Prehistory depicted in the caves of
Dhaymoole, many of which have gone extinct in the region The area of Somaliland was inhabited around 10,000 years ago during the
Neolithic age. The ancient shepherds raised cows and other livestock and created vibrant rock art paintings. 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 Somaliland dating back to the
4th millennium BCE. The stone implements from the Jalelo site in the north were also characterised in 1909 as important artefacts demonstrating the archaeological universality during the Paleolithic between the East and the West. According to linguists, the first
Afroasiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing
Neolithic period from the family's proposed
urheimat ("original homeland") in the
Nile Valley, or the
Near East. The
Laas Geel complex on the outskirts of Hargeisa dates back around 5,000 years, and has
rock art depicting both wild animals and decorated cows. Other
cave paintings are found in the northern
Dhambalin region, 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 of
Las Khorey and
El Ayo in eastern Somaliland lies
Karinhegane, the site of numerous cave paintings of real and mythical animals. Each painting has an inscription below it, which collectively has been estimated to be around 2,500 years old.
Antiquity and classical era , the founding father of the
Isaaq clan, in
Maydh, Sanaag Ancient
pyramidical structures,
mausoleums, ruined cities, and stone walls, such as the
Wargaade Wall, are evidence of civilisations thriving in the Somali peninsula. Ancient Somaliland had trading relationships with
ancient Egypt and
Mycenaean Greece dating back to at least the second millennium BCE, supporting the hypothesis that Somalia or adjacent regions were the location of the ancient
Land of Punt. The Puntites traded
myrrh, spices, gold, ebony, short-horned cattle, ivory, and
frankincense with the Egyptians, Phoenicians,
Babylonians, Indians, Chinese, and Romans through their commercial ports. An Egyptian expedition sent to Punt by the
18th dynasty Queen
Hatshepsut is recorded on the temple reliefs at
Deir el-Bahari, during the reign of the Puntite King Parahu and Queen Ati. The camel is believed to have been domesticated in the Horn region sometime between the 2nd and 3rd millennium BCE. From there, it spread to Egypt and the
Maghreb. During the classical period, the northern
Barbara city-states of
Mosylon,
Opone,
Mundus,
Isis,
Malao,
Avalites,
Essina,
Nikon, and
Sarapion developed a lucrative trade network, connecting with merchants from
Ptolemaic Egypt,
Ancient Greece,
Phoenicia,
Parthian Persia,
Saba, the
Nabataean Kingdom, and the
Roman Empire. They used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the
beden to transport their cargo. After the
Roman conquest of the Nabataean Empire and the establishment of a Roman naval presence at
Aden to curb piracy, Arab and Somali merchants cooperated with the Romans to bar Indian ships from trading in the free port cities of the Arabian peninsula to 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 from
Ceylon and the
Spice Islands. The source of the 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 collaboration between Somali and Arab traders inflated the price of Indian and Chinese cinnamon in North Africa, the Near East, and Europe, and made the spice trade profitable, especially for the Somali merchants through whose hands large quantities were shipped across sea and land routes.
Birth of Islam and the Middle Ages (right) and the King of Ethiopia,
Yagbea-Sion, and his men (left). From
Le livre des Merveilles. The Isaaq people traditionally claim to have descended from
Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed, an
Islamic scholar who purportedly traveled to Somaliland in the 12th or 13th century and married two women: one from the local
Dir clan and the other from the neighbouring
Harari people. He is said to have sired eight sons who are the common ancestors of the clans of the Isaaq clan-family. He remained in
Maydh until his death. As the
Isaaq clan-family grew in size and numbers during the 12th century, the clan-family migrated and spread from their core area in
Mait (Maydh) and the wider
Sanaag region in a southwestward expansion over a wide portion of present-day Somaliland by the 15th and 16th centuries. As the Isaaq expanded, the earlier Dir communities of Mait and the wider Sanaag region were driven westwards and to the south towards their present positions. In this general expansion, the Isaaq split up into their present component segments; however, one fraction of the Habar Yunis clan, the Muse 'Arre, remains behind in Mait as the custodians of the tomb of Sheikh Ishaaq. After the war, the Isaaq clans (along with other tribes like the
Daarood) grew in numbers and territory in the northeast, causing them to began to vie with their
Oromo neighbours, who were expanding northwards themselves after the
Great Oromo Migrations, thus creating a general thrust toward the southwest. The Isaaq, along with the Darood subclans, pushed westwards into the plains of
Jigjiga and further, beyond where they played an important role in the
Adal Sultanate's campaigns against Christian
Abyssinia. By the 16th to 17th century, the movements that followed seem to have established the Isaaqs on coastal Somaliland. In the 14th century, the
Zeila-based
Adal Sultanate battled the forces of the Ethiopian emperor
Amda Seyon I. The
Ottoman Empire later occupied
Berbera and environs in the 1500s.
