient Somali cultural repository, working towards

4047-528: 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 the farms of the Geledi in the interior. Kirk met the Imam Mahmood who reigned over Mogadishu. The Shabelle river itself

4118-501: 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 the Somali coast with ethnic Somali leadership, to whom

4189-420: The relation it has to the tongues spoken by related neighboring ethnic groups, such as the Afars , Oromos and Bejas . Mustafa Abdullahi Feiruz also focuses on the standardization of written Somali, and Somali language's links with Arabic . The primary organization overseeing the field is the Somali Studies International Association. Since its inaugural gathering in Mogadishu between July 6-13th, 1980,

4260-488: 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 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

4331-407: 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

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4402-482: The traditional poetry competitions annually held throughout Somalia. The Somali Studies Association recognizes Somali scholars whose work concerning Somali studies stands out with the Musa Galaal award , a prize named after the Somali polymath Musa Haji Ismail Galal . In 1994, Charles L. Geshekter, Professor of History at California State University, Chico , created an endowment for this award. Geshekter's mother and Musa Galaal (1914–1980) were friends. A financial prize

4473-486: 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 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

4544-482: 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 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

4615-497: 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 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

4686-406: 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 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

4757-424: 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 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

4828-441: Was famous for its high quality fabric that it exported to Mamluk Sultanate -ruled Egypt , among other places. He also describes 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

4899-429: 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 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

4970-441: 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 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

5041-427: 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 the height of their power. They dominated the East African ivory trade, and also held sway over the Jubba and Shebelle valleys in

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