Somaliland was first inhabited around 10,000 years ago during the\u00a0Neolithic age<\/a>.\u00a0The ancient shepherds raised cows and other livestock and it has the most vibrant rock art paintings in Africa. Throughout the Middle Ages, Arab immigrants arrived in Somaliland, a historical experience which would later lead to the legendary stories about Muslim\u00a0sheikhs<\/a>\u00a0such as\u00a0Daarood<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ishaaq bin Ahmed<\/a>\u00a0(the purported ancestors of the\u00a0Darod<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Isaaq<\/a>\u00a0clans, respectively) travelling from\u00a0Arabia<\/a>\u00a0to Somalia and marrying into the local\u00a0Dir<\/a>\u00a0clan.<\/sup>\u00a0Also during the Middle Ages, Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the\u00a0Sultanate of Ifat<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Adal Sultanate<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the 18th century, the\u00a0Isaaq Sultanate<\/a>, a Somali successor state to the Adal Sultanate was established by Sultan\u00a0Guled Abdi<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0Toon<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The sultanate spanned parts of the\u00a0Horn of Africa<\/a>\u00a0and covered most of modern-day Somaliland, as well as being its pre-colonial predecessor.<\/sup>\u00a0The sultanate had a robust economy and trade was significant at its main port of\u00a0Berbera<\/a>\u00a0and the smaller port town of\u00a0Bulhar<\/a>\u00a0as well as eastwards at the\u00a0frankincense<\/a>-exporting port towns of\u00a0Heis<\/a>,\u00a0Karin<\/a>, and\u00a0El-Darad<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n In the late 19th century, the\u00a0United Kingdom<\/a>\u00a0signed agreements with the Isaaq Sultanate and the\u00a0Habr Yunis Sultanate<\/a>\u00a0as well as with clans like the\u00a0Warsangeli<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Gadabuursi<\/a>.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0The British colonists merged the territories of the two sultanates as well as other tribal territories to form the\u00a0British Somaliland Protectorate<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n The\u00a0Dervishes<\/a>\u00a0led by\u00a0Muhammad Abdullah Hassan<\/a>\u00a0were against the protection agreements signed with\u00a0Britain<\/a>\u00a0with the Somali sultans. Dervishes waged successive wars against the British colonists between 1900. The Dervishes were finally defeated in the 1920\u00a0Somaliland Campaign<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0On 26 June 1960, the protectorate gained independence as the\u00a0State of Somaliland<\/a>, before five days later uniting with the\u00a0Trust Territory of Somaliland<\/a>, following its separate independence, to form the\u00a0Somali Republic<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 1961, Southerners (Somalia) took control of state institutions. It was rejected in the former\u00a0State of Somaliland<\/a>\u00a0and the Somaliland residents did not vote on the\u00a0Somali constitution<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0In December 1961, the\u00a0revolution<\/a>\u00a0in the north was started by soldiers of the former State of Somaliland who took control of large cities in the north.<\/sup>\u00a0A group of officers took control of the\u00a0radio station<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Hargeisa<\/a>, declaring the end of the unity between Somalia and Somaliland.<\/p>\n In April 1981 the\u00a0Somali National Movement<\/a>\u00a0(shortened SNM) was founded, which led to the\u00a0Somaliland War of Independence<\/a>.\u00a0In 1988, at the height of the war,<\/sup>\u00a0the\u00a0Siad Barre<\/a>\u00a0government began a crackdown against the Hargeisa-based SNM and other militant groups, which were among the events that led to the\u00a0Somali Civil War<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The conflict left Somalia’s economic and military infrastructure severely damaged. Following the collapse of Barre’s government in early 1991, local authorities, led by the SNM,\u00a0unilaterally declared independence<\/a> from Somalia on 18 May of the same year and reinstated the borders of the former short-lived independent State of Somaliland.