Muhammad Ali,
Pasha of
Egypt, subsequently established a foothold in the area between 1821 and 1841. The Sanaag region is home to the ruined Islamic city of
Maduna near
El Afweyn, which is considered the most substantial and accessible ruin of its type in Somaliland. The main feature of the ruined city is a large rectangular mosque, its 3-metre-high walls still standing, which includes a mihrab and possibly several smaller arched niches.
Early modern sultanates Isaaq Sultanate In the
early modern period, successor states to the Adal Sultanate began to flourish in Somaliland. These included the
Isaaq Sultanate and
Habr Yunis Sultanate. The
Isaaq Sultanate was a
Somali kingdom that ruled parts of the
Horn of Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. It spanned the territories of the
Isaaq clan, descendants of the
Banu Hashim clan, in modern-day Somaliland and
Ethiopia. The sultanate was governed by the Rer Guled branch established by the first sultan, Sultan
Guled Abdi, of the
Eidagale clan. The sultanate is the pre-colonial predecessor to the modern Republic of Somaliland. According to oral tradition, before the Guled dynasty, the
Isaaq clan-family was ruled by a dynasty of the Tolje'lo branch descending from Ahmed nicknamed Tol Je'lo, the eldest son of
Sheikh Ishaaq's
Harari wife. There were eight Tolje'lo rulers in total, starting with Boqor Harun (), who ruled the Isaaq Sultanate for centuries starting from the 13th century. The last Tolje'lo ruler,
Garad Dhuh Barar (), was overthrown by a coalition of Isaaq clans. The once-strong Tolje'lo clan was scattered and took refuge among the
Habr Awal, with whom they still mostly live. The Sultan of Isaaq regularly convened
shirs (meetings) where he would be informed and advised by leading elders or religious figures on what decisions to make. In the case of the
Dervish movement, Sultan
Deria Hassan had chosen not to join after receiving counsel from
Sheikh Madar. He addressed early tensions between the Saad Musa and Eidagale following the former's settlement into the growing town of Hargeisa in the late 19th century. The Sultan was also responsible for organising grazing rights and, in the late 19th century, new agricultural spaces. The allocation of resources and sustainable use of them was also a matter that Sultans concerned themselves with, and was crucial in this arid region. In the 1870s, at a famous meeting between
Sheikh Madar and Sultan Deria, it was proclaimed that hunting and tree cutting in the vicinity of Hargeisa would be banned, and that the holy relics from
Aw Barkhadle would be brought and oaths would be sworn on them by the Isaaqs in the presence of the Sultan whenever internal combat broke out. Aside from the leading Sultan of Isaaq, there were numerous Akils, Garaads, and subordinate Sultans alongside religious authorities that constituted the Sultanate; occasionally, these would declare their independence or simply break from its authority. The Isaaq Sultanate had 5 rulers before the creation of
British Somaliland in 1884. Historically, Sultans would be chosen by a committee of several important members of the various Isaaq subclans. Sultans were usually buried at
Toon, south of Hargeisa, which was a significant site and the capital of the Sultanate during
Farah Guled's rule.
Battle of Berbera The first engagement between Somalis of the region and the British was in 1825 and led to hostilities, ending in the
Battle of Berbera and a subsequent trade agreement between the
Habr Awal and the United Kingdom. This was followed by a British treaty with the Governor of
Zeila in 1840. An engagement was then started between the British and the elders of
Habar Garhajis and
Habar Toljaala clans of the
Isaaq in 1855, followed a year later by the conclusion of the "Articles of Peace and Friendship" between the Habar Awal and the
East India Company. These engagements between the British and Somali clans culminated in the formal treaties the British signed with the henceforth 'British Somaliland' clans, which took place between 1884 and 1886 (treaties were signed with the Habar Awal, Gadabursi, Habar Toljaala, Habar Garhajis, Esa, and the Warsangali clans), and paved the way for the British to establish a
protectorate in the region referred to as
British Somaliland. The British garrisoned the protectorate from
Aden and administered it as part of
British India until 1898. British Somaliland was then administered by the
Foreign Office until 1905, and afterwards by the
Colonial Office.
