| Somaliland campaign | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theScramble for Africa andWorld War I (1914–1918) | |||||||
 Aerial photograph of the Dhulbahante garesa at Taleh, the capital of the Dervishes. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
 30,000 28,000 |  ~25,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 200 British killed[4] | 4,000 Dervishes killed[4] | ||||||
| 100,000–150,000 deaths in Somaliland[4] | |||||||
TheSomaliland campaign, also called theAnglo-Somali War or theDervish rebellion, was a rebellion in theHorn of Africa, by theDervish, a Somali movement led bySayid Muhammed Abdullah Hassan, which continued independently for 24 years between 1896 and 1920.[5]
The opening battle of the rebellion saw the Dervish attack the Ethiopian garrison atJigjiga in March 1900 and take control of parts of the easternOgaden region. The Dervish then declared war on the British colonial administration inSomaliland.[6] They would also attack and seize parts ofItalian Somaliland.[7] The British launched five military expeditions, mainly in theNugaal Valley, between 1900 and 1920 against the Dervish.[8] They were assisted in their offensives by theEthiopian Empire and theKingdom of Italy. The British also armed rival Somali clans against the Dervish.[9] The Dervish movement successfully repulsed the British Empire in the first four expeditions, forcing them to retreat to the coastal region and continually raided British controlled parts of Somaliland. The conflict ravaged the region's economy. It has been estimated that around one-third of the population of Somaliland died during the Dervish rebellion.[10]
With the defeat of theOttoman andGerman empires inWorld War I, the Dervish movement lacked any allies. The British thus turned their attention to the Dervishes,[11] and launched a massive combined armsoffensive on the Dervish forts.[12][13] The Dervish retreated to their capital atTaleh, which was aerially bombed and then captured by the British, leading to the fall of the Dervish movement and bringing the conflict to an end.[14][12][15]
Although nominally part of the Ottoman Empire,Yemen andthesahil, includingZeila, in 1841,Haj Ali Shermerki, a successful and ambitious Somali merchant, purchased from them executive rights over Zeila. Shermerki's governorship had an instant effect on the city, as he manoeuvred to monopolize as much of the regional trade as possible, with his sights set as far asHarar and theOgaden.[16]Zeila and later Somaliland came under the control ofMuhammad Ali,Khedive of Egypt, between 1874–1884.[17]
In 1874–75, theKhedivate of Egypt obtained afirman from the Ottomans by which they secured claims over Somaliland. At the same time, the Egyptians received British recognition of their nominal jurisdiction as far east asCape Guardafui.[17]
TheBritish Somalilandprotectorate was subsequently established in the late 1880s after the ruling Somali authorities signed a series of protection treaties granting the British access to their territories on the northwestern coast. Among the Somali signatories were the Gadabuursi (1884), Habar Awal (1884 and 1886),[18] and Warsangali.[19]
When the Egyptian garrison in Harar was eventually evacuated in 1885, Zeila became caught up in the competition between theTadjoura-based French and the British for control of the strategicGulf of Aden littoral. By the end of 1885, the two powers were on the brink of armed confrontation, but opted instead to negotiate.[20] On 1 February 1888 they signed a convention defining the border betweenFrench Somaliland and British Somaliland.[21]
TheMajeerteen Sultanate within the northeastern part of the Somali territories was established in the mid-18th century and rose to prominence the following century, under the reign of the resourcefulboqor (king of kings)Osman Mahamuud.[22]
In late December 1888,Yusuf Ali Kenadid, the founder and first ruler of theSultanate of Hobyo, requested Italian protection, and a treaty to that effect was signed in February 1889, making Hobyo an Italian protectorate. In April, Yusuf's uncle and rival,Boqor Osman, requested a protectorate from the Italians and was granted it.[23] Both Boqor Osman and Sultan Kenadid had entered into the protectorate treaties to advance their own expansionist goals, with Sultan Kenadid looking to use Italy's support in his ongoing power struggle with Boqor Osman over the Majeerteen Sultanate, as well as in a separate conflict with theSultan of Zanzibar over an area to the north ofWarsheikh. In signing the agreements, the rulers also hoped to exploit the rival objectives of the European imperial powers so as to more effectively assure the continued independence of their territories. The terms of each treaty specified that Italy was to steer clear of any interference in the sultanates' respective administrations.[24]
