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Majeerteen Sultanate

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This article is about the early modern Somali Sultanate. For the clan, see Majeerteen.
Majeerteen Sultanate
Suldanadda Majeerteen
𐒈𐒚𐒐𐒆𐒖𐒒𐒖𐒆𐒆𐒖 𐒑𐒖𐒃𐒜𐒇𐒂𐒜𐒒
سلطنة مجرتين
Migiurtinia
15-16th century–1927
Flag of Migiurtinia
Flag
Coat of arms of Migiurtinia
Coat of arms
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
Sultan 
• 1809-1818
Boqor Yusuf Ali
• 1818–1835
Boqor Mahmud Yusuf
• 1835–1837
Boqor Osman Mohamoud
• 1837–1866
Boqor Mahmud Osman
• 1866–1927
Boqor Osman Mohamoud
History 
• Established
15-16th century–1927
1927
Area
• Total
124,320 km2 (48,000 sq mi)
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Adal Sultanate
Sultanate of Hobyo
Italian Somaliland
Today part ofSomalia

The Majeerteen Sultanate (Somali: Suldanadda Majeerteen, lit. 'Boqortooyada Majerteen', Arabic: سلطنة مجرتين), or Majerteen Kingdom also known as Majeerteenia and/or Migiurtinia, was a Somali kingdom centered in the Horn of Africa. Ruled by Osman Mohamoud during its golden age, the sultanate controlled the areas corresponding to modern-day 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 domestic affairs. On April 7, 1889, it became a protectorate of Italy after a treaty, and was eventually integrated into the colony of Italian Somaliland.

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. Charles Guillain places the origins of the state in 1420.[1] Oral traditions describe its formation at the late 15th or early 16th century.[2][3][4] Although the area handbook series puts its emergence at the mid-18th century.[5] Francisco Álvares, a Portuguese missionary and explorer who spent six years at the Portuguese embassy in Abyssinia, wrote about a ruler in the Guardafui region subject to Adal.

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.[6]

He also describes a visit to the land between Cape Guardafui and the mountain of Felis for the purchasing of wethers and goats.

This land where they were bought is between Cape Guardafui and the mountain of Felis,' and the distance between them is thirty-six miles. And it is a very sterile land, with very bad people; money is not used there, only cloths, and the thicker they are the higher they are valued. And much white salt and much white gum are found in this land; and the Captain Major gave orders for a large quantity to be taken on to be sent to Portugal, as they said it was good for caulking ships.[7]

It was a semi-nomadic Sultanate that appeared to have a strong seafaring tradition along the coastal settlements. The sultanate rose to prominence during the 19th century, under the reign of the shrewd and resourceful Boqor (King) Osman Mahamuud.[8]

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."[9]

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.[8][10]

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 clan,[11] since the Italians considered part of the Dhulbahante subject of the Italian-protected Sultan of Majeerteen.[12] With the intermediation of Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid and after a conference of all notables of the sultanate in Bargal,[13] in 7 April 1889 in Alula, Boqor Osman entered into a treaty with Italy, making his kingdom a protectorate known as Italian Somaliland.[14]

Boqor Osman and his young son in 1911

In the years following the treaty the protectorate was however rather nominal due to Italian warships tasked with maintaining contact with the sultan and visiting so rarely and irregularly. Piracy, looting of crashed steamships, weapons trade and slave trade could be carried out with almost no consequences.[14]

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.[15]

The terms of each treaty specified that Italy was to steer clear of any interference in the sultanates' respective administrations.[15] In return for Italian arms and an annual subsidy, the sultans conceded to a minimum of oversight and economic concessions.[16] The Italians also agreed to dispatch a few ambassadors to promote both the sultanates' and their own interests.[15] The new protectorates were thereafter managed by Vincenzo Filonardi through a chartered company.[16] 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.[15] With the gradual extension into northern Somalia of Italian colonial rule, both kingdoms were eventually annexed in the early 20th century.[17] 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]

Lead up to the conquest of the sultanates

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Main article: Italian Somali Wars

With the arrival of Governor Cesare Maria De Vecchi on 15 December 1923, things began to change in Somalia, Italy had access to these areas under the successive protection treaties, but not direct rule. The Fascist government had direct rule only over the majority of Benadir territory. Given the defeat of the Dervish movement in the early 1920s, and the rise of fascism in Europe, on 1925, Mussolini gave the green light to De Vecchi to start the takeover of the northern sultanates. Everything was to be changed and the treaties abrogated.[18]

To make the enforcement of his plan more viable, he began to reconstitute the old Somali police corps, the Corpo Zaptié, and the new Dubats as a colonial force. Who were mostly led by Capo Hersi Gurey, a major ally of Italy in this conflict.

Capo Hersi Gurey in Rome, 1938

In preparation for the plan of invasion of the sultanates, the Alula Commissioner, E. Coronaro received orders in April 1924 to carry out a reconnaissance on the territories targeted for invasion. In spite of the forty year Italian relationship with the sultanates, Italy did not have adequate knowledge of the geography. During this time, the Stefanini-Puccioni geological survey was scheduled to take place.Such, concluded that the Majeerteen Sultanate depended on sea traffic, therefore, if this were blocked any resistance could be “mounted” As the first stage of the invasion plan, Governor De Vecchi ordered the two Sultanates to disarm. The reaction of both sultanates was to object, as they felt the policy was against the protectorate agreements. The pressure engendered by the new development forced the two northern sultanates, Hobyo and Majeerteenia, to settle their differences, and form a united front against their common enemy.

