Somaliland campaign
The Somaliland campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish rebellion, was a rebellion in the Horn of Africa, by the Dervish, a Somali movement led by Sayid Muhammed Abdullah Hassan, which continued independently for 21 years between 1899 and 1920.
The opening battle of the rebellion saw the Dervish attack the Ethiopian garrison at Jigjiga in March 1900 and take control of parts of the eastern Ogaden region. The Dervish then declared war on the British colonial administration in Somaliland. They would also attack and seize parts of Italian Somaliland. The British launched five military expeditions, mainly in the Nugaal Valley, between 1900 and 1920 against the Dervish. They were assisted in their offensives by the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. The British also armed rival Somali clans against the Dervish. The Dervish movement successfully repulsed the British Empire in the first four expeditions, forcing them to retreat to the coastal region and continually raided British controlled parts of Somaliland. The conflict ravaged the region's economy. It has been estimated that around one-third of the population of Somaliland died during the Dervish rebellion.
With the defeat of the Ottoman and German empires in World War I, the Dervish movement lacked any allies. The British thus turned their attention to the Dervishes, and launched a massive combined arms offensive on the Dervish forts. The Dervish retreated to their capital at Taleh, which was aerially bombed and then captured by the British, leading to the fall of the Dervish movement and bringing the conflict to an end.
Background
British Somaliland
Although nominally part of the Ottoman Empire, Yemen and the sahil, including Zeila, in 1841, Haj Ali ShermerkIn 1874–75, the Khedivate of Egypt obtained a firman from the Ottomans by which they secured claims over Somaliland. At the same time, the Egyptians received British recognition of their nominal jurisdiction as far east as Cape Guardafui.
The British Somaliland protectorate was subsequently established in the late 1880s after the ruling Somali authorities signed a series of protection treaties granting the British access to their territories on the northwestern coast. Among the Somali signatories were the Gadabuursi, Habar Awal, and Warsangali.
When the Egyptian garrison in Harar was eventually evacuated in 1885, Zeila became caught up in the competition between the Tadjoura-based French and the British for control of the strategic Gulf of Aden littoral. By the end of 1885, the two powers were on the brink of armed confrontation, but opted instead to negotiate. On 1 February 1888 they signed a convention defining the border between French Somaliland and British Somaliland.
Italian Somaliland
The Majeerteen Sultanate within the northeastern part of the Somali territories was established in the mid-18th century and rose to prominence the following century, under the reign of the resourceful boqor Osman Mahamuud.In late December 1888, Yusuf Ali Kenadid, the founder and first ruler of the Sultanate of Hobyo, requested Italian protection, and a treaty to that effect was signed in February 1889, making Hobyo an Italian protectorate. In April, Yusuf's uncle and rival, Boqor Osman, requested a protectorate from the Italians and was granted it. 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 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. The terms of each treaty specified that Italy was to steer clear of any interference in the sultanates' respective administrations.
In return for Italian arms and an annual subsidy, the Sultans conceded to a minimum of oversight and economic concessions. The Italians also agreed to dispatch a few ambassadors to promote both the sultanates' and their own interests. The new protectorates were thereafter managed by Vincenzo Filonardi through a chartered company. 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 Buraan fell under the Majeerteen Sultanate's administration.
Ogaden region
During the pre-colonial era, the Ogaden region was neither under Ethiopian rule, nor Terra nullius, as it was occupied by organized Somali communities. In 1887, Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II conquered the city of Harar during his efforts to expand the empire and in 1891, announced a programme of ambitious colonialism to the European powers. This marked the start of a tentative yet violent invasion into the Ogaden region. In the first phase of Ethiopian penetration into the region, Menelik dispatched his troops from occupied Harar on frequent raids that terrorized the region.Menelik's expansion into Somali inhabited territory coincided with the European colonial advances in the Horn of Africa, during which the Ethiopian Empire imported a significant amount of arms from European powers. The large scale importation of European arms completely upset the balance of power between the Somalis and the Ethiopian Empire, as the colonial powers blocked Somalis from receiving firearms.In 1897 in order to appease Menelik's expansionist policy Britain ceded almost half of the British Somaliland protectorate to Ethiopia in the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897. Ethiopian authorities have since then based their claims to the Ogaden upon the treaty and the exchange of letters which followed it.
