Merca
Merca,
Marka مَركة, Medieval somali, مـارـكـ Medieval somali, | |
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City | |
UTC+3 (EAT ) |
Merca (
History
Antiquity
The city of Essina is believed to have been the predecessor state of Merca. It used to be an ancient Proto-Somali emporium city-state.[3] 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.[4] According to the Periplus, maritime trade already connected peoples in the Merca area with other communities along the Somali Sea coast.[5]
Medieval Period
According to the 12th-century author
During the Middle Ages, the area was one of several prominent administrative centers of the Ajuran Sultanate. The polity formed one of the largest kingdoms in the Horn region. Various pillar tombs exist in the region, which local tradition holds were built in the 15th century when the Sultanate's naa'ibs governed the district.[7] According to Ibn Sa'id in the thirteenth century described nearby Merca as one of the three most important cities on the East African coast along with Mogadishu and Barawa all serving as the commercial and Islamic centers for the Indian Ocean.[8]
Following the decline of
Early Modern
One of the most powerful sultanates to have emerged from Southern Somalia called the
Bimal Revolt
The Bimal revolt, Bimal resistance, or Banadir resistance was a
It is compared to the war of the Mad Mullah in northern Somalia.[11][12] Named after the Bimal clan since they were the major element in the resistance.[13]
For more about Bimal or Merca revolt see:
Modern
In the 1930s a group of
Merca was abandoned by government forces and captured by Al-Shabaab in February 2016.[16] It was recaptured by the Somali National Army along with African Union troops, a few days later. A small battle was fought in which a Somali soldier, several militants, and four civilians died.[17]
On 27 July 2022, an Al-Shabaab suicide bomber killed mayor Abdullahi Ali Ahmed Waafow and twenty other people while Waafow was giving a speech.[18]
Demographics
According to the UNDP in 2005, Merca had a population of around 250,000inhabitants.[19] it is primarily inhabited by biimaal Clan and Habargidir Clan with there being a recognizable amount of other Somali tribes.[20]
Transportation
Merca has a
The nearest airport to the city is the
Notable people
- Asha Jama, social activist, and former TV reporter and journalist.
- Sheikh Abibakar Gafle, described as one of the best-known resistance leaders in Southern Somalia and from Merca.[22]
- Ali Maow Maalin, the last person known to have been naturally infected by Variola minor smallpox
- Member of Parliament
See also
References
- ^ PopulationStat Population of Merca, city and urban area
- ^ http://www.landinfo.no/asset/2736/1/2736_1.pdf Marka is the traditional home territory of the Midgan clan of Madhiban (Lewis 2008, p. 5).
- ^ Ptolemy's Topography of Eastern Equatorial Africa, by Henry Schlichter Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography © 1891 - p. 443
- ^ Jama 1962, p. 19.
- ^ Huntingford 1980, p. 94.
- ISBN 9780521209816.
- ^ Northeast African Studies. African Studies Center, Michigan State University. 1989. p. 115.
- ^ The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3 - Page 138
- ^ Cassanelli, Lee (1973). The Benaadir Past Essays in Southern Somali History. University of Wisconsin Madison.
- ISBN 9780810866041.
- ISBN 9781874209270.
- ISBN 9781569022023.
- ISBN 9781569022023., Nel Benadir: La Citta di Merca e la Regione Bimal
the Bimal clan was the major element in the resistance. See: Gherardo Pantano
- ^ "La colonization agricola nella Somalia italiana 1920/39". March 30, 2015.
- ^ "Map of Genale (the green area was the farm concessions) and Merca in the 1930s".
- ^ "Al-Shabaab militants retake Somali port". February 5, 2016 – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ "Somali troops 'retake' key port city of Merca from al-Shabab - BBC News". BBC News. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
- ^ Dhaysane, Mohamed (July 27, 2022). "Bombings in Somalia Kill at Least 20". Voice of America. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
- ^ "Population data" (PDF). docs.unocha.org. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
- ^ Landinfo Somalia: Lower Shabelle. Landinfo Somalia: Lower Shabelle
- ^ "Istanbul conference on Somalia 21 – 23 May 2010 - Draft discussion paper for Round Table "Transport infrastructure"" (PDF). Government of Somalia. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
- ^ Marchal, Roland (1997). Studies on Governance. United Nations Development Office for Somalia.
Sources
- Huntingford, George Wynn Brereton (1980). The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-904180-05-3.
- Jama, Mohamed (1962). An Introduction to Somali History from 5000 Years B.C. Down to the Present Time.
External links
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