Conflict

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the new Alula commissioner, presented Boqor (king) Osman with an ultimatum to disarm and surrender. Meanwhile, Italian troops began to pour into the sultanate in anticipation of this operation. While landing at Haafuun and Alula, the sultanate's troops opened fire on them. Fierce fighting ensued and to avoid escalating the conflict and to press the fascist government to revoke their policy, Boqor Osman tried to open a dialogue. However, he failed, and again fighting broke out between the two parties. Following this disturbance, on 7 October the Governor instructed Coronaro to order the Sultan to surrender; to intimidate the people he ordered the seizure of all merchant boats in the Alula area. At Hafun, Arimondi bombarded and destroyed all the boats in the area.[19]

On 13 October Coronaro was to meet Boqor Osman at Baargaal to press for his surrender. Under siege already, Boqor Osman was playing for time. However, on 23 October, Boqor Osman sent an angry response to the Governor defying his order. Following this a full-scale attack was ordered in November. Baargaal was bombarded and destroyed to the ground.

The attempt of the colonizers to suppress the region erupted into an explosive confrontation. The Italians were meeting fierce resistance on many fronts. In December 1925, led by the charismatic leader Hersi Boqor, son of Boqor Osman, the sultanate forces drove the Italians out of Hurdia and Haafuun, two strategic coastal towns.

Hersi Boqor, son of Boqor Osman

Another contingent attacked and destroyed an Italian communications centre at Cape Guardafui, at the tip of the Horn. In retaliation, the Bernica and other warships were called on to bombard all main coastal towns of the Majeerteen. After a violent confrontation Italian forces captured Ayl (Eil), which until then had remained in the hands of Hersi Boqor. In response to the unyielding situation, Italy called for reinforcements from their other colonies, notably Eritrea. With their arrival at the closing of 1926, the Italians began to move into the interior where they had not been able to venture since their first seizure of the coastal towns. Their attempt to capture Dharoor Valley was resisted and ended in failure.[20]

Due to the immense retaliation of the Majeerteen, Italians were not able to entirely capture Majeerteenia until late 1927, when after the conflict at Iskushkuban Hersi Boqor and his top staff were forced to retreat to Ethiopia in order to rebuild the forces. However, they had an epidemic of cholera which frustrated all attempts to recover his force.[21]


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 and 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, and a professional army.[22][23] Both sultanates also maintained written records of their activities, which still exist.[24]

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.[25]

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.[26]

Commerce

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Part of a series on the
History of Somalia
A 16th century map of Somalia by Jan Huyghen
Prehistory
Ancient
(c. 1st century)
Middle Ages
Early modern
flag Somalia portal

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.[27]

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).[26][28]

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).[29]

Major cities of the Majeerteen Sultanate

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Sultans

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Rulers of the Majeerteen Sultanate:[30]

# 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. ^ Revue du monde musulman. Vol. 51–53. La Mission scientifique du Maroc. 1906. p. 211.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Hersi, AA (1977). The Arab Factor in Somali History (PDF). p. 212.
  4. ^ Fergusson, James (2013-05-01). The World's Most Dangerous Place: Inside the Outlaw State of Somalia. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306821585.
  5. ^ Metz, Helen Chapin; Library of Congress; Thomas Leiper Kane Collection (Library of Congress. Hebraic Section), eds. (1993). Somalia: a country study (PDF). Area handbook series (4th ed.). Washington, D.C: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-8444-0775-3.
  6. ^ 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  7. ^ Beckingham, C. F. (2017-07-05). The Prester John of the Indies: A True Relation of the Lands of the Prester John, being the narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Ethiopia in 1520, written by Father Francisco Alvares. Volumes I-II. Routledge. pp. 44–45. ISBN 978-1-351-54133-6.
  8. ^ a b Helen Chapin Metz, ed., Somalia: a country study, (The Division: 1993), p.10.
  9. ^ David D. Laitin, Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience, (University Of Chicago Press: 1977), p.71
  10. ^ Lee V. Cassanelli, The shaping of Somali society: reconstructing the history of a pastoral people, 1600–1900, (University of Pennsylvania Press: 1982), p.75.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ 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)
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ a b La Migiurtinia Ed Il Territorio Del Nugál. p. 57.
  15. ^ a b c d Issa-Salwe (1996), 34–35.
  16. ^ a b Hess (1964), 416–17.
  17. ^ The Majeerteen Sultanates
  18. ^ "27 febbraio 1927: In Somalia si concludono le operazioni per la pacificazione dei sultanati". Italia Coloniale (in Italian). 27 February 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  19. ^ Tripodi, Paolo (1999). The Colonial Legacy in Somalia: Rome and Mogadishu. Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  20. ^ Tripodi, Paolo (1999). The Colonial Legacy in Somalia: Rome and Mogadishu. Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  21. ^ Issa-Salwe, Abdisalam (1996). The Collapse of the Somali State: The Impact of the Colonial Legacy. London: Haan Associates.
  22. ^ Horn of Africa, Volume 15, Issues 1-4, (Horn of Africa Journal: 1997), p.130.
  23. ^ Michigan State University. African Studies Center, Northeast African studies, Volumes 11-12, (Michigan State University Press: 1989), p.32.
  24. ^ Sub-Saharan Africa Report, Issues 57-67. Foreign Broadcast Information Service. 1986. p. 34.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ 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.
  27. ^ Transformation towards a regulated economy, (WSP Transition Programme, Somali Programme: 2000) p.62.
  28. ^ Luling, Virginia (1993). The Use of the Past: Variation in Historical traditions in a South Somalia community. University of Besançon. p. 178.
  29. ^ Istituto italo-africano, Africa: rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione, Volume 56, (Edizioni africane: 2001), p.591.
  30. ^ "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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