In return for Italian arms and an annual subsidy, the Sultans conceded to a minimum of oversight and economic concessions.[23] The Italians also agreed to dispatch a few ambassadors to promote both the sultanates' and their own interests.[24] The new protectorates were thereafter managed byVincenzo Filonardi through achartered company.[23] An Anglo-Italian border protocol was later signed on 5 May 1894, followed by an agreement in 1906 between Cavalier Pestalozza and General Swaine acknowledging thatBuraan fell under the Majeerteen Sultanate's administration.[24]
The first offensive campaign was led by the Haroun against Ethiopian encampment atBattle of Jigjiga in March 1900. Both sides claimed victory following the battle. The Ethiopian General Gerazmatch Bante reportedly repulsed the attack and inflicted great losses on the Dervishes. Conversely, the British vice-consul at Harar claimed the Ethiopians hadarmed children with rifles to inflate the size of their forces. Although suffering heavy casualties during the attack, the Dervishes accomplished their objective of returning all the livestock confiscated by the Abyssinians. The battle had established without a doubt that the Dervishes were now a force to be reckoned with.[neutrality isdisputed][25]
The Haroun seized control over parts of the Ogaden but did not attempt to attack Jijiga again. Instead, he raided the non-DervishQadariyyah clans for their camels and arms.[26]
In 1901, the British joined with the Ethiopians and attacked the Dervishes with a force 1,500 strong. The Haroun was driven across the border into the Majeerteen Sultanate, which had been incorporated into the Italian protectorate.[26] The Ethiopians failed to get a hold on the eastern Ogaden and the British were eventually forced to retreat, having accomplished none of their goals. In this campaign, "borders were ignored by both British and Somali."[26]
Lt-Col.Alexander Cobbe of 1st (Central Africa) Battalion, King's African Rifles, was awarded theVictoria Cross for his action at Erego, on 6 October 1902.[27]
The British became convinced of their need of Italian assistance. In 1903, the ItalianForeign Ministry permitted the British to land forces atHobyo (Obbia). An Italian naval commander off Hobyo feared "that the expedition will end in a fiasco; the Mad Mullah will become a myth for the British, who will never come across him, and a serious worry for ... our sphere of influence."[28]
The relationship between Hobyo and Italy soured when Sultan Kenadid refused the Italians' proposal to allow British troops to disembark in his Sultanate so that they might then pursue their battle againstDiiriye Guure's[29] Dervish forces.[24] Viewed as too much of a threat by the Italians, Kenadid was exiled first to the British-controlledAden Protectorate, and then toItalian Eritrea, as was his son Ali Yusuf, the heir apparent to his throne.[30]
In May, the BritishForeign Office realised the error, and had Kenadid's son appointed regent, just in time to forestall an attack inMudug by the Sultan's army.[31]
In early March 1903 the operation began. 5,000 Ethiopians left Harar to head towards Gheledi, along the course of theShebelle River river, in order to cut off the Dervishes' retreat towards the south. Simultaneously, the British columns starting from Obbia and Berbera (composed mainly of Sudanese, Indian and Yao troops), under the command ofWilliam Manning, moved towardsGalkayo to trap theMullah's forces in a pocket. The more agile Dervishes managed to escape the trap by moving towardsGumburu Cagaarweyne and Ual Ual, in the Ogaden region. This forced the British to advance into a territory covered in thick bush and without water.
On 17 April a British advance detachment was charged by Dervish cavalry under the command ofSultan Nur[32] nearGumburu, but was almost completely annihilated with the loss of 9 British officers, 187 Yao African soldiers and some machine guns. A few days later a second column was attacked atDaratoleh and put to flight after losing a quarter of its men. The expedition ended in failure as theDervish annihilated the British detachment nearGumburru andDaratoleh.[33][34] For trying to save a fellow officer, Captain Charles Bruce, during the fighting withdrawal three officersJohn Gough,George Rolland,William George Walker were awarded Victoria Crosses.[35] When the fight was over, a lone Dervish horseman galloped to the Dervish camp and announced that the English had been wiped out. The Mullah immediately mounted his horse, Dodimer and rode to the field ofbattle.[36]
With 1,200–1,500 rifles, 4,000 ponies and some spearmen, the Dervish occupied theNugal Valley from Halin in the British protectorate toEyl (orIllig) on the Italian-held coast. The main British force nearGalad (Galadi) under GeneralWilliam Manning retreated north along the lineBohotleh–Burao–Sheekh. This "old-established line" had already been breached by the Dervish when they invaded theNugal.[37] By the end of June, the withdrawal was complete.
