Somali nationalism

Flag of Somalia

Somali nationalism(Somali:Soomaalinimo) is centered on the notion that theSomali peopleshare a common language, religion, culture and ethnicity, and as such constitute a nation unto themselves. The ideology's earliest manifestations are often traced back to the resistance movement led byMohammed Abdullah Hassan'sDervish movementat the turn of the 20th century.In present-daySomaliland,the first Somali nationalist political organization to be formed was theSomali National League(SNL), established in 1935 in the formerBritish Somalilandprotectorate.In the country's northeastern, central and southern regions, the similarly-oriented Somali Youth Club (SYC) was founded in 1943 inItalian Somaliland,just prior to thetrusteeship period.The SYC was later renamed theSomali Youth League(SYL) in 1947. It became the most influential political party in the early years of post-independence Somalia.

History

Early Somali nationalism developed in the beginning of the 20th century with the concept of "Greater Somalia" that encompassed a theme, Somalis are a nation with a distinct identity and wanted to unite inhabited areas of Somali clans.Pan-Somalismrefers to the vision of reunifying these areas to form a single Somali nation. The pursuit of this goal has led to conflict: Somalia engaged afterWorld War IIin theOgaden Warwith Ethiopia over the Ogaden region, and supported Somaliinsurgentsagainst Kenya.

Prehistory

Somalia has been inhabited since at least thePaleolithic.During the Stone Age, the Doian and Hargeisan cultures flourished here.The oldest evidence of burial customs in the Horn of Africa comes from cemeteries in Somalia dating back to the 4th millennium BCE.The stone implements from the Jalelo site in the north were also characterized in 1909 as important artefacts demonstrating the archaeological universality during the Paleolithic between the East and the West.

According to linguists, the firstAfroasiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuingNeolithicperiod from the family's proposedurheimat( "original homeland" ) in theNile Valley,or theNear East.

TheLaas Geelcomplex on the outskirts ofHargeisain Somaliland dates back around 5,000 years, and hasrock artdepicting both wild animals and decorated cows.Othercave paintingsare found in the northernDhambalinregion, which feature one of the earliest known depictions of a hunter on horseback. The rock art is in the distinctive Ethiopian-Arabian style, dated to 1,000 to 3,000 BCE.Additionally, between the towns ofLas KhoreyandEl Ayoin Somaliland liesKarinhegane,the site of numerous cave paintings of real and mythical animals. Each painting has an inscription below it, which collectively have been estimated to be around 2,500 years old.

Antiquity and classical era

Main article:Somali Architecture

TheSilk Roadextending from China to southern Europe, Arabia, Somalia, Egypt, Persia, India, and Java

Ancient pyramidical structures, mausoleums, ruined cities and stone walls, such as theWargaade Wall,are evidence of an old civilization that once thrived in the Somali peninsula.This civilization enjoyed a trading relationship withAncient EgyptandMycenaean Greecesince the second millennium BCE, supporting the hypothesis that Somalia or adjacent regions were the location of the ancientLand of Punt.The Puntites tradedmyrrh,spices, gold, ebony, short-horned cattle, ivory andfrankincensewith the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Indians, Chinese and Romans through their commercial ports. An Egyptian expedition sent to Punt by the 18th dynasty QueenHatshepsutis recorded on the temple reliefs atDeir el-Bahari,during the reign of the Puntite King Parahu and Queen Ati.

Queen Ati, wife of King Perahu of Punt, depicted on PharaohHatshepsut's temple atDeir el-Bahri.

The camel is believed to have been domesticated in the Horn somewhere between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BCE. From there, it spread to Egypt and North Africa.In the classical period, the city-states ofMosylon,Opone,Mundus,Isis,Malao,Avalites,Essina,Nikonand Tabae developed a lucrative trade network connecting with merchants fromPhoenicia,Ptolemaic Egypt,Greece,Parthian Persia,Saba,Nabataea,and theRoman Empire.They used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as thebedento transport their cargo.

After theRoman conquest of the Nabataean Empireand the Roman naval presence atAdento curb piracy, Arab and Somali merchants agreed with the Romans to bar Indian ships from trading in the free port cities of the Arabian peninsulato protect the interests of Somali and Arab merchants in the lucrative commerce between the Red and Mediterranean Seas.However, Indian merchants continued to trade in the port cities of the Somali peninsula, which was free from Roman interference.

For centuries, Indian merchants brought large quantities of cinnamon to Somalia and Arabia fromCeylonand theSpice Islands.The source of the cinnamon and other spices is said to have been the best-kept secret of Arab and Somali merchants in their trade with the Roman and Greek world; the Romans and Greeks believed the source to have been the Somali peninsula.The collusive agreement among Somali and Arab traders inflated the price of Indian and Chinese cinnamon in North Africa, the Near East, and Europe, and made the cinnamon trade a very profitable revenue generator, especially for the Somali merchants through whose hands large quantities were shipped across sea and land routes.

