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Majeerteen Sultanate

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This article is about the early modern Somali Sultanate. For the clan, see Majeerteen.

The Majeerteen Sultanate (Somali: Suldanadda Majeerteen, lit. 'Boqortooyada Majerteen', Arabic: سلطنة مجرتين), or Majerteen Kingdom also known as Majeerteenia and Migiurtinia, was a Somali kingdom centered in the Horn of Africa. Ruled by Boqor Osman Mahamuud during its golden age, the sultanate controlled the areas which are now called Puntland. The earliest mention of the kingdom is the 16th century. The polity had all of the organs of an integrated modern state and maintained a robust trading network. It also entered into treaties with foreign powers and exerted strong centralized authority on the domestic front.

Majeerteen Sultanate
Suldanadda Majeerteen
𐒈𐒚𐒐𐒆𐒖𐒒𐒖𐒆𐒆𐒖 𐒑𐒖𐒃𐒜𐒇𐒂𐒜𐒒
سلطنة مجرتين
Migiurtinia
15-16th century–1927
Flag of Migiurtinia
Flag
Map of the Majeerteen Sultanate at its height.
Map of the Majeerteen Sultanate at its height.
StatusSomali Sultanate Sovereign until 7 April 1889
Protectorate of Italy ( 7 April 1889– 26 October 1926)
CapitalAlula
Common languagesSomali
Religion
Islam
GovernmentMonarchy
King 
• 1809 - 1818
Boqor Yusuf Ali
• 1818 - 1835
Boqor Mahmud Yusuf
• 1835 - 1837
Boqor Osman Mahmud
• 1837 - 1866
Boqor Mahmud Osman
• 1866 - 1927
Boqor Osman Mahamuud
History 
• Established
15-16th century
• Campaign of the Sultanates
October–November 1927
Area
• Total
124,320 km2 (48,000 sq mi)
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Ajuran Sultanate
Adal Sultanate
Sultanate of Hobyo
Italian Somaliland
Today part ofSomalia

History

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Establishment

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The Majeerteen Sultanate was established by Somalis from the Majeerteen sub-clan of the Darod clan. The origins of the state can be traced back to the late 15th or early 16th century.[1][2][3] Francisco Álvares, a Portuguese missionary and explorer who spent six years at the Portuguese embassy in Abyssinia, wrote about a ruler in the region of Cape Guardafui.

The Kingdom of Adel (as they say) is a large kingdom, and it extends over the Cape of Guardafuy, and there in that part another rules subject to Adel.[4]

It was a semi-nomadic Sultanate that appeared to have a strong seafaring tradition along the costal settlements. The sultanate rose to prominence during the 19th century, under the reign of the shrewd and resourceful Boqor (King) Osman Mahamuud.[5]

Majeerteen-British agreement

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One of the forts of the Majeerteen Sultanate (Migiurtinia) in Hafun.

Due to consistent ship crashes along the northeastern Cape Guardafui headland, Boqor Osman's kingdom entered into an informal agreement with Britain, wherein the British agreed to pay the King annual subsidies to protect shipwrecked British crews and guard wrecks against plunder. The agreement, however, remained unratified, as the British feared that doing so would "give other powers a precedent for making agreements with the Somalis, who seemed ready to enter into relations with all comers."[6]

Sultanate of Hobyo

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Main article: Sultanate of Hobyo

Osman Mahamuud's Kingdom was under attack in the mid-19th century due to a power struggle between himself and his ambitious cousin, Yusuf Ali Kenadid. After almost five years of battle, the young upstart was terribly defeated and finally forced into exile in Yemen. A decade later, in the 1870s, Kenadid returned from the Arabian Peninsula with a band of Hadhrami musketeers and a group of devoted lieutenants. With their assistance along with aid and weaponry from Boqor Osman, he managed to overpower the local clans and establish the separate Sultanate of Hobyo (Obbia) in 1878.[5][7]

