 The Sultanate of Mogadishu later developed with the immigration of <unk> Arabs , a community whose earliest presence dates back to the 9th or 10th century . This evolved into the Muzaffar dynasty , a joint Somali @-@ Arab federation of rulers , and Mogadishu became closely linked with the powerful Somali Ajuran Sultanate . Following his visit to the city , the 12th century Syrian historian <unk> al @-@ <unk> wrote that it was inhabited by dark @-@ skinned <unk> , the ancestors of the modern <unk> . 
