Somali nationalism

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Flag of Somalia

Somali nationalism (

Somali people who share a common ethnicity, language, and culture, under a single banner. Its earliest manifestations has its roots in the Middle Ages and the Adal Sultanate whilst in the contemporary era its often traced back to the Somali Youth League, a political organisation founded in 1943.[1] The Somali Youth League became one of the most influential political parties in Somalia prior to post-independence.[2] The Somali guerilla militia Al-Shabab is also noteworthy for incorporating Somali nationalism into its Islamist ideology.[3][4]

History

Part of a series on the
History of Somalia
Prehistory
Ancient
(c. 1st century)
Middle Ages
Early modern
flag Somalia portal

Early Somali nationalism developed in the beginning of the 20th century with the concept of "

Somalis are a nation with a distinct identity and wanted to unite inhabited areas of Somali clans. Pan-Somalism refers to the vision of reunifying these areas to form a single Somali nation. The pursuit of this goal has led to conflict: Somalia engaged after World War II in the Ogaden War with Ethiopia over the Ogaden region, and supported Somali insurgents against Kenya
.

Prehistory

Somalia has been inhabited since at least the Paleolithic. During the Stone Age, the Doian and Hargeisan cultures flourished here.[5] The oldest evidence of burial customs in the Horn of Africa comes from cemeteries in Somalia dating back to the 4th millennium BCE.[6] The stone implements from the Jalelo site in the north were also characterized in 1909 as important artefacts demonstrating the archaeological universality during the Paleolithic between the East and the West.[7]

According to linguists, the first

Nile Valley,[8] or the Near East.[9]

The Laas Geel complex on the outskirts of Hargeisa in Somaliland dates back around 5,000 years, and has rock art depicting both wild animals and decorated cows.[10] Other cave paintings are found in the northern Dhambalin region, which feature one of the earliest known depictions of a hunter on horseback. The rock art is in the distinctive Ethiopian-Arabian style, dated to 1,000 to 3,000 BCE.[11][12] Additionally, between the towns of Las Khorey and El Ayo in Somaliland lies Karinhegane, the site of numerous cave paintings of real and mythical animals. Each painting has an inscription below it, which collectively have been estimated to be around 2,500 years old.[13][14]

Antiquity and classical era

Main article:
Somali Architecture
The Silk Road extending from China to southern Europe, Arabia, Somalia, Egypt, Persia, India, and Java

Ancient pyramidical structures, mausoleums, ruined cities and stone walls, such as the Wargaade Wall, are evidence of an old civilization that once thrived in the Somali peninsula.[15][16] This civilization enjoyed a trading relationship with Ancient Egypt and Mycenaean Greece since the second millennium BCE, supporting the hypothesis that Somalia or adjacent regions were the location of the ancient Land of Punt.[15][17] The Puntites traded myrrh, spices, gold, ebony, short-horned cattle, ivory and frankincense with the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Indians, Chinese and Romans through their commercial ports. An Egyptian expedition sent to Punt by the 18th dynasty Queen Hatshepsut is recorded on the temple reliefs at Deir el-Bahari, during the reign of the Puntite King Parahu and Queen Ati.[15]

Deir el-Bahri
.

The one-humped camel or dromedary is believed to have been domesticated between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BCE, possibly in Somalia.[18] In the classical period, the city-states of Mosylon, Opone, Mundus, Isis, Malao, Avalites, Essina, Nikon and Tabae developed a lucrative trade network connecting with merchants from Phoenicia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Greece, Parthian Persia, Saba, Nabataea, and the Roman Empire. They used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the beden to transport their cargo.

After the Roman conquest of the Nabataean Empire and the Roman naval presence at Aden to curb piracy, Arab and Somali merchants agreed with the Romans to bar Indian ships from trading in the free port cities of the Arabian peninsula[19] to protect the interests of Somali and Arab merchants in the lucrative commerce between the Red and Mediterranean Seas.[20] However, Indian merchants continued to trade in the port cities of the Somali peninsula, which was free from Roman interference.[21]

For centuries, Indian merchants brought large quantities of cinnamon to Somalia and Arabia from Ceylon and the Spice Islands. The source of the cinnamon and other spices is said to have been the best-kept secret of Arab and Somali merchants in their trade with the Roman and Greek world; the Romans and Greeks believed the source to have been the Somali peninsula.[22] The collusive agreement among Somali and Arab traders inflated the price of Indian and Chinese cinnamon in North Africa, the Near East, and Europe, and made the cinnamon trade a very profitable revenue generator, especially for the Somali merchants through whose hands large quantities were shipped across sea and land routes.[20]

