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Mogadishu

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Earliest Mentions of Mogadishu in written sources.

- Al Idrisi (1150) Unsure mention as Bedouna.

- Beyhaqi Nishabouri Kidari, Mohammad bin Hossein: Hadayiq al Haqayiq (The facts about the Garden) (1181)

- Umar Ibn Ali Ibn Samura : Tabaqat Fuqaha Al-Yaman (Generations of Jurists of Yemen) (1190)

- Yakut (or Jakut) al Hamawi (1220) Kitab Mu'jam al-buldan (geographical directory) Baghdad

- Ibn-al Mujawir(1232) (Tarikh al-Mustabsir) (Guide to Arabia) Iran.

- Ch'en Yuan-Ching (1200) mentions Da-shi-bi-pa-luo: Benadir but of which Mogadishu is the most important town.

The chronicle of Kilwa dates the foundation of Mogadishu to 900 AD (1).  Other documents found in Mogadishu suggest that the Banaadiri settled the city between 766 CE and 767 CE (2).  Chinese coins have also been found dating back to Emperor K’ai Yuan (713-742 CE) of the Tang dynasty (3)  and among the ruins of Gezira, about 20 km south of Mogadishu, fragments of porcelain have been discovered along with Islamic earthenware from the ninth and tenth centuries.

(1) Cerulli, Enrico. 1957. Somalia: scritti vari editi ed inediti. Volume I, Storia della Somalia, L’Islam in Somalia, Il libro degli Zengi. Roma: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 1957. Vol. I., p.20

(2) E. Cerulli, p. 25-27.

(3) T. Filesi, Testimonianza della presenza cinese in Africa, in Africa, maggio/giugno,1962, p.115; Teobaldo Filesi, Le relazioni della Cina con l’Africa nel Medio-Evo, Milano, Giuffrè, 1975.

 

Taken from: MEDIAEVAL MOGADISHU by NEVILLE CHITTICK in Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde Bd. 28, FROM ZINJ TO ZANZIBAR: Studies in History, Trade and Society on the Eastern Coast of Africa (1982), pp. 45-62 (18 pages)

 

At the end of the 19^th century ; Mogadishu consisted of two distinct settlements, west and south of the harbour, and the inhabitants of these constituted two moieties. The larger settlement, Hamar Weyne, is built on a promontory of coralline rock; the smaller, Shangani (or Shingani) on sandy soil. (see added map) Guillain put the population at 5,000 in the 1840’s, nearly three-quarters of whom were in Hamar Weyne. The space between Shangani and Hamar Weyne was formerly a market; a nice view showing it, from G. Révoil’s “Voyage Chez les Bénadirs”, is reprinted in Cerulli’s Somalia I. Despite the enormous expansion of Mogadishu, Hamar Weyne survives more or less intact. However, the ‘wall’ that surrounded it in Guillain’s day, has gone. To judge by the illustrations the fortifications were rather a connecting up of the outer houses than a wall in the normal sense. An arterial street was cut through Shangani under the Italian administration, and some other works were carried out in that area; perhaps half the original settlement survives as it was. There is no evidence that any of the existing buildings predate the eighteenth century, with the exception of the mosques in Hamar Weyne; most of the houses probably date from the 19th century.

 

It is evident that in medieval times the town was very much larger. One of the mosques, Arba‘ Rukn, meaning ‘of the four corners’, and now on the edge of Hamar Weyne, may have been so called because the corners pointed to four quarters of the town. Another mosque, Sheikh Sufi, is far outside the area of either settlement. So too is the Mnara of ‘Abd el-Aziz, far east of Shangani, towards the modern Lido; in this direction, past the present-day customs area, potsherds, notably Chinese celadons, were quite common on the beach; these also attest that the town extended far in this direction. Most indicative of all is the existence of areas still remembered as old quarters of the town. These are Hamar Jajab (smashed up Hamar) and ‘El Alauane’ as recorded by Caniglia (1917: 180 ff). According to that author Hamar Jajab extended some 4.km west of Hamar Weyne;, the ruins are said to have been destroyed during the Fascist era to make way for the airport. I have not been able to ascertain the position of ‘El Alauane’, but from Caniglia’s description it seems to have been somewhere in the region of Hamar Jajab, in an area recently covered with sand dunes. ………………   He describes the ruins as covering about 5 km, and, in extent and importance, as the most notable of Somalia; he estimates that the population must have run to tens of thousands.