Birth of Islam and the Middle Ages

Main articles:Somali aristocratic and court titles,Ifat Sultanate,Walashma dynasty,Sultanate of Mogadishu,Adal Sultanate,Ajuran Sultanate,andWarsangali Sultanate

Islamwas introduced to the area early on from the Arabian peninsula, shortly after thehijra.Zeila's two-mihrabMasjid al-Qiblatayndates to the 7th century, and is the oldestmosquein the city.In the late 9th century,Al-Yaqubiwrote that Muslims were living along the northern Somali seaboard.He also mentioned that the Adal kingdom had its capital in the city,suggesting that theAdal Sultanatewith Zeila as its headquarters dates back to at least the 9th or 10th centuries. According to I.M. Lewis, the polity was governed by local dynasties consisting of Somalized Arabs or Arabized Somalis, who also ruled over the similarly establishedSultanate of Mogadishuin theBenadirregion to the south. Adal's history from this founding period forth would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighbouringAbyssinia.At its height, the Adal kingdom controlled large parts of modern-day Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Eritrea.

TheSultanate of Mogadishu's medievalcurrency.

In 1332, the Zeila-based King of Adal was slain in a military campaign aimed at halting Abyssinian emperorAmda Seyon I's march toward the city.When the last Sultan of Ifat,Sa'ad ad-Din II,was also killed by EmperorDawit Iin Zeila in 1410, his children escaped to Yemen, before returning in 1415.In the early 15th century, Adal's capital was moved further inland to the town ofDakkar,whereSabr ad-Din II,the eldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II, established a new base after his return from Yemen.

Adal's headquarters were again relocated the following century, this time southward toHarar.From this new capital, Adal organised an effective army led by ImamAhmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi(Ahmad "Gurey" or "Gran"; both meaning "the left-handed" ) that invaded the Abyssinian empire.This 16th-century campaign is historically known as theConquest of Abyssinia(Futuh al-Habash). During the war, Imam Ahmad pioneered the use of cannons supplied by the Ottoman Empire, which he imported through Zeila and deployed against Abyssinian forces and their Portuguese allies led byCristóvão da Gama.Some scholars argue that this conflict proved, through their use on both sides, the value of firearms such as thematchlockmusket,cannon, and thearquebusover traditional weapons.

Somali merchants from Mogadishu established a colony inMozambiqueto extract gold from the mines inSofala.

During theAjuran period,the sultanates and republics ofMerca,Mogadishu,Barawa,Hobyoand their respective ports flourished and had a lucrative foreign commerce, with ships sailing to and coming from Arabia, India,Venetia,Persia, Egypt, Portugal, and as far away as China.Vasco da Gama,who passed by Mogadishu in the 15th century, noted that it was a large city with houses several storeys high and large palaces in its centre, in addition to many mosques with cylindrical minarets.

In the 16th century,Duarte Barbosanoted that many ships from theKingdom of Cambayain modern-day India sailed to Mogadishu with cloth and spices, for which they in return received gold, wax and ivory. Barbosa also highlighted the abundance of meat, wheat, barley, horses, and fruit on the coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants.Mogadishu, the center of a thriving textile industry known astoob benadir(specialized for the markets in Egypt, among other places), together with Merca and Barawa, also served as a transit stop forSwahilimerchants fromMombasaandMalindiand for the gold trade fromKilwa.Jewishmerchants from theHormuzbrought their Indian textile and fruit to the Somali coast in exchange forgrainand wood.

Trading relations were established withMalaccain the 15th century,with cloth, ambergris and porcelain being the main commodities of the trade.Giraffes, zebras and incense were exported to theMing Empireof China, which established Somali merchants as leaders in the commerce between the Asia and Africaand influenced the Chinese language with the Somali language in the process.Hindu merchants fromSuratand Southeast African merchants fromPate,seeking to bypass both the Portuguese blockade and Omani interference, used the Somali ports of Merca and Barawa (which were out of the two powers' jurisdiction) to conduct their trade in safety and without interference.

Early Modern Era and the Scramble for Africa

Main articles:Geledi sultanate,Majeerteen Sultanate,Sultanate of Hobyo,andDervish movement (Somali)

In theearly modernperiod, successor states of theAdal,AjuranandHiraab Imamate,Hiraabbegan to flourish in Somalia. These included the Warsangali Sultanate, theBari Dynasties,theSultanate of Geledi(Gobroon dynasty), theMajeerteen Sultanate(Migiurtinia), and theSultanate of Hobyo(Obbia). They continued the tradition of castle-building and seaborne trade established by previous Somali empires.

SultanYusuf Mahamud Ibrahim,the third Sultan of the House of Gobroon, started the golden age of the Gobroon Dynasty. His army came out victorious during the Bardheere Jihad, which restored stability in the region and revitalized the East Africanivory trade.He also received presents from and had cordial relations with the rulers of neighbouring and distant kingdoms such as the Omani,Wituand Yemeni Sultans.

