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Siyara
Siyara () was a historic coastal settlement and fort located in the Sahil region of Somaliland. It served as the first capital of the Adal Sultanate following the Muslim resurgence spearheaded by Sabr ad-Din II.Pankhurst, Richard. ''The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century'' (Asmara, Eritrea: Red Sea Press, 1997), pp.56 Etymology The name of Siyara derives from the Somali word ''Siyaaro'', a term used to describe a localized annual pilgrimage to a holy site where the ancestor of a clan or a saint is buried. The Somali word ultimately derives from the Arabic word of the same meaning: ''ziyārah'' (زيارة). History Medieval Siyara was the site of the return of the Walashma dynasty. Sa'ad ad-Din II the last Sultan of Ifat had been slain in Zeila after losing the city to Emperor Dawit I after a siege. His sons had fled to Yemen and would soon return led by Sultan Sabr ad-Din II. Sabr crossed the Gulf of Aden ...
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Ceel-Sheekh
El-Sheikh () is a coastal settlement in the western edge of the Sahil region of Somaliland. History El-Sheikh was also known historically as ''Buurta Almis'' or جبل ألمس ''Jebel Amis'' after the nearby Mount Almis just south of the settlement. It was a well known landmark to navigators and legendary Arab explorer Ahmad ibn Mājid wrote of El-Sheikh and a few other notable landmarks and ports of the northern Somali coast, including Berbera, Siyara, the Sa'ad ad-Din islands aka the Zeila Archipelago near Zeila, Alula, Maydh, Ruguda, Heis and El-Darad. Richard Burton visited the settlement and noted the mountain in his map. After the Habr Awal massacre of Richard Burton's travel party and death of a number of British officers in 1854 led the Royal Navy to blockad the Ciise Muuse coast. The blockade was established from Mount Almis to Siyara and crippled trade in Berbera and Bulhar with a settlement being reached in 1856. El-Sheikh remained a well used by the Habr Awa ...
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Berbera
Berbera (; , ) is the capital of the Sahil, Somaliland, Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country, located approximately 160 km from the national capital, Hargeisa. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. It also served as a major port of the Ifat Sultanate, Ifat, Adal Sultanate, Adal and Isaaq Sultanate, Isaaq sultanates from the 13th to 19th centuries. In antiquity, Berbera was part of a chain of commercial port cities along the Somali seaboard. During the early modern period, Berbera was the most important place of trade in the Somali Peninsula. It later served as the capital of the British Somaliland protectorate from 1884 to 1941, when it was replaced by Hargeisa. In 1960, the British Somaliland protectorate gained independence as the State of Somaliland and united five days later with the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somalia) to form the Somali Republic.Encyclopædi ...
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Sultanate Of Adal
The Adal Sultanate, also known as the Adal Empire or Barr Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate'', ''Adal Sultanate'') (), was a medieval Sunni Muslim empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din III on the Harar plateau in Adal after the fall of the Sultanate of Ifat. The kingdom flourished to 1577.. At its height, the polity under Sultan Badlay controlled the territory stretching from Cape Guardafui in Somalia to the port city of Suakin in Sudan. The Adal Empire maintained a robust commercial and political relationship with the Ottoman Empire. Sultanate of Adal was alternatively known as the federation of Zeila. Etymology Adal is believed to be an abbreviation of Havilah. Eidal or Aw Abdal, was the Emir of Harar in the eleventh century which the lowlands outside the city of Harar is named. In the thirteenth century, the Arab writer al-Dimashqi refers to the city of Zeila, by its Somali name "Awdal" (). The modern Awdal region of S ...
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Zeila
Zeila (, ), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland. In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila with the Biblical location of Havilah. Most modern scholars identify it with the site of Avalites mentioned in the 1st-century Greco-Roman travelogue the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' and in Ptolemy, although this is disputed. The town evolved into an early Islamic center with the arrival of Muslims shortly after the Hijrah. By the 9th century, Zeila was the capital of the early Adal (historical_region), Adal Kingdom and Ifat Sultanate in the 13th century, it would attain its height of prosperity a few centuries later in the 16th century. The city subsequently came under Ottoman Empire, Ottoman and British Empire, British protection in the 18th century. Up until recently Zeila was surrounded by a large wall with five gates: Bab al Sahil and Bab al-jadd on the North. Bab Abdulqadir on the Ea ...