 

The available documents of the Islamic period are almost all published by Cerulli in two articles which originally appeared in the Rivista di Studi Orientali 1926 and the Rendiconti of the Accademia dei Lincei for 1927, and were republished in the first volume of Somalia (Cerulli 1957a, b). Cerulli reviews these documents’, together with the Kitab al-Zuniij, and concludes that Mogadishu existed as a trading town (1) from around 900 to 1250. During this time the people of Mogadishu formed a federation of five tribes, of thirty-nine clans; of these tribes the dominant one in the religious and judicial field was the Qahtani (Magarri, who eventually became known by the Somali term Rer Faqi), who dispute with the Qudman (‘Afifi) the honour of being the first immigrants. The federation was governed by a council of elders of these five tribes. The council, apparently referred to also as the four seats, consists no doubt of the mutaqaddimun elders of Yaqut.

 

The federation was succeeded by a sultanate, of which the first ruler was a certain Abu Bakr b. Fakhr ad-Din. This must have occurred before the time of Ibn Battuta (1331) when the Sheikh was one Abu Bakr b. ‘Umar. The mosque of Fakhr ad-Din, referred to below, is reputed to have been founded under this dynasty, so that it was presumably established between the time of Yaqut (say 1230) and 1269, the date of the inscription in that mosque. This dynasty survived until the sixteenth century, when it was succeeded by the Muzaffar dynasty.

(1) he actually writes that it was an Arab trading colony; this was a mistake of his.

In this early picture (1906) of Mogadishu the Fakhr ad-Din Mosque has no other buildings around it and is close to the sea (see also map).

 

Mosque of Abdul Aziz (and surrounding tombs)

Taken from:  Somalia: Storia della Somalia. L'Islam in Somalia. Il Libro degli Zengi ; By Enrico Cerulli 1957

 

Chittick 1969: he described abraded sherds from a survey carried out in Lido, east of Shangani, (close to where the first group of medieval tombs are found) identifying Chinese porcelain remains, which consisted mainly of celadon of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with some blue-and-white ware.

The Mnara of Abdul Aziz, dating from the fourteenth - fifteenth centuries. (found in: The Origin and Development of Mogadishu AD 1000 to 1850 by Ahmed Dualeh Jama). The building of the mosque itself is more recent.

 

In the same area some old tombs are found.

On the dunes surrounding Mogadishu there are groups of tombs scattered in all directions. Two groups are particularly interesting for historical research: one beyond the Shangani district, towards the North East (direction of Lido) just beyond the Warsheikh caravan route, and another in the area immediately outside the old walls at the edge of the Hamar wen district, at the current road of Afgoy. The first group is composed of some low, rectangular, unadorned and half-buried masonry tombs from the sand. Not far away is the small suburb of sailors known as Bulo Qalimay. The walls surrounding each burial ground are covered with a very thick lime plaster in which the inscriptions have been engraved. Some of these are still legible; but many have been obliterated by the action of sand and bad weather, while presumably others have been buried by the advance of shifting dunes.

 

The following inscription can be read around one of the tombs of this group in the upper part of the external low wall:

The weak servant, hoping in God's mercy, died, Abu 'Abdallah ibn Raya ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad an - Naysaburi al - Hurasani. He died on Tuesday in the month rabi al-awwal; it had been six hundred and fourteen years 614 [since the Hegira] (1217AD).

The month of rabi 'al - awwal of Hegira 614 corresponds to the period June 8 - July 7, 1217. This is a Persian from Naysabur, the famous center of Islamic culture. The presence of people originating from Persia in Mogadishu since the beginning of the thirteenth century is therefore unquestionably confirmed. Note also that we further have as the founder of the Arba '- rukun mosque a man with nisba ‘Shirazi’.

Note: Most Swahili towns were for centuries (during medieval times) ruled by dynasties that called themselves ‘Shirazi’.

 

Of another inscription on an adjacent tomb we read only:

[an illegible name follows]

The weak servant died, hoping in the mercy of the Lord for him .......

… .. he died in the year six hundred and sixty.(1261-62) ......

(The rest is erased from the sand)

 

A third inscription on another tomb of the group says:

O God be gracious to the owner of this tomb Ḥagg Sa'id al-Haz-ragi. May God forgive him and all Muslims.

