Prehistory The
Bab-el-Mandeb region has often been considered a primary crossing point for early hominins following a southern coastal route from
East Africa to
South and
Southeast Asia. The Djibouti area has been inhabited since the
Neolithic. According to linguists, the first
Afroasiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during this period from the family's proposed
urheimat ("original homeland") in the
Nile Valley, or the
Near East. Other scholars propose that the Afroasiatic family developed in situ in the Horn, with its speakers subsequently dispersing from there. Cut stones dated about 3 million years old have been collected in the area of
Lake Abbe. In the Gobaad plain (between Dikhil and Lake Abbe), the remains of the extinct elephant
Palaeoloxodon recki were also discovered, visibly butchered using basalt tools found nearby. These remains would date from 1.4 million years BCE. Subsequently, other similar sites were identified as probably the work of
Homo ergaster. An
Acheulean site (from 800,000 to 400,000 years BCE), where
stone was cut, was excavated in the 1990s, in Gombourta, between
Damerdjog and
Loyada, 15 km south of
Djibouti City. Finally, in Gobaad, a
Homo erectus jaw was found, dating from 100,000 BCE. On
Devil's Island, tools dating back 6,000 years have been found, which were used to open shells. In the area at the bottom of
Goubet (Dankalélo, not far from Devil's Island), circular stone structures and fragments of painted
pottery have also been discovered. Previous investigators have also reported a fragmentary maxilla, attributed to an older form of
Homo sapiens and dated to c. 250 Ka, from the valley of the Dagadlé Wadi. Pottery predating the mid-2nd millennium has been found at
Asa Koma, an inland lake area on the Gobaad Plain. The site's ware is characterized by punctate and incision geometric designs, which bear a similarity to the Sabir culture phase 1 ceramics from Ma'layba in
Southern Arabia. Long-horned humpless cattle bones have likewise been discovered at Asa Koma, suggesting that domesticated cattle were present by around 3,500 years ago. Rock art of what appear to be antelopes and a giraffe are also found at
Dorra and
Balho.
Handoga, dated to the fourth millennium BCE, has in turn yielded obsidian microliths and plain ceramics used by early nomadic pastoralists with domesticated cattle. The site of Wakrita is a small
Neolithic establishment located on a
wadi in the tectonic depression of Goba'ad in Djibouti in the
Horn of Africa. The 2004 excavations yielded abundant ceramics that enabled us to define one Neolithic cultural facies of this
region, which was also identified at the nearby site of
Asa Koma. The faunal remains confirm the importance of fishing in Neolithic settlements close to
Lake Abbé, but also the importance of bovine husbandry and, for the first time in this area, evidence for caprine herding practices. Radiocarbon dating places this occupation at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, similar in range to Asa Koma. These two sites represent the oldest evidence of herding in the region, and they provide a better understanding of the development of Neolithic societies in this region. Up to 4000 years BCE, the region benefited from a climate very different from the one it knows today and probably close to the
Mediterranean climate. The water resources were numerous with lakes in Goba'ad, lakes Assal and Abbé larger and resembling real bodies of water. The humans therefore lived by gathering, fishing and hunting. The region was populated by a very rich fauna:
felines,
buffaloes,
elephants,
rhinos, etc., as evidenced, for example, by the bestiary of cave paintings at
Balho. In the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE, few nomads settled around the lakes and practiced fishing and cattle breeding. The burial of an 18-year-old woman, dating from this period, as well as the bones of hunted animals, bone tools and small
jewels have been unearthed. By about 1500 BCE, the climate was already beginning to change, with sources of fresh water becoming more scarce. Engravings show dromedaries (animal of arid zones), some of which are ridden by armed warriors. The sedentary people now returned to a nomadic life. Stone
tumuli of various shapes and sheltering graves dating from this period have been unearthed all over the territory.
