page_title: Sultanate of Mogadishu
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Sultanate of Mogadishu / History
caption_attribution_description: English: ancient Almnara tower in Somalia
context_page_description: The Sultanate of Mogadishu, also known as the Kingdom of Magadazo, was a medieval Somali sultanate centered in southern Somalia established by Abubakr bin Fakhr ad-Din, who was of Arab descent and served as the first Sultan of the Mogadishu Sultanate and the Fakhr al-Din dynasty. It rose as one of the preeminent powers in the Horn of Africa during the 13th century.
  The Fakhr al-Din dynasty ruled up until the late 16th century or start of 1600's until it got replaced by the Muzaffar dynasty in the late 16th century.Subsequently the ruling Muzaffar dynasty formed an alliance with the emerging Ajuran Sultanate and ended around 1623 with the demise of the Ajuran who were raided by pastoral Somalis of the Hawiye.
  The Mogadishu Sultanate maintained a vast trading network, dominated the regional gold trade, minted its own currency, and left an extensive architectural legacy in present-day southern Somalia.
context_section_description: The origins of the name Mogadishu (Muqdisho) has many theories but it is most likely derived from a morphology of the Arabic Language "Maqa'id Shah", meaning "Seat of the Shah" in Arabic, Shah is the Persian word for King. This theory is backed with the evident presence of Persian and Arab influence in establishing the city. Another theory suggests that the name Mogadishu is derived from the Swahili term  "Mwiji wa Mwisho" meaning the last city. This theory is strongly supported due to Mogadishu in fact being a part of the Swahili Coast cities.
  For many years Mogadishu functioned as the pre-eminent city in the بلد البربر (Bilad al Barbar - "Land of the Berbers"), as medieval Arabic-speakers named the Somali coast. Following his visit to the city, the 12th-century Syrian historian Yaqut al-Hamawi (a former slave of Greek origin) wrote a global history of many places he visited Mogadishu and called it the richest and most powerful city in the region and was an Islamic center across the Indian Ocean.
  Archaeological excavations have recovered many coins from China, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. The majority of the Chinese coins date to the Song Dynasty, although the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty "are also represented," according to Richard Pankhurst.
  During his travels, Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi (1213–1286) noted that Mogadishu city had already become the leading Islamic center in the region. By the time of the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta's appearance on the Somali coast in 1331, the city was at the zenith of its prosperity. He described Mogadishu as "an exceedingly large city" with many rich merchants, which was famous for its high quality fabric that it exported to Egypt, among other places. He also describes the hospitality of the people of Mogadishu and how locals would put travelers up in their home to help the local economy. Battuta added that the city was ruled by a Somali Sultan, Abu Bakr ibn Shaikh 'Umar, who was a Moor and spoke the Mogadishan Somali or Banadiri Somali (referred to by Battuta as Benadir) and Arabic with equal fluency. The Sultan also had a retinue of wazirs (ministers), legal experts, commanders, royal eunuchs, and other officials at his beck and call. Ibn Khaldun (1332 to 1406) noted in his book that Mogadishu was a massive metropolis. He also claimed that the city was a very populous with many wealthy merchants.
  This period gave birth to notable figures like Abd al-Aziz of Mogadishu who was described as the governor and island chief of Maldives by Ibn Battuta After him is named the Abdul-Aziz Mosque in Mogadishu which has remained there for centuries.
  
  Duarte Barbosa, the famous Portuguese traveler wrote about Mogadishu (c 1517-1518):
  It has a king over it, and is a place of great trade in merchandise. Ships come there from the kingdom of Cambay (India) and from Aden with stuffs of all kinds, and with spices. And they carry away from there much gold, ivory, beeswax, and other things upon which they make a profit. In this town there is plenty of meat, wheat, barley, and horses, and much fruit: it is a very rich place.
  The Sultanate of Mogadishu sent ambassadors to China to establish diplomatic ties, creating the first ever recorded African community in China and the most notable was Sa'id of Mogadishu who was the first African man to set foot in China. In return, Emperor Yongle, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), dispatched one of the largest fleets in history to trade with Sultanate. The fleet, under the leadership of the famed Hui Muslim Zheng He, arrived at Mogadishu,  while the city was at its zenith. Along with gold, frankincense and fabrics, Zheng brought back the first ever African wildlife to China, which included hippos, giraffes and gazelles.
  Vasco Da Gama, who passed by Mogadishu in the 15th century, noted that it was a large city with houses of four or five storeys high and big palaces in its centre and many mosques with cylindrical minarets. In the 16th century, Duarte Barbosa noted that many ships from the Kingdom of Cambaya sailed to Mogadishu with cloths and spices for whi
caption: Almnara Tower, Mogadishu.
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