Somali nationalism (Somali:Soomaalinimo) is centered on uniting theSomali people who share a common language, religion, culture and ethnicity, and as such constitute a nation unto themselves. The ideology's earliest manifestations in the medieval era are traced to theAdalites whilst in the contemporary era its often traced back to SYL, the first Somali nationalist political organization to be formed was theSomali National League (SNL), established in 1935 in the formerBritish Somaliland protectorate. In the country's northeastern, central and southern regions, the similarly-orientedSomali Youth Club (SYC) was founded in 1943 inItalian Somaliland, just prior to thetrusteeship period. The SYC was later renamed the Somali Youth League (SYL) in 1947. It became the most influential political party in the early years of post-independenceSomalia.[1] The Somali guerilla militiaAl-Shabab is noteworthy for incorporating Somali nationalism into itsIslamist ideology.[2][3]
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Early Somali nationalism developed in the beginning of the 20th century with the concept of "Greater Somalia" that encompassed a theme,Somalis are a nation with a distinct identity and wanted to unite inhabited areas ofSomali clans.Pan-Somalism refers to the vision of reunifying these areas to form a single Somali nation. The pursuit of this goal has led to conflict:Somalia engaged afterWorld War II in theOgaden War withEthiopia over theOgaden region, and supported Somaliinsurgents againstKenya.
Somalia has been inhabited since at least thePaleolithic. During theStone Age, the Doian andHargeisan cultures flourished here.[4] The oldest evidence of burial customs in theHorn of Africa comes from cemeteries in Somalia dating back to the 4th millennium BCE.[5] The stone implements from the Jalelo site in the north were also characterized in 1909 as important artefacts demonstrating the archaeological universality during the Paleolithic between the East and the West.[6]
According to linguists, the firstAfroasiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuingNeolithic period from the family's proposedurheimat ("original homeland") in theNile Valley,[7] or theNear East.[8]
TheLaas Geel complex on the outskirts ofHargeisa inSomaliland dates back around 5,000 years, and hasrock art depicting both wild animals and decorated cows.[9] Othercave paintings are found in the northernDhambalin region, which feature one of the earliest known depictions of a hunter on horseback. The rock art is in the distinctiveEthiopian-Arabian style, dated to 1,000 to 3,000 BCE.[10][11] Additionally, between the towns ofLas Khorey andEl Ayo in Somaliland liesKarinhegane, the site of numerous cave paintings of real and mythical animals. Each painting has an inscription below it, which collectively have been estimated to be around 2,500 years old.[12][13]
Ancient pyramidical structures, mausoleums, ruined cities and stone walls, such as theWargaade Wall, are evidence of an old civilization that once thrived in theSomali peninsula.[14][15] This civilization enjoyed a trading relationship withAncient Egypt andMycenaean Greece since the second millennium BCE, supporting the hypothesis that Somalia or adjacent regions were the location of the ancientLand of Punt.[14][16] The Puntites tradedmyrrh, spices, gold, ebony, short-horned cattle, ivory andfrankincense with the Egyptians,Phoenicians,Babylonians,Indians,Chinese andRomans through their commercial ports. AnEgyptian expedition sent toPunt by the 18th dynasty QueenHatshepsut is recorded on the temple reliefs atDeir el-Bahari, during the reign of the Puntite King Parahu and Queen Ati.[14]
The one-humped camel or dromedary is believed to have been domesticated between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BCE, possibly in Somalia.[17] In the classical period, the city-states ofMosylon,Opone,Mundus,Isis,Malao,Avalites,Essina,Nikon andTabae developed a lucrative trade network connecting with merchants from Phoenicia,Ptolemaic Egypt,Greece,Parthian Persia,Saba,Nabataea, and theRoman Empire. They used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as thebeden to transport their cargo.
