Numerical superiority, not weaponry, drove Somali conquest of Oromo territory

Evidence

Probably, more significantly, their warriors were sometimes mounted on horseback, a technique which the Oromo later adopted and used to good effect in their massive migration into Abyssinia. Yet it was probably above all their overwhelming numerical superiority, and the dynamism which their movement acquired, which enabled the Somali to conquer so much territory at the expense of the Oromo. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 115 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Finally, in considering the character of the Somali expansion, it should be remembered that this was not a concerted operation under a single direction: it was a disjointed series of clan and lineage movements in which there were many cross-currents of migration as group jostled group in the search for new pastures. Nor does this sequence of Somali and Oromo movement exclude the possibility that the ultimate origins of both peoples may be traced to the same area on the upper reaches of the Juba river. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 115 (#expands, via linked claim)

Their power in this region was thus by no means yet broken; and from time to time their raiding parties menaced the Somali religious centre at Bardera, founded in 1820 on the middle reaches of the Juba. Thus the new Darod invaders encountered a formidable neighbour whom, for the present, it was more expedient to appease than to provoke. Hence having gained their protection, parties of Darod clansmen crossed the river as clients and allies of the Oromo. The trans-Juban Oromo seem to have welcomed this new support and to have turned it to advantage in their relations with the turbulent Akamba and Masai to their west. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 109 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Somali expansion triumphed by numerical superiority and military dynamism, not technology.; Conflict and war are historically normal conditions in Somali experience. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 708; Arab immigration brought Islam and accelerated Somali and Oromo expansion (+6 more)

Related

• Somali expansion triumphed by numerical superiority and military dynamism, not technology. (similarity 0.93)
• Somali conquered via numeric superiority and momentum, not superior weaponry (similarity 0.91)
• Somali expansion was uncoordinated clan movements, not a single directed conquest (similarity 0.84)
• Somali migrations disestablished the Oromo from northern Somaliland by the twelfth century (similarity 0.82)
• Somali expansion proceeded as disjointed clan migrations, not a unified campaign. (similarity 0.80)
• Darod clans crossed the Juba as clients and allies of the Oromo (similarity 0.80)
• Somali expansion displaced Oromo and Bantu peoples through war (similarity 0.80)
• Somali migrations shaped clan identity through cultural borrowing from Oromo and Bantu (similarity 0.79)
• Somali and Oromo share an Ethiopian highland origin from which proto-Somali expanded east (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Somali conquered via numeric superiority and momentum, not superior weaponry #corroborates (0.90) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 115
• Somali expansion was uncoordinated clan movements, not a single directed conquest #expands (0.35) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 115
• Darod clans crossed the Juba as clients and allies of the Oromo #complicates (0.30) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 109
• Somali migrations disestablished the Oromo from northern Somaliland by the twelfth century #qualifies (0.25) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 92