Jump to navigation Jump to search “Ajuran” redirects here. Ajuuraan Sultanate, and often simply as Ajuran, was a Somali empire in the medieval times that dominated the Indian Ocean trade. The Kingdom left an extensive architectural legacy, being one of the major medieval Somali powers engaged in sophisticated and advanced castle, fortress and various ogo european dating architectures. In the 13th century AD, the Ajuran Empire was the only hydraulic empire in Africa.
As a hydraulic empire, the Ajuran monopolized the water resources of the Shebelle and Jubba rivers. The Ajuran Sultanate’s sphere of influence in the Horn of Africa was the largest in the region. The House of Garen was the ruling hereditary dynasty of the Ajuran Sultanate. The city of Merca was one of several prominent administrative centers of the Ajurans. The Ajuran nobility used many of the typical Somali aristocratic and court titles, with the Garen rulers styled Imam. Through their control of the region’s wells, the Garen rulers effectively held a monopoly over their nomadic subjects as they were the only hydraulic empire in Africa during their reign. With the centralized supervision of the Ajuran, farms in Afgooye, Bardera and other areas in the Jubba and Shabelle valleys increased their productivity.
The State collected tribute from the farmers in the form of harvested products like durra, sorghum and bun, and from the nomads, cattle, camels sheep and goats. A political device that was implemented by the Garen rulers in their realm was a form of ius primae noctis, which enabled them to create marriages that enforced their hegemonic rule over all the important groups of the empire. The rulers would also claim a large portion of the bride’s wealth, which at the time was 100 camels. For trade, the Ajuran Sultanate minted its own Ajuran currency. Medieval Kismayo was used by Ajuuran state to utilize the Jubba River for its plantations and sell its crops globally through Kismayo port. The Somali merchants with their large sophisticated Ajuran boats heading towards Java and Vietnam to sell their products. The urban centers of Mogadishu, Merca, Barawa, Kismayo and Hobyo and other respective ports became profitable trade outlets for commodities originating from the interior of the State.
Mogadishu city had already become the leading Islamic center in the region. Mogadishu was a massive metropolis city that served as the capital of the Ajuran Kingdom. He also claimed that the city of Mogadishu was a very populous city with many wealthy merchants, yet nomad in character. 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. According to the 16th-century explorer, Leo Africanus indicates that the native inhabitants of the Mogadishu the capital of Ajuran Sultanate polity were of the same origins as the denizens of the northern people of Zeila the capital of Adal Sultanate. Trading relations were established with Malacca in the 15th century, with cloth, ambergris and porcelain being the main commodities of the trade.
Mogadishu imported valuable gold Sequin coins from the Venetian Empire in Europe. The Ajuran Empire maintained commercial ties with the Ming dynasty and other kingdoms. The Ajuran Sultanate relied on agriculture, taxation and trade for most of its income. The Ajuran Sultanate also minted its own Ajuran currency. Many ancient bronze coins inscribed with the names of Ajuran Sultans have been found in the coastal Benadir province, in addition to pieces from Muslim rulers of Southern Arabia and Persia. The Ajuran Kingdom’s population back then was huge and stable. The Ajuran State was an influential Somali kingdom that held sway over many cities and towns in central and southern Somalia and eastern Ethiopia during the Middle Ages.