After theRoman conquest of the Nabataean Empire and theRoman naval presence atAden to curb piracy, Arab and Somali merchants agreed with the Romans to bar Indian ships from trading in the free port cities of theArabian peninsula[18] to protect the interests of Somali and Arab merchants in the lucrative commerce between theRed andMediterranean Seas.[19] However, Indian merchants continued to trade in the port cities of the Somali peninsula, which was free from Roman interference.[20]
For centuries, Indian merchants brought large quantities of cinnamon to Somalia and Arabia fromCeylon and theSpice Islands. The source of the cinnamon and other spices is said to have been the best-kept secret of Arab and Somali merchants in their trade with the Roman andGreek world; the Romans and Greeks believed the source to have been the Somali peninsula.[21] The collusive agreement among Somali and Arab traders inflated the price of Indian and Chinese cinnamon in North Africa, theNear East, andEurope, and made the cinnamon trade a very profitable revenue generator, especially for the Somali merchants through whose hands large quantities were shipped across sea and land routes.[19]
Islam was introduced to the area early on from the Arabian peninsula, shortly after thehijra.Zeila's two-mihrabMasjid al-Qiblatayn dates to the 7th century, and is the oldestmosque in the city.[22] In the late 9th century,Al-Yaqubi wrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard.[23] He also mentioned that theAdal kingdom had its capital in the city,[23][24] suggesting that theAdal Sultanate withZeila as its headquarters dates back to at least the 9th or 10th centuries. According to I.M. Lewis, the polity was governed by local dynasties consisting ofSomalized Arabs or Arabized Somalis, who also ruled over the similarly establishedSultanate of Mogadishu in theBenadir region to the south. Adal's history from this founding period forth would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighbouringAbyssinia.[24] At its height, the Adal kingdom controlled large parts of modern-day Somaliland, Ethiopia,Djibouti, andEritrea.
In 1332, the Zeila-based King of Adal was slain in a military campaign aimed at haltingAbyssinian emperorAmda Seyon I's march toward the city.[25] When the lastSultan of Ifat,Sa'ad ad-Din II, was also killed by EmperorDawit I in Zeila in 1410, his children escaped toYemen, before returning in 1415.[26] In the early 15th century, Adal's capital was moved further inland to the town ofDakkar, whereSabr ad-Din II, the eldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II, established a new base after his return from Yemen.[27][28]
Adal's headquarters were again relocated the following century, this time southward toHarar. From this new capital, Adal organised an effective army led by ImamAhmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Ahmad "Gurey" or "Gran"; both meaning "the left-handed") that invaded the Abyssinian empire.[28] This 16th-century campaign is historically known as theConquest of Abyssinia (Futuh al-Habash). During the war, Imam Ahmad pioneered the use of cannons supplied by theOttoman Empire, which he imported through Zeila and deployed against Abyssinian forces and theirPortuguese allies led byCristóvão da Gama.[29] Some scholars argue that this conflict proved, through their use on both sides, the value of firearms such as thematchlockmusket, cannon, and thearquebus over traditional weapons.[30]
During theAjuran period, the sultanates and republics ofMerca,Mogadishu,Barawa,Hobyo and their respective ports flourished and had a lucrative foreign commerce, with ships sailing to and coming from Arabia, India,Venetia,[32]Persia, Egypt, Portugal, and as far away as China.Vasco da Gama, who passed byMogadishu in the 15th century, noted that it was a large city with houses several storeys high and large palaces in its centre, in addition to many mosques with cylindrical minarets.[33]
In the 16th century,Duarte Barbosa noted that many ships from theKingdom of Cambaya in modern-day India sailed to Mogadishu with cloth and spices, for which they in return received gold, wax and ivory. Barbosa also highlighted the abundance of meat, wheat, barley, horses, and fruit on the coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants.[34] Mogadishu, the center of a thriving textile industry known astoob benadir (specialized for the markets in Egypt, among other places[35]), together withMerca andBarawa, also served as a transit stop forSwahili merchants fromMombasa andMalindi and for the gold trade fromKilwa.[36]Jewish merchants from theHormuz brought their Indian textile and fruit to the Somali coast in exchange forgrain and wood.[37]
Trading relations were established withMalacca in the 15th century,[38] with cloth, ambergris and porcelain being the main commodities of the trade.[39] Giraffes, zebras and incense were exported to theMing Empire of China, which established Somali merchants as leaders in the commerce between theAsia andAfrica[40] and influenced theChinese language with theSomali language in the process.[citation needed]Hindu merchants fromSurat andSoutheast African merchants fromPate, seeking to bypass both the Portuguese blockade andOmani interference, used the Somali ports of Merca and Barawa (which were out of the two powers' jurisdiction) to conduct their trade in safety and without interference.[41]
In theearly modern period, successor states of theAdal,Ajuran andHiraab Imamate,Hiraab began to flourish in Somalia. These included the Warsangali Sultanate, theBari Dynasties, theSultanate of Geledi (Gobroon dynasty), theMajeerteen Sultanate (Migiurtinia), and theSultanate of Hobyo (Obbia). They continued the tradition of castle-building and seaborne trade established by previous Somali empires.
