The Tunni Sultanate was a Somalian Sultanate that originated sometime in the nineth century CE on the Benadir Coast. The Tunni Sultanate had established its capital at Qoryooley. [1] The Tunni Sultanate was one of the first groups in Somalia to embrace Islam. The language spoken within the Sultanate was a local language called Af-Maay, while inscriptions from the twelfth century CE suggest that some within the Sultante knew the Arabic language. [1] ; [2] The Sultanate ended sometime within the thirteenth century CE.
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
[2]: (Tamrat 2008, 137) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/search/tam/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
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“The Tunni, composed of five subclans (Da’farad, Dakhtira, Goygali, Hajuwa, and Waridi), were the latest to drive the Jiddu into the interior where the established their own sultanate in Qoryooley.” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
In Barawa (also known as Brava) on the Benadir coast, there are various examples of Arabic inscriptions from the early 12th Century. “Cerulli reports an Arabic inscription from Brava, commemorating the death of a Muslim resident in 1104/5, which certainly indicates the existence of a highly developed Muslim community there in the eleventh century.” [1] Also spoken on the Benadir coast is the Af-Maay language. “Known also as ‘Maaymaay’ or ‘Maayteri’ or Af-Reewin. The language of most Somalis south of the Shabelle valley, in the Middle and Lower Shabelle regions, Bakook, Bay, Gedo, Middle and most of Lower Juba regions, and most of Banadir.” [2]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 137) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/search/tam/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
[2]: (Mukhtar 2003, 30) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
In Barawa (also known as Brava) on the Benadir coast, there are various examples of Arabic inscriptions from the early 12th Century. “Cerulli reports an Arabic inscription from Brava, commemorating the death of a Muslim resident in 1104/5, which certainly indicates the existence of a highly developed Muslim community there in the eleventh century.” [1] Also spoken on the Benadir coast is the Af-Maay language. “Known also as ‘Maaymaay’ or ‘Maayteri’ or Af-Reewin. The language of most Somalis south of the Shabelle valley, in the Middle and Lower Shabelle regions, Bakook, Bay, Gedo, Middle and most of Lower Juba regions, and most of Banadir.” [2]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 137) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/search/tam/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
[2]: (Mukhtar 2003, 30) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
“However they did accept the first Muslim migrants, the Hatimi from Yemen and the Amawi from Sham (Syria), around the 10th century, for both religious and commercial reasons. The town prospered and became one of the major Islamic centers in the Horn, the Barawaani Ulama, attracted students from all over the region. Muslim scholars of the time, such as al-Idrisi, wrote about Barawa as ‘an Arabic ‘Islamic’ island on the Somali coast.’” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
As a Muslim sultanate, Islamic law and Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. In Islamic law the judges are known as qādī. “Apart from scattered references to qādīs in surviving papyri, our knowledge of judicial practices during the formative period of Islamic history – roughly 600-1000 – is based largely on literary sources: biographical dictionaries of qādīs, treatises devoted to adab al-qādī or ‘the etiquette of judging,’ historical texts, and belles-lettres. Of these sources, biographical dictionaries are especially important, and we are fortunate to have at least three such works that treat the regions of Egypt, Iraq and Syria. The Akhbār al-qudāt of Wakī (d.306/918) is arranged regionally according to garrison towns and chronologically by qādī within those regions. Some of the entries contain lists of judicial rulings that can be used to reconstruct the earliest stages of Islamic judicial practices.” [1]
[1]: (Masud 2006, 2) Masud, Muhammad K. 2006. Dispensing Justice in Islam: Qadis and Their Judgements. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/8VRVCUC6/collection
As a Muslim sultanate, Islamic law and Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. “Since law can only be the pre-ordained system of God’s commands of Sharī’a, jurisprudence is the science of fiqh, or ‘understanding’ and ascertaining that; and the classical legal theory consists of the formulation and analysis of the principles by which such comprehension is to be achieved. Four such basic principles, which represent distinct but correlated manifestations of God’s will and which are known as the ‘roots of jurisprudence’ (usūl al-fiqh), are recognized by the classical theory: the word of God himself in the Qur’ān, the divinely inspired conduct or sunna of the Prophet, reasoning by analogy or qiyās and consensus of opinion or ijmā.” [1]
[1]: (Coulson 1964, 75-76) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/S4S75T39/collection
As a Medieval Muslim sultanate, Islamic law and Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. Within Medieval Islamic law, “Effective organisation of the affairs of state, therefore, necessitated the recognition of jurisdictions other than that of the qādī. Although the scope itself of Sharī’a doctrine meant that certain types of cases fell altogether outside the province of the Sharī’a courts – litigation on fiscal matters, for example, was normally brought before the Master of the Treasury – it was the system of procedure and evidence to which the Sharī’a courts were tied which was chiefly responsible for the curtailment of their jurisdiction.” [1]
[1]: (Coulson 1964, 127) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/S4S75T39/collection
“Al-Idrisi also described the construction of the coral house, probably following Arab and Persian designs, and noted that Barawa market was full of both domestic and foreign commodities.” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
Regarding the Tunni Sultanate coastal town of Barawa, “The town was divided into major quarters, each with a main masjid (mosque).” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 51) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
E.g. Markets. “Al-Idrisi also described the construction of the coral house, probably following Arab and Persian designs, and noted that Barawa market was full of both domestic and foreign commodities.” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