The lack of date does not allow us to establish when Ḥagg Said originally from Hazragi (al-Hajj Sa'id al-Khazraji) of the Hijaz, and therefore Arab, lived. However, this group of tombs is also locally important for its very location because it shows us how the Shangani district was inhabited since the 13th century and that ancient Mogadishu extended almost three times as much as the Somali Mogadishu of the 19th century, as it was at the time of the first Italian occupation.

 

Close to this group but further towards the sea, always to the North East of the Shangani district, is the tomb of 'Abd as-Samad which is now venerated by the Somali population. On this tomb is found the following inscription:

The needy of God's mercy, Muhammad ibn 'Abd as-Samad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali Hussain, died on Tuesday; six hundred and seventy years (1272AD) had passed since the Hegira of the Prophet. God's blessings upon him (Prophet)!

The year 670 of Hegira corresponds to 9 August 1271-28 July 1272. This inscription therefore confirms the local tradition, which tells of three missionaries who came together from Arabia: Fahr ad-din, Shams al-din, 'Ala' ad din, of which the first two settled in the Ḥamar-wen ward and the third in the Shangani ward. Fahr ad-din founded the mosque which still bears his name today (see under); Shams al-din was the progenitor of the present people of the ‘Rer Sams’ of Hamar-wen; and Ala al-din was the ancestor of the saint Abd as-Samad venerated by the Shangani district and therefore the progenitor of the present people of the ‘Rer Abdi Samad’. The deductions that the documents allow us for Abu Bakr ibn Fahr ad-din, the founder of the Sultanate of Mogadishu, and the date of the death of Muḥammad ibn Abd as - Samad of this inscription attest to the actual contemporaneity of the characters indicated by tradition, that is, in the first half of the fourteenth century.

 

Shangani : Sharif Ahmed Mosque.

Taken from: Anders Broberg: “New aspects of the medieval towns of Benadir in southern Somalia,” 1995 p118,120-21.

Exploring the Old Stone Town of Mogadishu By Nuredin Hagi Scikei (2017)

 

On the main street of Shangani we find the Sharif Ahmed mosque, which was restored a few years ago. …. in an almost inaccessible corner, there is a small archaeological treasure: the ruins of what may be the oldest mosque in Mogadishu. At Sharif Ahmed there are two earlier mosques, built one on top of the other on the same site; the earlier ones are completely buried, and hence the Sharif Ahmed mosque we see today is the third version, erected over and above earlier constructions. The discovery of the earlier phases of mosque building was made by accident in 1985 when an old mihrab was unearthed.

 

The rescue excavation following the find revealed extensive stone walls and other structures. On the northern wall several building phases could be seen in the ornaments of the mihrab and the plaster floors …..

This is the (underground) mihrab and niches of the old Masjid Sharif Ahmad in Shagani. It can be accessed by a staircase (left in the pictures) from the new mosque on top.

The fact that the (soil) layers under streets and alleys as well as in house foundations more or less have the nature of fillings (of rubble and sand etc.) causes problems . What does this mean to our possibilities to date the rebuilding phases, and can we at all use material of this kind to reflect the older history of Mogadishu ? ……

The ceramics found show, in some cases a very wide chronological span . A dating of the different rebuilding phases will be based on the youngest dateable sherds in the filling under the floor level. This means that the (oldest Shagani) mosque was erected …. after the year 1200 A.D. At the same time it can be noted that the oldest sherds of imported Arabic / Persian goods from (the Shagani) Mosque site seem to be dated to the eleventh century , and that these mainly appear in the fillings of the oldest layers. Furthermore it can be noted that there are few traces of stone buildings or demolition of stone houses in the oldest layers. In addition, the bottom layer is more of a pure sand layer, even though two major elements are bones and pottery. ….. 

The ceramics, from Egypt, Syria and possibly Iran, indicate that Shangani had widespread international contacts already during the eleventh century. … But the lack of building and demolishing material in the bottom layers at Mosque Site does not suggest stonehouse settlements by that time.

 

Taken from: Pottery from the 1986 Rescue Excavations at the Shangani Mosque in Mogadishu!

By Paul J. J, Sinclair.