SultanYusuf Mahamud Ibrahim, the third Sultan of theHouse of Gobroon, started the golden age of the Gobroon Dynasty. His army came out victorious during theBardheereJihad, which restored stability in the region and revitalized theEast Africanivory trade. He also received presents from and had cordial relations with the rulers of neighbouring and distant kingdoms such as theOmani,Witu and Yemeni Sultans.
Sultan Ibrahim's sonAhmed Yusuf succeeded him and was one of the most important figures in 19th-century East Africa, receiving tribute from Omani governors and creating alliances with important Muslim families on the East African coast. In northern Somalia, the Gerad Dynasty conducted trade with Yemen and Persia and competed with the merchants of theBari Dynasty. The Gerads and the Bari Sultans built impressive palaces and fortresses and had close relations with many different empires in the Near East.
In the late 19th century, after theBerlin conference of 1884, European powers began theScramble for Africa, whereupon the Darawiish builtDhulbahante garesas to counter colonialism. Darawiish social structure included theharoun (i.e. Darawiish government) underFaarax Sugulle, the Darawiish & Dhulbahante king Diiriye Guure and its emir Sayid Mohamed, which collectively carved out a powerful state inCiid-Nugaal which was subdivided into 13 administrative divisions of which the four largest,Shiikhyaale,Dooxato,Golaweyne,Miinanle were near exclusivelyDhulbahante. The other administrative divisions,Taargooye,Dharbash,Indhabadan,Burcadde-Godwein,Garbo (Darawiish),Ragxun,Gaarhaye,Bah-udgoon andShacni-cali were collectively also overwhelminglyDhulbahante.[42] The Dervish movement successfully repulsed theBritish Empire four times and forced it to retreat to the coastal region.[43]
TheDarawiish defeated the colonial powers on numerous occasions, most notably, the 1903 victory at Cagaarweyne commanded bySuleiman Aden Galaydh[44] or the killing of generalRichard Corfield byIbraahin Xoorane in 1913,[45] and theses repulsions forcing theBritish Empire to retreat to the coastal region in the late 1900s.[46] The only two notable defeats of the Darawiish were both commanded byHaji Yusuf Barre, the first time atJidbaali in 1904, and the second time at thelast stand at Taleh when the Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 byBritish airpower.[47]
The dawn offascism in the early 1920s heralded a change of strategy forItaly, as the north-eastern sultanates were soon to be forced within the boundaries ofLa Grande Somalia according to the plan ofFascist Italy. With the arrival of GovernorCesare Maria De Vecchi on 15 December 1923, things began to change for that part of Somaliland known asItalian Somaliland. Italy had access to these areas under the successive protection treaties, but not direct rule.
TheFascist government had direct rule only over the Benadir territory.Fascist Italy, underBenito Mussolini, attacked Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935, with an aim to colonize it. The invasion was condemned by theLeague of Nations, but little was done to stop it or to liberate occupied Ethiopia. On 3 August 1940, Italian troops, including Somali colonial units, crossed from Ethiopia toinvade British Somaliland, and by 14 August, succeeded in takingBerbera from the British.
A British force, including troops from several African countries, launched thecampaign in January 1941 from Kenya to liberate British Somaliland and Italian-occupied Ethiopia and conquer Italian Somaliland. By February, most of Italian Somaliland was captured and in March, British Somaliland was retaken from the sea. The forces of the British Empire operating in Somaliland comprised the three divisions ofSouth African,West African, and East African troops. They were assisted by Somali forces led byAbdulahi Hassan with Somalis of theIsaaq,Dhulbahante, andWarsangali clans prominently participating.
In July 1977, theOgaden War againstEthiopia broke out afterBarre's government sought to incorporate the predominantly Somali-inhabitedOgaden region into a Pan-SomaliGreater Somalia. In the first week of the conflict, Somali armed forces took southern and central Ogaden and for most of the war, the Somali army scored continuous victories on theEthiopian army and followed them as far asSidamo. By September 1977, Somalia controlled 90% of the Ogaden and captured strategic cities such asJijiga and put heavy pressure onDire Dawa, threatening the train route from the latter city to Djibouti. After the siege ofHarar, a massive unprecedentedSoviet intervention consisting of 20,000Cuban forces and several thousand Soviet advisers came to the aid of Ethiopia's communistDerg regime. By 1978, the Somali troops were ultimately pushed out of the Ogaden. This shift in support by the Soviet Union motivated the Barre government to seek allies elsewhere. It eventually settled on the Soviet Union'sCold War arch-rival, theUnited States, which had been courting theSomali government for some time. All in all, Somalia's initial friendship with the Soviet Union and later partnership with the United States enabled it to build the largest army in Africa.[48]
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