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Visitors from the West: A New Order

As previously discussed in “Havoc and Rebirth” the Imranid branch of Islam most common in Habashah would absorb the teachings of the Persian Mewlewi (Mevlevi in Persia) Sufis, leading to a society wide development throughout the country. Especially in urban centers and then later rural villages these lead to the forming of communal guilds based on different occupations and class status known as Futuwwa. These guilds were split into different lodges which had their own order masters and were in many cases a way for men to come together in comradery and fraternity. Gunpowder guilds would form in many urban cities leading to the development of Habashah’s weaponry. Bakers guilds would help form cohesive supply chains with suppliers in the surrounding rural countryside especially in times of famine these links would prove beneficial to all.

Also, in the urban centers and countryside military orders would be founded. These orders, which we can refer to as simply the Mewlewi Orders, were varied in their nature some in the countryside were composed of the fathers and sons of the local noble classes and their retainers. Those in the urban centers composed of members of the nobility but also merchant, bureaucratic and other upper-class positions. Together they formed the basis of what could be compared to the knightly orders of their European counterparts, but more on a local scale where in particular they fought brigands and foreign invaders. Inspiring classical tales among the poets of the country they grew in fame and adoration and by the 16th century was beginning to grow into a new level of development.

It would be in the urban centers of the Somali Coast where in particular the Mewlewi Orders would first be formed and were at their strongest by the arrival of the Portuguese into the Indian Ocean. Further, it was Guleed Ali, a Somali who was the Order Master (himself a wealthy merchant) of the local Mewlewi Order of Mogadishu that opposed the Portuguese. In his early 50s by the arrival of the Portuguese in 1512 he was a well respected man not just in his Order but also throughout the city, it was even said that Negus Jamal ud-Din looked to him for advice. He was also extremely charitable, donating with his brothers in the Order food to make sure the poor and homeless within the city. The Order of Mogadishu had come to take over a large part of the city guard, only contingents sent by the Emperor to protect the city were not either members of the Order or lead by their members.

First, his forces lead a successful defense against catspaws the Portuguese had bribed in Mogadishu to rebel, preventing the coup within the city from taking hold before the arrival of the main Portuguese force. He had the foresight to see that the rebellion was most likely part of a grander plot against the city, sending word to Imperial garrisons along the coastline for reinforcements and seeing to preparing fortifications for a siege. Days later the Portuguese ships were sighted along the shore, consisting of hundreds of Portuguese soldiers supported by Malindi auxiliaries. Guleed had prepared well for their arrival.

Not only had he drawn as much food as possible into the city from the countryside he had also made sure that the Portuguese could not approach the city’s port directly. As Portuguese cannons traded fire with Habashab equivalents set along towers and ramparts surrounding the port the first Portuguese ship that came too close fell afoul of sunken ships and obstacles that Guleed had prepared in the harbor. The wreckage forced one Portuguese ship to sink and two more to become targets for the Habashab gunners as they became stuck or tried to maneuver their way out of the area. Unable to land in the city itself, the Portuguese forces were forced to retreat and land further along the shore.

The Portuguese and their Malindi allies attempted to storm the city but were cut down by Habashab guns and by militia spearmen, and some even by members of the Order whose whirling swords defeated opponent after opponent. It would be the arrival of Imperial cavalry ridden on camels that broke the siege itself, the Portuguese and their allies boarding their ships and fleeing south as they hedged their bets.

For his role in the defense of the city, Guleed was knighted by Jamal ud-Din, but the Negus awarded the Order Master another honor. To take the fight to the Portuguese and their allies further south.