Draft:Medieval Somali Maritime Trade

17th-century map by Nicolas Sanson shows detailed regions including India, China, Persia, Arabia, Ajan (Greater Somalia), and Anatolia.

The Medieval Somali Maritime Trade refers to the long-distance seafaring commerce, navigation, and maritime interactions undertaken by the Somali people and states during the Middle Ages (roughly the 7th to 16th centuries AD).This trade encompassed the movement of goods, diplomatic missions, and the exchange of ideas, practices, and institutions between Somalia and foreign regions such as the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and the Far East (China and Southeast Asia). Due to the long duration and complexity of the period, medieval Somali maritime trade is generally subdivided into two main phases. The first phase, the Early Medieval maritime trade, began in the 7th–8th centuries and continued until the 13th century. It was characterized by the rise of coastal city-states such as Zeila, Berbera, Bulhar, Hafun, and Mogadishu, as well as kingdoms such as the Adal Kingdom and the Kingdom of Mogadishu. The second phase, the Late medieval maritime trade, began in the late 13th century and continued until the 16th century. It was marked by the dominance of the Ajuran Empire, the Ifat Sultanate, and the later Adal Sultanate, which ruled large parts of the Somali Peninsula.

The "City of Mogadishu" on Fra Mauro's medieval map.

The Somali maritime networks during the Middle Ages fostered economic prosperity and ushered in a golden age most notably during the Sultanate of Mogadishu. The sultunate of mogadishu developed its own currency by minting coins. It was one of the earliest African polities in Sub-Saharan Africa alongside the Aksumite Empire to issue coinage for foreign trade across the Indian Ocean. Maritime trade significantly contributed to the growth of urban centers in medieval Somalia, particularly in the Banaadir region a historically important coastal area in southeastern Somalia. This region, home to major port cities such as Mogadishu, Merca, and Baraawe, developed into a densely populated and urbanized coastal region due to its strategic location along the indian ocean. The growth of cities along the benaadir region helped integrate Somali polities into the broader Indian Ocean world. In the north, the northern Somali coast served as a political, religious, and cultural center of the Somali Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Several early Somali kingdoms that emerged following the arrival of Islam were based along this northern coast, particularly in cities such as Zeila. In contrast, the Benadir region whose principal city is Mogadishu in southern Somalia functioned primarily as a major commercial hub for trade.

Historical Context and Geographic Scope

A mid-15th century Florentine world map based on the first (modified conic) projection from Jacobus Angelus's 1406 Latin translation of Maximus Planudes's late-13th century rediscovered Greek manuscripts of Ptolemy's 2nd-century Geography. The region labeled as Barbaria/Barbario (written in ancient Greek as Βαρβαρία) appears at the far eastern edge of Africa, roughly corresponding to modern-day Somalia and Djibouti.

The Somali Peninsula, also known as the Horn of Africa, has long been a key region for maritime trade due to its strategic location along the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, the Guardafui Channel (near the Arabian Sea), and close to the Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. During the medieval period, the area referred to as Somalia extended beyond the present-day borders of the Somali Republic, including parts of eastern Ethiopia (the Somali-inhabited region called the Somali Region or Ogaden), northeastern and eastern Kenya (known as the Northern Frontier District, which was historically part of southern Somalia’s Jubbaland region but was separated by British colonial borders), and modern-day Djibouti (historically part of Greater Somalia but became independent after gaining independence from France, formerly known as French Somaliland). This coastal region served as a vital link connecting Africa with the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Egypt, and China through extensive maritime trade routes.The region has been a commercial crossroads since Classical antiquity and Late antiquity. From the 3rd century BCE to the 6th century CE, it was known to ancient Greeks and Romans as "Barbaria," or Barbario region, a name referring to the northern Somali coast (modern Puntland, Somaliland, and Djibouti). This should not be confused with the "Barbary Coast," or Barbarie/Barbaria region, a European term used from the 16th century onwards to describe the North African coastline of the Maghreb (e.g. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya)..

A rotated version of Al-Idrisi's 12th-century world map. The region of Bilad al-Barbari (written in Arabic 'بربرة' 9) is shown near the coast, east of Al-Habash (lit. Abyssinia, modern-day Ethiopia) and across from Yemen.

With the arrival of Islam to the Horn of Africa in the early 7th century particularly in the coastal port city of Zeila along the Gulf of Aden in northern Somalia the region came to be known in Arabic sources as Bilad al-Barbar. This name is derived from earlier Greco-Roman references to the area, such as Regio Barbaria (Latin) and Βαρβαρία χώρα (Barbarío chṓra, Ancient Greek). Bilad al-Barbar (Land of the Barbars, barbar/berbar or Barbari) referred to the modern Somali people who inhabited this strategically peninsula. Bilad al-Barbar was well known in the Islamic world and frequently referenced by medieval Arab geographers and historians. Its long coastline, stretching from the Red Sea in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south, was lined with important port cities such as Zeila, Berbera, and later Mogadishu. These ports served as vibrant hubs of maritime commerce. Geographically, Bilad al-Barbar (roughly corresponding to the Greater Somalia in premodern geography) held a strategic position at the intersection of two major maritime trade systems: the Indian Ocean trade network and the Maritime Silk Road. These interconnected trade routes enabled the region to develop robust commercial ties with the Middle East. As a result of its prominence, the name Bilad al-Barbar also appeared in Persian sources as Barbaristan. Throughout the Islamic and medieval periods, the term Bilad al-Barbar remained the common geopolitical, geographical designation for the wider Somali lands. Building on its early integration into Persian, and Arabian trade networks, the region’s role expanded significantly by the 9th and 12th centuries, becoming part of broader maritime routes that reached across the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and even China. These developments laid the foundation for the rise of a dynamic and far-reaching Somali maritime trade system that endured for centuries.