 

In layer 6 some fragments identified by Prof R. Holthoer, are possible golden luster ware dated to ca 1200-1300 in Egypt. A single example of a thin walled Ottoman vessel is also represented in layer 6 as are fragments of green and brown monochrome glazed wares, Chinese imports appear to be lacking in layer 8 which is quite clearly characterized by a number of fragments of matt finished ‘black on yellow’ painted wares. In addition a single sherd of painted black on dark blue is similar to those known by Prof R. Holthoer from Fustat was found in layer 8. No scraffiato wares as illustrated by Chittick at Manda and Kilwa occurred in the mosque excavation.

 

Imported blue and white Chinese porcelain occurs widely on the east African coast and has been taken as indicative of occupation from the 5th century onwards (Horton 1984, p. 195) although some sherds do occur in Kilwa and Manda in 14th century deposits. The introduction of ‘black on yellow’ wares, supposedly from Aden is another important marker in east coast archaeology. It occurs from the 13th century levels at Gedi and Ungwana (Kirkman 1966, Horton 1984, p. 194) and is typical of period IIla at Kilwa and Period III at Manda dating from the late 13th and 14th centuries. (Chittick 1974; 1984). ‘Black on yellow’ pottery also occurs at Shanga and is considered by Horton to be introduced c. 1250 ap. Chittick (1982) reported ‘black on yellow’ in association with scraffiato from the lower levels at Hamar Weyne in Mogadishu and accordingly considered it earlier than the finds from other east African sites where scraffiato underlies the ‘black on yellow’, The lack of scraffiato in the Shangani mosque is perhaps significant in this regard and might be held, following Horton (1984, p. 194), to indicate a mid-13th century date for layer 8 in the Shangani sequence. In short ceramic collections from the excavations at the Shangani Mosque do not challenge the central assertion by Chittick that there is no evidence for the existence of a town at Mogadishu before the late 12th century. On the contrary the Shangani sequence as it now stands appears to extend back only to the 13th century. The deposits appear to have accumulated at a rate of c.1 m per century which is very considerable especially considering the compression of the lower levels.

 

Taken from: Exploring the Old Stone Town of Mogadishu By Nuredin Hagi Scikei (2017).

 

Tombs close to Hamarweyn

The other group of tombs, the one which, as I said above, lies beyond the old walls of Hamar - wen, is about a century later than that of the Shangani tombs described above. The tombs are in masonry, more adorned than the previous ones, and are located around the qubbah built by the Government of Somalia for the Sheikh Muhyi ad - din Mukarram, formerly qadi of Mogadishu, who died in 1919. The tombs which are small rectangular constructions with a low door that leads into the inner chamber where the tumulus is located, they are adorned with stone tablets in which the inscriptions were carved. One says:

In the name of the gracious and merciful God. The weak servant died, hoping in the mercy of his gracious Lord, Abu Bakr ibn al - Hagg Yaqut al - Hadrami on the night of Tuesday after sunset, the thirteenth night of the solemn Ramadan of the year seven hundred and fifty-nine (1358).

13 Ramadan 759 corresponds to 19 August 1358.

The presence of an Arab from Hadramout in 14th century Mogadishu is easily explained and in accordance with tradition.

On the same line of dunes, but a little further towards the North West near the tomb of the Mogadish saint Sheikh Sufi, there is a tomb on which we can only read:

 He died on Tuesday in the month Rabi 'al-Awwal of the year 721 Hegira (1321AD)

corresponds to March 31 - April 29 1321.

Muhammad Taani Mosque

 

In the Masjid Muhammad Taani, close to Jaama’a; The difficult and unique style of written Kufic on the mihrab attests to its antiquity. (Nuredin Hagi Scikei 2017)

Sharif Aydurus (1954) received from one of his sources the following anecdote:

In (470 AH=1078AD) the ruler, Prince Muhammad Ali, left Egypt as governor of Maqdishuh.

He lived for eighty years and built many mosques in the year 551 AH (1176 AD). Among them is ….. and (Mohamed al-Taani = Muhammad the second) ……

These are the reasons why this mosque is added here among the Medieval Mosques.

Mosque of Arba Rukun

 

The Arba Rukun mosque is located on the central avenue of Mogadishu, which divides the district of Hamar - wen from that of Shangani, on the side corresponding to Hamar - wen. In the mosque around the mihrab we read:

The weak servant in need of the mercy of God Most High Husraw son of Muḥammad as - Sirazi in the year 667 (1268-69).

