 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
| Somali | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (Sunni) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Dishiishe, Majeerteen, Dhulbahante, Ogaden, Leelkase, Marehan |
The Warsangali (Somali: Warsangeli, Arabic: قبيلة ورسنجلي)[1] is a major Somali sub clan, part of the Harti clan which itself belongs to one of the largest Somali tribe-families - the Darod.[2][3] In the Somali language, the name Warsangali means "bringer of good news."[1] The Warsangeli primarily inhabit the Sanaag.[4]
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 captures a glimpse of Warsangeli history. It writes, "the Warsengeli Sultanate has been in existence for the last hundred six hundred years."[8]
As mentioned, the Warsangali Sultanate placed high 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 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 important 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 makes a rare exception and allows the French to enter by land through Bandar Mura’aya.[9][10]
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 along with him a shipload of small guns and cannon fire. 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 a famous 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).
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 has to exercise 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 long history of civilization, characterized by defined population, defined territory, and organized political structure. The Warsangeli inhabit a large territory extend to the west of Erigavo from Bosaso (Bari region), straddling from the shore of Laaso Suurad, (“Ras Surad”), 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 many 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 lucrative 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 illustrious 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]
The structures of the clans and sub clans are not clearly agreed upon. The divisions and subdivisions as they are presented here are condensed and incomplete. Numerous lineages are absent. See the African Royal family groups for a comparison of several perspectives on clan-lineage formations.[19]