<\/sup><\/p>\n Since 1991, the territory has been governed by democratically elected governments that seek international recognition as the government of the Republic of Somaliland.\u00a0The central government maintains\u00a0informal ties<\/a>\u00a0with some foreign governments, who have sent delegations to\u00a0Hargeisa<\/a>.\u00a0Ethiopia also maintains a\u00a0trade office<\/a>\u00a0in the region.<\/sup> However, Somaliland’s self-proclaimed independence has not been officially recognized by any country or international organization.\u00a0It is a member of the\u00a0Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization<\/a>, an advocacy group whose members consist of indigenous peoples, minorities and unrecognized or occupied territories.<\/p>\n According to linguists, the first\u00a0Afroasiatic<\/a>-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing\u00a0Neolithic<\/a>\u00a0period from the family’s proposed\u00a0urheimat<\/a>\u00a0(“original homeland”) in the\u00a0Nile Valley<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0or the\u00a0Near East<\/a>.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Laas Geel<\/a>\u00a0complex on the outskirts of\u00a0Hargeisa<\/a>\u00a0in northwestern Somaliland dates back around 5,000 years, and has\u00a0rock art<\/a> depicting both wild animals and decorated cows.\u00a0Other\u00a0cave paintings<\/a>\u00a0are found in the northern\u00a0Dhambalin<\/a>\u00a0region, 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.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0Additionally, between the towns of\u00a0Las Khorey<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0El Ayo<\/a>\u00a0in eastern Somaliland lies\u00a0Karinhegane<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n The\u00a0camel<\/a>\u00a0is 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\u00a0Maghreb<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0During the classical period, the northern\u00a0Barbara<\/a>\u00a0city-states of\u00a0Mosylon<\/a>,\u00a0Opone<\/a>,\u00a0Mundus<\/a>,\u00a0Isis<\/a>,\u00a0Malao<\/a>,\u00a0Avalites<\/a>,\u00a0Essina<\/a>,\u00a0Nikon<\/a>, and\u00a0Sarapion<\/a>\u00a0developed a lucrative trade network, connecting with merchants from\u00a0Ptolemaic Egypt<\/a>,\u00a0Ancient Greece<\/a>,\u00a0Phoenicia<\/a>,\u00a0Parthian Persia<\/a>,\u00a0Saba<\/a>, the\u00a0Nabataean Kingdom<\/a>, and the\u00a0Roman Empire<\/a>. They used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the\u00a0beden<\/a><\/i> to transport their cargo.<\/p>\n After the\u00a0Roman conquest of the Nabataean Empire<\/a>\u00a0and the Roman naval presence at\u00a0Aden<\/a>\u00a0to curb piracy, Arab and Somali merchants agreed with the Romans to bar Indian ships from trading in the free port cities of the Arabian peninsula<\/sup>\u00a0to protect the interests of Somali and Arab merchants in the lucrative commerce between the Red and Mediterranean Seas.<\/sup> However, Indian merchants continued to trade in the port cities of the Somali peninsula, which was free from Roman interference.<\/p>\n For centuries, Indian merchants brought large quantities of cinnamon to Somalia and Arabia from\u00a0Ceylon<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Spice Islands<\/a>. 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.<\/sup> 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.<\/p>\n In 2007, more rock art sites with Sabaean and Himyarite writings in and around Hargeysa region were found, but some were bulldozed by developers.<\/p>\n Various Somali Muslim kingdoms were established around this period in the area.<\/sup>\u00a0In the 14th century, the\u00a0Zeila<\/a>-based\u00a0Adal Sultanate<\/a>\u00a0battled the forces of the Ethiopian emperor\u00a0Amda Seyon I<\/a>. <\/sup>The\u00a0Ottoman Empire<\/a>\u00a0later occupied\u00a0Berbera<\/a>\u00a0and environs in the 1500s.\u00a0Muhammad Ali<\/a>,\u00a0Pasha<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Egypt<\/a>, subsequently established a foothold in the area between 1821 and 1841.