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Majeerteen Sultanate
1600s–1927 northeastern Somali kingdom From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Majeerteen Sultanate (Somali: Suldanadda Majeerteen, lit. 'Boqortooyada Majerteen', Arabic: سلطنة مجرتين), or Majerteen Kingdom also known as Majeerteenia and/or Migiurtinia, was a Somali kingdom centered in the Horn of Africa. Ruled by Osman Mohamoud during its golden age, the sultanate controlled the areas corresponding to modern-day Puntland. The earliest mention of the kingdom is the late 15th or 16th century. The polity had all of the organs of an integrated modern state and maintained a robust trading network. It also entered into treaties with foreign powers and exerted strong centralized authority on domestic affairs. On April 7, 1889, it became a protectorate of Italy after a treaty. After a three year war, it was eventually integrated into the colony of Italian Somaliland.
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History
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Establishment
The Majeerteen Sultanate was established by Somalis from the Majeerteen sub-clan of the Darod clan. Charles Guillain places the origins of the state in 1420.[1] Oral traditions describe its formation at the late 15th or early 16th century.[2][3][4] Although the area handbook series puts its emergence at the mid-18th century.[5] Francisco Álvares, a Portuguese missionary and explorer who spent six years at the Portuguese embassy in Abyssinia, wrote about a ruler in the Guardafui region subject to Adal.
The Kingdom of Adel (as they say) is a large kingdom, and it extends over the Cape of Guardafuy, and there in that part another rules subject to Adel.[6]
He also describes a visit to the land between Cape Guardafui and the mountain of Felis for the purchasing of wethers and goats.
This land where they were bought is between Cape Guardafui and the mountain of Felis,' and the distance between them is thirty-six miles. And it is a very sterile land, with very bad people; money is not used there, only cloths, and the thicker they are the higher they are valued. And much white salt and much white gum are found in this land; and the Captain Major gave orders for a large quantity to be taken on to be sent to Portugal, as they said it was good for caulking ships.[7]
It was a semi-nomadic Sultanate that appeared to have a strong seafaring tradition along the coastal settlements. The sultanate rose to prominence during the 19th century, under the reign of the shrewd and resourceful Boqor (King) Osman Mahamuud.[8]
Majeerteen-British agreement
Due to consistent ship crashes along the northeastern Cape Guardafui headland, Boqor Osman's kingdom entered into an informal agreement with Britain, wherein the British agreed to pay the King annual subsidies to protect shipwrecked British crews and guard wrecks against plunder. The agreement, however, remained unratified, as the British feared that doing so would "give other powers a precedent for making agreements with the Somalis, who seemed ready to enter into relations with all comers."[9]
War with Yusuf Ali Kenadid and the Sultanate of Hobyo
Boqor Osman Mahamuud's Kingdom was under attack in the mid-19th century due to a power struggle between himself and his ambitious cousin, Yusuf Ali Kenadiid. After almost five years of battle, the young upstart was terribly defeated and the Sultan Kenadiid was finally forced into exile in Yemen. A decade later, in the 1870s, Kenadiid returned from the Arabian Peninsula with a band of Hadhrami musketeers and a group of devoted lieutenants. With their assistance he managed to break away from Majeerteenia, then overpower the local Habar Gidir in Mudug, and establish the separate Sultanate of Hobyo in 1878.[10][11]
Majeerteen-Italian treaties
In the late 19th century, all extant Somali monarchs entered into treaties with one of the colonial powers, Abyssinia, Britain or Italy, except for the Dhulbahante clan,[12] since the Italians considered part of the Dhulbahante subject of the Italian-protected Sultan of Majeerteen.[13] With the intermediation of Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid and after a conference of all notables of the sultanate in Bargal,[14] in 7 April 1889 in Alula, Boqor Osman entered into a treaty with Italy, making his kingdom a protectorate known as Italian Somaliland.[15]
In the years following the treaty the protectorate was however rather nominal due to Italian warships tasked with maintaining contact with the sultan and visiting so rarely and irregularly. Piracy, looting of crashed steamships, weapons trade and slave trade could be carried out with almost no consequences.[15]
His second cousin and rival Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid had signed a similar agreement vis-a-vis his own Sultanate of Hobyo the year before. 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 the Omani Sultan of Zanzibar over an area to the north of Warsheikh. 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.[16]
The terms of each treaty specified that Italy was to steer clear of any interference in the sultanates' respective administrations.[16] In return for Italian arms and an annual subsidy, the sultans conceded to a minimum of oversight and economic concessions.[17] The Italians also agreed to dispatch a few ambassadors to promote both the sultanates' and their own interests.[16] The new protectorates were thereafter managed by Vincenzo Filonardi through a chartered company.[17] 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 that Baran fell under the Majeerteen Sultanate's administration.[16] With the gradual extension into northern Somalia of Italian colonial rule, both kingdoms were eventually annexed in the early 20th century.[18] However, unlike the southern territories, the northern sultanates were not subject to direct rule due to the earlier treaties they had signed with the Italians.[citation needed]
Lead up to the conquest of the sultanates
With the arrival of Governor Cesare Maria De Vecchi on 15 December 1923, things began to change in Somalia, Italy had access to these areas under the successive protection treaties, but not direct rule. The Fascist government had direct rule only over the majority of Benadir territory. Given the defeat of the Dervish movement in the early 1920s, and the rise of fascism in Europe, on 1925, Mussolini gave the green light to De Vecchi to start the takeover of the northern sultanates. Everything was to be changed and the treaties abrogated.[19]
To make the enforcement of his plan more viable, he began to reconstitute the old Somali police corps, the Corpo Zaptié, and the new Dubats as a colonial force. Who were mostly led by Capo Hersi Gurey, a major ally of Italy in this conflict.