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Sahil, Somaliland
Sahil (, ) is an administrative region (''Administrative divisions of Somaliland, gobol'') in northern Somaliland with the port city of Berbera as its capital. It was separated from Maroodi Jeex, Woqooyi Galbeed and became a province in 1991. In 1998, the Sheikh District of Togdheer was incorporated into Sahil region. The region has a long coastline facing the Gulf of Aden to the north. Sahil borders Awdal to the northwest, Maroodi Jeex to the southwest, Togdheer to the south and Sanaag to the east. History Formerly known as the Berbera District, it was one of six districts that made up the British Somaliland protectorate. In 1960, the then independent State of Somaliland merged with Italian Somaliland to form the Somali Republic. By 1964, the then Berbera District merged with the Borama district (now Awdal) and the Hargeisa district (now Maroodi Jeh) to form the Woqooyi Galbeed region (literally ''North West'', also known as Hargeisa region). During the period from 1968 to 1 ...
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Habr Awal
The Habr Awal, alternately known as the Zubeyr Awal (, , Full Name: '' Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ash-Ishaaq bin Ahmed, Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad)'' is one of the largest subclans of the wider Isaaq clan family, and is further divided into eight sub-clans of whom the two largest and most prominent are the Issa Musa and Sa'ad Musa sub-clans. Its members form a part of the Habar Magadle confederation. The Habr Awal traditionally consists of Nomadic pastoralism, nomadic pastoralists, coastal people, merchants and farmers. They are historically viewed as an affluent clan in the horn Africa that played a huge part for Somaliland's independence. The Habar Awal are politically and economically influential in present-day Somaliland as well as the Horn of Africa at large, and they reside in strategic coastal and fertile lands. Distribution The Habr Awal clan make up the majority in Maroodi Jeex region which is considered the most populous region in Somaliland and the second most populat ...
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El-Darad
El-Darad () was a historic coastal settlement and fort located in the Sahil region of Somaliland. History Legendary 15th century Arab explorer Ahmad ibn Mājid wrote of El-Darad and several other notable landmarks and ports of the northern Somali coast, including Berbera, the Sa'ad ad-Din islands (aka the Zeila Archipelago near Zeila), Alula, Ruguda, Maydh, Heis, Siyara and El-Sheikh. In the 19th century, El-Darad was a seasonal coastal trading settlement with a fort made of adobe (earth) and stone masonry, which was surrounded by Somali Aqal and Areesh (traditional nomadic and coastal dwellings respectively). The fort was erected in circa 1826 and was owned by Muhammad Diban, a Habr Je'lo ( Adan Madobe) pirate and slave trader based in El-Darad who garrisoned the fort with slaves armed with matchlock rifles. Muhammad Diban also had cordial relations with Sharmarke Ali Saleh – governor and ruler of Zeila, Berbera and Tadjoura – who provided Muhammad with five cannons ...
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Adal Sultanate
The Adal Sultanate, also known as the Adal Empire or Barr Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate'', ''Adal Sultanate'') (), was a medieval Sunni Muslim empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din III on the Harar plateau in Adal after the fall of the Sultanate of Ifat. The kingdom flourished to 1577.. At its height, the polity under Sultan Badlay controlled the territory stretching from Cape Guardafui in Somalia to the port city of Suakin in Sudan. The Adal Empire maintained a robust commercial and political relationship with the Ottoman Empire. Sultanate of Adal was alternatively known as the federation of Zeila. Etymology Adal is believed to be an abbreviation of Havilah. Eidal or Aw Abdal, was the Emir of Harar in the eleventh century which the lowlands outside the city of Harar is named. In the thirteenth century, the Arab writer al-Dimashqi refers to the city of Zeila, by its Somali name "Awdal" (). The modern Awdal region ...
