In 1848, C. J. Cruttenden reported that the Warsangali and
Majeerteen territories were the most commercially valuable in the
Nugaal Valley and that
Banians from India had become successful exporters.[6] The
Cal Madow chain of mountains, which is partially inside the clan's territory, extends to the cities of
Bosaso (the capital of the Bari region) and
Ceerigaabo (the capital of the Sanaag region) both in an east and west direction.
An article titled "Seychellois Rekindle Ties with Sultan of Somaliland," which was featured in one of the newspapers of the Republic of
Seychelles, writes, "the Warsengeli Sultanate has been in existence for the last hundred six hundred years."[8]
Indian Ocean diplomacy
The
Warsangali Sultanate placed a value on maintaining diplomatic ties with rulers in Europe and South Arabia, as evidenced by archival files in Arabic text containing such correspondence. John Hanning Speke wrote that when he visited the Warsangeli country in 1855, “the United Kingdom would hold the Sultan Mohamed (21st Sultan) accountable” if his safety were compromised. Lidwien and Spaulding (2002) described two documents that signify how the Sultanate administered its affairs and guarded its independence. Lidwien and Spaulding mention a laissez-passer document issued by Sultan Mohamed to a French physician, Gerges Revoil, on 12 December 1889. The laissez-passer instructs the French to observe the protocol of entering the country. Any foreign visitor or dignitary would enter the Warsangeli country via its sea port of Las Qoray. However, given the traveler’s unfamiliarity with the established rules and customs of the land, the sultan allowed the French to enter by land through Bandar Mura’aya.[9][10]
The Conquest of Abyssinia
Gerad Ali Gerad Mohamoud (Ali Dable) was the 13th Sultan of the Warsangali Sultanate, reigning from 1491 to 1503. He earned the nickname Ali Dable; the word “Dable” in the Somali language means "the one armed with fire." After returning from an exile in Yemen, Sultan Ali brought a shipload of small guns and cannon fire along with him. Sultan Ali Dable first managed to invade the Dhulbahante territory and allied himself with Dhulbahante rebels to defeat the Gerad of Dhulbahante's troops in the Battle of
Garadag. In 1540, the sultan sent a contingent of 300 troops to Abyssinia to participate in the conquest. The Arab chronicler, Sihab ad-Din, who was an eyewitness in many of the battles to conquer Abyssinia, compares the 300 Harti army to an Arab knight whose name was Hamzah al-Jufi:[11]
“On the left was the Somali tribe of [Warsangeli] Harti, from the people of Mait (Sanaag); a people not given to yielding. There were three hundred (300) of them, famous among the infantry as stolid as swordsmen.....One of the Arabs called Hamzah al-Jufi engaged in a battle to the death in front of the Imam of the Muslims. He was one of the footsoldiers and stood his ground and stood the test, confronting war with a full heart. He never struck one infidel whom he did not unhorse, dead. He killed so vast a number of them in the middle of the river, that the river water was turned red by the blood. The whole tribe of Harti was like him" (Sihab ad Din, p. 78).
History
Today, the influence of Sultans and other traditional leaders has waned with the advent of independence and the establishment of a central government in Somalia that exercises national sovereignty. However, the longest surviving Muslim sultanate ever established in the Somali peninsula is the Warsangali Sultanate. It has been in existence for the last six hundred years.[12]
The Warsangali Sultanate has a history of civilization, characterized by a defined population and territory, along with an organized political structure. The Warsangeli inhabit a territory extending to the west of Erigavo from Bosaso (Bari region), straddling from the shore of Laaso Suurad, (“Ras Surad”), and bordered in the North by the Gulf of Aden to the plateaus of Sool Haud (a land mass the size of Sool and Awdal regions combined).[13]
The Sultanate produced seafarers who made their mark in the field of social science. Ibrahim Isma’il’s book, An Early Autobiography of a Somali (1919), a Warsangeli seafarer himself, describes a judgment issued by the Sultan and in compliance with a decision by the royal court. The sultan ordered a boat-making project as a redress to an incident at the port. To maintain the region’s trade ties with the Arabian peninsula, the Sultan ruled that preserving its integrity as a place where traders have guarantees for the value and protection of their merchandise was important. Murrayat’s travels (1848) in the interior of the Warsangeli Country shows a similar observation.[14] Murrayat observed a widespread practice of good moral precepts in safeguarding the rights of private property and in deference to the law of the land. During his stay, not an article of his belongings was stolen. He states, “In this land, to call a man a thief is a deadly insult only to be washed by blood alone.” [15]
