The Pathetic Tale of the town of Brava
The pitiful tale of the Town of Brava
Contents
The Town of Brava:
· A Town situated at the southern center of Somali coast on Indian Ocean, at mid way
between Mogadishu and Kismayo.
· Distance wise it’s 200 Km. from Mogadishu the capital.
· Peculiar differences in building, way of life, and behavior of the inhabitants called
Bravaneese compared to the Somali majority nationals.
· An ethnical minority within the majority of Somalis, who normally are, among other
things, brown skinned, when compared to the Bravaneese.
· The foundation of Brava was in the ninth century (900 A.D.)
· The first one to settle there was a man from Qara called Ali, supposedly with his family
and court.
· When Ali landed there, he found the place as a type of equatorial bush, full of trees,
branches and spread ramifications everywhere. Thereafter he ordered his servants
(supposedly the hired indigenous) to root out the trees, and created a spot suitable for
human life; he then subsided there and named it Brava.
Who are Bravaneese:
It’s quite known that Bravaneese are mostly from Arabic origins, this wasn’t invented by
mere legend; it was actually proved by historical documents and sources. However, their
traditions and behavior is the strongest fact of being affiliated to Arabs.
Bravaneese dialect which is known as "Chimini" is a derivative from Swahili, as well as
its accent. It was reported in some history papers that Swahili was spoken since the
second century, when the Bantu Arabs used it as their mother tongue, affecting it’s
grammar and phrasal elements from the Arabic language(refer to Arabic dictionaries).
Religion:
Bravaneese are 100% Muslims sunnis. In Brava, people usually send their children to
religious schools to study the Arabic alphabet, followed by learning the Holly Quran. It
usually takes one years to complete the first section of Quran, then the pupil keeps up till
he or she finishes the remaining twenty nine sections of Quran. Of Course this doesn’t
mean that the pupil spends thirty years to finish Quran, because only the first section
takes one year or even less sometimes, but the other twenty nine sections takes from two
to three years to complete.
Yearly, in Brava there are celebrations of The Birth of Prophet Mohamed (P), the so
called "Mowlid Al-rasool". People organize and prepare for it very keenly and
accurately. Alongside this, there are annual ceremonies for remembrance of the pious
men and religious scholars, such as Sheikh Qasim Albarawy, Sheikh Nuren Al-Sabir,
Mwalim Nuri, Dada Masity and many others.
Tribes:
Brava inhabitants are composed of three main tribes, divided as follows:
1) Bida
a - Ra-Waali .
b – Rasadiqi .
c – Gabri (Gawra).
d - Qahtani.
e - Rerfaqi.
h – Other diff. Miner clans.
2) Tunne (Shangamas)
a – Dafarad.
b – Daqtira.
c – Werile.
e – Hajuwa.
f – Goygaal.
3) Hatimi.
4) Masharifu.
The relation between Bravaneese and The Somali
Government:
It seldom happened that Bravanese get a crucial and effective share in ruling the country, despite the respectable number of educated men amongst its members. Some natives of Brava have occupied rather sensitive positions in the nation as a whole, but in a formidably limited number.
Some examples; In the political history of Somalia, from the very beginning of its access to Independence in the sixties, whereas Italian rule (Trusteeship Administration from 1950 to 1960, given by a United Nations’ resolution) there were some but little appointments of Brava natives to high government echelons and cadres.
Even after Independence and well through the years of revolutionary Rule (almost 20 years), it can be remembered one ministerial post given to a half cast Bravanese whose mother was from other part of Somalia. We can also figure the appointment of the Commander of Navy, who unluckily happened to be lenient totally to the wishes and interests not of the Nation, but of the Regime. Eventually his appointment could be justified by blamable political maneuvers. Examples of unfair dealings as well as un-orthodox and un-ethical business, with unclear intricate interests games, could be mentioned in other aspects, which had no whatsoever positive returns to Brava as itself. One can recall the nomination of some Ambassadorial posts (three diplomatic missions) to key places in the planet whereby it was of paramount importance to sponsor, incentivate, bolster and take care of interests of the Ruling administration
In other words, it’s a pity to plainspokenly say that the philosophy of interest was the main ignition and propulsion to all those appointments and others, should we come to devilish details.
One can not have any hesitation to quote that, all in all, the share of representation in the public sector, compared to the real entity of the Bravanese educated and cultivated men, was miserably slim and neglectable.
Last but not least, one can jot few lines on some professionals who, thanks to the peculiar technical nature of their jobs, were accommodated in the inner circle of the Siad Regime, To mention but one example, the Pilot to the President of the Republic, as well as the Physician of the President, were from Brava. But things like these happened once in a blue moon, if not in the history of Brava itself. To be frank and fair, these cosmetic concessions, wouldn’t reflect the fact that Bravanese got their just share of the cake.
Bravaneese after the civil war:
Being an ethnical minority, and peaceful natured people, Bravaneese have suffered a lot
during the years of civil war and upheaval. Much of injustices (killings, looting, raping and
physical tortures took place indiscriminatly). The Nomads who invaded Banadir region
including Merca and Brava didn’t like to see anyone fair-skinned around. They bluntly
asked any fair-skinned man or woman to go back from where he or she has come from.
They maintained that Bravanees are originally Shirazis or other races. Of course this is
due to their ignorance, if any one tries to reason with them and make them understand
that Bravaneese are Somali like them, and should therefore enjoy the same rights as
them, they wouldn’t hesitate to badly harm him or even eliminate him physically with the
fire arms that they were badly handling; as simple as that. This is to mention just some of
the numerous atrocities that unfortunately occurred.
This is just a drop in an ocean when compared to what pitifully and miserably happened to
the poor and unlucky inhabitants of the well known town of Brava in Somalia.
What is pure pitiful and painfully aching is that this situation persists uptill now in Brava,
as far as in Somalia there is no any form of government or the state of rule, whatsoever.
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2 Contact Information
Electronic mail address
m5105375@hotmail.com
Web address
https://www.angelfire.com/mo/bravahistory/index.html
Universal Internet Number (ICQ)
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Copyright information goes to Mohamed Sufi .
Last revised:
Nov. 6, 1997.
Email: m5105375@hotmail.com