Sultan Ibrahim's sonAhmed Yusufsucceeded him and was one of the most important figures in 19th-century East Africa, receiving tribute from Omani governors and creating alliances with important Muslim families on the East African coast. In northern Somalia, the Gerad Dynasty conducted trade with Yemen and Persia and competed with the merchants of the Bari Dynasty. The Gerads and the Bari Sultans built impressive palaces and fortresses and had close relations with many different empires in the Near East.

In the late 19th century, after theBerlin conferenceof 1884, European powers began theScramble for Africa,which inspired the Dervish leaderMohammed Abdullah Hassanto rally support from across the Horn of Africa and begin one of the longest colonial resistance wars ever. In several of his poems and speeches, Hassan emphasized that the British "have destroyed our religion and made our children their children" and that the Christian Ethiopians in league with the British were bent upon plundering the political and religious freedom of the Somali nation.He soon emerged as "a champion of his country's political and religious freedom, defending it against all Christian invaders".

Hassan issued a religious ordinance stipulating that any Somali national who did not accept the goal of unity of Somalia and would not fight under his leadership would be considered to bekafir,orgaal.He soon acquired weapons from the Ottoman Empire, Sudan, other Islamic and Arabian countries, and appointed ministers and advisers to administer different areas or sectors of Somalia. In addition, he gave a clarion call for Somali unity and independence, in the process organizing his forces.

Hassan's Dervish movement had an essentially military character, and the Dervish movement was fashioned on the model of aSalihiyabrotherhood. It was characterized by a rigid hierarchy and centralization. Though Hassan threatened to drive the Christians into the sea, he executed the first attack by launching his first major military offensive with his 1500 Dervish equipped with 20 modern rifles on the British soldiers stationed in the region. He repulsed the British in four expeditions and had relations with theCentral Powersof the Ottomans and the Germans. In 1920, the Dervish movement collapsed after intensive aerial bombardments by Britain, and Dervish territories were subsequently turned into a protectorate.

The dawn offascismin the early 1920s heralded a change of strategy for Italy, as the north-eastern sultanates were soon to be forced within the boundaries ofLa Grande Somaliaaccording to the plan of Fascist Italy. With the arrival of GovernorCesare Maria De Vecchion 15 December 1923, things began to change for that part of Somaliland known asItalian Somaliland.Italy had access to these areas under the successive protection treaties, but not direct rule.

The Fascist government had direct rule only over theBenadirterritory.Fascist Italy,underBenito Mussolini,attacked Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935, with an aim to colonize it. The invasion was condemned by theLeague of Nations,but little was done to stop it or to liberate occupied Ethiopia. On 3 August 1940, Italian troops, including Somali colonial units, crossed from Ethiopia toinvade British Somaliland,and by 14 August, succeeded in takingBerberafrom the British.

A British force, including troops from several African countries, launched thecampaign in January 1941from Kenya to liberate British Somaliland and Italian-occupied Ethiopia and conquer Italian Somaliland. By February, most of Italian Somaliland was captured and in March, British Somaliland was retaken from the sea. The forces of the British Empire operating in Somaliland comprised the three divisions of South African, West African, and East African troops. They were assisted by Somali forces led byAbdulahi Hassanwith Somalis of theIsaaq,Dhulbahante,andWarsangaliclans prominently participating.

Ogaden campaign

Main article:Ogaden War

In July 1977, theOgaden WaragainstEthiopiabroke out after Barre's government sought to incorporate the predominantly Somali-inhabitedOgadenregion into a Pan-SomaliGreater Somalia.In the first week of the conflict, Somali armed forces took southern and central Ogaden and for most of the war, the Somali army scored continuous victories on the Ethiopian army and followed them as far asSidamo.By September 1977, Somalia controlled 90% of the Ogaden and captured strategic cities such asJijigaand put heavy pressure onDire Dawa,threatening the train route from the latter city to Djibouti. After the siege ofHarar,a massive unprecedented Soviet intervention consisting of 20,000Cubanforces and several thousand Soviet advisers came to the aid of Ethiopia's communistDergregime. By 1978, the Somali troops were ultimately pushed out of the Ogaden. This shift in support by the Soviet Union motivated the Barre government to seek allies elsewhere. It eventually settled on the Soviet Union'sCold Wararch-rival, theUnited States,which had been courting the Somali government for some time. All in all, Somalia's initial friendship with the Soviet Union and later partnership with the United States enabled it to build the largest army in Africa.

Gallery

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  Somali Youth League was the first political party in Somalia and played a key role in the nation's road to independence.
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  Ruins ofQa’ableh
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  TheSultan of Adal(right) and his troops battling Ethiopians.
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  Statue ofMohammed Abdullah HassaninMogadishu,Somalia.He was the leader of theDervish movementand a Somali nationalist.
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  Taleexwas the capital of the Dervish movement

See also

• Greater Somalia
• Pan-nationalism
• Ethnic nationalism