The Warsangali Sultanate,was a Somali Imperial ruling house centered in northeastern and in some parts of southeastern Somalia. It was one of the largest sultanates ever established in the territory, and, at the height of its power, included the Sanaag region and parts of the northeastern Bari region of the country, an area historically known as Maakhir or the Maakhir Coast. The Sultanate was founded in the late 13th century in northern Somalia by a group of Somalis from the Warsangali branch of the Darod clan, and was ruled by the descendants of the Generad Dhidin. In the late 19th century, the influential Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire governed the Sultanate, assuming control during some of its most turbulent years. The Akil Dhahar ruled south of Sanaag and some portions of the Bari region. In 1884, the United Kingdom established the Protectorate of British Somaliland through various treaties with the northern Somali sultanates, including the Warsangali Sultanate.
Akil Dhahar
Though there are insufficient writings available on Akil Dhahar, according to oral tradition, he fought against the Abyssinians and uprooted Christiancommunities in Galgala, a town that used to have churches and temples. The edifices are still present as historical landmarks. In honor of his accomplishments, Akil Dhahar's name is immortalized in the valley and mountains of the city known as Dhahar.
I.M. Lewis, in his book A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa, refers to the Sultan from the colonial literature as a "man of unusual influence," a "man of mercurial image," and a "man of unusual strength." Several Somali Sultanates existed in Somalia prior to the European imperialism of the 19th century, but the Warsangali Sultanate was the only one with a robust tax-based centralized administration. Lewis writes:
Vestiges of a similar degree of centralized administration on the pattern of a Muslim Sultanate, survive today in the Protectorate amongst the Warsangali. Prior to 1920, the Garaad had at his command a small standing army with which, with British support, he fought Sayyid Mahamad Abdille Hassan’s forces. But Garad’s powers’ are dwindling under modern administration.
Sultanates such as these, generally only arose on the coast or through commanding an important trade route, and were largely dependent on the possession and control of a pot or other exploitable economic resources. They were in direct trade and diffuse political relations with Arabia, received occasional Arab immigrants, and were the centres from which Islam expanded with trade into the interior. The Sultanates had to fight to maintain their positions of supremacy against the periodic incursions of raiding parties of nomads, and their authority was never great.
In 1896, a challenge of leadership emerged between a father and son. The powerful Gerad Ali Shire's authority was dwindling and young Mohamoud Ali Shire, with the tacit support of the Isse Garad (Bohogayslabe) sub-clan of the Warsangali Darod, sought to undermine the power of his father. Before then, internal conflict amongst the Warsangali sub-clans had surfaced and had had an effect on Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire and his ascension to power. The disarray caused by the young Mohamoud amongst the Warsangali was finally settled by the proposal that Mohamoud filsshould become Sultan, while his father could remain Gerad. The Bihidor sub-clan of the Warsangali, however, withdrew their support for the Sultan, deeming him an upstart and an untested authority figure. They subsequently forged an alliance with the Somali religious and nationalist leader Mohammed Abdullah Hassan's Dervish forces in an attempt to defeat Britain and Ethiopia, two powers that were then also vying for control of the Somali Peninsula. In his paper The 'Mad Mullah' and Northern Somalia, the historian Robert L. Hess touches upon this alliance, writing that "in attempt to break out of Obbian-Mijertein circle, the Mullah sought closer alliances with the Bihidor Warsangali of British Somaliland and Bah Geri of Ethiopia." Following an unexpected onslaught, the Sultan ordered his army to retreat from its main military posts in Erigavo, a town which at the time served as a reserve well for the Sultan's horses and as a base for his army. Hassan's alliance with the Bihidor clan was instrumental in extending the Dervish sphere of influence and in expanding his Dervish State's hegemony. On March 3, 1905, Italycame close to signing a treaty with Hassan at Illig, offering him the Nugaal territory as a protectorate. Hassan, however, rejected the offer and his Dervish army continued its anti-imperial resistance struggle. In its early proposal, both the Majeerteen and Warsangali Sultanates also opposed the treaty, as they foresaw potential threats to their own local authority from its hypothetical implementation. These Sultanates thus collaborated to defeat the Dervish forces:
The first success in this Anglo-Italian cooperation came in December 1910. In that month, the British Warsangali and the Italian Mijertain peacefully resolved all their outstanding disputes and, convening in Bander Kasim, agreed to act jointly in combating Sayyid Muhammed Abdullah and his Dervishes..The Mijertain--Warsangali Accord led to a common offensive against the Mullah, whose forces were cut off from arms and munitions smuggled in from the coast. (Hess, 427) In 1920, the Dervishes unexpectedly captured Badhan and besieged Las Khorey. The British Governor at Aden soon sent RAF biplanes to contain the advance of the Dervish army into the Warsangali country. Though the air strikes that bombarded Badhan, Jidali and Talex never did considerable harm to the Dervishes, the Dervishes were still powerful but disorganized and dispersed into unknown areas. Finally, the forces of Warsangali and Dervishes met at Jidali and this was in fact the final decimation of the Dervish movement.
The Mijertein Somalis, who in June succeeded launching counter-attack with the aid of their Warsangali allies..Mullah and his followers were driven out of Italian Somaliland into British Somaliland, where they occupied Buhotleh with great cruelty and oppressed the Dolbahante who had shifted their allegiance back to British Somaliland. As a result, the Dervishes abandoned the Nugaal territory and retreated into the Hawd.
Somali-British Treaties
Historically, the British used indirect rule to their advantage to control and exploit territories. Following the British treaty with the Warsangali in 1886, the British Somaliland protectorate was formed. Much of the territory's economy at the time was centered on the trade relationship it had with Aden, Yemen, which was chiefly based on the export of livestock, frankincense, and myrrh in return for food, fabric, and other materials. The protectorate was subsequently administered from Aden until 1898, just before the rise to prominence of Sayyid Muhammad Abdullah Hassan.
The British realized that isolated efforts to pacify Somali authority with treaties were not sufficient, and that doing so could incite trouble within the protectorate. In 1884, the British government thus signed protection treaties with the Issa, Gadabuursi and Isaaq Somali clans, all at once. This particular tripartite agreement was beneficial to the British, as it permitted them to operate harmoniously alongside the existing clan social systems of northwestern Somalia. However, Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire and his administration in the northeastern part of the Somali territories wielded enough power to continue to exercise independent operation and rule. Article V of the British treaty with the Warsangali acknowledges this continued sovereignty of the Warsangali territories, adding that the British government appointed an ambassador to the region and was in the process of building an office there:
Article V. The British Government shall have the power to appoint an Agent or Agents to reside in the Territories of the Warsangali, and every such Agent shall be treated with respect and consideration, and be entitled to have for this protection such guard as the British Government deem sufficient.
Another Article of the treaty between the Warsangali and the British highlights the independence of the Warsangali from colonial interference vis-a-vis their territories:
Article III. The Warsangali are bound to render assistance to any vessel, whether British or belonging to any other nation, that may be wrecked on the shores under their jurisdiction and control, and to protect the crew, passengers, and cargo of such vessels, giving speedy intimation to the Resident at Aden of the circumstances; for which act of friendship and good-will a suitable reward will be given by the British Government.