In preparation for the plan of invasion of the sultanates, the Alula Commissioner, E. Coronaro received orders in April 1924 to carry out a reconnaissance on the territories targeted for invasion. In spite of the forty year Italian relationship with the sultanates, Italy did not have adequate knowledge of the geography. During this time, the Stefanini-Puccioni geological survey was scheduled to take place.Such, concluded that the Majeerteen Sultanate depended on sea traffic, therefore, if this were blocked any resistance could be “mounted” As the first stage of the invasion plan, Governor De Vecchi ordered the two Sultanates to disarm. The reaction of both sultanates was to object, as they felt the policy was against the protectorate agreements. The pressure engendered by the new development forced the two northern sultanates, Hobyo and Majeerteenia, to settle their differences, and form a united front against their common enemy.
Conflict
The new Alula commissioner, presented Boqor Osman with an ultimatum to disarm and surrender. Meanwhile, Italian troops began to pour into the sultanate in anticipation of this operation. While landing at Haafuun and Alula, the sultanate's troops opened fire on them. Fierce fighting ensued and to avoid escalating the conflict and to press the fascist government to revoke their policy, Boqor Osman tried to open a dialogue. However, he failed, and again fighting broke out between the two parties. Following this disturbance, on 7 October the Governor instructed Coronaro to order the Sultan to surrender; to intimidate the people he ordered the seizure of all merchant boats in the Alula area. At Hafun, Arimondi bombarded and destroyed all the boats in the area.[20]
On 13 October Coronaro was to meet Boqor Osman at Baargaal to press for his surrender. Under siege already, Boqor Osman was playing for time. However, on 23 October, Boqor Osman sent an angry response to the Governor defying his order. Following this a full-scale naval attack was ordered in November. Baargaal is bombed by the Italian cruiser 'Campania' for 22 hours after initial Italian efforts to take the town are pushed back and several Italian officers are killed.
The attempt of the Italians to suppress the region erupted into an explosive confrontation. The Italians were meeting fierce resistance on many fronts. In December 1925, led by the charismatic leader Hersi Boqor, son of Boqor Osman, the sultanate forces drove the Italians out of Hurdia and Haafuun, two strategic coastal towns.[21]
Another contingent attacked and destroyed an Italian communications centre at Cape Guardafui, at the tip of the Horn. In retaliation, the Bernica and other warships were called on to bombard all main coastal towns of the Majeerteen. After a violent confrontation Italian forces inevitably captured Eyl, which until then had remained in the hands of Hersi Boqor. In response to the unyielding situation, Italy called for reinforcements from their other colonies, notably Eritrea. With their arrival at the closing of 1926, the Italians began to move into the interior where they had not been able to venture since their first seizure of the coastal towns. Their attempt to capture Dharoor Valley was resisted by Hersi Boqor, and ended in failure for the Italians.[22]
Due to the immense retaliation of the Majeerteen, Italians were not able to entirely capture Majeerteenia until late 1927, when after the conflict at Iskushkuban Hersi Boqor and his top staff were forced to retreat to Somali Galbeed in order to rebuild the forces. However, they had an epidemic of cholera which frustrated all attempts to recover his force.[23]
The nearly three year war ended with the complete bombardment of many coastal North Eastern towns in which is now a part of Puntland, and the deaths of around 550 Italians, and 456 Dubats/Eritrean Askaris.
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Administration
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Bureaucracy
The Sultanate of Hobyo and the Majeerteen Sultanate exerted a strong centralized authority during its existence, and possessed all of the organs and trappings of an integrated modern state: a functioning bureaucracy, a hereditary nobility, titled aristocrats, a state flag, and a professional army.[24][25] Both sultanates also maintained written records of their activities, which still exist.[26]
The Majeerteen Sultanate's main capital was at Alula, with its seasonal headquarters at Bargal. It likewise had a number of castles and forts in various areas within its realm, including a fortress at Murcanyo.[27]
Boqor Osman had residences in numerous cities across Majeerteenia, notably in Bareeda, Bosasoo, and Bargaal.
The Majeerteen Sultanate's ruler, however, commanded more power than was typical of other Somali leaders during the period. Especially in their high levels of centralization where each Majeerteen sub clan recognized the Boqor was supreme ruler. As the primus inter pares, Boqor Osman taxed the harvest of aromatic trees and pearl fishing along the seaboard. He retained prior rights on goods obtained from ship wrecks on the coast. The Sultanate also exerted authority over the control of woodland and pastureland, and imposed both land and stock taxes.[28]
Commerce
According to official reports from 1924 commissioned by the Regio Governo della Somalia Italiana, the Majeerteen Sultanate maintained robust commercial activities before the Italian occupation of the following year. The Sultanate reportedly exported 1,056,400 Indian Rupees (IR) worth of commodities, 60% of which came from the sale of frankincense and other gums. Fish and other sea products sold for a total value of 250,000 IR, roughly equivalent to 20% of the Sultanate's aggregate exports. The remaining export proceeds came from livestock, with the export list of 1924 consisting of 16 items.[29]
Military
In addition to a strong civil administration, the Majeerteen Sultanate maintained a regular army. Besides protecting the polity from both external and internal threats, military officials were tasked with carrying out the King's instructions. The latter included tax collection, which typically came in the form of the obligatory Muslim alms (seko or sako) ordinarily tithed by Somalis to the poor and religious clerics (wadaads).[28][30]
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Puntland
Established in 1998, the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia now administers much of the former territories of the Majeerteen Sultanate (Migiurtinia).[31]
Major cities of the Majeerteen Sultanate
Sultans
Rulers of the Majeerteen Sultanate:[32]
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See also
Notes
References
External links
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