The history of Somali Empires: The Ajuran Empire (13th century- 17th century)

The Ajuran Sultanate was a somali empire in ancient times which controlled the Indian ocean trade

The empire had 3 capitals; they began Mareeg in central Somalia and finished in Merca an old port city in the Lower Shebelle province in Somalia.

The common languages spoken in that period was Somali and Arabic, with Sunni Islam being the empire’s established sect.

In regards to structure of the empire, the Ajuran empire was a monarchy, and had introduced an Islamic system of governaniny which included, Sultans and imams who would claim supremacy and religious legitimacy over other groups in the Horn of Africa.

The Ajuran’s economy relied upon agriculture and trade as its main source of income. The empire was actively involved in the East African gold trade and the Silk Commerce. Trading in the Indian Ocean and as far as East Asia. They were also effective in minting their own currency.

In regards to military, the Ajuran had an army consisting of mamluke soldiers, who were non-muslims or free slaves. The mamlukes had no loyalties to the Somali clan system which made a great force for the Ajuran

Ajuran-Portugese war (1538-57), The age of discovery introduce the Portuguese as a superpower to discover the coast of East Africa. The Portugese had damage many economies including Kenya’s mombasa, and had they eyes set on the Ajuran teritory (1)

The portugese-Anjura conflict began at the battle of Barawa, where the portugese burned the city down and looted it. Resitance from the local Somali population and soldiers meant the portugese couldn’t permanently occupy the city (2)

The portugese then set their sight on Mogadishu which the richest city of the East African Coast, word got around and the empire mobilized their troops to prevent a invasion. In fear the Portugese decided to flee to Socrata an original somali island now belongs to yemen (3)

Over the next few decades, the Ajuran and the portuguese would continue their conflict, however the empire now had decided to become allies with the Ottomans. Together they launched attacks on the Portuguese which resulted in them losing many cities in the East African Coast (4)

The Oromo invasion (mid-17th century) the Oromo people began expanding towards the southern Somali coast at the peak of the Ajuran reign. The rulers launched military operations (Gaal Madow) against the oromos. This forced them to reverse their migration towards other empires

Fact of the thread: the first king of the Maldivian Dynasty was Hassan I of Maldives. The Hilaalee Dynasty was a Somali Dynasty. Most noteably Abd al Aziz of Mogadishu was a Somali governor of the Maldives Island.

Causes of Decline: dethronement of the Muzzafar clients in Mogadishu, the defeat of the Silis Kingdom, taxation and droit du seigneur which led to revolts. Finally the losses of port cities and fertile farms which ultimately crippled the Ajuran economy.

End of thread, if you’re Somali and you know little about your history, just know that this thread is not even 5% of our nation’s gargantuan history. Being Somali is truly an honour