Birth of Islam and the Middle Ages

Main articles:
Ifat Sultanate, Walashma dynasty, Sultanate of Mogadishu, Adal Sultanate, and Ajuran Sultanate

Al-Yaqubi wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard.[24] He also mentioned that the Adal kingdom had its capital in the city,[24][25] suggesting that the Adal Sultanate with Zeila as its headquarters dates back to at least the 9th or 10th centuries. According to I.M. Lewis, the polity was governed by local dynasties consisting of Somalized Arabs or Arabized Somalis, who also ruled over the similarly established Sultanate of Mogadishu in the Benadir region to the south. Adal's history from this founding period forth would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighbouring Abyssinia.[25] At its height, the Adal kingdom controlled large parts of modern-day Somaliland, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Eritrea
.

The Sultanate of Mogadishu's medieval currency.

In 1332, the Zeila-based King of Adal was slain in a military campaign aimed at halting

Sabr ad-Din II, the eldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II, established a new base after his return from Yemen.[28][29]

Adal's headquarters were again relocated the following century, this time southward to

Conquest of Abyssinia (Futuh al-Habash). During the war, Imam Ahmad pioneered the use of cannons supplied by the Ottoman Empire, which he imported through Zeila and deployed against Abyssinian forces and their Portuguese allies led by Cristóvão da Gama.[30] Some scholars argue that this conflict proved, through their use on both sides, the value of firearms such as the matchlock musket, cannon, and the arquebus over traditional weapons.[31]

Somali merchants from Mogadishu established a colony in Mozambique to extract gold from the mines in Sofala.[32]

During the

Venetia,[33] Persia, Egypt, Portugal, and as far away as China. Vasco da Gama, who passed by Mogadishu in the 15th century, noted that it was a large city with houses several storeys high and large palaces in its centre, in addition to many mosques with cylindrical minarets.[34]

In the 16th century,

Jewish merchants from the Hormuz brought their Indian textile and fruit to the Somali coast in exchange for grain and wood.[38]

Trading relations were established with Malacca in the 15th century,[39] with cloth, ambergris and porcelain being the main commodities of the trade.[40] Giraffes, zebras and incense were exported to the Ming Empire of China, which established Somali merchants as leaders in the commerce between the Asia and Africa[41] and influenced the Chinese language with the Somali language in the process.[citation needed] Hindu merchants from Surat and Southeast African merchants from Pate, seeking to bypass both the Portuguese blockade and Omani interference, used the Somali ports of Merca and Barawa (which were out of the two powers' jurisdiction) to conduct their trade in safety and without interference.[42]

Early Modern Era and the Scramble for Africa

Main articles:
Geledi sultanate, Majeerteen Sultanate, Sultanate of Hobyo, and Dervish movement (Somali)

In the

Sultanate of Geledi (Gobroon dynasty), the Majeerteen Sultanate (Migiurtinia), and the Sultanate of Hobyo
(Obbia). They continued the tradition of castle-building and seaborne trade established by previous Somali empires.

Sultan

Bardheere Jihad, which restored stability in the region and revitalized the East African ivory trade. He also received presents from and had cordial relations with the rulers of neighbouring and distant kingdoms such as the Omani, Witu
and Yemeni Sultans.

Sultan Ibrahim's son

Bari Dynasty
. The Gerads and the Bari Sultans built impressive palaces and fortresses and had close relations with many different empires in the Near East.

In the late 19th century, after the

Shacni-cali were collectively also overwhelmingly Dhulbahante.[43] The Dervish movement successfully repulsed the British Empire four times and forced it to retreat to the coastal region.[44]

The

last stand at Taleh when the Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 by British airpower.[48]

The dawn of

Fascist Italy. With the arrival of Governor Cesare Maria De Vecchi on 15 December 1923, things began to change for that part of Somaliland known as Italian Somaliland
. Italy had access to these areas under the successive protection treaties, but not direct rule.

The

invade British Somaliland, and by 14 August, succeeded in taking Berbera
from the British.

A British force, including troops from several African countries, launched the

campaign in January 1941 from Kenya to liberate British Somaliland and Italian-occupied Ethiopia and conquer Italian Somaliland. By February, most of Italian Somaliland was captured and in March, British Somaliland was retaken from the sea. The forces of the British Empire operating in Somaliland comprised the three divisions of South African, West African, and East African troops. They were assisted by Somali forces led by Abdulahi Hassan with Somalis of the Isaaq, Dhulbahante, and Warsangali
clans prominently participating.