After the failure of General Manning's offensive, GeneralCharles Egerton was entrusted with a response. Following extensive preparations, he united his field force at Bacaadweeyn (Badwein) on 9 January 1904 and defeated the Haroun atJidali the next day. The British and their allies from Hobyo harassed the Haroun along their retreat, and lost many of his camels and livestock throughout February.[38]
In early March, the second phase of operations began. The Ethiopians advanced as far as Gerlogubi but turned back in early April. TheItalian Navy bombardedEyl in the winter to no effect. On 16 April, three ships of theEast Indies Station under Rear AdmiralGeorge Atkinson-Willes left Berbera planning to capture Eyl in cooperation with an advance overland.[39] The attack on Eyl took place on 21 April. A Royal Naval detachment, reinforced by three companies of theRoyal Hampshire Regiment, stormed and captured the forts at Illig, the ships' guns supporting the attack. The British lost 3 men killed and 11 wounded, and the Dervishes 58 killed and 14 wounded.[40] The naval detachment remained ashore for four days, assisted by an Italian naval detachment that arrived on 22 April. Control of Ilig was finally relinquished to Ali Yusuf of Hobyo.[41] Having defeated his forces in the field and forced his retreat, the British "offered the Mullah safe conduct into permanent exile at Mecca"; the Haroun did not reply.[31]
The initiatives for negotiations, was started by theMullah himself who wrote three letters in March 1904 to Lt. Vessel Spagna, commander of the Italian squad inBosaso.[42]
Giulio Pestalozza in his second meeting with the dervish October 17, 1904 was accompanied by Sylos and Paladini, two fellow Italians. After the second meeting the Mullah declared to Sheri and Pestalozza the following:
Now, O Pestalozza, you and Abdallah Sheri, are delegated by me and to you I bestow the power for our cause. If you ask me pacification, I accept the peace and mutual trust – and I promise to stop the discord and the war in the interior. I, the Derwishes and all my people will molest no one, neither Mijerteyns, nor the people of Yusuf Ali, neither the English nor their dependents. I and my people are the people and dependents of the Government of Italy if it favours us and cools our heart (the text says our stomach or our desire); we will be under its flag. We only request that the Government of Italy allow(s) us to build a country at a point which it will consider suitable, from Gabbee to Garad.
— Declaration by the Mullah to Pestalozza, Ilig, I7 October 1904.[43]
After a long, three-way negotiation between the powers of Britain, Italy, Ethiopia and the Dervish, the British received a dervish delegation for a peace agreement:
On 5 March 1905, the treaty of Ilig or the Pestalozza agreement was signed between the dervish and the powers, the dervish represented by The Mullah and Sultan Nur along withDiria Arraleh and other Dervish representatives signed the final agreements[44] Dervish peace treaty with the British, Ethiopians and Italian colonial powers on 5 March 1905, became known as the Ilig Treaty or the Pestalozza agreement.
In 1912 the Dervishes received intelligence that the Italians were gradually expanding in South Somalia and were closing in onHiraan, an area free of colonial presence. The Italians most forward positions were in Mahaday (just aboveJowhar).[45][46]
This was alarming as this meant their southern borders was threatened. An army of 900 men were sent out commanded by Mujahid Xaaji Maxamuud Macalin, famously known as "Cagadhig" towards Doh and Ceelgaab (above mahaday) and was told to meet up with the Dervish forces based there[47] who were commanded by the Sayid Maxameds brother Khaliif Sheekh Cabdille. When they came together they continued their mission to capture Hiraan and set up a temporary camp outside of Beledweyne in a place called Qollad.[47] TheHiraan region was finally put under the Dervish banner in 1913.