Somaliland campaign The Somaliland Campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish War, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920 in the
Horn of Africa, pitting the
Dervishes led by
Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (nicknamed the "Mad Mullah") against the
British. The British were assisted in their offensives by the
Ethiopians and
Italians. During the
First World War (1914–1918), Hassan also received aid from the
Ottomans,
Germans, and, for a time, from Emperor
Iyasu V of Ethiopia. The conflict ended when the British
aerially bombed the Dervish capital of
Taleh in February 1920. The Fifth Expedition of the
Somaliland campaign in 1920 was the final
British expedition against the
Dervish forces of
Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, the
Somali religious leader. Although most of the combat took place in January of the year, British troops had begun preparations for the assault as early as November 1919. The British forces included elements of the
Royal Air Force and the
Somaliland Camel Corps. After three weeks of battle, Hassan's Dervishes were defeated, bringing an effective end to their 20-year resistance. It was one of the bloodiest and longest militant movements in sub-Saharan Africa during the colonial era, one that overlapped with World War I. The battles between various sides over two decades killed nearly a third of Somaliland's population and ravaged the local economy. The Italian conquest of British Somaliland was a military campaign in East Africa, which took place in August 1940 between the forces of
Italy and those of several British and
Commonwealth countries. The Italian attack was part of the
East African campaign.
Anti-colonial resistance Burao Tax Revolt and RAF bombing The people of Burao clashed with the British in 1922. They revolted in opposition to a new tax that was imposed upon them, rioting and attacking British government officials. This led to a shootout between the British and Burao residents in which Captain Allan Gibb, a Dervish war veteran and district commissioner, was shot and killed. The British requested Sir
Winston Churchill, then
Secretary of State for the Colonies, to send troops from
Aden and Air Force bombers to Burao to destroy the revolting clans' livestock. The RAF planes arrived at Burao within two days and proceeded to bomb the town with incendiaries, effectively burning the entire settlement to the ground. Telegram from
Sir Geoffrey Archer, Governor of British Somaliland, to
Sir Winston Churchill, the
Secretary of State for the Colonies: I deeply regret to inform you that during an affray at Burao yesterday between Rer Sugulleh and Akils of other tribes, Captain Gibb was shot dead. Having called out Camel corps company to quell the disturbance, he went forward himself with his interpreter, whereupon fire opened on him by some Rer segulleh riflemen and he was instantly killed..Miscreants then disappeared under the cover of darkness. To meet the situation created by the Murder of Gibb, we require two aeroplanes for about fourteen days. I have arranged with the resident, Aden, for these. And made a formal application, which please confirm. It is proposed that they fly via Perim, confining the sea crossing to 12 miles. We propose to inflict a fine of 2,500 camels on the implicated sections, who are practically isolated and demand the surrender of the man who killed Gibbs. He is known. Fine to be doubled in failure to comply with latter conditions, and aeroplanes to be used to bomb stock on grazing grounds. Sir Winston Churchill reporting on the Burao incident at the
House of Commons: On 25th February, the Governor of Somaliland telegraphed that an affray between tribesmen had taken place at Burao on the previous day, in the course of which Captain Allan Gibb, D.S.O., D.C.M., the District Commissioner at Burao, had been shot dead. Captain Gibb had advanced with his interpreter to quell the disturbance, when, in 1954, fire was opened upon him by some riflemen, and he was instantly killed. The murderers escaped under the cover of falling darkness. Captain Gibb was an officer of long and valued service in Somaliland, whose loss I deeply regret. From the information available, his murder does not appear to have been premeditated, but it inevitably had a disturbing effect upon the surrounding tribes, and immediate dispositions of troops became necessary to ensure the apprehension and punishment of those responsible for the murder. On 27th February, the Governor telegraphed that, to meet the situation which had arisen, he required two aeroplanes for purposes of demonstration, and suggested that two aeroplanes from the Royal Air Force Detachment at Aden should fly over to Berber from Aden. He also telegraphed that, in certain circumstances, it might become necessary to ask for reinforcements of troops to be sent to the Protectorate. James Lawrence, author of
Imperial Rearguard: Wars of Empire, writes [Gibb]..was murdered by rioters during a protest against taxation at Burao. Governor Archer immediately called for aircraft that were at Burao within two days. The inhabitants of the native township were turned out of their houses, and the entire area was razed by a combination of bombing, machine-gun fire, and burning. After the RAF aircraft bombed Burao to the ground, the leaders of the rebellion acquiesced, agreeing to pay a fine for Gibb's death, but they refused to identify and apprehend the accused individuals. Most of the men responsible for Gibb's shooting evaded capture. In light of the failure to implement the taxation without provoking a violent response, the British abandoned the policy altogether. On 2 July, Sheikh Bashir collected 25 of his followers in the town of
Wadamago and transported them on a lorry to the vicinity of