Ogaden campaign

Main article: Ogaden War

In July 1977, the Ogaden War against Ethiopia broke out after Barre's government sought to incorporate the predominantly Somali-inhabited Ogaden region into a Pan-Somali Greater Somalia. In the first week of the conflict, Somali armed forces took southern and central Ogaden and for most of the war, the Somali army scored continuous victories on the Ethiopian army and followed them as far as Sidamo. By September 1977, Somalia controlled 90% of the Ogaden and captured strategic cities such as Jijiga and put heavy pressure on Dire Dawa, threatening the train route from the latter city to Djibouti. After the siege of Harar, a massive unprecedented Soviet intervention consisting of 20,000 Cuban forces and several thousand Soviet advisers came to the aid of Ethiopia's communist Derg regime. By 1978, the Somali troops were ultimately pushed out of the Ogaden. This shift in support by the Soviet Union motivated the Barre government to seek allies elsewhere. It eventually settled on the Soviet Union's Cold War arch-rival, the United States, which had been courting the Somali government for some time. All in all, Somalia's initial friendship with the Soviet Union and later partnership with the United States enabled it to build the largest army in Africa.[49]

Gallery

  • Somali Youth League was the first political party in Somalia and played a key role in the nation's road to independence.
    Somali Youth League was the first political party in Somalia and played a key role in the nation's road to independence.
  • Ruins of Qa’ableh
    Ruins of
    Qa’ableh
  • Statue of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan in Mogadishu, Somalia. He was the emir of Darawiish sultan
    Statue of
    Mohammed Abdullah Hassan in Mogadishu, Somalia. He was the emir of Darawiish
    sultan
  • A Dhulbahante garesa in Taleex, the dervish capital
    A
    Taleex
    , the dervish capital

See also

References

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  2. ^ Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi. Culture and Customs of Somalia. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc, 2001. p. 25.
  3. S2CID 219626653
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  4. ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help
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  6. PMID 16470993
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  7. Man: 182–183. Retrieved 30 January 2011. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help
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  8. ^ Zarins, Juris (1990), "Early Pastoral Nomadism and the Settlement of Lower Mesopotamia", (Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research)
  9. doi:10.1126/science.1078208
  10. ^ Bakano, Otto (24 April 2011). "Grotto galleries show early Somali life". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  11. S2CID 162960112. Archived from the original
    on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  12. ^ Alberge, Dalya (17 September 2010). "UK archaeologist finds cave paintings at 100 new African sites". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  13. ISBN 0844289833
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  14. ^ Ali, Ismail Mohamed (1970). Somalia Today: General Information. Ministry of Information and National Guidance, Somali Democratic Republic. p. 295.
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  16. ISBN 978-1448847976
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  18. ISBN 1-57506-083-3
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  19. ^ Warmington 1995, p. 54.
  20. ^ a b Warmington 1995, p. 229.
  21. ^ Warmington 1995, p. 187.
  22. ^ Warmington 1995, pp. 185–6.
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  24. ^ a b Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 25. Americana Corporation. 1965. p. 255.
  25. ^ a b I. M. Lewis (1955). Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho. International African Institute. p. 140.
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  27. S2CID 154765577
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  32. ^ Terry H. Elkiss. The quest for an African Eldorado: Sofala. p. 4.
  33. ISBN 9780521095662
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  34. ISBN 978-1-108-01296-6
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  35. ^ Sir Reginald Coupland (1965) East Africa and its invaders: from the earliest times to the death of Seyyid Said in 1856, Russell & Russell, p. 38.
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  40. ISBN 0860540189
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  41. ^ Sir Reginald Coupland (1965) East Africa and Its Invaders: From the Earliest Times to the Death of Seyyid Said in 1856, Russell & Russell, p. 37.
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  43. ^ Ciise, Jaamac (1976). Taariikhdii daraawiishta iyo Sayid Maxamad Cabdille Xasan. p. 175.
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  45. ^ "THE FIGHT IN SOMALILAND.|1904-01-02|Rhyl Record and Advertiser - Welsh Newspapers".
  46. ^ Taariikhdii daraawiishta iyo Sayid Maxamad Cabdille Xasan, Jaamac Cumar Ciise · 2005 , PAGE 275
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  49. ^ Oliver Ramsbotham, Tom Woodhouse, Encyclopedia of international peacekeeping operations, (ABC-CLIO: 1999), p.222.
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