Antiquity The earliest recorded ancient Egyptian expedition to Punt was organized by
Sahure of the
Fifth Dynasty (25th century BC), returning with cargoes of
antyue and Puntites. However,
gold from Punt is recorded as having been in
Egypt as early as the time of Pharaoh
Khufu of the
Fourth Dynasty. Subsequently, there were more expeditions to Punt in the
Sixth,
Eleventh,
Twelfth and
Eighteenth dynasties of Egypt. In the Twelfth Dynasty, trade with Punt was celebrated in popular literature in the
Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor. In the reign of
Mentuhotep III (11th dynasty, ca. 2000 BC), an officer named
Hannu organized one or more voyages to Punt, but it is uncertain whether he personally traveled on these expeditions. Trading missions of the 12th dynasty pharaohs
Senusret I,
Amenemhat II and
Amenemhat IV had also successfully navigated their way to and from the mysterious land of Punt. In the
Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt,
Hatshepsut built a
Red Sea fleet to facilitate trade between the head of the
Gulf of Aqaba and points south as far as Punt to bring mortuary goods to
Karnak in exchange for Nubian gold. Hatshepsut personally made the most famous ancient Egyptian expedition that sailed to Punt. Her
artists revealing much about the royals, inhabitants, habitation and variety of trees on the island, revealing it as the "Land of the Gods, a region far to the east in the direction of the sunrise, blessed with products for religious purposes", where traders returned with gold, ivory,
ebony,
incense, aromatic resins, animal skins, live animals, eye-makeup cosmetics, fragrant woods, and cinnamon. During the reign of
Queen Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC, ships regularly crossed the Red Sea in order to obtain
bitumen, copper, carved amulets,
naptha and other goods transported overland and down the Dead Sea to Elat at the head of the gulf of Aqaba where they were joined with
frankincense and
myrrh coming north both by sea and overland along trade routes through the mountains running north along the east coast of the Red Sea. Together with northern Ethiopia, Somaliland, Eritrea and the Red Sea coast of Sudan, Djibouti is considered the most likely location of the territory known to the
Ancient Egyptians as
Punt (or
Ta Netjeru, meaning "God's Land"). The first mention of the Land of Punt dates to the 25th century BC. The Puntites were a nation of people who had close relations with Ancient Egypt during the reign of the 5th dynasty Pharaoh
Sahure and the 18th dynasty Queen
Hatshepsut. According to the temple murals at
Deir el-Bahari, the Land of Punt was ruled at that time by King Parahu and Queen Ati.
Introduction of Islam and the Middle Ages The
Adal (also
Awdal,
Adl, or
Adel) was centered around
Zeila, its capital. It was established by the local
Somali clans in the early 9th century. Zeila attracted merchants from around the world, contributing to the wealth of the city. Zeila is an ancient city and it was one of the earliest cities in the world to embrace
Islam, shortly after the
hijra.
Masjid al-Qiblatayn dates to the 7th century, and is the oldest mosque. In the late 9th century,
Al-Yaqubi, an Arab Muslim scholar and traveler, wrote that the Kingdom of Adal was a small wealthy kingdom and that Zeila served as the headquarters for the kingdom, which dated back to the beginning of the century. (right) and his troops battling King
Yagbea-Sion and his men depicted in
Livre Des Merveilles|left The earliest reference to Adal was following the collapse of the
Makhzumi dynasty in July 1288 when '
Ali Baziyu led a campaign in Adal and
Mora which was concluded by the killing of the lords of Adal and
Mora, the victorious Sultan then annexed Adal and Mora to his Kingdom. Adal is also mentioned by
Marco Polo in 1295 as a state continuously in conflict with Abyssinia. According to fourteenth century
Arab historian
Al Umari, Adal was one of the founding regions of the
Ifat Sultanate alongside
Biqulzar,
Shewa,
Kwelgora, Shimi, Jamme and Laboo. It was used ambiguously in the medieval era to indicate the Muslim inhabitant low land portion east of the
Ethiopian Empire. Including north of the
Awash River towards
Lake Abbe in modern
Djibouti–Ethiopia border as well as the territory between
Shewa and
Zeila on the coast of
Somalia. Districts within Adal included
Hubat,
Gidaya and
Hargaya. It also occasionally included the
Hadiya Sultanate. The region was mostly located in modern day
Awdal and had
Zeila as a capital city but also controlled other interior towns like
Abasa or
Dakkar extending into the
Harar plateau to the south-east and modern day Djibouti in the west. 's realm in the 14th century The
Walashma dynasty are regarded by scholars as the founders of the Ifat Sultanate. Ifat first emerged when Umar Ibn Dunyā-ḥawaz, later to be known as Sultan
Umar Walasma, carved out his own kingdom and conquered the
Sultanate of Shewa located in northern
Hararghe. In 1288 Sultan Wali Asma successfully imposed his rule on
Hubat,
Zeila and other Muslim states in the region. Taddesse Tamrat explains Sultan Walashma's military acts as an effort to consolidate the Muslim territories in the Horn of Africa in much the same way as Emperor
Yekuno Amlak was attempting to consolidate the Christian territories in the highlands during the same period. In 1320 a conflict between the Christian monarch and Muslim Ifat leaders began. The conflict was precipitated by
