Somalis = Black Berbers?

[Holac]

"The Arab geographers generally used terms such as Habasha for the people of the Ethiopian interior regardless of whether they were Christian, Muslim or pagan; Berber for the inhabitants of the Horn, whom they sometimes qualified as 'black Berbers', to distinguish them from the Berbers of the Maghrib; and Zanj, for the various peoples of darker complexion whom they located beyond the Habasha and the' black Berbers"

 

"In fact, there was a basic continuity in the use of the term Berber since the first century of the Christian era, to describe the land and the people of the Horn. The Periplus, Claudius Ptolemy, and Cosmas Indicopleustes employed it in much the same way as the Arab geographers did after the ninth century. There seems to be no doubt now that the Arab geographers had particularly the Somali in mind when they spoke of the 'black Berbers' of the Horn; and the earlier use of the term by Greek writers may very well indicate a more ancient occupancy of the Horn by the same stock of people."

 

page 134 - 136

[Holac]

 

[Abu-Salman]

Probably; there are historical sources suggesting the Fulanis, Peuls or Hausas migrated westwards in Africa and alongside Tuaregs/Berbers share some common origin with Somalis or even Tutsis (langage and biology are not always related; a lot of Bantus seem to have common blood with Cushitics) or cushitics in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania etc.

Ethiopian Amharic may be a semitic langage too but their blood differs little from that of Oromos and Somalis (just like with the Beta Israel or Falashas).

 

The bottom line is that things are not as they seem or that simple; you have also for instance Viking or North German origin traces in Russia etc but also in Venice which langage was not Italic originally (as in other parts of Italia) while even Germany had much non german origin blood. It's just human nature to be swayed with simplicity and racism.

Maybe the "Berber" group is along the Bantu-Niger-Congo, Mongoloid and Eurasians with their Indo-European/Aryan one of the initial human segments rather than a mix; middle-age Arabs would be a mix of Berber-Aryan (eg, through Egyptians, Iranians, or even axumite Ethiopians maybe) even if it's more a linguistic group than an ethnic one today (Algeria, Lybia etc are largely Berber; Turkey is such a human melting pot today resembling little original Mongols or Turks).

[xabad]

Fascinating!

[Holac]

A more ancient occupancy of the Horn by the same stock of people.

The contacts between the Near and the Middle East on the one hand,

and the African side of the Gulf of Aden on the other, were very old and

regular; and the earliest advent of Islam in these regions must have

certainly occurred within the first century of the Muslim era. During

the eighth and ninth centuries Islam had struck very deep roots in the

coastal regions of the Gulf, and, as was shown above, the impact

of this had already begun to be felt in the interior of central Ethiopia.

 

The inhabitants of the Horn at that time seem to have been the

ancestors of the present-day Somali. Their most important coastal

settlements were Zeila and Berbera on the Gulf of Aden, and Moga-

dishu, Merca and Brava on the Benadir coast. Each of these settlements

apparently owed its growth and development to the regular stream of

merchants from Arabia, and from the countries around the Persian

Gulf, who visited these places and who later started to live in them.

These foreign elements of predominantly Arab origin no doubt inter-

married with the local natives, which is clearly shown in the rich geneal-

ogical traditions of the Somali people. There are some traditional his-

torical references to these separate settlements, of which Mogadishu

seems to have been the most prominent after the tenth century. Some

traditional accounts about Mogadishu date the first Arab settlement on

the site to the second half of the eighth century, to which period two

Arabic inscriptions in the town are clearly attributed. According to

more reliable indications, however, the most important early migration

to the area took place in the first years of the tenth century, when

some Arab individuals from al-Ahsa on the Persian Gulf left there for

religious reasons and established the first viable Arab colony at Moga-

dishu. These early settlers were later followed by many successive

Arab and also Persian immigrants, who later gave origin to the many

tribal groups in the town. It is apparent that until the second half of

the thirteenth century, Mogadishu was essentially a confederation of

these different tribes, who were unable to evolve a united sultanate for

about three hundred years. The thirteenth century was clearly a crucial

period for Mogadishu, in which many vital developments were taking

place. Many Arabic inscriptions published by Enrico Cerulli indicate

that the citizens of the town included some prominent individuals of

Arab and Persian origin. The most ancient surviving mosque in

Mogadishu, the Jami', was also apparently built in that century, accord-

ing to the inscription on the tower gate, which bears the date 1238.•

The other two old mosques, Arba' Rukun and Fakhr al-Din, also be-

long to the same period. Perhaps the most important development at

that time was the establishment of the first sultanate of Mogadishu

by Abu Bakr b. Fakhr al-Din, sometime before 1269. Mogadishu had

certainly acquired its prominent position on the Benadir coast by that

time, and al-Dimashqi (125 6-1327) described it as a leading commercial

port, where merchants from Arabia, Persia and India came regularly

and did business with the local traders, who -also seem to have estab-

lished vital lines of communication with the interior of the Horn.2

 

The two other important towns on the Benadir coast, Brava and

Merca, had also taken shape in about the same period. Cerulli reports an

Arabic inscription from Brava, commemorating the death of a Muslim

resident in 1104/j, which certainly indicates the existence of a highly

developed Muslim community there in the eleventh century. Merca

was also an important settlement in the same period. Al-Idrisi (1100-

62) gives a fairly accurate description of its location in his geographical

treatise written in about 1150. It was a coastal town and two stages

away from it in the interior there was a river of which the rich yalley

produced much corn. This was certainly the Webe Shebele, to which

al-Idrisi also seems to make another reference when he locates fifty

villages of the Hawiya along the bank of an unnamed river.3 The

Hawiya still form one of the most important tribes of the Somali, and

at the time when al-Idrisi was writing his book they occupied the

coastal area between Ras Hafun and Merca, as well as the lower basin

of the Webe Shebele. Al-Idrisi's mention of the Hawiya is the first

documentary reference to a specific Somali group in the Horn, and it

constitutes a very important testimony to the early Somali occupancy

of the whole region. Later Arab writers also make references to the

Hawiya in connection with both Merca and the lower valley of the

Webe Shebele. Ibn Sa'id (1214-74), for instance, considered Merca

to be the capital of the Hawiya, who lived in fifty villages on the bank of a

river which he called 'the Nile of Mogadishu', a clear reference to the

Webe Shebele.4 Yaqut, another thirteenth-century Arab geographer,

also mentions Merca, which he says belonged to the 'black Berbers'

indicate a more ancient occupancy of the Horn by the same stock of people.