<\/p>\n In the\u00a0early modern<\/a>\u00a0period, successor states to the Adal Sultanate began to flourish in Somaliland. These included the\u00a0Isaaq Sultanate<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Habr Yunis Sultanate<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0Isaaq Sultanate<\/a>\u00a0was a\u00a0Somali<\/a>\u00a0kingdom that ruled parts of the\u00a0Horn of Africa<\/a>\u00a0during the 18th and 19th centuries. It spanned the territories of the\u00a0Isaaq<\/a>\u00a0clan, descendants of the\u00a0Banu Hashim<\/a>\u00a0clan,<\/sup>\u00a0in modern-day Somaliland and\u00a0Ethiopia<\/a>. The sultanate was governed by the Rer Guled branch established by the first sultan, Sultan\u00a0Guled Abdi<\/a>, of the\u00a0Eidagale<\/a> clan. The sultanate is the pre-colonial predecessor to the modern Republic of Somaliland.<\/sup><\/p>\n According to oral tradition, prior to the Guled dynasty the\u00a0Isaaq<\/a>\u00a0clan-family were ruled by a dynasty of the Tolje’lo branch starting from, descendants of Ahmed nicknamed Tol Je’lo, the eldest son of\u00a0Sheikh Ishaaq<\/a>‘s\u00a0Harari<\/a>\u00a0wife. There were eight Tolje’lo rulers in total, starting with Boqor Harun (Somali<\/a>:\u00a0Boqor Haaruun<\/i>) who ruled the Isaaq Sultanate for centuries starting from the 13th century.\u00a0The last Tolje’lo ruler\u00a0Garad<\/a>\u00a0Dhuh Barar (Somali<\/a>:\u00a0Dhuux Baraar<\/i>) was overthrown by a coalition of Isaaq clans. The once strong Tolje’lo clan were scattered and took refuge amongst the\u00a0Habr Awal<\/a> with whom they still mostly live.<\/sup><\/p>\n The Sultan of Isaaq often called for\u00a0shirs<\/i>\u00a0or regular meetings where he would be informed and advised by leading elders or religious figures on what decisions to make. In the case of the\u00a0Dervish movement<\/a>\u00a0Sultan\u00a0Deria Hassan<\/a>\u00a0had chose not to join after receiving counsel from\u00a0Sheikh Madar<\/a>. He addressed early tensions between the Saad Musa and Eidagale upon the former’s settlement into the growing town of Hargeisa in the late 19th century.<\/sup>\u00a0The Sultan would also be responsible for organizing grazing rights and in the late 19th century new agricultural spaces.<\/sup>\u00a0The allocation of resources and sustainable use of them was also a matter that Sultans concerned themselves with and was crucial in an arid region. In the 1870s there was a famous meeting between\u00a0Sheikh Madar<\/a> and Sultan Deria proclaimed that hunting and tree cutting in the vicinity of Hargeisa would be banned.\u00a0The holy relics from\u00a0Aw Barkhadle<\/a>\u00a0would be brought and the Isaaqs would swear oaths upon it in presence of the Sultan whenever fierce internal combat broke out.<\/sup>\u00a0Aside from the leading Sultan of Isaaq there were numerous Akils, Garaads and subordinate Sultans alongside religious authorities that constituted the Sultanate before some would declare their own independence or simply break from his authority.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Isaaq Sultanate had 5 rulers prior to the creation of\u00a0British Somaliland<\/a>\u00a0in 1884. Historically Sultans would be chosen by a committee of several important members of the various Isaaq subclans. Sultans were usually buried at\u00a0Toon<\/a>\u00a0south of Hargeisa which was a significant site and the capital of the Sultanate during\u00a0Farah Guled<\/a>‘s rule.[86]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n The first engagement between Somalis of the region and the British was in 1825 and ended violently.<\/sup>\u00a0This culminated in the\u00a0Battle of Berbera<\/a>\u00a0and a subsequent trade agreement between the\u00a0Habr Awal<\/a>\u00a0and the United Kingdom.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0This was followed by a British treaty with the Governor of\u00a0Zeila<\/a>\u00a0in 1840. An engagement was then started between the British and elders of\u00a0Habar Garhajis<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Habar Toljaala<\/a>\u00a0clans of the\u00a0Isaaq<\/a>\u00a0in 1855, followed a year later by the conclusion of the “Articles of Peace and Friendship” between the Habar Awal and\u00a0East India Company<\/a>. 