Early History
before 1884 		1918-1939







British Protectorate



After the departure of Egyptian troops (1884), the British acquired treaties from local chiefs asking for British protection (1884-1886). A British source from 1920 states that in order to prevent Somaliland from being annexed by another power, it was partitioned between Britain, Italy and Abyssinia.
The PROTECTORATE over BRITISH SOMALILAND was proclaimed in 1884; The protectorate's main importance for Britain lay in it's strategic location, close to the Bab el Mandeb - the entrance into the Red Sea. It was first administered from Aden.
In 1887, Somaliland was placed under the INDIAN OFFICE; in 1898 it was transferred to the COLONIAL OFFICE. BERBERA was selected as the seat of administration. In 1888 an Anglo-French agreement was signed delimiting the British and French spheres of influence on the northern Somali coast.
In 1920, the population was estimated at 300,000, mostly nomadic Somali; in the coastal towns there were communities of Arabs and Indians; the dominant religion was Islam. The currency used was the Indian Rupee. The protectorate's revenue covered for only a fraction of it's expenses, and had to be heavily subsidized by Britain.
Soon the British found that the area was more difficult to control than expected. They faced determined resistance organized by Muhammad Abdullah Hasau, nicknamed the Mad Mullah. After British operations undertaken in 1901-1904, a peaceful settlement was reached in 1905. In August 1913 the Camel Constabulary, a force of 150 men, was routed by c. 2,000 armed dervishes at Dulmadoba; the Camel Constabulary lost half their men, including the commander. Resistance only was broken in 1920 when the British made use of the Royal Airforce. Muhammad Abdullah fled to Ethiopia, where he died in 1921.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles from Infoplease : Somalia
Links on Somali history, from mogadiscio.com (click : historical notes), from Somalinet
Library of Congress, Country Studies : Somalia
DOCUMENTS Historical travelogues to Somaliland, from Somaliland Archive
British Somaliland, from South and East African Year Book and Guide, 26th ed., 1920, posted at this site
REFERENCE South and East African Year Book and Guide, 49th edition 1949, pp.769, 894-895
Ioan Myrddin Lewis, The Modern History of Somaliland, from Nation to State, London : Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1965
Article : British Somaliland, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 p.646 [G]
Article : Aden, Perim, Somaliland and Socotra, in : Statesman's Year Book 1895 p.100, 1898 p.100 [G]
Article : Somali Coast, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1901 pp.223-224 [G]
Article : Somaliland Protectorate, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1905 p.244, 1910 pp.186-187 [G]
Article : Somali Coast Protectorate, in : International Year Book 1898 p.716 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on August 31st 2007

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