Burao, where he distributed arms to half of his followers. On the evening of 3 July, the group entered Burao and opened fire on the police guard of the central prison in the city, which was filled with prisoners arrested for previous demonstrations. The group also attacked the house of the district commissioner of
Burao District, Major Chambers, resulting in the death of Major Chambers' police guard before escaping to Bur Dhab, a strategic mountain southeast of Burao, where Sheikh Bashir's small unit occupied a fort and took up a defensive position in anticipation of a British counterattack. The British campaign against Sheikh Bashir's troops proved abortive after several defeats, as his forces kept moving from place to place and avoiding any permanent location. No sooner had the expedition left the area than the news travelled fast among the Somali nomads across the plain. The war had exposed the British administration to humiliation. The government concluded that another expedition against him would be useless; that they must 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 1945, the advance posts were withdrawn, and the British administration confined to the coast town of
Berbera. Sheikh Bashir settled many disputes among the tribes in the vicinity, which kept them from raiding each other. He was generally thought to settle disputes through the use of Islamic
Sharia and gathered around him a strong following. The British administration recruited Indian and South African troops, led by police general James David, to fight against Sheikh Bashir and had intelligence plans to capture him alive. The British authorities mobilised a police force, and eventually, on 7 July, found Sheikh Bashir and his unit in defensive positions behind their fortifications in the mountains of Bur Dhab. After clashes, Sheikh Bashir and his second-in-command, Alin Yusuf Ali, nicknamed Qaybdiid, were killed. A third rebel was wounded and captured along with two other rebels. The rest fled the fortifications and dispersed. On the British side, the police general leading the British troops, as well as a number of Indian and South African troops, perished in the clashes, and a policeman was injured.
State of Somaliland (Independence) at the
Independence ceremony on 26 June 1960. The Prime Minister of the State of Somaliland,
Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal, salutes the flag. Initially, the
British government planned to delay the
protectorate of
British Somaliland's independence in favour of a gradual transfer of power. The arrangement would allow local politicians to gain more political experience in running the protectorate before official independence. However, strong pan-Somali nationalism and a landslide victory in the earlier elections encouraged them to demand independence and unification with the
Trust Territory of Somaliland under Italian Administration (the former
Italian Somalia). In May 1960, the British government stated that it would be prepared to grant independence to the then
protectorate of British Somaliland, with the intention that the territory would unite with the Italian-administered Trust Territory of Somaliland. The Legislative Council of British Somaliland passed a resolution in April 1960 requesting independence and union with the Trust Territory of Somaliland, which was scheduled to gain independence on 1 July that year. The legislative councils of both territories agreed to this proposal following a joint conference in
Mogadishu. On 26 June 1960, the former British Somaliland protectorate obtained independence as the State of Somaliland, with the Trust Territory of Somaliland following suit five days later. However, the
United States merely acknowledged Somaliland's declaration of independence by sending a congratulatory message to its Council of Ministers at the time, without extending formal recognition, since its period of independence was anticipated to be extremely short-lived. The following day, on 27 June 1960, the newly convened Somaliland Legislative Assembly approved a bill that would formally allow for the union of the State of Somaliland with the Trust Territory of Somaliland on 1 July 1960. Inspired by
Somali nationalism, the northerners were initially enthusiastic about the union. A government was formed by
Abdullahi Issa, with
Aden Abdullah Osman Daar as
President and
Abdirashid Ali Shermarke as
Prime Minister (later becoming president, from 1967 to 1969). On 20 July 1961, through a popular
referendum, the Somali people ratified a new constitution, which was first drafted in 1960. The constitution had little support in the former Somaliland and was believed to favour the south. Many northerners boycotted the referendum in protest, and over 60% of those who voted in the north were against the new constitution. Regardless, the referendum passed, and Somaliland became quickly dominated by southerners. As a result, dissatisfaction became widespread in the north, and support for the union plummeted. British-trained Somaliland officers attempted a
revolt to end the union in December 1961. Their uprising failed, and Somaliland continued to be marginalised by the south during the next decades. In 1967,
Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal became Prime Minister, a position to which he was appointed by Shermarke. Shermarke was assassinated two years later by one of his own bodyguards. His murder was quickly followed by a military coup d'état on 21 October 1969 (the day after his funeral), in which the
Somalian Army seized power without encountering armed opposition. The putsch was spearheaded by Major General
Mohamed Siad Barre, who at the time commanded the army. The new regime would go on to rule Somalia for the next 22 years.
