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Some baseball girls 

The Ajuraan was a Somali empire that  ruled large parts of the horn of Africa, mainly southern Somalia. It was established in the 13th century and was the only African Hydraulic empire in the middle ages.  The kingdom used the rivers shebbelle and Jubba waters as a means to control the population, this made the Ajuraan Empire very successful. Through the use of hydraulic engineering Somalis constructed lime stone wells and citrons that are still in use to this day.  Foreign trade in the coastal regions also flourished when the trading routed strengthened after the invasions.  It had ships sailing from many kingdoms in East Asia, South Asia, Europe, and East Africa.  Most of the economy relied on agriculture however it was also an active participant in the East African gold trade, the Silk Road Commerce , trade in the Indian Ocean and commercial enterprise as far as East Asia.  

Valuable gold sequin coin from the Venetian Empire (Europe) imported from Mogadishu

The Ajuraan empire also has it’s own currency. Many ancient bronze coins with the names of Ajuraan Sultaans was found around Mogadishu (the capital of Somalia) , other pieces was found in the middle east. The currency was valid for all empires/kingdoms. This is also what made the empire successful because other kingdoms refused to do this so this gave the Ajuraan Empire an advantage in trading. This helped made Mogadishu was the richest city in the East African Coast

The Somalis also had a very strong military base towards invaders. It successfully resisted the Oromo invasion from the west and Portuguese incursion from the east during the Gaal Madoow and the Ajuraan-Portuguese wars. The Portuguese soldiers burned and looted the city (like the European do to many African empires) but failed the invasion. The Somalis went to the interior and later returned to rebuild the city.      

The empire also had many notable architecture and engaged in castle and fortress building. Many of the historical buildings of Somalia was built by the Ajuraan engineers. 

It’s not often that an independent designer makes ready to wear pieces akin to fine art. However, Zunyda Watson has done just that in her latest capsule collection of Zunyda. Using both the avant-garde, and the modern classics, her patterns and silhouettes merge the past with the future. Zunyda makes clothing one could imagine being worn in a kingdom of their own creation. With superior craftwork and elevated concepts, these clothes are fully functional and can be worn in an plethora of settings. This capsule collection includes 5 looks, most of which are interchangeable with other pieces from the line. This small body of work shines a light on one outstanding young designer with a bright future ahead of her.