Al-Nasir Muhammad of
Egypt. The Mamluk ruler Al-Nasir Muhammad was persecuting
Christian Copts and destroying Coptic churches. The Ethiopian Emperor
Amda Seyon I sent an envoy with a warning to the Mamluk ruler that if he did not stop the persecution of Christians in Egypt, he would retaliate against Muslims under his rule and would starve the peoples of Egypt by diverting the course of the Nile. According to Pankhurst, of the two threats, the diversion of Nile was an idle threat and the Egyptian sultan dismissed it because he likely realized this to be so. The fear that the Ethiopians might tamper with the Nile, states Pankhurst, was nevertheless to remain with Egyptians for many centuries. In fact, after his first incursion, Sabr ad-Din appointed governors for nearby and neighboring provinces such as
Fatagar and Alamalé, as well as far-off provinces in the north like
Damot,
Amhara,
Angot,
Inderta,
Begemder, and
Gojjam. He also threatened to plant
khat at the capital, a stimulant used by Muslims but forbidden to
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. In 1376, Sultan
Sa'ad ad-Din Abdul Muhammad, also called Sa'ad ad-Din II, succeeded his brother and came to power, who continued to attack the Abyssinian Christian army. He attacked regional chiefs such as at Zalan and Hadeya, who supported the Emperor. According to Mordechai Abir, Sa'ad ad-Din II raids against the Ethiopian empire were largely hit-and-run type, which hardened the resolve of the Christian ruler to end the Muslim rule in their east. In the early 15th century, the Ethiopian Emperor who was likely
Dawit I collected a large army to respond.
Al-Maqrizi narrates: After Sa'ad ad-Din's death "the strength of the Muslims was abated", as Maqrizi states, and then the Amhara settled in the country "and from the ravaged mosques and they made churches". The followers of Islam were said to have been harassed for over twenty years. The sources disagree on which Ethiopian Emperor conducted this campaign. According to the medieval historian
al-Makrizi, Emperor
Dawit I in 1403 pursued the
Sultan of Adal,
Sa'ad ad-Din II, to Zeila, where he killed the Sultan and sacked the city of
Zeila. However, another contemporary source dates the death of Sa'ad ad-Din II to 1410, and credits Emperor
Yeshaq with the slaying. His children and the remainder of the
Walashma dynasty would flee to
Yemen where they would live in exile until 1415.
Handoga initially was a marginal semi-permanent settlement in the 13th century, but it transformed into a permanent stone city in the 14th century, coinciding with Ifat's weakening and disrupted trade networks. The fall of Ifat, marked by military defeats, Ethiopian occupation, and the loss of Zeila, disrupted the key trade route linking the Indian Ocean to the interior, prompting the rise of peripheral centres like Handoga. Its growth was likely driven by trade route realignments and the reorganisation of regional commerce until stability was restored under the
Adal Sultanate. It had acted as a trade hub in the region for several centuries before being utterly abandoned at the end of the 16th century. In 1415,
Sabr ad-Din III, the eldest son of
Sa'ad ad-Din II, would return to Adal from his exile in Arabia to restore his father's throne. He would proclaim himself "king of Adal" after his return from Yemen to the
Harar plateau and established his new capital at
Dakkar. Sabr ad-Din III and his brothers would defeat an army of 20,000 men led by an unnamed commander hoping to restore the "lost Amhara rule". The victorious king then returned to his capital, but gave the order to his many followers to continue and extend the war against the Christians. The Emperor of Ethiopia
Tewodros I was soon killed by the Adal Sultanate upon the return of Sa'ad ad-Din's heirs to the Horn of Africa. Adal would thereafter govern all of the territory formerly ruled by the Ifat Sultanate, as well as the land further east all the way from the
Bab el Mandeb to Cape Guardafui, according to Leo Africanus. Adal is mentioned by name in the 14th century in the context of the battles between the Muslims of the Somali and Afar seaboard and the Abyssinian King
Amda Seyon I's
Christian troops. Adal originally had its capital in the port city of Zeila, situated in the western Awdal region. The polity at the time was an
Emirate in the larger
Ifat Sultanate ruled by the
Walashma dynasty. demonstrating his strength 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 established
Sultanate of Mogadishu in the
Benadir region to the south. Adal's history from this founding period forth would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighbouring
Abyssinia. Additionally, archaeological excavations at Tiya have yielded tombs. As of 1997, 118 stelae were reported in the area. Along with the stelae in the
Hadiya Zone, the structures are identified by local residents as
Yegragn Dingay or "Gran's stone", in reference to Imam
Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Ahmad "Gurey" or "Gran"), ruler of the
Adal Sultanate. Genasere was a major inland market town of Adal, supplied through the port of Zayla’ with goods from across India. Located about 25 days from the coast and 40 days from
Gendebelo, it was likely near
Lake Abbé.
Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was a military leader of the medieval
Adal Sultanate in the northern Horn of Africa. Between 1529 and 1543, he embarked on a campaign referred to as the
Futuh Al-Habash, bringing the three-quarters of Christian
Abyssinia under the control of the
Muslim empire. With an army composed of Afar, Harari (Harla), and Somalis, al-Ghazi's forces came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom, slaughtering any Ethiopian who refused to convert to Islam. Within the span of fourteen years the Imam was able to conquer the heartland of the country, wreaking havoc on the Christian nation. The Bahri Negash joined Emperor
Gelawdewos and the Portuguese in the decisive
Battle of Wayna Daga, where tradition states that Imam Ahmad was shot in the chest by a Portuguese musketeer named João de Castilho, who had charged alone into the Muslim lines and died. The wounded Imam was then beheaded by an Ethiopian cavalry commander,
Azmach Calite. Once the Imam's soldiers learned of his death, they fled the battlefield. This conflict provided an opportunity for the
Oromo people to
conquer and migrate into the historically
Gafat land of
Welega south of the
Blue Nile and eastward to the walls of
Harar, establishing new territories.
Early modern era In 1550,
Nur ibn Mujahid became the Emir of
Harar and the de facto ruler of Adal, fortifying Harar by constructing a defensive wall still present today. In 1559, he led an invasion against the
Ethiopian Empire, killing Emperor
Gelawdewos at the
Battle of Fatagar, while simultaneously repelling an Ethiopian assault on Harar, which resulted in the death of Sultan
Barakat ibn Umar Din and the end of the
Walashma dynasty. The
Oromo then invaded Adal, and Nur's army suffered a defeat at the
Battle of Hazalo, though the city's walls kept it safe, albeit under severe famine conditions. Nur died in 1567, and was succeeded by
Uthman the Abyssinian, whose peace treaty with the Oromos led to his overthrow. His successor,
Muhammad ibn Nasir, attempted an expedition against Ethiopia but was defeated and killed at the
Battle of Webi River, marking the end of Adal's aggression. Muhammad's successor,
Mansur ibn Muhammad, fought the Oromos unsuccessfully and later reconquered
Aussa and
Zeila. The death of Nur and the fall of the
Walashma monarchs sparked power struggles, with
Muhammad Gasa taking the title of
Imam in 1576 and relocating the capital to
Aussa, founding the
Imamate of Aussa, which declined over the next century, eventually falling to the
Afar people. In the seventeenth century,
Harla people and
Doba populations integrated into the
Afar identity, leading to the emergence of the
Sultanate of Aussa.
