Talk:Mogadishu

GA check

I am working my way through the Good articles listed at Places; having a quick look to see if they still meet the Good article criteria. I have landed on this article. After I've had a quick look, I'll leave a note here indicating if I have concerns or not.

In general, I see the process as this: 1) Give the article a quick look to see if there are obvious issues: maintenance tags, unsourced sections, excessive media, etc, resolving any minor issues as I do so; 2) If I have concerns, open a GAR to see how serious those concerns are, resolving them myself if they are not serious; 3) If during the GAR I feel that there is significant work to be done (more than I can or am willing to do myself), I will put the GAR on hold and notify the main contributors.

My aim and intention is to keep the article listed - I would rather the article was improved and kept listed than the article is delisted. Where a delisting seems likely due to the amount or nature of work needed being greater than I am able or willing to do alone, and the main contributors are unavailable or unable for whatever reason to do the work, then appropriate WikiProjects will be notified at least seven days before a delisting would take place. SilkTork ^{✔Tea time} 08:03, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

Ajuran

The History section of the article needs a clean up and improvement. It does not discuss the Ajuran sultanate, World War 2, etc. Would anyone like to help me? AcidSnow (talk) 18:01, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

The Ajuran Sultanate didn't directly rule the city. The Muzaffar Dynasty of the Sultanate of Mogadishu did, and the Ajuran Sultans exacted tribute from the Muzaffars. Middayexpress (talk) 18:44, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

Ok, I think we should divide the History section in to a couple of categories: Earliest History (We should try to see if we can find any skeletons from the region going farther back than the Khoisan), Foundation (Dissuce Somali arrival and we should see if we can find more info on Sarapion such as a foundation century), Persian occupation, Middle Ages (Republic then the Sultanate), Early Modern (Geledi annexation of the city and Italian rule), and finally Modern. I will get work on Sarapion. AcidSnow (talk) 22:46, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

All of that's already pretty much noted. However, the early Persian presence was more of a settlement than an occupation. Middayexpress (talk) 14:52, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

There is no evidence of a Persian occupation, a mysterious name does not equal foreign rule, just like Persepolis does not originate with a Greek occupation of Persia just because of its Greek name. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.207.74.189 (talk) 23:31, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

The Persians most certainly had control of Mogadishu. AcidSnow (talk) 00:19, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

Persians did have an early presence. That's why the Persian New Year (Nowruz) is observed in parts of the south, and a few old structures built in a Persian style can be found in the same area. The Arba'a Rukun Mosque's mihrab also contains an inscription dated 667 (1268/9 CE), which commemorates the masjid's late founder, one Khusra ibn Mubarak al-Shirazi (Khusrau ibn Muhammed). There are still older trade ties described in ancient Chinese documents, but these don't pertain to Mogadishu specifically. Middayexpress (talk) 14:52, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

There is absolutely no evidence of a Persian army or dynasty holding sway over Mogadishu, in most of the time-periods of Mogadishu's golden ages, the Persians were ruled by Arabs, Turkic groups and Mongols themselves. Persian Traders, architects and scholars, sure but that's where their presence ends. Somalis had the same seafaring presence in other continents, the difference is nobody is overestimating their influence in those regions for clear cultural reasons rooted in colonial writing and race hierarchies. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.8.135.120 (talk) 15:55, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

Yes, there's indeed no evidence of any Persian army, dynasty, sultanate, etc. actually holding sway over Mogadishu. What I meant by an early Persian presence was individual traders and Islamic scholars/proselytizers. This is why the structures that the settlers left behind mainly consist of mosques and religious tombs. The actual polity that ruled Benadir during the period was of course the Sultanate of Mogadishu's Muzaffar Dynasty, and prior to that, it was the Sultanate's founding Fakr ad-Din Dynasty. Middayexpress (talk) 16:27, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

Agreed, my reply was aimed the user above you that said "most certainly" when its probably at best a fringe source or blatant OR. This is just a case of kicking Somalis out of their own history and heritage by placing undue weight on foreign influences.