Somalia 2

Somalia

According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing Neolithic period from the family’s proposed urheimat (“original homeland”) in the Nile Valley, or the Near East.

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Neolithic Rock Art at the Laas Geel Complex

The Laas Geel complex on the outskirts of Hargeisa in northwestern Somalia dates back approximately 5,000 years, and has rock art depicting both wild animals and decorated cows.

Antiquity and Classical Era:

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. 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. The Puntites native to the region, traded myrrh, spices, gold, ebony, short-horned cattle, ivory and frankincense with the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Indians, Chinese and Romans through their commercial ports.

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Men from Punt Carrying Gifts, Tomb of Rekhmire

In the classical era, the Macrobians, who may have been ancestral to Somalis, established a powerful tribal kingdom that ruled large parts of modern Somalia. They were reputed for their longevity and wealth, and were said to be the “tallest and handsomest of all men”.

Birth of Islam and the Middle Ages:

Islam was introduced to the area early on by the first Muslims of Mecca fleeing prosecution during the first Hejira with Masjid al-Qiblatayn in Zeila being built before the Qiblah towards Mecca. It is one of the oldest mosques in Africa.

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Silk Road Routes

Throughout the middle ages Somalia was ruled by a series of Sultanates which developed and maintained trade throughout the known world.

Early Modern Era:

In the early modern period, successor states to the Adal Sultanate and Ajuran Sultanate began to flourish in Somalia. They continued the tradition of castle-building and seaborne trade established by previous Somali empires.

In the late 19th century, after the Berlin Conference of 1884, European powers began the Scramble for Africa. This was followed by a legal court Darawiish tariqa being established in the year 1895, which according to Douglas Jardine, was primarily engaged in settling legal disputes. This early Darawiish court tariqa was also described as friendly to the British government

The Dervish movement successfully repulsed the British Empire four times and forced it to retreat to the coastal region. The Darawiish defeated the Italian, British, Abbyssinian colonial powers on numerous occasions, most notably, the 1903 victory at Cagaarweyne. The Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 by British airpower.

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.

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Cesare Maria De Vecchi

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.

Independence (1960–1969):

Following World War II, Britain retained control of both British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland as protectorates. In 1945, during the Potsdam Conference, the United Nations granted Italy trusteeship of Italian Somaliland as the Trust Territory of Somaliland.

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