Enrico Cerulli attributed Adal's downfall to its inability to overcome tribal divisions, unlike the Ethiopian Empire under
Sarsa Dengel, resulting in ongoing struggles among the nomadic tribes. The collapse of the Adal Sultanate led to the formation of multiple rump states such as
Aussa, Tadjourah and Rahayto. The
Oromo invasion in the sixteenth century caused the most severe social and economic disruption to the Muslim state, dominating traditional Muslim territories from
Berbera to
Aussa and displacing communities. With Islamic centers destroyed and scholars gone,
Islam became largely nominal. In the absence of formal legal authorities,
Xeer customary law emerged or reemerged, drawing heavily from Sharia and developing further after the
Oromo were defeated. The
Xeer helped unite scattered groups to form the
Issa tribal confederation. Originating in the 16th century, the
Xeer functioned as a foundational legal system that brought diverse groups together under shared laws. It helped introduce principles central to modern political institutions long. The primary lineages of the Issa clan were divided into two main groups: the "three Issa" (saddehda Issa), which consisted of the lineal descendants of Shaykh Issa's three sons Ēlēye (also known as Abgal), ʿAli (also known as Walāldōn and Holleqade), and Hōlle (also known as Fūrlabe), and the "three followers" (saddehda so'rā). Issa's three sons and their descendants were collectively known as Bah Madigan. The "three followers" consisted of the Hōrrōne, Ūrweyne, and Wardiq, whose ancestors were said to be of extraneous origin and not descended from Issa's sons. According to some traditions, the Wardiq were of Sheekash origin, the Hōrrōne of Ishaq origin, and the Ūrweyne were said to have descended from the Afar. The account of ʿAli Kalageeye, a Somali warrior who freed the Issa clan from Oromo domination, is preserved in oral tradition, which recounts how he came from the east and managed to defeat the Oromo monarch Aale Boore. It is said that the site of these clashes was
Adigala, a small town located today along the
Djibouti–Ethiopian railway between
Dire Dawa and Djibouti. In the early 18th century, the Mudaito-led sultanate of Awsa thrived as a mercantile center due to strong rulers, agriculture, and its strategic location. However, by the late 18th century, economic stagnation and political instability led to its decline. In the early 19th century, the Adoimara Afar clan invaded and forced revenue sharing. Meanwhile, Oromo expansion into Dankali lands deepened the north-south division where the region fragmented into small coastal sultanates, the most significant being Tadjoura, which dominated salt trade from Lake Assal. in 1841 by Johann Martin Bernatz.
Mamluk Egypt being conquered by the
Ottomans alarmed the
Arabian merchants, who were afraid of these new Turkish conquerors hence they chose to travel towards Adal's shores. This was also followed by Indian merchants fleeing from the same enemy. The Ottomans noticing this sudden mass movement, hastidly occupied
Zeyla and established a customs house and
galleys patrolling the
Bab-el-Mandeb. By the 17th century, when the Ottomans were compelled to retire from Zeyla, the town and its environs such as
Tadjoura fell under the control of the rulers of
Mocha and
Sana'a, who had leased the territory to a Sana'a merchant called
Sayyid Al-Barr. Zeyla was subsequently ruled by an Emir, whom Mordechai Abir suggested had "some vague claim to authority over all of the
Sahil, but whose real authority did not extend very far beyond the walls of the town." Assisted by cannons and a few mercenaries armed with
matchlocks, the governor succeeded in fending off incursions by both the disunited nomads of the interior, who had penetrated the area, as well as brigands in the Gulf of Aden. Although
Tadjoura claimed complete independence, it was considered subordinate to Zeyla as the sultan would received an annual stipend from the local governor. Abubakr Pasha explained to Vice-Admiral
Alphonse Fleuriot de Langle that when the Imam of Sana'a still controlled the Yemeni coast, some soldiers sent to Tadjoura were one day massacred by the inhabitants of the city. The governor of Mocha then dispatched a new detachment to avenge them. Rather than suffer these reprisals, the city preferred to commit to paying the Imam, each year at the time of the fairs, a perpetual annuity which the governor of Zeyla would be responsible for extracting. Tadjourah's vizier Mahammed Mahammed renewed it for the benefit of the Turkish Pasha of
Al-Hodeydah although the Ottoman Empire never exercised political right over Tadjoura. Mohammed Al-Barr would later be succeeded as governor of Zeila and its dependencies(
Sahil) by
Sharmake Ali Salih. In June 1861, the French accused Sharmarke Ali Salih of being involved in the
murder of Henri Lambert, a former French consular agent and supporter of Sharmarke's rival,
Abubakr Pasha, an
Afar slave trader. Although the Turkish Pasha of
Al-Hodeydah and the
British Residency in Aden believed Sharmarke was innocent, he and some of his supporters were arrested and handed over to the French navy. The trial, originally planned for
Constantinople, was later moved to
Jeddah. (1855–1923), son of
Aboubakr Ibrahim Chehem, who first served under
Egypt before becoming a pioneer in the founding of
Djibouti City. During the period of
