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BRITISH See also:SOMALILAND The British Somaliland See also:protectorate extends along the Gulf of See also:Aden for about 400 M. from the Lahadu See also:Wells, near See also:Jibuti, in the See also:west, to Bandar Ziyada in 49° E., 18o m. W. of Cape Guardafui, and stretches from the See also:coast inland for a breadth varying from 8o to 220 M. The protectorate is bounded W. by See also:French Somaliland, S.W. by Abyssinian territory, and S.E. and E. by See also:Italian Somaliland. About 50,000 persons are settled in the coast towns; the See also:rest are nomads. See also:Topography, &c.—Physically the protectorate may be described as almost mountainous in contrast with the somewhat monotonous plains of the interior. Between the See also:Harrar See also:plateau and Cape Guardafui the coast ranges maintain a mean See also:altitude of from 4000 to 5000 ft., and fall generally in steep escarpments down to the narrow See also:strip of sandy lowlands skirting the Gulf of Aden. At some points the rugged cliffs, furrowed by deep ravines, approach See also:close to the See also:sea; elsewhere the hills leave a considerable maritime See also:plain between their See also:base and the See also:shore See also:line. See also:South of See also:Berbera are two ranges nearly parallel with the coast. They increase in See also:elevation landwards, culminating in the inner and loftier Golis range, about 9500 ft. high, its See also:crest covered with See also:mountain See also:cedar. The See also:country between the two ranges is known as Guban. South of the Golis the ground falls gradually to the central plateau known as the Haud, a waterless but not unfertile See also:district. The Haud (only the See also:northern See also:part of which is British territory—the rest is Abyssinian) consists partly of See also:thorn See also:jungle, the haud of the Somali, partly of See also:rolling grass plains, called See also:ban, and partly of semi-See also:desert country called aror. Westward of Berbera the ascent to the high country is not so abrupt as in the See also:east but is made by several steps, the mountains forming a chaotic See also:mass. Eastwards the mountain See also:system, the See also:Jebel Sangeli, maintains the same See also:general See also:character as far as Bandar See also:Gori (See also:Las Korai), where the precipitous northern cliffs approach within 200 or 300 yards of the gulf, their See also:bare See also: They possess a hardy breed of ponies, for which the Dolbahanta country is famed. Chief Towns.—Berbera (q.v.) is the See also:capital and chief seaport of the protectorate. About 45 m. west of Berbera is the exposed See also:port of Bulhar. Close to the French frontier stands the seaport of See also:Zaila ,-(q.v.). East of Berbera are Las Korai, Karam, Hais and other small seaports. Inland the most important See also:settlement is Hargeisa (i.e. little Harrar), 6o m. S.S.W. of Bulhar, a centre for caravans from See also:Shoa and Ogaden. See also:Sheikh, Burao and Bohotle are all on the caravan route from Ogaden to Berbera. See also:Industries and Trade.—Fibre is obtained from the See also:aloe See also:plants, this See also:industry being in the hands of See also:women; ostriches are reared for the See also:sake of their feathers, and large quantities of See also:gum and See also:resin are collected. But the See also:wealth of the See also:people consists chiefly in their livestock. Trade is largely with Harrar and the Ogaden country—both Abyssinian possessions. The important exports are gums and resin, fibre, hides, See also:ivory, See also:ostrich feathers, See also:coffee, See also:ghee, live-stock, See also:gold ingots from See also:Abyssinia and See also:mother-of-See also:pearl; the shells being found along the coast from Zaila to beyond Berbera. There is also a profitable See also:shark See also:fishery in the hands of See also:Arabs. The imports are mainly white See also:longcloth, See also:grey shirting, See also:rice, jowaree, See also:dates and See also:sugar. Jowaree is displacing rice as the See also:staple See also:food of the Somali. The trade with Abyssinia suffers owing to the See also:absence of railway communication, which the neighbouring French See also:colony possesses. Thus in 1899–1900 the See also:total value of trade was £751,900, the French railway being then but just begun; in 1902–1903, the railway beingcompleted during the See also:year, the value of trade was but £487,900. The average annual value of trade for 1904–1909 was about £50O,000. See also:History.