- During the Middle Ages, Kismayo and the surrounding area known
as Jubaland were part of the Ajuran Empire, a Somali sultanate that
ruled over large parts of the Horn of Africa and dominated trade in the
Indian Ocean. The Ajuran Empire had a strong,
centralised administration and aggressive military strategy, which
enabled it to resist an Oromo invasion from the west and a Portuguese
incursion from the east during the Gaal Madow and the Ajuran-Portuguese
wars.
Trading routes dating from the ancient and early
medieval periods of Somali maritime enterprise were strengthened or
re-established, and foreign trade and commerce in the coastal provinces
flourished with ships sailing to and from many kingdoms and empires in
East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Middle East, North Africa
and East Africa.
The kingdom left an extensive architectural legacy, being one of the major medieval Somali powers engaged in sophisticated castle, fortress and various other genres of architecture. Many of the ruined fortifications dotting the landscapes of southern Somalia today are the handiwork of Ajuran engineers, including several pillar tomb fields, necropolises and city ruins built in that era. During the Ajuran rule many people in the southern part of the Horn of Africa converted to Islam due to the theocratic nature of the government.
The kingdom left an extensive architectural legacy, being one of the major medieval Somali powers engaged in sophisticated castle, fortress and various other genres of architecture. Many of the ruined fortifications dotting the landscapes of southern Somalia today are the handiwork of Ajuran engineers, including several pillar tomb fields, necropolises and city ruins built in that era. During the Ajuran rule many people in the southern part of the Horn of Africa converted to Islam due to the theocratic nature of the government.
As the only
hydraulic empire in Africa at the time, the Ajuran monopolised the
waters of the Shebelle and Jubba Rivers. Through hydraulic engineering,
it also constructed many of the limestone wells and cisterns of the
state that are still operative and in use even today.
The
rulers developed new systems of agriculture and taxation, which
continued to be used in parts of the Horn of Africa as late as the 19th
century. However, due to the tyrannical rule of later Ajuran leaders,
multiple rebellions broke out weakening the kingdom which eventually
split into several successor states at the end of the 17th century, the
most prominent being the Geledi Sultanate.
From 1836,
Kismayo and other parts of Jubaland were claimed by the Sultanate of
Muscat (now in Oman) and then fell under the Sultanate of Zanzibar when
it was split from Muscat and Oman in 1856 and given control of East
African territories.
On 7 November 1890, Zanzibar became a British Protectorate and on 1 July 1895 Zanzibar ceded all of its coastal possessions on continental East Africa to Britain. Together with the Zanzibar Sultanate’s other former possessions in the area, Jubaland became part of the British East Africa Protectorate.
Businessdailyafrica
On 7 November 1890, Zanzibar became a British Protectorate and on 1 July 1895 Zanzibar ceded all of its coastal possessions on continental East Africa to Britain. Together with the Zanzibar Sultanate’s other former possessions in the area, Jubaland became part of the British East Africa Protectorate.
The ascendancy
of the Harti merchant community crystallised under British rule
becoming the first local employees of the administration and emerging as
a new educated, urban professional class.
In 1925, the
Harti and Ogaden communities reached an agreement for the partition of
Jubaland under the mediation of the British. Unfortunately, each
community had a different understanding of the partition.
According
to the Ogaden, the pact gave their Sultan Ahmed Magan control of
Jubaland at large. The Harti maintained that the agreement stipulated
that part of the city south of the Liboi-Kismayo Road would remain under
their control, while the Ogaden, and its Mohamed Zubeir subdivision, in
particular, would administer the area to the north of this. The pact
also allowed Mohamed Zubeir access to the port.
The
territory was soon thereafter ceded to Italy by Britain supposedly as
reward for their support during World War I. Kismayo and the northern
half of Jubaland were then incorporated into neighbouring Italian
Somaliland on 30 June 1926. Britain retained control of the southern
half of the partitioned Jubaland territory, which was later known as the
Northern Frontier District (NFD) and subsequently renamed North Eastern
Province.
It will be recalled that when the
nationalist Harry Thuku was arrested in 1922, he was detained in Kismayo
as it was then part of British East Africa. Immediately Kismayo was
handed over to the Italians in 1926, Harry Thuku was transferred to
Lamu.
Under Italian rule, the Harti continued to enjoy
their privileged status as the elite. After Somalia’s independence in
1960 and the establishment of a civilian government, the Harti secured
all four seats reserved for Kismayo.
Meanwhile, four
days before granting British Somaliland independence on 26 June 1960,
Britain declared that all Somali inhabited areas of East Africa should
be unified in one administrative region.
However,
during negotiations for Kenya’s independence, Britain granted
administration of the NFD to Kenyan nationalists despite an informal
plebiscite showing the overwhelming desire of the region’s population to
join the newly formed Somali Republic, and notwithstanding that the NFD
was occupied almost entirely by people of the Somali ethnic group.
Although
a commission established in December 1962 by Britain reported that 88
of the inhabitants preferred unification with the Somali Republic,
Britain did not accede to the peoples wishes, instead creating the North
Eastern Region out of NFD on 8 March 1963. In response, the Somali
Republic severed diplomatic relations with Britain on 18 March 1963.
Just
before Kenya’s independence the British belatedly realised that the new
Kenyan regime was not willing to give up the Somali inhabited areas.
Britain was thus caught at a crossroads, admittedly of their own making,
but it was too late. Led by the Northern Province Peoples Progressive
Party (NPPPP), Somalis in the NFD vigorously sought union with their kin
in the Somali Republic.
In response, the Kenya
government instituted a number of repressive measures designed to
frustrate their efforts in what came to be known as the “Shifta” period.
Many lives were lost and the government was accused of human rights
abuses which it strongly denied.
Although the conflict
ended in an uneasy ceasefire, Somalis in the region still maintain close
ties with their brethren in Somalia. It is not all
gloom, however, as the Somali community enjoy a virtual dual citizenship
through a porous border with Somalia and a thriving business
environment not just at the border but also in major towns in Kenya.
Businessdailyafrica
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