The Emergence of Medieval Somali Maritime Trade

Depiction of medieval Somali maritime enterprise,

The emergence of Somali maritime trade during the medieval period can be traced to the early Islamic presence in the Horn of Africa. The coastal port cities of Zeila, Berbera, and Mogadishu gradually transformed into major hubs of commerce, centers of religion (Islam), and political power. During the spread of Islam, common religious beliefs (Sunni Islam), a shared language (Somali), and ethnic unity played a significant role in shaping the development of medieval Somali trade. The unification of the Somali people as one ethnic group, with a common ancestry, history, and culture, helped foster a sense of cohesion that facilitated the growth of trade.

Because of Somalia's elongated shape, the southern and northern regional divisions had two distinct maritime routes. One route passed through the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while the other ran through the Indian Ocean and the Guardafui Channel. Goods and maritime exports were transported from and imported into these routes

As a result, medieval Somalia was marked by unity, with the Somali cities split into the northern and southern regions, each contributing to the flourishing of trade in different periods. Politically, the region was divided into two kingdoms( southern and northern) each with its own political structures and alliances, which shaped how each region engaged in trade. The northern regions, with cities like Zeila Bulhar, hafun, Aw-Barkhadle, Ziyaaro and Berbera, were crucial to early medieval trade, while the southern Benadir region, with Mogadishu, Merca and barawe at its core, played a central role in later medieval trade. The trade networks were as divided as the political landscape, with each region trading with different foreign region and flourishing at different times. The early medieval trade was concentrated along the northern Somali coast, primarily engaging with the Arabian Peninsula, Persia and India while the late medieval trade saw an expansion to the Benaadir region, which grew into a vibrant center of commerce connecting to the broader Indian Ocean trade system. These regional divisions influenced both the political and economic landscapes of greater Somalia region as each kingdom or polity pursued its own interests through strategic trade alliances.

Early Medieval Maritime Trade (7th–13th Centuries): Establishing Northern Connections

Map of the northern Somali coast.

The early medieval maritime trade period (7th to 13th centuries) marks the beginning of Somali involvement in long-distance seaborne commerce. This era is defined by the establishment of maritime routes and the gradual expansion of port cities along the northern Somali coast, including Zeila, Berbera, Bulhar, Hafun, Ziyaara, Xiis, Qaʽableh, Haylan and Maydh. Following the arrival of Islam in the 7th Somali coastal communities became integrated into the broader Islamic trading networks. These networks linked the Horn of Africa with the Arabian Peninsula and Persia. During this early phase, Somali merchants engaged primarily in trade with ports along the Persian Gulf and the Arabian coast. The rise of these northern port cities laid the foundations for what would later become a flourishing maritime economy, as the Somali coast became an essential link in the early Islamic trade in the gulf of aden. As Islamic presence expanded across the Horn of Africa in the early centuries of the Islamic era, it significantly deepened the commercial ties between Somali coastal cities and the broader Middle East. Northern port cities such as Zeila flourished as prominent trade hubs, functioning as key points in both regional and long-distance trade across the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. The growth of Islamic merchant activity and the emergence of naval dominance in the Arabian Sea and the Somali peninsula enabled Somali merchants to become integrated into an increasingly complex and competitive maritime economy that stretched from the Persian Gulf to Egypt.

An early modern Ottoman map of the Horn of Africa, Egypt, and Sudan, the Adal Kingdom written as in Ottoman Turkish عادل, Somali Cadal/Hadal or Awdal/adal kingdom lies east of حبش, Habash corresponding to Christian Abyssinia.

With the flourishing of trade came heightened contact and political consolidation. The strategic location of the northern Somali coast was first noted by the 9th-century Arab geographer Al-Yaqubi, who described the prosperity of coastal settlements such as Zeila. In the same period, Al-Yaqubi recorded the existence of an early Somali Muslim kingdom known as Adal, whose capital was reportedly located in Zeila ,. Zeila’s role as the capital of the Adal Kingdom suggests that the kingdom centered along the northern Somali coast had already emerged as a recognized political entity by at least the 7th or 8th century. Its prominence likely predated the 9th-century account by Al-Yaqubi and may have reached its peak during that time, when it was first recorded in Arab historical sources. The name "Adal" (sometimes rendered as "Awdal," "Cadal," or "Cadaleed") is believed to have Somali etymological roots and refers to the northwestern region of Somalia, known today as Awdal. The city of Zeila serves as the regional capital and principal port of Awdal region.

The Kingdom of Adal was strategically located in the Northern somali coast directly across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the Arabian Peninsula, particularly the coasts of present-day Yemen. This prime coastal position, along the Gulf of Aden and near the Red Sea, placed Adal at the crossroads of major maritime routes connecting the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Red Sea. Adal's location at the entrance of the Guardafui Channel linking the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden with the Indian Ocean enabled it to become a crucial gateway for maritime trade. The kingdom's proximity to the narrow straits of Bab el-Mandeb allowed it to monitor and benefit from ships traveling between Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East. With natural harbors along the northern Somali coast and access to inland Somali trade routes, Adal became one of the most strategically positioned political entities in early East Africa.This strategic positioning is further supported by archaeological evidence, which has uncovered signs of long-distance trade during the Adal period. Excavations along the northern Somali coast, in areas such as Ziyaaro and Fardowsa (a medieval town in northern Somalia), have revealed artifacts originating from Persia, India, China, and Southeast Asia, dating back to the 12th to 14th centuries.