Majeerteen-Italian treaties

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In the late 19th century, all extant Somali monarchs entered into treaties with one of the colonial powers, Abyssinia, Britain or Italy, except for the Dhulbahante,[8] since the Italians considered part of the Dhulbahante subject of the Italian-protected Sultan of the Majeerteen.[9] With the intermediation of Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid & after a conference of all notablels of the sultanate in Bargal,[10] In 7. April 1889 in Alula, Somalia, Boqor Osman entered into a treaty with Italy, making his kingdom a protectorate known as Italian Somaliland.[11] In the years following the treaty the protectorate was however rather nominal due to Italian warships tasked with maintaining contact with the sultan visiting so rarely & irregularly. Piracy, looting of crashed steamships, weapons trade & slave trade could be carried out with almost no consequences.[11]

 
Italian Somaliland including the Majeerteen Sultanate.

His second cousin and rival Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid had signed a similar agreement vis-a-vis his own Sultanate of Hobyo the year before. 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 Omani 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.[12]

The terms of each treaty specified that Italy was to steer clear of any interference in the sultanates' respective administrations.[12] In return for Italian arms and an annual subsidy, the Sultans conceded to a minimum of oversight and economic concessions.[13] The Italians also agreed to dispatch a few ambassadors to promote both the sultanates' and their own interests.[12] The new protectorates were thereafter managed by Vincenzo Filonardi through a chartered company.[13] 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 Baran fell under the Majeerteen Sultanate's administration.[12] With the gradual extension into northern Somalia of Italian colonial rule, both Kingdoms were eventually annexed in the early 20th century.[14] However, unlike the southern territories, the northern sultanates were not subject to direct rule due to the earlier treaties they had signed with the Italians.[citation needed]

Administration

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Bureaucracy

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Main article: Somali aristocratic and court titles
 
Ruins of King Osman's castle in Bargal (built in 1878), a seasonal capital of the Majeerteen Sultanate

The Sultanate of Hobyo, the Majeerteen Sultanate exerted a strong centralized authority during its existence, and possessed all of the organs and trappings of an integrated modern state: a functioning bureaucracy, a hereditary nobility, titled aristocrats, a state flag, as well as a professional army.[15][16] Both sultanates also maintained written records of their activities, which still exist.[17]

The Majeerteen Sultanate's main capital was at Alula, with its seasonal headquarters at Bargal. It likewise had a number of castles and forts in various areas within its realm, including a fortress at Murcanyo.[18]

The Majeerteen Sultanate's ruler, however, commanded more power than was typical of other Somali leaders during the period. As the primus inter pares, Boqor Osman taxed the harvest of aromatic trees and pearl fishing along the seaboard. He retained prior rights on goods obtained from ship wrecks on the coast. The Sultanate also exerted authority over the control of woodland and pastureland, and imposed both land and stock taxes.[19]

Commerce

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According to official reports from 1924 commissioned by the Regio Governo della Somalia Italiana, the Majeerteen Sultanate maintained robust commercial activities before the Italian occupation of the following year. The Sultanate reportedly exported 1,056,400 Indian Rupees (IR) worth of commodities, 60% of which came from the sale of frankincense and other gums. Fish and other sea products sold for a total value of 250,000 IR, roughly equivalent to 20% of the Sultanate's aggregate exports. The remaining export proceeds came from livestock, with the export list of 1924 consisting of 16 items.[20]

Military

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In addition to a strong civil administration, the Majeerteen Sultanate maintained a regular army. Besides protecting the polity from both external and internal threats, military officials were tasked with carrying out the King's instructions. The latter included tax collection, which typically came in the form of the obligatory Muslim alms (seko or sako) ordinarily tithed by Somalis to the poor and religious clerics (wadaads).[19][21]

Puntland

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Established in 1998, the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia now administers much of the former territories of the Majeerteen Sultanate (Migiurtinia).[22]

Major Cities of Majeerteen Sultanate

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Sultans

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Rulers of the Majeerteen Sultanate:[23]

