Saaxil, the 6th region of Somaliland

[Land_Soldier]

The last couple of days I have received many private messages by SOL members, requesting me to tell them more about my beloved Saaxil region. So I feel compelled to tell you guys more about Saaxil.

 

Saaxil (Sahel) is the 6th region (gobolka) of Somaliland Republic. Its capital is the historic port city of Berbera. It is bordered by the Gulf of Aden and the Somali regions of Woqooyi Galbeed, Sanaag, Togdheer and Awdal.

 

 

Berbera was for centuries the capital of the Somaliland region and also the colonial capital of British Somaliland from 1870 to 1941 when it was moved to Hargeisa. Located strategically on the oil route, Berbera has a deep sea port that was completed in 1969, and which is still the main commercial seaport for Somaliland.

 

Berbera preserves the ancient name of the coast along the southern shore of the Gulf of Aden. It is thought to be the city Malao described as 800 stadia beyond the city of the Avalites, described in the eighth chapter of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, which was written by a Greek merchant in the first century CE.

 

In the Periplus it is described as

 

an open roadstead, sheltered by a spit running out from the east. Here the natives are more peaceable. There are imported into this place the things already mentioned, and many tunics, cloaks from Arsinoe, dressed and dyed; drinking-cups, sheets of soft copper in small quantity, iron, and gold and silver coin, not much. There are exported from these places myrrh, a little frankincense, (that known as far-side), the harder cinnamon, duaca, Indian copal and macir, which are imported into Arabia; and slaves, but rarely.

 

Berbera is mentioned by the Islamic traveller Ibn Sa'id in the thirteenth century. Duan Chengshi, a Chinese Tang Dynasty scholar, described in his written work of 863 CE the slave trade, ivory trade, and ambergris trade of Bobali, which is also thought to be Berbera (see Maritime section of Tang Dynasty for more).

 

However, as I.M. Lewis notes, "beyond the fact that during the period of Portuguese domination in the Red Sea the town was sacked in 1518 by Antonio de Saldanha, little of its history is known before the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries."[3] In 1546, the Ottoman Empire occupied the northwestern regions of Somalia including Berbera. It also made Zeila the regional capital due to the latter's strategic location on the Red Sea.

 

One certainty about Berbera over the following centuries was that it was the site of an annual fair, held between October and April, which Mordechai Abir describes as "among the most important commercial events of the east coast of Africa."[4] The major Somali clan of ***** in Somalia, caravans from Harar and the Hawd, and Banyan merchants from Porbandar, Mangalore and Mumbai gathered to trade. All of this was kept secret from European merchants, writes Abir: "Banyan and Arab merchants who were concerned with the trade of this fair closely guarded all information which might have helped new competitors; and actually through the machinations of such merchants Europeans were not allowed to take part in the fair at all."[5]

 

The British explorer Richard Burton made two visits to this port, and his second visit was marred by an attack on his camp by several hundred Somali spearmen the night of 19 April 1855, and although Burton was able to escape to Aden, one of his companions was killed.[6] Burton, recognizing the importance of the port city wrote:

 

 

The Saaxil region consist of the following Districts.

 

Berbera(City District)

Sheekh(City District)

Bulahar(District), Historic coastal town

Goda Weyn(District), Farmers community

Las Iidle(District), Fishing Community

Mandhera (District), Famous for the Prison

 

There are 113 villages in Saaxil. Some of the more important ones are:

Xagal

Laasgeel

Sheekh Abdaal

Lafaruug

Xamaas

Daragodle

Laalays

 

 

 

 

 

[Jacaylbaro]

The last couple of days I have received many private messages by SOL members, requesting me to tell them more about my beloved Saaxil region

........... Faan Weynaa

[Blessed]

^LOL. Kula arkay. Laakin, it has to be said, that was a good read. Saaxil is my favorite part of SL, Burco Sagal mooyaane.

[Jacaylbaro]

Qaraxyaa la iska sheeganayaa dee ,,,

[Blessed]

Weliba qaar dooxii Berbera ku soo gubtay..

[Jacaylbaro]

Waa la igu wareeriyay meeshaa warkeeda kuye ,,,,

[Land_Soldier]

Ancient Ottoman Mosque

 

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

Perhaps what happens in private should stay private. If they sent you to las vegas, what happens in las vegas would definitely not stay in las vegas, loool

[Land_Soldier]

Sheick Veterinary School

 

 

 

[Blessed]

Jb, Malaha waa kuwii isla hadli jiray, sow Saaxil yana mey sheegan jirin? Ka talow.. LS - where's that Masjid? Xafadee.

[Jacaylbaro]

Waa laftoodii dee ............... isla hadlayaashaa qiimaha iyo qaayaha leh ,, imikana Saaxil bay marayaan ,,,

[Land_Soldier]

Masjidka wuxu ku yaala jeelka agtiisa, meeshii igriiska dagi jireen. JB aya garaniya magaca xaafadaa.

[AfricaOwn]

You're putting all this energy just to front? . You're a joke, run and tell that.

[Land_Soldier]

Originally posted by Jacaylbaro:

Waa laftoodii dee ............... isla hadlayaashaa qiimaha iyo qaayaha leh ,, imikana Saaxil bay marayaan ,,,

Inadeero,

 

dadkan maxaad wax ugu sheegi weyday? maad wax bartid. waad iska qoslisaa uun.

 

They dont even know who we are. And where we are from. Tell them we are the biggest folks, longest laandheer and hardest of all men around here.

[Land_Soldier]

Sheick Secondary School