—An Arab sultanate, with its capital at Zaila (Zeyla), was founded by Koreishite immigrants from the See also:Yemen in, it is said, the 7th See also:century A.D. In the 13th century it had become a comparatively powerful See also:state, known as the See also:empire of Adel. In the 16th century the capital of the state (in which Arab See also:influence was a decreasing See also:factor) was transferred to Harrar (q.v.). The state was greatly harassed by Galla invaders in the 17th century, and See also:broke up into a number of See also:petty in-dependent emirates and sultanates under Somali chiefs. Zaila became a dependency of Yemen and thus nominally part of the See also:Turkish empire. The British connexion with the Somali coast dates from the See also:early years of the 19th century; the first treaty between the British and Somali having been signed in 1827 after the plundering of an See also:English See also:ship by the Habr-Wal. In 184o various See also:treaties were concluded by See also:Captain See also:Robert Moresby of the See also:Indian See also:Navy " on the part of the English See also:Government in See also:India " with the See also:sultan of Tajura and the See also:governor of Zaila, who engaged not to enter into treaties with any other See also:foreign See also:power. At the same See also:time Musha See also:Island, at the entrance to the Gulf of Tajura, was bought by the British " for ten bags of rice," Bab Island, in the same gulf, and Aubad Island, off Zaila, were also See also:purchased, the See also:object of the East India See also:Company being to obtain a suitable See also:place " for the See also:harbour of their See also:ships without any See also:prohibition whatever." From this time onward the Indian government exercised considerable influence on the Somali coast, but British authority was not definitely established, and in 1854 See also:Richard See also:Burton's expedition was attacked at Berbera. In 1874-1875 the ambition of See also:Ismail See also:Pasha, See also:khedive of See also:Egypt, who claimed See also:jurisdiction over the whole coast as far as Cape Guardafui, led him to occupy the ports of Tajura, Berbera and Bulhar as well as Harrar in the See also:hinterland. Ismail also obtained (See also:July 1875) a See also:firman from the sultan of See also:Turkey making over Zaila to Egypt in return for an increase of £15,000 yearly to the See also:tribute paid to the See also:Porte. In 1884, in consequence of the revolt of the See also:mandi in the See also:Egyptian See also:Sudan, the khedival garrisons were withdrawn. Thereupon See also:Great See also:Britain, partly to secure the route to the East via the See also:Suez See also:Canal, which the occupation of the country by another power might menace, occupied Zaila, Berbera and Bulhar, officials being sent from Aden to govern the ports. With respect to Zaila Turkey Establish. was given the See also:option of resuming See also:possession, but See also:meat of a See also:advantage was not taken of the offer (see See also:Lord British See also:Pro-See also:Cromer's See also:Modern Egypt, 1908, vol. ii.). During tectorate. 1884, 1885, 1886 treaties guaranteeing British See also:protection were concluded with various Somali tribes and in r888 the limits of the British and French See also:spheres were defined, all claims to British jurisdiction in the Gulf of Tajura and the islands of Musha and Bab being abandoned. The other inland boundaries of the protectorate were defined by agreements with See also:Italy (1894) and Abyssinia (1897). In 1899 troubles arose between the See also:administration and a See also:mullah of the Habr See also:Suleiman Ogaden tribe, who had acquired great influence in the Dolbahanta country and had married into the Dolbahanta See also:Ali Gheri. This mullah, Mahommed See also:bin Abdullah by name, had made several pilgrimages to See also:Mecca, where he had attached himself to a See also:sect which enjoined strict observance of the tenets of See also:Islam and placed an See also:interdiction on the use of the leaves of the kat plant—much sought after by the coast Arabs and Somali for their stimulating and intoxicating properties. At first the mullah's influence was exerted for See also:good, and he kept the tribes over whom he had See also:control at See also:peace. Accredited with the possession of supernatural See also:powers he gathered around him a strong following. In 1899 the mullah began raiding tribes friendly to the British; in See also:August of that year he occupied Burao, 8o m. south and east of Berbera, and declared himself the mandi. In the autumn of 1900 the mullah was again harassing the tribes on the See also:southern border of the British protectorate and the neighbouring Abyssinian districts. The tribes hostile to the mullah sought British protection, and See also:Colonel (afterwards See also:Sir) E. J. E. Swayne raised a Somali See also:levy of 1500 men, and in May 1901 occupied Burao. On the 2nd of See also:June a small force, zeribaed under Captain See also:Malcolm McNeill, was attacked by the mullah's followers but re-pulsed after desperate fighting. Colonel Swayne thrice defeated the enemy, who lost 1200 men and 600 taken prisoners, and the mullah fled across the Haud, taking See also:refuge with the Mijertin in Italian territory. In See also:December 1901 the mullah was, however, once more raiding in the neighbourhood of Burao, and in May See also:Wars with 1902 Colonel Swayne led another expedition against the Mullah him, the Somali levies being strengthened by the 2nd MahornmedKing's See also:African Rifles, consisting of See also:Yaos from See also:Nyasa-Abdunah. See also:land. Overcoming in a remarkable manner the difficulties of operating in the dry See also:season, Colonel Swayne harried the mullah incessantly, and followed him across the Haud into the more fertile region of Mudug in Italian