The vocalization of the local tradition of the name would be: Hisarwa; The inscription has particular importance, because it documents the relations of Mogadishu with southern Persia and confirms the existence in Mogadishu of people from Shiraz, whose memory is still alive in the oral tradition, as we have seen above.

 

Taken from: Museo Della Garesa Catalogo by Regio Governo della Somalia 1934.

Mosque of Fakhr ad-Din

 

It is also located on the same boulevard also on the Hamar - wen side in the Sheikh Mumin quarter. The marbles with which it was adorned were largely removed by the wali of the Sultan of Zanzibar, who would have ordered its transport to his capital. In 1923 notable fragments of a marble arch that adorned the outside of the mihrab and had the "verse of the throne" inscribed on the lintel were still found. The same mihrab is adorned, in the interior of the niche, with colored marble with a tablet on which you can read the verse 116 of the eleventh sura of the Koran followed by the signature of the builder:

God - there is no God besides him, the living, the existing by virtue of his own; they have no hold on him neither drowsiness nor sleep; all that is in belongs to him heaven and what is on earth; who is he who can intercede with him, if not with his permission? He knows what was before them and what will be after them; men embrace of His science only what he wants; his throne extends over the heavens and the earth, nor does the custody of these tire him: he is the lofty, the magnificent. There is no compulsion for religion: the straight path is well distinguished from error; whoever does not believe in Taghut (idol or oracle) and instead believes in God, will have grasped the tight handle, not susceptible to breaking; and God hears everything and knows everything. In the name of the gracious and merciful God. He makes the prayer at the two ends of the day and night; verily good deeds drive away bad ones, this is a warning to those who reflect. His master: Hagi bin Mohammed bin Abdullahi. Date: in the last days of Sha'aban of the year 667 (1269 AD).

The last ten days of the month of Shaban 667 correspond to the days 27 April - 6 May 1269.

The upper part of the portal of the Fakr-ed-Din Mosque in Mogadishu: The three upper subdivisions of the upper door contain inscriptions in Kufic characters adorned with floral motifs. It is one of the most characteristic and valuable Islamic works of Somalia. (from the year 1372 AD).

Note: The masjid is partially (two meters) below ground level today.

 

Taken from: Exploring the Old Stone Town of Mogadishu By Nuredin Hagi Scikei (2017).

 

Masjid Sheikh Rumani Ba 'Alawi. (Hamar Weyn)

 

During the recent renovation an important artifact got lost: a piece of wood on which was engraved the date 822H / AD1419. Placed on the wall of the mihrab, almost invisible, this beautiful ceramic tile was found recently. The transliteration into Latin characters is "Z KH L D U". Several people agree that it is very likely that these letters are only a part of a longer text.

Hagi Musa Mosque or Masjid Haaji Muusa or 'Adayga Mosque (Hamar Weyn)

 

It is small mosque in the historical Hamar Weyne district in Mogadishu. Its name Adayga comes from the Salvadora persica tree that partly grows inside the mosque and which twigs is customarily used as a toothbrush, hence the name 'Adayga which in Somali means whitener or toothbrush.

In 1982 Maria Rosario La Lomia (Antiche Moschee di Mogadiscio) put forward the hypothesis that the mosque could have been built in the 13th century due to the similarities of the minaret of the 'Adayga to the minaret of Jama'a Xamar Weyne. Here pictures from the mosque date from 1973.

The minaret has a square plan with strongly rounded corners, so that it can be defined octagonal, it is divided into horizontal zones like the tower of the Jamia, but it has no battlements. The tower of Hagi Musa is not incorporated into the building of the mosque. You enter the tower and you find yourself in front of a spiral staircase very similar to that of the Jamia. You immediately notice the similarity of the structures in the two towers. (1)

(1) Garland 1966, p. 116: The design of the Tower of the Jamia of Mogadishu, and its contemporaries, is never repeated after the thirteenth century. The coursed, and even squared, rubble wall is characteristic of this period.

Taken from: Museo Della Garesa Catalogo by Regio Governo della Somalia 1934.