As Emperor Menelik II continued his campaign of indiscriminate raiding and attacks against the Somalis of the Ogaden region between 1890 and 1899, Somali clans residing in the plains of Jigjiga were in particular targeted. The escalating frequency and violence of the raids resulted in Somalis consolidating behind the Dervish Movement. As the Ethiopian Empire began expanding into Somali territories at the start of the 1890s, the town of Jigjiga came under intermittent military occupation until 1900. At the start of the year, Abyssinian troops occupied the town with the construction of a fort in the outskirts.
Campaigns
1900–1902
The first offensive campaign was led by the Haroun against Ethiopian encampment at Battle of Jigjiga in March 1900. Both sides claimed victory following the battle. The Ethiopian General Gerazmatch Bante reportedly repulsed the attack and inflicted great losses on the Dervishes. Conversely, the British vice-consul at Harar claimed the Ethiopians had armed children with rifles to inflate the size of their forces. Although suffering heavy casualties during the attack, the Dervishes accomplished their objective of returning all the livestock confiscated by the Abyssinians. The battle had established without a doubt that the Dervishes were now a force to be reckoned with.The Haroun seized control over parts of the Ogaden but did not attempt to attack Jijiga again. Instead, he raided the non-Dervish Qadariyyah clans for their camels and arms.
In 1901, the British joined with the Ethiopians and attacked the Dervishes with a force 1,500 strong. The Haroun was driven across the border into the Majeerteen Sultanate, which had been incorporated into the Italian protectorate. The Ethiopians failed to get a hold on the eastern Ogaden and the British were eventually forced to retreat, having accomplished none of their goals. In this campaign, "borders were ignored by both British and Somali."
Lt-Col. Alexander Cobbe of 1st Battalion, King's African Rifles, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his action at Erego, on 6 October 1902.
February–June 1903
The British became convinced of their need of Italian assistance. In 1903, the Italian Foreign Ministry permitted the British to land forces at Hobyo. An Italian naval commander off Hobyo feared "that the expedition will end in a fiasco; the Mad Mullah will become a myth for the British, who will never come across him, and a serious worry for... our sphere of influence."The relationship between Hobyo and Italy soured when Sultan Kenadid refused the Italians' proposal to allow British troops to disembark in his Sultanate so that they might then pursue their battle against Diiriye Guure's Dervish forces. Viewed as too much of a threat by the Italians, Kenadid was exiled first to the British-controlled Aden Protectorate, and then to Italian Eritrea, as was his son Ali Yusuf, the heir apparent to his throne.
In May, the British Foreign Office realised the error, and had Kenadid's son appointed regent, just in time to forestall an attack in Mudug by the Sultan's army.
In early March 1903 the operation began. 5,000 Ethiopians left Harar to head towards Gheledi, along the course of the Shebelle River river, in order to cut off the Dervishes' retreat towards the south. Simultaneously, the British columns starting from Obbia and Berbera, under the command of William Manning, moved towards Galkayo to trap the Mullah's forces in a pocket. The more agile Dervishes managed to escape the trap by moving towards Gumburu Cagaarweyne and Ual Ual, in the Ogaden region. This forced the British to advance into a territory covered in thick bush and without water.
On 17 April a British advance detachment was charged by Dervish cavalry under the command of Sultan Nur near Gumburu, but was almost completely annihilated with the loss of 9 British officers, 187 Yao African soldiers and some machine guns. A few days later a second column was attacked at Daratoleh and put to flight after losing a quarter of its men. The expedition ended in failure as the Dervish annihilated the British detachment near Gumburru and Daratoleh. For trying to save a fellow officer, Captain Charles Bruce, during the fighting withdrawal three officers John Gough, George Rolland, William George Walker were awarded Victoria Crosses. When the fight was over, a lone Dervish horseman galloped to the Dervish camp and announced that the English had been wiped out. The Mullah immediately mounted his horse, Dodimer and rode to the field of battle.
With 1,200–1,500 rifles, 4,000 ponies and some spearmen, the Dervish occupied the Nugal Valley from Halin in the British protectorate to Eyl on the Italian-held coast. The main British force near Galad under General William Manning retreated north along the line Bohotleh–Burao–Sheekh. This "old-established line" had already been breached by the Dervish when they invaded the Nugal. By the end of June, the withdrawal was complete.