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Sabr Ad-Din II
Sabr ad-Din III () (died 1422 or 1423) was a Sultan of the Adal Sultanate and the oldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II. Sabr ad-Din returned to the Horn of Africa from Yemen to reclaim his father's realm. He defeated the Ethiopians and proclaimed himself "King of Adal". He subsequently became the first ruler and founder of the new Adal dynasty. Reign He returned from Arabia with ten horsemen, as well as military supplies provided by his family's patron Nasir Ahmad. Sabr ad-Din and his brothers made their way to the city of Siyara, where they were joined by a number of their fathers former followers. Even though they were outnumbered by the soldiers of the Christian state, they fought several successful battles. Defeating them at the Battle of Zikr Amhara (''Memory of the Amhara''), also at the Battle of Serjan. Scattering their enemies, they burnt houses and churches and seized much booty in gold and other valuables. Such destruction and opposition on the eastern borders angered the C ...
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Zeila Archipelago
The Sa'ad ad-Din Islands (, ), also Romanized as and known as the Zeila Archipelago, are a group of islands off the northwestern coast of Somalia. They are situated near the ancient city of Zeila. The Zeila Archipelago is made of six small islands all of which are low-lying and have sandy beaches. The largest of these islands are '' Sacadin'' and '' Aibat'', which are six and nine miles off the coast of Zeila, respectively. There is also a lighthouse at Aibat. Etymology & History The name for the archipelago comes from the Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din II who was killed by the Emperor of Abyssinia on the main island in 1403. Along with his name, there are many different spellings for the island such as , , and . The archpeligo is also known as the ''Zeila Archipelago'' and the ''Sa'ad ad-Din group''. Legendary Arab explorer Ahmad ibn Mājid wrote of the archipelago and a few other notable landmarks and ports of the northern Somali coast, including Zeila, Berbera, Xiis, Alula, Rug ...
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Ruguda
Ruguda, also known as Rakudah () is a historic coastal port town located in the Sanaag region of Somaliland, near Heis. Overview Ruguda is a coastal town approximately 38km away from the larger Heis town nearby. Other nearby cities and towns include Erigavo (134km), Burao (389km), and Xagal (108km). History Ruguda was a well known landmark to navigators and legendary Arab explorer Ahmad ibn Mājid wrote of Ruguda and a few other notable landmarks and ports of the northern Somali coast, including Berbera, the Sa'ad ad-Din islands aka the Zeila Archipelago near Zeila, Siyara, Maydh, Alula, El-Sheikh, Heis and El-Darad. John Hanning Speke, an English explorer who made an exploratory expedition to the area in an attempt to reach the Nugaal Valley, described the port town: Demographics Ruguda is populated by the Sanbuur sub-division of the Habr Je'lo Isaaq The Isaaq (, , ''Banu Ishaq'') is a major Somali clans, Somali clan. It is one of the largest Somali clan familie ...
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Alula, Somalia
Alula (, ), also spelled Aluula, is a coastal town in the northeastern Ra'as Aseir region and is part of the state of Puntland, on the coast of the Guardafui Channel. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it served as the main capital of the Majeerteen Sultanate. It is ten miles east of Ras Filuk and 100 nautical miles from Bosaso. History The Majeerteen Sultanate was established possibly around 1600s by Somalis from the Majeerteen Darod clan. It reached prominence during the 19th century, under the reign of the resourceful Boqor (King) Osman Mahamuud.Helen Chapin Metz, ed., ''Somalia: a country study'', (The Division: 1993), p.10. In the mid-17th to early 20th centuries, the city was the main capital city of the Majeerteen Sultanate Migiurtinia. Later forming a part of Italian Somaliland.S. B. Miles, ''On the Neighbourhood of Bunder Marayah'', Vol. 42, (Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the institute of British Geographers): 1872), p ...
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