The Banadir resistance, also known as the Bimaal revolt, Merca revolt, or simply the Bimaal resistance, was a guerrilla war that lasted from the 1890s to 1908, opposing Italian colonial expansion in southern Somalia. The resistance was most active in the Lower Shebelle, Banadir and Middle Shebelle regions. Its intensity and significance have drawn comparisons to the Somali Dervish Movement.

In the 1890s, Italian-occupied Marka was the centre of the Bimal culture. This sparked the beginning of conflict and outrage among the Bimal clan, and soon after the Wa'daan. The clans would represent the core of the initial Somali resistance against Italian colonialism. An Italian resident of the city named Giacomo Trevis was assassinated in 1904 by a Somali rebel; in response Italy occupied the port town of Jazeera about 30 miles (48 km) south of Mogadishu. In response Bimal leaders called for a grand conference mobilizing the Banadiri clans. The resistance was spearheaded by Sheikh Abdi Gafle and Ma’alin Mursal Abdi Yusuf, two prominent local Islamic teachers in Marka from the Bimal clan. The resistance, albeit initially clan-based, transformed into one with a religious fervor. Whilst the initial resistance consisted mainly of the Bimal, numbers of the Wa’dan, Hintire and other Somali clans particularly some of the Geledi later joined, forming a confederation to resist the Italian advancements and occupation. The decision to isolate the ports from trade with the interior. The Qur’anic school teachers, called in Somali ma'alims, and religious leaders or imams of Marka and the Bimal led the war of resistance against the colonial occupation of Banadir, but they and their followers paid dearly.

A local poet who attacked those who refused to take up arms said:

Reer Jannah waa jid galeen. Reer Jahanamna iska jooga
Those who resist are heaven-bound. Those who submit can stay home in Hell where they belong.

One of the earliest conflicts between Italians and Somalis on the Banaadir coast, was the Massacre of Warsheikh.

On April 24 1890 An Italian steamboat was ordered to be equipped and sent to the shores of Warsheikh under the command of Lieutenant Zavagli, with instructions to “seek a meeting with the local chief of the area, whose population primarily belonged to the Abgaal subclan of the Hawiya Somalis, to demonstrate the crew's friendly intentions and to offer gifts for the chiefs and the population.” Alongside Zavagli were Coxswain Angelo Bertolucci, Seaman 3rd Class Angelo Bertorello, Engineer 3rd Class Alfredo Simoni, Stoker 2nd Class Giuseppe Gorini, Chief Helmsman 2nd Giovanni Gonnella, and an Arab interpreter Said Achmed.

What happened after Zavagli arrived, from Minister Brin's report to the King, it was a veritable ambush, launched at a signal from the village Somali chief, against the three Italians who had disembarked.

Zavagli was immediately wounded and died on the boat, bertorello was hit by the Somalis while working on the anchor, he suffered wounds, which caused him to die shortly after. Upon return, their boat was studded in arrows, and Lieutenant Zavagli's body in a pool of blood, his head decapitated.