Ajuran Sultanate

This article is about the sultanate in the Horn of Africa. For the Somali clan, see Ajuran (clan).

Ajuuraan Sultanate
Dawladdii Ajuuraan (Somali)
دولة الأجورانية (Arabic)
13th–14th century[1][2]–17th century
Flag of Ajuran Sultanate
Flag shown next to the Mogadishu area on a 1576 Fernão Vaz Dourado map
Location of Ajuran Sultanate
Capital
Common languages
Religion
Sunni Islam (state)
GovernmentMonarchy
Sultan, Imam 
History 
• Established
13th–14th century[1][2]
16th century
16th century
• Decline
17th century
Currency
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Mogadishu Sultanate
Tunni Sultanate
Geledi Sultanate
Hiraab Imamate
Today part ofSomalia
Ethiopia

The Ajuran Sultanate (Somali: Saldanadda Ajuuraan, Arabic: سلطنة الأجورانية), natively referred to as Ajuuraan,[5] and often simply Ajuran,[6] was a medieval Muslim Empire in the Horn of Africa.[7] Founded by Somali Sultans[8][9] it ruled over large parts of the Horn of Africa during the Middle Ages via control over water. Its rise to prominence began during the 13th and 14th century. By the 15th century, the Ajuran were Africa's only 'Hydraulic empire'.[10] Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuran Empire successfully resisted Oromo invasions from the west and fought against Portuguese incursions from the east.[11][5][12]

The Ajuran were among the great centres of commerce in the contemporary African world.[13] Trading routes dating from ancient and early medieval periods of Somali maritime enterprise were strengthened and re-established, foreign trade and commerce in the coastal provinces flourished with ships sailing to and from kingdoms and empires in the Near East, East Asia, and the wider world.[14][15] The Ajuran are believed to be the first Africans to have contact with China.[16]

  1. ^ Furlow, Richard Bennett (2013). The spectre of colony: colonialism, Islamism, and state in Somalia (PDF). Arizona State University. The peak of Somali culture and power in the pre-colonial years came during the Ajuuraan Sultanate from the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries
  2. ^ Pearce, Jeff (15 April 2022). The Gifts of Africa: How a Continent and Its People Changed the World. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-63388-771-8.
  3. ^ Caulfield, J. Benjamin (1850). Mathematical & physical geography. Edwards & Hughes, 12, Ave Maria Lane. p. 190.
  4. ^ Reid, Hugo (1853). A System of Modern Geography ... with Exercises of Examination. To which are Added Treatises on Astronomy and Physical Geography. p. 166.
  5. ^ a b Njoku 2013, p. 40.
  6. ^ "Ajuran | historical state, Africa". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  7. ^ Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (1989). "The Emergence and Role of Political Parties in the Inter-River Region of Somalia from 1947–1960". Ufahamu. 17 (2): 98. doi:10.5070/F7172016882.
  8. ^ Luling, Virginia (2002). Somali Sultanate: the Geledi city-state over 150 years. Transaction Publishers. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-874209-98-0.
  9. ^ Luc Cambrézy, Populations réfugiées: de l'exil au retour, p.316
  10. ^ Guo, Rongxing (16 May 2018). Human-Earth System Dynamics: Implications to Civilizations. Springer. p. 83. ISBN 978-981-13-0547-4.
  11. ^ Abdurahman, Abdullahi (18 September 2017). Making Sense of Somali History: Volume 1. Adonis and Abbey Publishers. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-909112-79-7.
  12. ^ Furlow, Richard Bennett (2013). The spectre of colony: colonialism, Islamism, and state in Somalia (Report). Arizona State University. p. 7.
  13. ^ McManus, Robert M.; Perruci, Gamaliel (9 December 2019). Understanding Leadership: An Arts and Humanities Perspective. Routledge. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-429-62138-3.
  14. ^ Shelley, Fred M. (2013). Nation Shapes: The Story behind the World's Borders. ABC-CLIO. p. 358. ISBN 978-1-61069-106-2.
  15. ^ Rodriguez, Jorge de Torres (18 May 2022), "The Medieval Archaeology of Somaliland", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology, ISBN 978-0-19-085458-4
  16. ^ Abidde, Sabella; Ayoola, Tokunbo A. (3 February 2021). China in Africa: Between Imperialism and Partnership in Humanitarian Development. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-7936-1233-5.