The Tunni were one of the first costal groups to accept Islam in the region. This acceptance also led to the Tunni costal enclave of Barawa to become a major Islamic religious centre in the region. This quote suggests the possible existence of, for example, libraries containing Islamic texts. “However they did accept the first Muslim migrants, the Hatimi from Yemen and the Amawi from Sham (Syria), around the 10th century, for both religious and commercial reasons. The town prospered and became one of the major Islamic centers in the Horn, the Barawaani Ulama, attracted students from all over the region. Muslim scholars of the time, such as al-Idrisi, wrote about Barawa as ‘an Arabic ‘Islamic’ island on the Somali coast.’” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
“By the thirteenth century Mogadishu, Merca and Brava had become important Muslim and commercial centres on the eastern seaboard of the Horn. Many Muslim merchants of Arab, Persian and probably Indian origin lived in these towns.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 138) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/search/tam/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
“Barawa has many two-story houses with bridges constructed over the streets, built so that women or the elderly could visit other houses without going down into the street.” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 51) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
Coral mining had been commonplace for the use of housing and building materials. “Coral was transported by camel carts and burned to make lime for buildings, a wise use of traditional skills that was more economical than using imported cement.” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 51) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
E.g. mines. Coral mining had been commonplace for the use of housing and building materials. “Coral was transported by camel carts and burned to make lime for buildings, a wise use of traditional skills that was more economical than using imported cement.” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 51) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
In Barawa (also known as Brava) on the Benadir coast, there are various examples of Arabic inscriptions from the early 12th Century. “Cerulli reports an Arabic inscription from Brava, commemorating the death of a Muslim resident in 1104/5, which certainly indicates the existence of a highly developed Muslim community there in the eleventh century.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 137) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/search/tam/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
In Barawa (also known as Brava) on the Benadir coast, there are various examples of Arabic inscriptions from the early 12th Century. “Cerulli reports an Arabic inscription from Brava, commemorating the death of a Muslim resident in 1104/5, which certainly indicates the existence of a highly developed Muslim community there in the eleventh century.” [1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 137) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/search/tam/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list
The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” [1]
[1]: (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/U3W57I6B/library
The Quran. “However they did accept the first Muslim migrants, the Hatimi from Yemen and the Amawi from Sham (Syria), around the 10th century, for both religious and commercial reasons. The town prospered and became one of the major Islamic centers in the Horn, the Barawaani Ulama, attracted students from all over the region. Muslim scholars of the time, such as al-Idrisi, wrote about Barawa as ‘an Arabic ‘Islamic’ island on the Somali coast.’” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
The Tunni were one of the first costal groups to accept Islam in the region. This acceptance also led to the Tunni costal enclave of Barawa to become a major Islamic religious centre in the region. This suggests the likely production of religious literature. “However they did accept the first Muslim migrants, the Hatimi from Yemen and the Amawi from Sham (Syria), around the 10th century, for both religious and commercial reasons. The town prospered and became one of the major Islamic centers in the Horn, the Barawaani Ulama, attracted students from all over the region. Muslim scholars of the time, such as al-Idrisi, wrote about Barawa as ‘an Arabic ‘Islamic’ island on the Somali coast.’” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection
“For example, the existence of a double recording system of lunar months is clearly documented in Somalia. There was normal usage to distinguish al-sana al-qama-riyya (‘lunar year’) – reckoned on the basis of months corresponding to the effective sightings of the new moon – from al-sana al-ta’ rīh iyya (‘civil year’) – reckoned according to the written Islamic calendar.” [1]
[1]: (Classen 2010, 1654) Classen, Albrecht. 2010. Handbook of Medieval Studies: Terms, Methods, Trends. Berlin: De Gruyter. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/R727NPC6/library
"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties." [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list
"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties." [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list
Islamic calendar. “The twelve months of the Islamic calendar in order, are as follows: (1) Muharram; (2) Safar; (3) Rabi’al-Awwal; (4) Rabi’al-Akhir (or al-Thani); (5) Jumada’l-Ula; (6) Jumada’l-Akhira; (7) Rajab; (8) Sha’ban; (9) Ramadan; (10) Shawwal; (11) Dhu’l-Qa’da; and (12) Dhu’l-Hijja. For administrative and agricultural reasons, medieval Muslims also used derivations of existing solar and/or fixed-month calendars from the region;” [1]
[1]: (Hanne 2006, 196) Hanne, Eric. 2006. ‘Dates and Calendars’ In Josef W. Meri Medieval Islamic Civilization: A-K Index. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8BDKDQRX/library
Due to maritime commerce and religious influences from Arab travellers it is highly plausible that Medieval Islamic ideas on time and science infiltrated southern Somali society. “Early Muslim authors used the expression ‘science if the stars’ to refer to both astrology and astronomy. Soon, however, a distinction arose. Astrology was defined by Abu Ma’shar, as ‘the knowledge of the effects of the powers of the stars, at a given time, as well as at a future time’, and he labelled it ‘science of the decrees of the stars’. Astronomy proper became ‘science of the spheres’ or ‘(science of the [heavenly] configurations’).” [1]
[1]: (Blake 2016, 25) Blake, Stephen P. 2016. Astronomy and Astrology in the Islamic World. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/W2V6MXH8/library
"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties." [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list