Muhammad Ali's domination over the
Hejaz and
Yemen in the early 19th century, the port of
Zeila also fell under the authority of Cairo, depending administratively on
Mokha; its governor, named Mohammed El-Barr, kept command of it in exchange for an annual payment of 50 thalers, which he paid each year to
Ibrahim Pasha, son of Muhammad Ali. Contemporary Egyptian officials, such as Jamali Bey, expressed anticipation for the reintegration of Zeilaʿ into Egypt and even proposed establishing an independent government there that would unite the villages, coastal regions, roads, and mountains stretching from Zeila to Massawa and up to the Ethiopian frontier under the authority of Khedive
Ismaʿil. Abubakr, a key local intermediary, shifted his allegiance from the Ottomans to the Egyptians after failing to secure French support, became an influential figure in Egyptian policy. By the 1870s, he was acting as an indispensable go-between for correspondence between the khedive and regional rulers, including Menelik of Shewa, who relied on Abubakr's mediation while carefully avoiding provocation of Emperor Yohannes IV. On 12 February 1871, the Egyptian corvette ''Sa'ka'' anchored at Zeila with Mumtaz Pasha on board, who distributed subsidies on behalf of Cairo, raised the Egyptian flag in accordance with prior agreements, and extended Egyptian influence to Berbera and Tadjoura. Local rulers, such as the Afar chief Hummad, welcomed these overtures, requesting additional arms and supplies while signalling willingness to establish closer ties with Egypt. This period marked the beginning of a short-lived “honeymoon” between Egypt and the East African coast, though Cairo's ambitions faced diplomatic resistance from both Britain and the Ottoman Empire, particularly concerning the still-independent Somali ports of Berbera and Bulhar. In the 1870s, Egyptian authorities portrayed their collaboration with prominent regional figures, including two influential slave traders Abubakr Pasha and
Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur, as part of their anti-slavery stance, despite the ongoing slave trade occurring openly. Abubakr, being governor of Zeila, was recognised more for his political influence than his role in the slave trade. After receiving the title of pasha from Cairo, he and al-Zubayr visited the city. In 1875, Zeila became Egypt's strategic base for the planned conquest of Harar. In August of that year,
Muhammad Ra'uf Pasha arrived in Zeila with a firman from the khedive, instructing Abubakr to support a "
geographic scientific voyage" to Harar which was a diplomatic facade intended to conceal military intentions from the British and maintain regional strategic balance. By the early 1870s,
Egypt had been gaining power in the region and, in 1873, the Egyptians occupied Sagallo and other sites such as Tadjoura, but their hold didn't last long. On October 16 1884,
Léonce Lagarde informed the commander of the cruiser
Seignelay that the evacuation of Tadjourah and Sagallo by the Egyptians was imminent and advised immediate action. On October 18, as the Egyptians left Sagallo, the
Seignelays steam launch slipped ashore, allowing Legras to seize the site without resistance and install a garrison of 14 men. Over the following days, small posts were set up at Raïssali and Rood-Ali, though 35 Egyptian soldiers remained in Tadjourah. The
Seignelays commander proposed military intervention, believing resistance unlikely, but Lagarde hesitated at the last moment. On November 17, aboard the
Brandon, Lagarde entered Tadjoura after the Egyptian withdrawal, raised the French flag, and departed without establishing a permanent post. The positions created in October were soon abandoned, leaving only a symbolic occupation maintained by occasionally hoisting the French flag and sending a ship from time to time.
French colonization (1862–1977) The boundaries of the present-day Djibouti state were established as the first French establishment in the
Horn of Africa during the
Scramble for Africa. The March 11, 1862, agreement the
Afar sultan, Raieta Dini Ahmet, signed in
Paris was a treaty where the Afars sold lands surrounding in
Obock. The French were interested in having a
coaling station for
steamships, which would become especially important upon the opening of the
Suez Canal in 1869. (Up to that time French ships had to buy coal at the British port of
Aden across the gulf, an unwise dependency in case of war.) Later on, that treaty was used by the captain of the Fleuriot de Langle to colonize the south of the
Gulf of Tadjoura. On March 26, 1885, the French signed another treaty with the Issas where the latter would become a protectorate under the French. It was established between 1883 and 1887, after the ruling
Somalis and
Afar sultans each signed a treaty with the
French. An attempt by
Nikolay Ivanovitch Achinov, a
Russian adventurer, to establish a settlement at
Sagallo in 1889 was promptly thwarted by French forces after just one month. In 1894,
Léonce Lagarde established a permanent French administration in the
city of Djibouti and named the region
French Somaliland. The construction of the
Imperial Ethiopian Railway west into
Ethiopia turned the
port of Djibouti into a boomtown of 15,000 at a time when
Harar was the only city in Ethiopia to exceed that. Although the population fell after the completion of the railwayline to
