Warsheikh

Warsheikh (Somali: Warsheekh, Arabic: ورشيخ‎) is a town in the southeastern Middle Shabelle region of Somalia. An important historical Islamic center, it is situated on the coast north of Mogadishu.

Warsheikh

Warshiikh

ورشيخ
Town
Warsheikh
Location in Somalia.
Coordinates: 2°18′00″N 45°48′00″E
Country Somalia
State Hirshabelle
RegionMiddle Shabelle
DistrictWarsheikh District
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)

Overview
Main articles: Sultanate of Mogadishu and Ajuran Sultanate

Warsheikh is the northernmost of the Banaadir towns. It is the capital of the Warsheikh District.

An early Muslim center in southern Somalia, Warsheikh was one of the principal settlements of the Sultanate of Mogadishu during the Middle Ages. The town has an old mosque situated near a cape, which features an inscription noting its construction in 1278H (1861-1862 CE) by Sheikh Abu Bakr b. Mihzar b. Ahmad al-Kasadi. The masjid has three rows of transverse, east-west piers, and a foliate mihrab. It also has attached chambers, with the Sheikh's tomb situated in an adjacent room.[1]

During the Middle Ages, Warsheikh and much of the surrounding area in southern Somalia was governed by the Ajuran Sultanate.[2] The town later came under the administration of the Hiraab Sultanate in the late 17th century after the collapse of the powerful Ajuran Empire. At the turn of the 20th century, Warsheikh was incorporated into the Italian Somaliland protectorate. After independence in 1960, the city was made the center of the official Warsheikh District.

Over the course of three archaeological expeditions in Warsheikh between 1920 and 1921, Enrico Cerulli uncovered coins from the medieval Sultans of Mogadishu. They were deposited in the Scuola Orientale of the University of Rome, but were later lost in World War II. According to Cerulli, similar coins were found in the village of Mos (Moos), located about 14 km to Warsheikh's northwest. Freeman-Grenville (1963) also record another discovery of ancient coins in the latter town.[1]

Demographics

The broader Warsheikh District has a total population of 150,573 residents. The city is exclusively inhabited by Abgaal of the Hawiye clan.[3]

Notes
  1. Chittick, Neville (1975). An Archaeological Reconnaissance of the Horn: The British-Somali Expedition. pp. 117–133.
  2. Lee V. Cassanelli, The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900, (University of Pennsylvania Press: 1982), p.102.
  3. "Regions, districts, and their populations: Somalia 2005 (draft)" (PDF). UNDP. Retrieved 21 September 2013.

References
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