Ajuran Sultanate

Ajuran was a Somali empire that existed in the Middle Ages and ruled the sea trade with India. It was in the Horn of Africa , in the modern states of Somalia and Ethiopia . The kingdom was part of the Muslim Sultanate of Somalia, which ruled large parts of the Horn of Africa in the Middle Ages. In Somali it was called Dawladdii Ajuuraa ( Arabic دولة الأجورانية). Sometimes it is called the Kingdom of Ajuuraan .

The kingdom had a highly centralized administration and strong armed forces. This enabled it to withstand an invasion of the Ottoman Empire from the west and a Portuguese advance from the east. The Ottoman attack is known as Gaal Madow. The Portuguese attack came as part of a war between Ajuan and Portugal. After the attacks, the trade routes were rebuilt or strengthened. Especially in the coastal areas trade flourished with the rich in East and Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North and East Africa.

The kingdom left a legacy of buildings. It was one of the great empires in Somalia in the Middle Ages. Ruins of castles and palaces are evidence of this, especially in the south of what is now Somalia. Ajuan engineering achievements include monumental columnar tombs, necropolises and ruined cities. During the Ajuan rule, many in the Horn of Africa converted to Islam because of the theocratic rule. The royal family, the House of Garen, knew how to use this and expanded their supremacy through a combination of trade, alliances and wars.

Ajuan was also lord of the water and monopolized the waters of the Shebelle and Jubba rivers . Many of the wells and cisterns still exist today; they were created by Ajuan. Certain systems of agriculture and taxation were used in parts of the Horn of Africa until the 19th century. Revolts broke out in the 17th century, and towards the end of the century the empire split into several successor states. The best known was probably the Sultanate of Geledi .

Individual evidence

^ Virginia Luling: Somali Sultanate: the Geledi city-state over 150 years . HAAN, London 2002, ISBN 978-1-874209-98-0 (English).
^ ^A ^b Raphael Chijioke Njoku: The History of Somalia . Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations. Greenwood, ISBN 978-0-313-37857-7 (English).
^ Fred M. Shelley: Nation shapes: the story behind the world's borders (= Gale virtual reference library ). ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara 2013, ISBN 978-1-61069-106-2 (English).
↑ Randall L. Pouwels: Horn and crescent: cultural change and traditional Islam on the East African coast, 800-1900 (= African studies series . Volume 53 ). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-52309-7 (English).

[1] Virginia Luling: Somali Sultanate: the Geledi city-state over 150 years . HAAN, London 2002, ISBN 978-1-874209-98-0 (English).

[His_40-2] A ^b Raphael Chijioke Njoku: The History of Somalia . Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations. Greenwood, ISBN 978-0-313-37857-7 (English).

[Shapes-3] Fred M. Shelley: Nation shapes: the story behind the world's borders (= Gale virtual reference library ). ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara 2013, ISBN 978-1-61069-106-2 (English).

[Crescent-4] Randall L. Pouwels: Horn and crescent: cultural change and traditional Islam on the East African coast, 800-1900 (= African studies series . Volume 53 ). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-52309-7 (English).