Dire Dawa and the original company failed and required a government bail-out, the rail link allowed the territory to quickly supersede the caravan-based trade carried on at
Zeila (then in the
British area of
Somaliland) and become the premier port for
coffee and other goods leaving southern Ethiopia and the
Ogaden through
Harar.|310x310pxThe 6th Somali Marching Battalion was formed in Madagascar on May 11, 1916, with recruits from the
French Somali Coast and renamed the
1st Battalion of Somali Tirailleurs upon arrival in France in June. Originally intended as a staging unit, the battalion's officers responded to the Somalis' desire to fight, leading to their participation alongside the
RICM in the October 1916 assault on Fort Douaumont. For their distinguished role, the battalion's companies were awarded the Croix de Guerre, and the RICM flag received the Legion of Honor. Reorganized as a combat unit by December 1916, the battalion fought at Chemin des Dames in May 1917 and later in significant battles such as Malmaison, the 3rd Battle of the Aisne, and the 2nd Battle of the Marne, earning multiple citations and the right to wear the Croix de Guerre fourragère. Of the 2,434 riflemen deployed, 517 were killed and 1,200 wounded in Europe. After the Italian
invasion and occupation of Ethiopia in the mid-1930s, constant border skirmishes occurred between French forces in French Somaliland and Italian forces in
Italian East Africa. In June 1940, during the early stages of
World War II,
France fell and the colony was then ruled by the
Vichy (French) government. British and Commonwealth forces fought the neighboring Italians during the
East African Campaign. In 1941, the Italians were defeated and the Vichy forces in French Somaliland were isolated. The Vichy French administration continued to hold out in the colony for over a year after the Italian collapse. In response, the British blockaded the port of
Djibouti City but it could not prevent local French from providing information on the passing ship convoys. In 1942, about 4,000
British troops occupied the city. A local
battalion from French Somaliland participated in the
Liberation of France in 1944. In 1958, on the eve of neighboring Somalia's independence in 1960, a
referendum was held in Djibouti to decide whether to remain with France or to be an independent country. The referendum turned out in favour of a continued association with France, partly due to a combined yes vote by the sizable Afar ethnic group and resident French. There were also allegations of widespread
vote rigging. The majority of those who had voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia as had been proposed by
Mahmoud Harbi, Vice President of the Government Council. Harbi was killed in a plane crash two years later under suspicious circumstances. In response to the protests, de Gaulle ordered another referendum. Shortly after the plebiscite was held, the former
Côte française des Somalis (French Somaliland) was renamed to
Territoire français des Afars et des Issas. During the 1960s, the struggle for independence was led by the
Front for the Liberation of the Somali Coast (FLCS), who waged an armed struggle for independence with much of its violence aimed at French personnel. FLCS used to initiate few mounting cross-border operations into
French Somaliland from
Somalia and
Ethiopia to attacks on French targets. On March 24, 1975, the Front de Libération de la Côte des Somalis kidnapped the French ambassador to Somalia, Jean Guery, to be exchanged against two activists of FLCS members who were both serving life terms in mainland
France. He was exchanged for the two FLCS members in
Aden,
South Yemen. The FLCS was recognized as a national liberation movement by the
Organization of African Unity (OAU), which participated in its financing. The FLCS evolved its demands between the request of integration in a possible "
Greater Somalia" influenced by the
Somali government or the simple independence of the territory. In 1975 the African People's League for the Independence (LPAI) and FLCS met in
Kampala,
Uganda with several meeting later they finally opted for independence path, causing tensions with
Somalia. In 1976, members of the
Front de Libération de la Côte des Somalis which sought Djibouti's independence from
France, also clashed with the Gendarmerie Nationale Intervention Group over a bus hijacking en route to
Loyada. This event, by showing the difficulties of maintaining the French colonial presence in Djibouti, was an important step in the
independence of the
territory. The likelihood of a third
referendum appearing successful for the French had grown even dimmer. The prohibitive cost of maintaining the
colony, France's last outpost on the
continent, was another factor that compelled observers to doubt that the
French would attempt to hold on to the territory.
Djibouti Republic proclaiming the Djibouti Declaration of Independence on 27 June 1977 A
third independence referendum was held in the
French Territory of the Afars and the Issas on 8 May 1977. The previous referendums were held in
1958 and
1967, A landslide 98.8% of the electorate supported disengagement from France, officially marking
Djibouti's independence. That dream was dashed towards the end of the war as Somali forces were routed from Ethiopia. == Politics ==