Jubba River

The Jubba River or Juba River (Webiga Jubba) is a river in southern Somalia which flows through the autonomous region of Jubaland. It begins at the border with Ethiopia, where the Dawa and Ganale Dorya rivers meet, and flows directly south to the Somali Sea, where it empties at the Goobweyn juncture. The Jubba basin covers an area of . The Somali regional state of Jubaland, formerly called Trans-Juba, is named after the river. The Jubba River has a rich history of a once-booming sophisticated civilization and trade network conducted by the powerful Somalis that held sway over the Jubba river. During the Middle Ages Jubba river was under the Ajuran Empire of the Horn of Africa which utilized the Jubba River for its plantations and was the only hydraulic empire in Africa. A hydraulic empire that rose in the 13th century AD, Ajuran monopolized the water resources of the Jubba River and Shebelle. Through hydraulic engineering, it also constructed many of the limestone wells and cisterns of the state that are still operative and in use today. Its rulers developed new systems for agriculture and taxation, which continued to be used in parts of the Horn of Africa as late as the 19th century. Through their control of the region's wells, the Garen rulers effectively held a monopoly over their nomadic subjects as they were one of the few hydraulic empire in Africa. Large wells made out of limestone were constructed throughout the state, which attracted Somali nomads with their livestock. The centralized regulations of the wells made it easier for the nomads to settle disputes by taking their queries to government officials who would act as mediators. Long distance caravan trade, a long-time practice in the Horn of Africa, continued unchanged in Ajuran times. Today, numerous ruined and abandoned towns throughout the interior of Somalia and the Horn of Africa are evidence of a once-booming inland trade network dating from the medieval period. With the centralized supervision of the Ajuran, farms in Afgooye, Bardhere and other areas in the Jubba and Shebelle valleys increased their productivity.