The Dervish controlling Hiraan was major news and worrying to the Italians and reinforced their positions in Mahaday in case a southern advance by the Darawiish ever occurred. They also made new bases in Tiyeeglow and Buqcabaqle to inforce their dominions. The Italians also made emergancy talks with the leader of theMajeerteen Hobyo Suldaan Cali Yusuf.[48][49]
On March 3, 1915, the armies marched from their positions into Beledweyne. The Italians marched from:[47]
TheHobyo sultanate army marched from:
The Dervish were facing a siege from all directions that lasted 3.5 days. Under heavy artillery bombardments and fierce gun fights, theBeledweyne forts did not suffer any major destruction due to Cali Jalax's great engineering skills.[50] Isma'ilMire took part in the defence of the forts and recorded the battle of Geeraar in a poem.[51][52]
The defeated Italians were forced to abandon their bases, jeopardising their plan to move into theUpper Shabelle valleys. The Dervishes strengthened their foothold in south Somalia by building two new forts: Aammiin and Laba Mataanood. The Italians never attacked again leaving the Dervishes to rule over the south.[53][54][47]
While the attention of the European powers was absorbed by the events of theFirst World War, the "Dervish State" reached its maximum expansion. On 9 August 1913, a Dervish column clashed with the only British mobile force remaining in the colony, Colonel Richard Corfield's Camel Constabluray, near thehill of Dul Madoba, destroying it and also killing its commander.[55] And on 5 September of the following year, 60 mounted Dervishes entered western Somaliland and sacked the town of Burrao, while between 12 and 13 March 1914 a small Dervish force penetrated 500 kilometres into the colony to attack the outskirts of the capital Berbera, then sacking several villages on the way back.[56]
In late April 1916, theWarsangeli, a protectorate ofItalian Somaliland under the orders of kingMohamoud Ali Shire, attacked the Dervish forces based at theJidalifort, besieging them and looting their stock. With news of the assault having reached the Dervish of Cershida and Surut, reinforcements were sent to Jidali to repulse the attackers, where the Warsangeli were defeated and the Dervishes managed to recover their stock.
On the evening of Saturday the 6th, the Dervishes set out to punish the Warsangeli with a force composed of 2,000 Dervishes led byIbrahim Boghol who swept down on theLas Khorey. Ibrahim's forces captured the eastern portion of the town, killing many Warsangeli fighters. The force managed to surround the settlement and capture the only source of water, causing many to die of thirst. While Las Khorey was being besieged, the Warsangeli were able to secretly send a dhow toAden to request help from the British Navy. On May 10, Lancelot Turton, commanding HMSNorthbrook, arrived at Las Khorey and commenced to shell Ibrahim and his forces with Lyddite explosives, forcing them to retreat to the mountains and thus ending the deadly siege.[57][58]\
Between 1915 and 1918 , the Dervish in control of southern somalia and decided to attack the last italian garrisons in Tiyeeglow and Buqcabaqle which had besieged them. In February 1916, the dervishes advanced towardsBulo Burti andTiyeglow; on the following 27 March, thanks to the betrayal of some Somali irregulars hired into the service of the Italians,[59] The dervishes took and sacked the fort of Bulo Burti, with Colonel Bessone'sAskari forces rereating.[60] After the recapture of Bulo Burti, an Italian column under captain Silvestri defeated and dispersed the Dervishes in the battle ofBeledweyne (16 January 1917), which was the main base of operations against Italian Somaliland. The Italian column had light casualties (6 dead and 4 wounded), while the Dervishes suffered 50 dead and numerous wounded; furthermore, the Italians captured 200 camels, depriving Dervishes of transport capabilities. The Dervishes stopped conducting significant attacks on Italian Somaliland for the rest of World War I.[61]
Following the end ofWorld War I, British troops once again turned their attention to the disturbances in British Somaliland. The Dervishes had previously defeated British forces at theBattle of Dul Madoba in 1913. Four subsequent British expeditions against Hassan and his soldiers had also failed.[62]
In 1920, British forces launched afinal campaign against Hassan's Dervishes. Although the majority of the combat took place in January of the year, British troops had begun preparations for the assault as early as November 1919. The British forces were led by theRoyal Air Force and the ground component included theSomaliland Camel Corps. After three weeks of battle, the Dervishes were finally defeated, bringing an effective end to their 20-year resistance.[62]
treaty under which he was allowed an autonomous area in theNugal Valley, and freedom of movement
This letter is sent by all the Dervishes, the Amir, and all the Dolbahanta to the Ruler of Berbera ... We are a Government, we have a Sultan, an Amir, and Chiefs, and subjects ... (reply) In his last letter the Mullah pretends to speak in the name of the Dervishes, their Amir (himself), and the Dolbahanta tribes. This letter shows his object is to establish himself as the Ruler of the Dolbahanta
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