Thread: History of Mogadishu and it’s conquest by Imaam Al Yaqubi

One of the First Imaams of the Hiraab Imamate was Mohamed Ibn Imaam Ahmed ibn Imam Ahmed Ibn Imaam Mohamoud Ibn Imaam Cumar Halol Al Yacquubi (Abgaal) during the year 1097 hijri.
After the collapse of the Ajuuran Abgaal nomads from the interior had started moving to take over the strategic port town of Mogadishu which was then under the muzzafar dynasty. By the 1600s Abgaal warriors had captured the city and set up their base in shingaani.
Mogadishu at the time was a large and well known port town. The Abgaal clan taking over control allowed them to obtain political power and world wide recognition.
Under Imaam Yaqubi’s time in power it’s reported that French merchants had arrived at the port in 1701
and stayed for 11 days. They had attempted to take the city but were successfully repulsed.
The Imams collected the port tariffs of the city, and emerged as the authority of Mogadishu and continued to rule It until the Italians. When the Zanzibar sultanate established themselves for trade purposes in Xamarweyne, they paid tribute local Abgaal leaders.
The Hiraab imamate involved an alliance of Hiraab subclans : HG/ Duduble clan were the army leaders, Sheekhal( Martille Hiraab) were the qadis and played prominent religious role meanwhile the Imam was reserved for the Abgaal.
French explorer Charles Guillain visited Mogadishu 1846-1848 and met with the then current ruler Imaam Ahmed and conversed about the conquest of Mogadishu, linage of the Imaam and relations with the Sultan of Zanzibar.
British explorer John Kirk visited Mogadishu and met with Imaam Mahmoud who ruled in 1873. He asked for permission to enter and praised the town.
Imaam Maxamuud Imaam Maxamed was the ruler of Mogadishu and the current Imaam of Hiraab in the 1890s when the Italians began to take control of Somalia. He signed the Treaty of Mogadishu with the Italians in 1894 after several attempts to push back the colonisers.

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Thank you so much to the incredible @gregjenner and his team for having me on "You're Dead to Me" and to @kaekurd for being so hilarious and bringing Gilgamesh the restaurant into my life!

Here’s a thread of some of the stuff referenced in the podcast for those interested


First of all, what even is cuneiform?

It’s a writing system from the ancient Middle East, used to write several languages like Sumerian and Akkadian. Cuneiform signs can stand for whole words or syllables. Here’s a little primer of its evolution
https://t.co/7CVjLCHwkS


What kinds of texts was cuneiform used to write?

Initially, accounting records and lists.

Eventually, literature, astronomy, medicine, maps, architectural plans, omens, letters, contracts, law collections, and more.


Texts from the Library of Ashurbanipal, who ruled the ancient Assyrian empire when it was at its largest in the 7th century BCE, represent many of the genres of cuneiform texts and scholarship.

Here’s a short intro to the library via @opencuneiform https://t.co/wjnaxpMRrC


The Library of Ashurbanipal has a complicated modern and ancient history, which you can read about in this brilliant (and open access) book by Prof @Eleanor_Robson

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