The contacts between the Near and the Middle East on the one hand,

and the African side of the Gulf of Aden on the other, were very old and

regular; and the earliest advent of Islam in these regions must have

certainly occurred within the first century of the Muslim era. During

the eighth and ninth centuries Islam had struck very deep roots in the

coastal regions of the Gulf, and, as was shown above, the impact

of this had already begun to be felt in the interior of central Ethiopia.

 

The inhabitants of the Horn at that time seem to have been the

ancestors of the present-day Somali. Their most important coastal

settlements were Zeila and Berbera on the Gulf of Aden, and Moga-

dishu, Merca and Brava on the Benadir coast. Each of these settlements

apparently owed its growth and development to the regular stream of

merchants from Arabia, and from the countries around the Persian

Gulf, who visited these places and who later started to live in them.

These foreign elements of predominantly Arab origin no doubt inter-

married with the local natives, which is clearly shown in the rich geneal-

ogical traditions of the Somali people. There are some traditional his-

torical references to these separate settlements, of which Mogadishu

seems to have been the most prominent after the tenth century. Some

traditional accounts about Mogadishu date the first Arab settlement on

the site to the second half of the eighth century, to which period two

Arabic inscriptions in the town are clearly attributed. According to

more reliable indications, however, the most important early migration

to the area took place in the first years of the tenth century, when

some Arab individuals from al-Ahsa on the Persian Gulf left there for

religious reasons and established the first viable Arab colony at Moga-

dishu. These early settlers were later followed by many successive

Arab and also Persian immigrants, who later gave origin to the many

tribal groups in the town. It is apparent that until the second half of

the thirteenth century, Mogadishu was essentially a confederation of

these different tribes, who were unable to evolve a united sultanate for

about three hundred years. The thirteenth century was clearly a crucial

period for Mogadishu, in which many vital developments were taking

place. Many Arabic inscriptions published by Enrico Cerulli indicate

that the citizens of the town included some prominent individuals of

Arab and Persian origin. The most ancient surviving mosque in

Mogadishu, the Jami', was also apparently built in that century, accord-

ing to the inscription on the tower gate, which bears the date 1238.•

The other two old mosques, Arba' Rukun and Fakhr al-Din, also be-

long to the same period. Perhaps the most important development at

that time was the establishment of the first sultanate of Mogadishu

by Abu Bakr b. Fakhr al-Din, sometime before 1269. Mogadishu had

certainly acquired its prominent position on the Benadir coast by that

time, and al-Dimashqi (125 6-1327) described it as a leading commercial

port, where merchants from Arabia, Persia and India came regularly

and did business with the local traders, who -also seem to have estab-

lished vital lines of communication with the interior of the Horn.2

 

The two other important towns on the Benadir coast, Brava and

Merca, had also taken shape in about the same period. Cerulli reports an

Arabic inscription from Brava, commemorating the death of a Muslim

resident in 1104/j, which certainly indicates the existence of a highly

developed Muslim community there in the eleventh century. Merca

was also an important settlement in the same period. Al-Idrisi (1100-

62) gives a fairly accurate description of its location in his geographical

treatise written in about 1150. It was a coastal town and two stages

away from it in the interior there was a river of which the rich yalley

produced much corn. This was certainly the Webe Shebele, to which

al-Idrisi also seems to make another reference when he locates fifty

villages of the Hawiya along the bank of an unnamed river.3 The

Hawiya still form one of the most important tribes of the Somali, and

at the time when al-Idrisi was writing his book they occupied the

coastal area between Ras Hafun and Merca, as well as the lower basin

of the Webe Shebele. Al-Idrisi's mention of the Hawiya is the first

documentary reference to a specific Somali group in the Horn, and it

constitutes a very important testimony to the early Somali occupancy

of the whole region. Later Arab writers also make references to the

Hawiya in connection with both Merca and the lower valley of the

Webe Shebele. Ibn Sa'id (1214-74), for instance, considered Merca

to be the capital of the Hawiya, who lived in fifty villages on the bank of a

river which he called 'the Nile of Mogadishu', a clear reference to the

Webe Shebele.4 Yaqut, another thirteenth-century Arab geographer,

also mentions Merca, which he says belonged to the 'black Berbers'

 

 

 

[Holac]

An important information in the above post is the original inhabitants of the town of Merca and lower Shabelle region (a contentious subject in Somali politics today).

[Abu-Salman]

 

Things are not that simple: clans in the past centuries seem to have been fairly fluid just like their location.

A group can join a clan, even if non somali but somali related Galla, and some clans have a heavy association component both in the North and the South (the Dire-Dawa/Djibouti one, the Baidoa one etc); locations of clan confederation may change as suggested by location names in the North (Ceel Mar..., from Gedo group etc) by this Somali geographer called kariye.

 

It's a bit like Danmark claiming Normandy, Britain, or Kiev (where Vikings started the first Russian state) etc...History is complicated and more chaotic than it may seems.