Somali National Movement, Barre persecution ) was destroyed by the
Somali government. The
moral authority of Barre's government was gradually eroded, as many Somalis became disillusioned with life under military rule. By the mid-1980s, resistance movements supported by Ethiopia's communist
Derg administration had sprung up across the country, which led to the
Somaliland War of Independence. Barre responded by ordering punitive measures against those he perceived as locally supporting the guerrillas, especially in the northern regions. The clampdown included bombing of cities, with the northwestern administrative centre of Hargeisa, a
Somali National Movement (SNM) stronghold, among the targeted areas in 1988. The bombardment was led by General
Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan, Barre's son-in-law. In May 1988, the SNM launched a
major offensive against the cities of
Hargeisa and
Burao, then the second and third largest cities of
Somalia. The SNM captured Burao on 27 May within two hours, while the SNM entered Hargeisa on 29 May, overrunning most of the city apart from its airport by 1 June. Mohamed Haji Ingiriis and
Chris Mullin state that the clampdown by the Barre regime against the Hargeisa-based Somali National Movement targeted the Isaaq clan, to which most members of the SNM belonged. They refer to the clampdown as the
Isaaq Genocide or "Hargeisa Holocaust". A United Nations investigation concluded that the crime of genocide was "conceived, planned and perpetrated by the Somali Government against the Isaaq people." The number of civilian casualties is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000 according to various sources, while some reports estimate the total civilian deaths to be upwards of 200,000 Isaaq civilians. Along with the deaths, the Barre regime bombarded and razed the second and third largest cities in Somalia, Hargeisa and
Burao, respectively. This displaced an estimated 400,000 local residents to
Hart Sheik in Ethiopia; another 400,000 individuals were also internally displaced. The counterinsurgency by the Barre regime against the SNM targeted the rebel group's civilian base of support, escalating into a genocidal onslaught against the Isaaq clan. This led to anarchy and violent campaigns by fragmented militias, which then wrested power at a local level. The Barre regime's persecution was not limited to the Isaaq, as it targeted other clans such as the
Hawiye. The Barre regime collapsed in January 1991. Thereafter, as the political situation in Somaliland stabilised, the displaced people returned to their homes, the militias were demobilised or incorporated into the army, and tens of thousands of houses and businesses were reconstructed from rubble.
Restoration of sovereignty (end of the union with Somalia) commemorating Somaliland's breakaway from the rest of Somalia in 1991 Although the SNM at its inception had a unionist constitution, it eventually began to pursue independence, looking to secede from the rest of Somalia. Under the leadership of
Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur, the local administration declared the northwestern Somali territories independent at a conference held in
Burao between 27 April 1991 and 15 May 1991. Tuur then became the newly established Somaliland polity's first President, but subsequently renounced the separatist platform in 1994 and began instead to publicly seek and advocate reconciliation with the rest of Somalia under a power-sharing
federal system of governance.
Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal was appointed as Tuur's successor in 1993 by the Grand Conference of National Reconciliation in
Borama, which met for four months, leading to a gradual improvement in security, as well as a consolidation of the new territory. Another armed conflict between the Somaliland government, now under Egal, and rebels began, as militias of the Eidagalley clan occupied Hargeisa airport for some time. Conflict re-erupted when troops of the government attacked the airport to drive out the Eidagalley militias in October 1994, sparking a new war that would spread out of Hargeisa and last until around April 1995, with a rebel defeat. Around the same time, Djiboutian-backed forces of the Issa-dominated United Somali Front attempted and failed to carve out Issa-inhabited areas of Somaliland. In 2003, Kahin became the first elected president of Somaliland. The
war in southern Somalia between
Islamist insurgents on the one hand, and the
Federal Government of Somalia and its
African Union allies on the other, has for the most part not directly affected Somaliland, which, like neighbouring
Puntland, has remained relatively stable.
2001 constitutional referendum In August 2000, Egal's government distributed thousands of copies of the proposed constitution throughout Somaliland for consideration and review by the people. One critical clause of the 130 individual articles of the constitution would ratify Somaliland's self-declared independence and final separation from Somalia, restoring the nation's independence for the first time since 1960. In late March 2001, Egal set the date for the referendum on the Constitution for 31 May 2001. 99.9% of eligible voters took part in the referendum, and 97.1% of them voted in favour of the constitution. == Government and politics ==