The notes added come from the new readings of the inscriptions in: A PRELIMINARY HANDLIST ….. FREEMAN-GRENVILLE and B. G. MARTIN

Tomb inscriptions from Mogadishu

1) Plaster cast of a funerary inscription, the original of which is found in an Islamic cemetery in Mogadishu. The version of the Arabic text is: The needy of the exalted Lord died, Aisciah binti Ali bin Al-Hatam bin Habib, as Sabt (Saturday), on 16 Shawwal (tenth month of Islamic year) year 625 from the Hegira of the Prophet (1229 AD). May blessing and peace be upon her.

Note: a new reading is given in which the date becomes: 17 September, A.D. 1228

 

6) Plaster cast of epigraph, of Islamic burial in Mogadishu. Text translation: In the name of the gracious and merciful God. The deceased died, hoping in the mercy of God praised and exalted, Fatma binti Abdi as Samad bin Jaqut, mercy of God be on all, maximum extensible mercy to the needy Muslims and Muslims, dead or living, because You are the hearer of prayers. That is on the day of Saturday, hour of the morning prayer, after 22 days of the month of Jumada-ul-Awwal (fifth month of the Islamic calendar) year 101 (720 AD).

Note: a new reading is given in which Year 101 is changed by 7?? So: post A.D. 1300-1.

 

9) Plaster cast, of funerary inscription. Translation of the Arabic text: There is no God but God. The free guarded died, hoping in the forgiveness of her powerful Lord, Fatima binti Ali, on the night of al-jumu`a  (Friday) ten of the month of Shawwal (the tenth month of the Islamic year) of the year seven hundred eighty-five - 785 - of the Hijra of the Prophet (1384 AD) The blessings of God be on the Prophet , complete blessings.

Note: a new reading is given in which the date is changed to: Thursday night, 10 Shawwal in the year seven hundred and fifty-two of the Hijra of the Prophet, the blessings of God on its leader and perfect peace.( A.H. 752/30 November, A.D. 1351).

 

10) Plaster cast of a funerary inscription from an Islamic burial in Mogadishu. Version of the Arabic text: Died the poor servant Abu Baker ibn Mohammed ibn Hagi Ahmed - al - Madani, on 29 Safar (second month of the Islamic year) of the year seven hundred and sixty-six - 766 - (1365 AD).

 

11) Plaster cast of funerary inscription of Islamic burial of Mogadishu. Version of the Arabic text:

In the name of the gracious and merciful God. Sheikh Ahmed bin Sheikh Mohammed Abo and his son Sheikh Abdul-mannan-al Gassari died .... on al-ithnayn (Monday) ..... 707 of the Prophet's Hegira (1308 AD).

Note: a new reading is given in which: probably of Shaykh'Uthman b - - and of his son (?) or a relative, Muhammad b. 'All b. Muhammad b.'Abd al-Mn, dated A.H. 700/A.D. 1300-1, or later.

 

12) Plaster cast of an epigraph from an Islamic burial in Mogadishu. Version of the Arabic text:

Verily, we have won for you a signal victory, so that God may forgive what preceded your sin and what followed it, and complete the favors of him over you and guide you in a straight path. The Lord proclaims to them from his mercy, forgiveness and paradise in which they will remain eternally: with God there is a great reward ..... 24 Shawwal (tenth month of the Islamic calendar) year 707 (1308 AD).

Note: a new reading is given in which: ibn al-Sultan ... b. al-Sultan Ahmad ibn al-Faqih (or al-Haqir) Isma'il on Saturday night

…. in the month of Muharram in the year....  seven hundred (? nine hundred)

 

14) Plaster cast of an epigraph from an Islamic burial in Mogadishu. Version of the Arabic text: It is certain that death is the door of slaves. Mohammed Salah, the Lord's needy of him, died on al-ahad (Sunday) in the year 579 (1184 AD) for the forgiveness of the Lord of him, the Mighty One.

Note: a new reading is given in which no date is given and the name of the person is Muhammad sahib al-haqir.

 

18) Original piece of Islamic burial. Of the text whose writing is corroded, the words are legible: Sevenhundred after the Hegira of the Prophet (1301 AD).

Note: a new reading is given in which: (Muslim tomb, upper half missing, dated Dhu '1-Qa'da,A.H. 714/6 February-7 March, A.D. 1315.):  

… the day of Tuesday in the month of Dhu '1-Qa'da in the year fourteen after seven hundred of the Hijra ….