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), this paved the way for the British to establish a\u00a0protectorate<\/a>\u00a0in the region referred to as\u00a0British Somaliland<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The British garrisoned the protectorate from\u00a0Aden<\/a>\u00a0and administered it as part of\u00a0British India<\/a>\u00a0until 1898. British Somaliland was then administered by the\u00a0Foreign Office<\/a>\u00a0until 1905, and afterwards by the\u00a0Colonial Office<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n 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\u00a0Horn of Africa<\/a>, pitting the\u00a0Dervishes<\/a>\u00a0led by\u00a0Mohammed Abdullah Hassan<\/a>\u00a0(nicknamed the “Mad Mullah”) against the\u00a0British<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The British were assisted in their offensives by the\u00a0Ethiopians<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Italians<\/a>. During the\u00a0First World War<\/a>\u00a0(1914\u20131918), Hassan also received aid from the\u00a0Ottomans<\/a>,\u00a0Germans<\/a>\u00a0and, for a time, from the Emperor\u00a0Iyasu V of Ethiopia<\/a>. The conflict ended when the British\u00a0aerially bombed<\/a>\u00a0the Dervish capital of\u00a0Taleh<\/a> in February 1920.<\/p>\n The Fifth Expedition of the\u00a0Somaliland campaign<\/a>\u00a0in 1920 was the final\u00a0British<\/a>\u00a0expedition against the\u00a0Dervish<\/a>\u00a0forces of\u00a0Mohammed Abdullah Hassan<\/a>, the\u00a0Somali<\/a>\u00a0religious 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\u00a0Royal Air Force<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Somaliland Camel Corps<\/a>. After three weeks of battle, Hassan’s Dervishes were defeated, bringing an effective end to their 20-year resistance.<\/p>\n The Italian conquest of British Somaliland was a military campaign in East Africa, which took place in August 1940 between forces of\u00a0Italy<\/a>\u00a0and those of several British and\u00a0Commonwealth<\/a>\u00a0countries. The Italian expedition was part of the\u00a0East African Campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n On 1 July 1960, the\u00a0State of Somaliland<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Trust Territory of Somaliland<\/a>\u00a0(the former\u00a0Italian Somaliland<\/a>) united as planned to form the\u00a0Somali Republic<\/a>.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0Inspired by\u00a0Somali nationalism<\/a>, the northerners were initially enthusiastic about the union.<\/sup>\u00a0A government was formed by\u00a0Abdullahi Issa<\/a>, with\u00a0Aden Abdullah Osman Daar<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0President<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Abdirashid Ali Shermarke<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0Prime Minister<\/a>\u00a0(later to become president, from 1967 to 1969). On 20 July 1961 and through a popular\u00a0referendum<\/a>, the Somali people ratified a new constitution, which was first drafted in 1960.<\/sup> The constitution had little support in the former Somaliland, and was believed to favor 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 result, dissatisfaction became widespread in the north, and support for the union plummeted. British-trained Somaliland officers attempted a\u00a0revolt to end the union in December 1961<\/a>. Their uprising failed, and Somaliland continued to be marginalized by the south during the next decades.<\/p>\n In 1967,\u00a0Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal<\/a>\u00a0became 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\u00a0coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>\u00a0on 21 October 1969 (the day after his funeral), in which the\u00a0Somalian Army<\/a>\u00a0seized power without encountering armed opposition. The putsch was spearheaded by Major General\u00a0Mohamed Siad Barre<\/a>, who at the time commanded the army.<\/sup> The new regime would go on to rule Somalia for the next 22 years.<\/p>\n The\u00a0moral authority<\/a>\u00a0of 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\u00a0Derg<\/a>\u00a0administration had sprung up across the country, which lead to the\u00a0Somaliland War of Independence<\/a>. 