Until 1920, the sultanate had maintained its independence after its sultan, Mohamoud Ali Shire, was exiled into the islands of Seychelles. The sultan was fiercely independent and detested foreign presence in his country. A newspaper as cited by Seychelles Nation, states, “His independent policy, strength and indifference to the powers surrounding him, including the British has vexed London and led to his arrest and deportation to Seychelles.[16]
The Sultan was described as a sovereign ruler of immense influence and a man of mercurial image by the historian I.M. Lewis. He was the 24th sultan in a long line of Gerads (a Somali royal court).[17] In 1920, the sultan was exiled along with the two African Kings, King Prempeh of Ashanti (Ghana) and king Kabarego of Bunyoro (Uganda), and a former Prime Minister of Egypt, Sa'ad Zaghlul Pasha, as well as other luminaries of leaders in the wars of African resistance to the British colonialism were also there as exiles. He was the descendent of a six-hundred-year-old tradition (please see ‘What led to the discovery of the Nile’ by John Hanning Speke). In the 1940 and 50s, the Warsangeli leadership formed the United Somali Party (USP) following a three month convention chaired by the Sultan himself following his return from exile. The USP was instrumental in Somalia’s long and painful road to freedom and independence from colonial powers.[18]
Lineage
The structures of the clans and sub clans are not clearly agreed upon. However, the following summarised clan tree presented below is taken from John Hunt's A general survey of the Somaliland Protectorate (1944-1950):[19]
Darod
Kabalah Darod
Kombe Kabalah
Amlale Kombe
Harti Amlaleh
Mahamud Harti (Murasante)
Hinjiye Murasante
Mohamed Murasante (Warsangeli)
Musa Mohamed (Warlabe)
Bilal Musa
Imran Musa
Mohamed Imran
Sa'ad Mohamed
Ali Mohamed
Warfa Ali
Nuh Ali
Yusuf Nuh
Geedi Yusuf
Mohamed Yusuf
Diriye Yusuf
Mohamud Imran
Rage Mohamud
Abdi Mohamud
Isyel Mohamud
Geedi Mohamud
Samatar Mohamud
Yusuf Samatar
Ali Samatar
Ugadhyahan Samatar
Guled Samatar
Adan Samatar
Naleye Samatar
Mahamud Mohamed (Warmaeke)
Hassan Mahamud (Hamar Gale)
Abdirahman Hassan (Ogeyslabe)
Yusuf Hassan (Dubeys)
Muslim Yusuf
Makahil Yusuf
Mahamud Yusuf
Adarays Yusuf
Isaq Yusuf
Hanif Isaq
Yahye Isaq
Harun Yahye
Yusuf Harun
Idris Yusuf
Mohamud Yusuf
Abdi Mohamud
Omar Mohamud
Mohamed Omar
Mohamud Omar
Muse Omar
Ishaq Omar
Ugadyahan Harun
Osman Ugadyahan
Ahmed Ugadyahan
Omar Ahmed
Yusuf Ahmed
Mohamud Yusuf
Mohamed Yusuf
Gob Mohamed
Habad Mohaed
Hasan Ahmed
Yusuf Hasan
Samatar Hasan
Saed Hasan
Awed Hasan
Ibrahim Hassan
Isman Ibrahim
Rikeye Ibrahim
Wadalmoge Ibrahim
Omar Ibrahim
Nuh Omar
Ahmed Omar
Mohamed Omar
Yasif Omar
Mahamud Omar
Abokar Mahamud
Said Mahamud
Adan Said
Esa Mahamud
Hussein Esa
Said Esa
Yakub Esa
Adan Yakub
Said Yakub
Jibril Said
Nuh Said
Yunis Said
Yusuf Said
Isman Yusuf
Hassan Yusuf
Mohamed Yusuf
Esa Yusuf
Isman Esa
Omar Esa
Ali Esa
Ismail Ali (Reer Xaaji)
Liban Ali
Mohamed Liban
Hassan Liban
Ahmed Liban
Yusuf Liban
Nuh Yusuf
Amir Yusuf
Isman Yusuf
Ali Yusuf
Abdi Yusuf
Salah Yusuf (Reer Saalax)
Mahamud Yusuf
Amir Mahamud (Caamir)
Ahmed Amir
Sharmake Amir
Rage Amir
Wa'eys Amir
Shirdon Amir
Abdale Amir
Naleye Amir
Guled Amir
Diriye Amir
Hersi Amir
Arale Amir
Yusuf Mahamud
Abdulla Mahamud (Garaad Cabdalla)
Ibrahim Abdulla (Bah Ogayslabe)
Idris Abdulla (Bah Ogayslabe)
Ise Abdulla (Bah Ogayslabe)
Egal Ise
Liban Ise
Nur Ise
Aden Nur
Ni'ib Nur
Dalal Ise
Ali Dalal
Samatar Dalal
Mohamud Dalal
Sharmake Ise
Abdalle Sharmake
Fahiye Sharmake
Rage Sharmake
Samakab Sharmake
Samatar Abdulla (Bah Idoor)
Osman Abdulla (Bah Idoor)
Sharmake Osman
Egal Osman
Hersi Osman
Ali Hersi
Mohamed Hersi
Farah Osman
Egal Farah
Samakab Farah
Adan Farah
Adan Abdulla (Bah Idoor)
Arale Adan
Abokor Adan
Shirwa Abokor
Mohamud Abokor
Amir Adan
Hersi Amir
Samakab Amir
Wa'eys Adan
Hersi Wa'eys
Fahiye Wa'eys
Ahmed Abdulla (Bah Majeerteen)
Ali Abdulla (Bah Majeerteen)
Abdulla Ali
Samatar Ali
Mahamud Ali
Araleh Ali
Samakab Ali
Amir Ali
Rageh Ali
Fatah Ali
Mohamed Fatah
Hersi Fatah
Samatar Fatah
Egal Fatah
Mohamed Ali
Ali Mohamed
Adan Mohamed
Egal Mohamed
Abdalle Mohamed
Naleye Mohamed (Reer Garaad)
Groups
Shacni-cali was the smallest of the 13 Darawiish administrative divisions, and was exclusively composed of Warsangeli.
Garbo Darawiish was a second-smallest segment of the 13 Darawiish administrative divisions, and was half Warsangeli, half
Dhulbahante.
Burcadde-godwein was the seventh largest of the dozen Darawiish administrative divisions, and was half Warsangeli, half Dhulbahante.[20]
Maakhir was a proto-state during the 2000s chiefly inhabited by Warsangeli.
Notable members
Abdilahi Qablan, first representative of Las Qorey for USP party
Abdullahi Ahmed Jama: former Minister of Justice, former commander of the Somali National Army of Somalia and the President of
Maakhir State of Somalia
Ali Aden Lord: first Somali MP and later the Interior Minister of Kenya[21]
Ahmed Ismail Hussein: singer, songwriter, composer, instrumentalist; also known as King of Oud