# Sultan Reign Notes
1 Suldaan Cismaan "Bah-Dir" 1815–1842 Also known as Cismaan I
2 Suldaan Yuusuf "Bah-Yaaquub" of Bahdir-Rooble 1842–1844 Also known as Yuusuf I. Brief reign of only two years.
3 Suldaan Maxamuud Suldaan Cismaan Maxamuud 1844–1860
4 Suldaan Cismaan Suldaan Maxamuud Suldaan Cismaan 1860–1927 Also known as Osman Mahamuud or Cismaan II Maxamuud. Long reign of almost 70 years. Last Sultan of the Majeerteen Sultanate Administration

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Lewis, I.M. (2002-12-01). A Modern History of the Somali: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 26. doi:10.2307/j.ctv136c1w2. ISBN 978-1-78204-987-6. JSTOR j.ctv136c1w2.
  2. ^ Hersi, AA (1977). The Arab Factor in Somali History (PDF). p. 212.
  3. ^ Fergusson, James (2013-05-01). The World's Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306821585.
  4. ^ Alvares, Francisco; Stanley, Henry Edward John Stanley (1881). Narrative of the Portuguese embassy to Abyssinia during the years 1520-1527. University of California Libraries. London : Printed for the Hakluyt society. p. 346.
  5. ^ a b Helen Chapin Metz, ed., Somalia: a country study, (The Division: 1993), p.10.
  6. ^ David D. Laitin, Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience, (University Of Chicago Press: 1977), p.71
  7. ^ Lee V. Cassanelli, The shaping of Somali society: reconstructing the history of a pastoral people, 1600-1900, (University of Pennsylvania Press: 1982), p.75.
  8. ^ Jardine, Douglas (1923). Mad Mullah of Somaliland. Early in 1885 Great Britain concluded separate protective treaties with all the Somali tribes now living under her protection, except the Warsangeli, who concluded a treaty in 1886, and the Dolbahanta, with whom no treaty has been made.
  9. ^ Irons, Roy (2013). Churchill and the Mad Mullah of Somaliland : betrayal and redemption, 1899-1921. Barnsley, South Yorkshire. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4738-3155-1. OCLC 885208819. No treaty was concluded with the Dolbahanta, the largest of the clans, for the Italians regarded part of the clan as subject to the Sultan of the Mijerteen, who was himself under Italian protection.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ Battera, Frederico (2004). Dalla tribù allo Stato nella Somalia nord-orientale: il caso sei Sultanati di Hobiyo e Majeerteen, 1880-1930. Edizioni Università di Trieste (EUT). pp. 144–145.
  11. ^ a b La Migiurtinia Ed Il Territorio Del Nugál. p. 57.
  12. ^ a b c d Issa-Salwe (1996), 34–35.
  13. ^ a b Hess (1964), 416–17.
  14. ^ The Majeerteen Sultanates
  15. ^ Horn of Africa, Volume 15, Issues 1-4, (Horn of Africa Journal: 1997), p.130.
  16. ^ Michigan State University. African Studies Center, Northeast African studies, Volumes 11-12, (Michigan State University Press: 1989), p.32.
  17. ^ Sub-Saharan Africa Report, Issues 57-67. Foreign Broadcast Information Service. 1986. p. 34.
  18. ^ S. B. Miles, On the Neighbourhood of Bunder Marayah, Vol. 42, (Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the institute of British Geographers): 1872), p.61-63.
  19. ^ a b I. M. Lewis, A pastoral democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa, (LIT Verlag Münster: 1999), p.208.
  20. ^ Transformation towards a regulated economy, (WSP Transition Programme, Somali Programme: 2000) p.62.
  21. ^ Luling, Virginia (1993). The Use of the Past: Variation in Historical traditions in a South Somalia community. University of Besançon. p. 178.
  22. ^ Istituto italo-africano, Africa: rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione, Volume 56, (Edizioni africane: 2001), p.591.
  23. ^ "Somali Traditional States". Worldstatesmen. Retrieved 5 April 2015.

References

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  Media related to Majeerteen Sultanate at Wikimedia Commons

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