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\u00a0Hargeisa<\/a>, a\u00a0Somali National Movement<\/a> (SNM) stronghold, among the targeted areas in 1988.\u00a0The bombardment was led by General\u00a0Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan<\/a>, Barre’s son-in-law.<\/p>\n According to Abou Jeng and other scholars, the Barre regime rule was marked by a targeted brutal persecution of the\u00a0Isaaq<\/a> clan.\u00a0Mohamed Haji Ingiriis and\u00a0Chris Mullin<\/a> 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.\u00a0A\u00a0United Nations<\/a>\u00a0investigation concluded that the crime of genocide was “conceived, planned and perpetrated by the Somali Government against the Isaaq people”.<\/sup> The number of civilian casualties is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000 according to various sources,\u00a0while some reports estimate the total civilian deaths to be upwards of 200,000 Isaaq civilians.<\/sup>\u00a0Along with the deaths, Barre regime bombarded and razed the second and third largest cities in Somalia,\u00a0Hargeisa<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Burao<\/a> respectively. This displaced an estimated 400,000 local residents to Hartasheikh in Ethiopia; another 400,000 individuals were also internally displaced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 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.<\/sup>\u00a0The Barre regime’s persecution was not limited to the Isaaq, as it targeted other clans such as the\u00a0Hawiye<\/a>. The Barre regime collapsed in January 1991. Thereafter, as the political situation in Somaliland stabilized, the displaced people returned to their homes, the militias were demobilized or incorporated into the army, and tens of thousands of houses and businesses were reconstructed from rubble.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Somaliland-on-the-Globe-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/Residential-Hargeisa-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Prehistory:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/a\/ae\/Dhaymoole_Rock_art_in_Somaliland.jpg\/220px-Dhaymoole_Rock_art_in_Somaliland.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Antiquity and classical era:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/9\/96\/Sheekh_Isaaq.jpg\/220px-Sheekh_Isaaq.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Birth of Islam and the Middle Ages:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/9\/95\/YagbeaSionBattlingAdaSultan.JPG\/220px-YagbeaSionBattlingAdaSultan.JPG\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Early modern sultanates:<\/span><\/h3>\n
Isaaq Sultanate<\/span><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/1\/19\/Isaaq_Flag.svg\/300px-Isaaq_Flag.svg.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Battle of Berbera<\/span><\/h4>\n
British Somaliland:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/3\/33\/Corriere_Della_Sera_-_17_agosto_1940_-_Offensiva_in_Africa_-_titolo.JPG\/170px-Corriere_Della_Sera_-_17_agosto_1940_-_Offensiva_in_Africa_-_titolo.JPG\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/span>State of Somaliland (Independence):<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/0b\/Somaliland_Flying_for_the_first_time_The_White_and_Blue_Somali_Flag_at_the_Independence_Celebrations_on_26_June_1960.jpg\/170px-Somaliland_Flying_for_the_first_time_The_White_and_Blue_Somali_Flag_at_the_Independence_Celebrations_on_26_June_1960.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/span>Somali Republic (union with Somalia):<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>Somali National Movement, Barre persecution:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/3\/3a\/Somaliland%2C_fighters_of_the_Somali_National_Movement_%28SNM%29%2C_1980s.jpg\/250px-Somaliland%2C_fighters_of_the_Somali_National_Movement_%28SNM%29%2C_1980s.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/b\/b0\/Hargeisa_destroyed_by_Somali_government.jpg\/200px-Hargeisa_destroyed_by_Somali_government.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>