Along with Baidoa, it used to form the joint administrative capital of the Transitional Federal Government, which it captured from the Islamic Courts Union.

Jowhar, (also Jawharad or Johoorad) is the word for a precious stone in Somali, and the city may have been named after the lush lands it's situated on, near the Shabelle river.

The Duke raised funds to build dams, roads, a railway, schools, hospitals, a church and a mosque.

[3] The village called Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi (or Villabruzzi) was founded as an agricultural settlement in Italian Somalia experimenting with new cultivation techniques.

[4] As part of a 2004 agreement, Jowhar and the town of Baidoa were to form a joint administrative capital of the Transitional Federal Government, sited away from Mogadishu for security reasons.

[7] During the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, the city was captured from the Islamic Courts Union during the Battle of Jowhar on December 27, 2006.