A small copper coin found in 1973 in Julfar UAE just north of Oman; It is the first coin of Mogadishu to be recovered from a side in the Gulf and attests of trade of the Gulf with East Africa. It was stuck by Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf 15th or 16th century. During excavation in Iraq in 1971, a copper piece was discovered also baring the name of the Sultan of Mogadishu Ali ibn Yusuf. Bronze coins belonging to the sultans of Mogadishu have also been found at Belid near Salalah in Dhofar.

Taken from: تحفة الزمن في تاريخ سادات اليمن

Vol 1 P469

(About Shaykh Abu al-Fadl Isma'ilah ibn Ahmad ibn Daniel Muhammad al-Hormuzi).

…… he returned to the country of Hormuz, where he was born, and he met there with a man who became a close friends with him Al-Baydawi and other people of the pen, and (Sultan) Bahramshah (7) and Qalhati (15) combined the leadership of religion and the world; then some of the princes of Hormuz revolted against its sultan and killed him, intending to kill this jurist for his companionship to the Sultan, a group interceded for him, so he was expelled from Hormuz to Mogadishu. So he traveled in a boat and the wind threw him to Aden in the year eighteen (=718AH=1318AD). Al-Jundi said: And on that day, I was in distress with its calculations, so I met with him and saw him excelling in jurisprudence, grammar, and hadith, reading the two schools of thought, principles, and logic, and he became famous for his virtue. When Al-Muayyad (8) died, Al-Mujahid (2) was given permission to return to his country, so he was given permission, so he traveled from Aden to Hormuz, and Al-Muayyad had intended to make him chief judge.

Vol 2 P156

… Likewise, the righteous jurist Ahmed bin Zaid Al-Shaghdari traveled to him from the country of caliphate. Then he heard Sahih al-Bukhari (9) of him and (Sahih) Muslim (10) and other things, and he returned to his country and spread knowledge there. A group of people were taken from him from the countries of Zaila, Jabart (11), and Maqdashwah (=Mogadishu): among them: the jurist Alam al-Din Suleiman. He was the sultan of his country at that time, because he came as a pilgrim with a group, so they rode in a group, so the people of the group sold them to a group of Arabs, and they ransacked them. So God saved them from killing, so they returned …

Vol 2 P391

Al-Jundi said: Among them:

My Sheikh Abu Al-Fadl Ismail bin Ahmed bin Daniyal bin Muhammad Al-Harmouzi. And it is said

Al-Qalhati (15) is named after the kings of Hormuz. The country (Hormuz) was dominated by a man who hated the Faqih (5), so he drove him out Hormuz to Maqdashuh, but then the wind blew them to Aden. When Al-Muayyad (8) learned of him, he summoned him to Zabid (1). He was kind to him, and students in jurisprudence and fundamentals benefited from him, and he had students who participated in grammar, language, jurisprudence, principles and logic, he had exquisite poetry and admirable handwriting. And when he died Al-Muayyad did not have enough time, so the Mujahid (2) asked permission to travel to Hormuz, and he granted him permission. So he traveled and told us that he was doing well.

Vol 2 P432

He established the rule of the Shihr (14) for forty-five years, and he owned a piece of property for the kings of Gaza (12) and he carried (payment) to them every year. So King Al-Mansur sent a Gazan governor to Shihr. He sent with him a captain known as Al-Asbahi (6), and they stayed in Al-Shihr for about two years, and enmity arose between them, so he killed the Ghazi governor and took the country. Abd al-Rahman (former ruler of al-Shihr) had come to al-Mansour’s (13) door with gifts, which he presented and then fled to Prince Ali bin Yahya. When he learned of what al-Asbahi (6) had done; al-Mansour regretted deposing Abd al-Rahman. Ali bin Yahya consulted about this and advised that Abdul Rahman be restored. So that he would not need to send soldiers, he summoned him, took the robe over him (=invested him), and ordered him to advance to his country, and he responded with obedience. He asked for money, he promised him but did not give it, so he borrowed money from Ali bin Yahya, then made boxes and carried them on camels to make people think that they were money, then he followed the path of righteousness. He sought help from the Arabs, and a large crowd went with him. So he entered Al-Shihr (14), and Al-Asbahi (6) took cover for him at him and fled to Maqdashuh. Then Al-Mansur (13) died and the Sultan Abdul Rahman brought to King Muzaffar (3) great gifts including Ambar, good looking elephant tusks and musk with good smell. (4)

(1) Zabid: town on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen.

(2) Mujahid: an Arabic term that broadly refers to Islamic guerrillas who engage in jihad.

(3) King Muzaffar: The Rasulid Sultan Al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Yusuf (r1249- 1295) ruled Yemen at its greatest extent for a period of about 45 years. During this time there was extensive building of mosques and schools.

(4) Other works mentioning the civet from Africa are (see my webpage:) Al-Jahiz Al-Fakhar al-Sudan (869); Shah Mardan Ibn Abi al-Khayr (11th); Joseph ibn Abraham (1137); Yakut al Hamawi (1220); Al-Saghani (1252); Nur al-ma'arif (1295); al-Watwat (1318); Friar Jordanus; (1329); Ibn Battuta and the African Diaspora (1331); Cowar el-aqalim (1347); From the Court of Al-Zahir (1439); Ibn al-Ahdal (1451); Ibn Madjid: As-Sufaliyya (1470); Ibn al-Dayba (1496).

(5) A faqih is an Islamic jurist, an expert in fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic Law.

(6) More on the story of Al-Asbahi is found in Al Janadi (1332); Ibn Hatim (1295); Khazraji (1400)

(7) In 1317AD Sultan Gordan Shah was succeeded by his son Bahramshah, the latter soon being deposed and murdered.

(8) The Rasulid ruler al-Mu'ayyad Da'ud, (1296-1322AD)

(9) Sahih al-Bukhari is a collection of hadith compiled by Imam Muhammad al-Bukhari (d870 AD)

(10) Sahih Muslim is a collection of hadith compiled by Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj al-Naysaburi (815-875)

(11) Jabarti, Jaberti, Jebarti or Djeberti are a Muslim clan inhabiting the Horn of Africa, mainly Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen and Oman.

(12) In Palestine on the coast.

(13) Rasulid Ruler of Yemen; Al-Mansur Umar (1228-1249).

(14) Al-Shihr, is a coastal town in Hadhramaut, eastern Yemen.

(15) ) this person is mentioned by: Abu Makhrama (1521); Ibn al-Ahdal (1451); Al Janadi (1332).

Khoury, Ibrahim 1999 (‏سلطنة هرمز العربية :‏: ‏سيطرة سلطنة هرمز العربية على الخليج ... ) had the following to say about this paragraph: The people of Hormuz Faideh were divided, some of them stood against him (the Sultan). The jurist Abu Al-Dhabij Ismail bin Ahmad Daniyal, nicknamed Al-Qalhati, who was born in Hormuz in the year 686 AH / 1287 - 1288 AD, was almost killed because of his praise of Sultan Bahramshah. However, some of the people of Hormuz became disgraced to them, so their intercession was accepted, and he was forced to leave the country. He went to Maqdishu, and from there to Aden, and all of this was completed in the year 718 AH / 1318 AD. This jurist, despite his lineage to Qalhat, lived in Hormuz for at least a year 718 AH / 1318 AD.