territory, permission so to do being granted by Italy. On the 6th of See also:October, while marching through dense See also:bush at Erigo, the British force was ambuscaded. The British lost See also:lot killed and 85 wounded, but put the enemy to See also:flight. The mullah lost some 700 men and retreated to Galadi, west of Mudug, a place with ample See also:water supplies. Colonel Swayne was not able to continue the pursuit, and returned to Berbera. It was then determined that in the further operations against the mullah the See also:main advance should be from a base on the east coast of Italian Somaliland—the open roadstead of Obbia being chosen. The command was given to Brigadier-General W. H. See also:Manning, and small See also:numbers of British and See also:Boer mounted See also:infantry, Indian and African troops were employed, while an Abyssinian force held the line of the Webi Shebeli. Manning advanced from Obbia in See also:February 1903, and in See also: S. Cobbe (who had gained the V.C. at Erigo) was pushed west to Gumburu, and came into contact with the enemy. A detachment of this force, consisting of 200 Yaos and Sikhs under Lieut.-Colonel See also:Plunket, was attacked on the 17th of April and overwhelmed. Of the whole party only 40 Yaos, of whom 36 were wounded, escaped; lo British See also:officers being among the slain. Meantime from Bohotle a force had advanced under See also:Major See also:Gough to Daratole, a spot not far from Gumburu. It had a stiff fight on the 23rd of April and was obliged to fall back. After these events the Obbia line of communication was closed up, and Manning's force concentrated at Bohotle. The mullah now broke away to the See also:north, and, See also:crossing the line of the British communication, established himself in the Nogal district. Another See also:campaign being deemed necessary, reinforcements bringing the fighting force up to 7000 men were sent out, and Major-General Sir C. C. See also:Egerton assumed supreme command, Manning retaining command of the first column. In October 1903 a new forward See also:movement was begun, the mullah being still in the eastern Nogal, while he had also seized the Italian seaport of Illig, north of Obbia. In a pitched See also:battle fought on the loth of See also:January 1904 at Jidballi in the Nogal country the enemy were routed, losing over moo men in killed alone, while the British loss in killed and wounded was 58. The mullah and his chief adviser, a Haji Sudi, formerly an Interpreter on a British warship, were not at the battle, and with his Ali Gheri followers he now fled north across the Sorl, apparently intending, if further pressed to See also:retreat to Illig. This port was accordingly for a See also:short time (April 1904) occupied by a British See also:naval force. By May. the mullah had been driven out of the British protectorate and became a refugee among the Mijertin. It was decided therefore to abandon offensive operations. In 1905 the Italians effected an arrangement apparently satisfactory to all parties (see § Italian Somaliland). For some three years the mullah remained quiescent, but in Evacuation 1908 he quarrelled with the Mijertins and in 1909 he of the was again raiding tribes in the British See also:protector- Interior. See also:ate The British government (the See also:Asquith See also:cabinet) came to the conclusion that another expedition against the mullah would be useless; that they must either build a railway, make roads and effectively occupy the whole of the protectorate, or else abandon the interior completely. The latter course was decided upon, and during the first months of 1910 the advanced posts were withdrawn and the British administration confined to the coast towns. In support of this decision it was urged that it was no good pursuing people whom it was impossible to catch, that the isolated posts in the interior had not been able to protect the friendly tribes; and that the semi-desert nature of the country did not justify any See also:attempt at economic development. (The proposal to build a railway from Zaila or Berbera to Harrar, which would have competed with the French line from Jibuti for the trade of southern Abyssinia, had been vetoed on grounds of general policy.) Before the withdrawal arrangements—more or less ineffective—were made for arming and organizing the tribes in the protectorate in their own See also:defence. From 1884 to 1898 the protectorate was attached for administrative purposes to Bombay, and was immediately dependent on Aden; in the last-named year it was transferred to the Foreign See also:Office, and in 1905 passed under the control of the Colonial Office. From 1902 to 1906 Colonel Swayne was See also:commissioner; he was succeeded by Captain H. E. S. Cordeaux, who had served in Somaliland since 1898. Legislative power is in the hands of the commissioner, and See also:revenue is obtained largely from customs. The revenue, £22,000 in 1900-1901, was L30,000 in 1908-1909, while the See also:expenditure, £51,000 in the first-named year, was £134,000 in 1908-1909. Deficits are made good by grants from the imperial See also:treasury. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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