Somalis of yesteryears...

[Dhagax-Tuur]

I want to share this with you. This is what a British consul ( Sir A Hardinge) at Zanzibar in late 1800 said about Somalis that he came into contact:

 

"A manly race...the older Sheikhs with their shapely bald heads and white beards, look like British farmers. Their clear eyes and quick intelligent gaze, were the outcome of a healthy life unaffected by the use of stimulants...The race, in my opinion, has no equal in this part of Africa, either in intelligence or courage. They have come down from the north like a conquering host, driving the Gallas and Bajunes before them....They are not afraid of Maxims, cannon or firearms..."

 

Doesn't that fill you with pride?

 

 

Quoted from Ray Beaches' 'The Warrior Mullah'.

[Mad_Mullah]

I knew it, Somalis came from the Norht. In your face 'No no..somalis originated in south Somalia (xamar)'

[Valenteenah.]

^ LoL.

 

I suppose it's a symptom of being an unwritten society that we grasp at everything written about us by foreigners. A flattering opinion nonetheless.

[Chimera]

^Unwritten dear sis? There are many old private libraries in Somalia with manuscripts about different parts of Somali History, there are written poems by Saints and Poets discussing nature, wildlife, love, war, and life in general including death and the hereafter. This is usually overlooked by those that intentionally(or sinisterly) want to romanticise Somalis as an oral society exclusively. That is incorrect we are an oral society with a rich written literature, the old museum housed one of the largest manuscript collections in East Africa.

 

btw, Somalis migrated back and forth between the South and North(and the rest of Greater Somalia) for several milleniums. The oldest burial graves in the Horn of Africa come from Southern Somalia, with skeletons that have the same measurements as modern Somalis.

[BOB]

Today we're left with gutless, greedy, ignorant, prideless, shameless goons today who whore us and the country to te highest bidder.:mad:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace, Love & Unity.

[Valenteenah.]

Adam, there are no old or ancient manuscripts written in Somali. The written form of the language was only introduced in the 1970s. Education before then was provided in Arabic, English and Italian. Also, further back in the 18th century through to the early 20th century, scholarship was mainly sought in the Islamic religion from Arabic institutions in The Sudan, Egypt and Arabia.

 

Our society was wholly oral for the majority of our history. Literature and poetry was memorised and passed down through the generations. Anything written in the old days would have been in foreign languages.

[Chimera]

Val, maybe not equivalent to Af-Somali written with the Osmaniya or Latin scripts, but old Somali manuscripts written in Arabic would be mostly unintelligable to an Arab person from say Bahrain or Lebanon, there is a reason why its called Wadaad's writing. From the 18th to the 20th centuries, there were many places in Greater Somalia where scholars sought Islamic knowledge; Harar, Barawa and Mogadishu being prime examples, which spawned important individuals with large followings from across the Muslim World.

 

This however is not what my above post was about; the elite of Turkish society for most of their history wrote in Arabic, but this does not equal Turkey for most of its history being an unwritten society. Secondly most of the pre-20th century world could be dubbed an oral based realm where traditions were passed on by word of mouth. Literacy in the Ottoman Empire stood at a measly 5%, same for the Qing Empire, before the Brothers Grimm went on a collection spree, many European folk tales had never seen a drop of ink.

[Kamaavi]

Dhashii hore dhal quman bay ahaayen, Ilaahayow u danbi dhaaf.