Barawa

Barawa, also known as Brava, is a port on the southern Somali coast with deep ties to the Swahili world. Its people speak Chimwiini, a local Swahili variety, and its stone houses and mosques reflect centuries of exchange across the Indian Ocean. Merchants from the African coast, Arabia and India met at its anchorage, while the town's elders governed its affairs.

In the fifteenth century Barawa received visitors from the voyages of the Ming admiral Zheng He. Portuguese forces attacked and burned the town in 1506, driving survivors into the surrounding country before they returned. Barawa endured as a trading centre, maintaining relations with other Swahili towns and the societies of its hinterland. Its merchants and scholars continued to link the Somali coast with communities across the western Indian Ocean.