In the 17th century, Mogadishu and parts of southern Somalia fell under the Hiraab Imamate and in the 19th century came under the Geledi Sultanate’s sphere of influence.In 1894 the Hiraab chiefs on behalf of Mogadishu had signed a treaty of peace, friendship and protection with Filonardi of the Italian Benadir Company.
The onset of Italian colonialism occurred in stages, with Italian treaties signed in the 1880s followed by economic engagement between Somali clans and the Italian Benadir Company and then direct governance by the Italian government after 1906, British Military Administration of Somalia after World War Two and the UN Italian Trust Territory in the 1950s. This was followed by independence in 1960, the Hantiwadaag (socialist) era during Barre’s presidency (1969–1991), a three-decade civil war afterward, and as of the late 2010s and 2020s a period of reconstruction.
