A timeline of Somali History

4000 BCE

Jiddu presence in the Horn (proto-Somali I).
3000 BCE

Emergence of Proto-Somali II or pre-Rendille and Garre.
3000 BCE

During the fifth dynasty, Egyptian documents record the earliest known Pharaonic expedition to Somalia, the Land of Punt, for frankincense and myrrh.
2000 BCE

The Tunni group occupy the lower Shabelle valley. Early herding communities in the Horn.
1475 BCE

Illustration of Queen Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s expedition to the land of Punt in the queen’s temple at Deir el-Bahri.
1000 BCE

Proto-Somali III speakers, including the Garre and the Tunni, occupy the Juba valley.
200 BCE

Ptolemies of Egypt move into the Horn to get elephants to be used against their rival Seleucids in the east, who are using Indian elephants.
150 BCE

Himyarite (South Yemen) presence in the coastal towns. Sultan As’ad al-Himyari rules Mogadishu and environs.
632

The exiles of the Riddah (apostasy wars), mainly from Oman, settle in Banadir and later move to the hinterlands through the waterways of the Shabelle and the Juba, laying the foundation for the early Islamic centers of Afgoy, Bali, Harar, and others.
695

Migration of an Omani group led by brothers Suleiman and Sa’id of Juland to settle on the East African Zanj coast.
700

Caliph Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan of the Umayyads sends an expedition to the East African coast to conquer Mogadishu and secure its kharaj, or annual tribute.
739

The first Shi’ite emigrants arrive on the East African coast.
755

Abu Ja’far al-Mansur, of the Abbasids, appoints a na’ib (viceroy) to collect taxes and supervise the teaching of Islam in Mogadishu.
804

The Muslims of Bilaad al-Zanj (the land of Zanj), present-day Somalia and East Africa, rebel against the Abbasids and refuse to pay kharaj taxation. Caliph Harun al-Rashid sends a punitive expedition.
829

Al-Ma’mun, the seventh Abbasid caliph, sends 50,000 men to crush the secessionist Muslim towns of Bilaad al-Zanj and force them to pay their back taxes.
920

A group led by the “Seven Brothers of al-Ahsa,” from the Persian Gulf, settle in Mogadishu and Barawa, Somalia.
935

Al-Mas’udi (d. 957), a Muslim traveler-historian, in his book Muruj al-Dhhahab wa Ma’adin al-Jawhar (The garden of gold and gems), describes the socioeconomic life of Somali cities, both on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean
1000

Hassan ibn Ali al-Shirazi leads the largest migration from Persia to East Africa.

Jiddu presence in the Horn (proto-Somali I).

Emergence of Proto-Somali II or pre-Rendille and Garre.

During the fifth dynasty, Egyptian documents record the earliest known Pharaonic expedition to Somalia, the Land of Punt, for frankincense and myrrh.

The Tunni group occupy the lower Shabelle valley. Early herding communities in the Horn.

Illustration of Queen Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s expedition to the land of Punt in the queen’s temple at Deir el-Bahri.

Proto-Somali III speakers, including the Garre and the Tunni, occupy the Juba valley.

Ptolemies of Egypt move into the Horn to get elephants to be used against their rival Seleucids in the east, who are using Indian elephants.

Himyarite (South Yemen) presence in the coastal towns. Sultan As’ad al-Himyari rules Mogadishu and environs.

The exiles of the Riddah (apostasy wars), mainly from Oman, settle in Banadir and later move to the hinterlands through the waterways of the Shabelle and the Juba, laying the foundation for the early Islamic centers of Afgoy, Bali, Harar, and others.

Migration of an Omani group led by brothers Suleiman and Sa’id of Juland to settle on the East African Zanj coast.

Caliph Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan of the Umayyads sends an expedition to the East African coast to conquer Mogadishu and secure its kharaj, or annual tribute.

The first Shi’ite emigrants arrive on the East African coast.

Abu Ja’far al-Mansur, of the Abbasids, appoints a na’ib (viceroy) to collect taxes and supervise the teaching of Islam in Mogadishu.

The Muslims of Bilaad al-Zanj (the land of Zanj), present-day Somalia and East Africa, rebel against the Abbasids and refuse to pay kharaj taxation. Caliph Harun al-Rashid sends a punitive expedition.

Al-Ma’mun, the seventh Abbasid caliph, sends 50,000 men to crush the secessionist Muslim towns of Bilaad al-Zanj and force them to pay their back taxes.

A group led by the “Seven Brothers of al-Ahsa,” from the Persian Gulf, settle in Mogadishu and Barawa, Somalia.

Al-Mas’udi (d. 957), a Muslim traveler-historian, in his book Muruj al-Dhhahab wa Ma’adin al-Jawhar (The garden of gold and gems), describes the socioeconomic life of Somali cities, both on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean

Hassan ibn Ali al-Shirazi leads the largest migration from Persia to East Africa.