 

20) Original stele of Islamic burial from Mogadishu. Version of the text from Arabic: The Universe belongs to one God, the Powerful. The Lord announces to them that mercy, forgiveness, paradise, which will remain eternally, are from him and that the great reward is found with him. There is no God than God and Muhammad is his apostle, In the name of the gracious and merciful God. The poor slave died, the one hoping in the forgiveness of his Lord the Good, Hagi Omar bin Hagi Scerifou bin Abibakar bin Hagi Daud, on al-jum`a (Friday) night, second hour of the month of Jumada al-Awwal (fifth month of the Islamic year) of the ‘Monday year’ (past years in Somalia are grouped in seven year cycles and each year in them has the name of a day in the week) 668 of the Hegira of the Prophet. The best mercy and health be upon him (1270 AD).

Note: The reading of the date is doubtful, for the individual commemorated might appear to be the nephew of the person mentioned as Ḥagg Yusuf ibn Abu Bakr ibn Ḥagg Da'ud; who died in A.H. 766/A.D. 1365.

 

Taken from: Catalogo; Mogadiscio : Museo della Garesa 1934

 

Original of Islamic burial tombstone from Mogadishu. Version of the Arabic text : « Sheikh Hagi bin Sheikh Osman bin Ismail died, on Sunday, before the noon prayer, of the month of rabi-el-aual, eleven years after seven hundred years of the Hijra of the Prophet (1312 AD. C). God's blessings be upon the Prophet.

 

Taken from: A PRELIMINARY HANDLIST OF THE ARABIC INSCRIPTIONSOF THE EASTERN AFRICAN COAST By G. S. P. FREEMAN-GRENVILLE and B. G. MARTIN (With the assistance of H. N. Chittick, J. S. Kirkman, and H. Sassoon)

 

19. Epitaph, name illegible, from Mogadishu, d. A.H. 712 or 722/A.D. 1312-3 or 1322-3,in Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin, III E 5052, reading by Weill.

 

39. ……… died the Shaykh, al-Hajj . . . . b. al-Shaykh 'Uthman b. Isma'il on Sunday before the afternoon prayers, in the month of Rabi' I in the year seventy after seven hundred . . . of the Hijra of the Prophet, (1368-69AD.) may God bless …..

 

Taken from: Taariikhda Banaadiriga (Benadir History).

 

Rulers of Mogadishu as found in written sources.

(We do not include the chronicle of Mogadishu)

Ibn Battuta (1331) From Tangiers Rihala (Travels) (original title was : Tihfat an Nuzzar)

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the Sultan of Mogadishu is called Shaikh by his subjects. His name is Abu Bark ibn Shaikh Omar, and by race he is a Berber(huwa fi'l-asl min al-Barbara). He talks in the language of Mogadishu but knows Arabic.

 

Najm al-Din Umar ibn Fahd: Al Durr al-Kamin bi Dhayl al’iqd al Thamin fi Tarikh al Balad al-Amin (d1480) Mecca.

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In the year twenty-seven and seven hundred (1327AD)

(people who died)

And Sheikh Abu Bakr bin Omar bin Othman bin Al-Hajj Ismail, the Lord of Maqdishuh, for the three days remaining from Rabi` al-Akhir (=fourth month).

 

Al-Sakhawi: Al-Daw' al-lami li ahli al-Qarni al-Tasi: (The Light Shining upon the People of the Ninth Century) (d1497) Egypt

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Ali ibn Yusuf ibn 'Umar ibn Anwar, who the Sheikh mentioned in his sermon, the ruler of our time in Mekdhoh; is known as  Muayad-bin-Muzaffar ibn Mansur. He died in the year (eight hundred) thirty-six (1433AD).

 

Al Maqrizi (1441): aleuqud alfaridat fi tarajum al'aeyan almufida (Unique Contracts in Useful Librarian Studies) Egypt.

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Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Umar ibn Abi Bakr ibn Abur, the king the son of King Muzaffar the son of King Mansour, lord of Makdashu. (1433AD)

 

Abd al Basit ibn Khalil: Nayl al amal fi dhayl al-duwal  (The hope of the tail of states) (1490) Egypt

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In the year 1433

Things that happened without a precise date

……

For the death of the Lord of Mogadishu

-in which died the Lord of Mogadishu, Ali bin Yusuf bin Omar bin Ahmed Al-Moayad bin Muzaffar bin Mansour Shahab.