Mad mullah

In 1899, some soldiers of the British armed forces met Hassan and sold him an official gun. When questioned about the loss of the gun, they told their superiors that Hassan had stolen the gun from them. On 29 March 1899, the British Vice Consul wrote a very stern and insulting letter to him accusing his camp of stealing the gun and asking him to return it immediately. Thisenraged Hassan and he sent a very brief and curt reply refuting the allegation. Hassan's attentionhad been focused on the Ethiopian invaders of Somalia, but this incident brought him into conflict with the British as well. The British, Ethiopian Emperor Menelek II, and a small numbers of Somalis then joined together to crush Hassan's Dervish movement. ↑Jump back a section Origins of armed struggle Main article: Dervish State In several of his poems and speeches, Hassan said that the British infidels "have destroyed our religion and made our children their children" and that the Christian Ethiopians in league with the British were bent upon plundering the political and religious freedom of the Somali nation. He soon emerged as "a champion of his country's political and religious freedom, defending it against all Christian invaders." He issued a religious ordinance that any Somali national who did not accept the goal of unity of Somalia and would not fight under his leadership would be considered as kafir or gaal. He acquired weapons from the Ottoman Empire, Sudan, and other Islamic countries. He appointed his ministers and advisers in charge of different areas or sectors of Somalia and gave a clarion call forSomali unity and independence. At this time Hassan organized his warriors. His Dervish movement had an essentially military character, and the Dervish State was fashioned on the model of a Saalihiya brotherhood. It had a rigid hierarchy and robust centralization. Hassan threatened to drive the Christians into the sea, and he committed the first attack by launching a major military offensive with his 1,500 Dervishes, equipped with 20 modern rifles, on the British soldiers stationed in the region. Hassan sent one of his men to Yemen in disguise for reconnaissance activities to report on the new airplanes' [ citation needed ] preparedness for attack. He sent his emissaries all over the country appealing for Somali people to join his movement and many responded to him enthusiastically. ↑Jump back a section Ethiopia, Britain and Italy Somali Dervish soldiers engage their British counterparts at sea. In 1900, an Ethiopian expedition sent to arrest or kill Hassan looted a large number of camels of the Mohammed Subeer Ogadensub-clan. In answer to his appeal,Hassan attacked the Ethiopian garrison at Jijiga on 4 March of that year and successfully recovered all the looted animals. This success emboldened Hassan and enhanced his reputation. In June, three months later, Hassan raided the British-protected northern Somali clans of Eidagale and Isaaq and confiscated about 2,000 camels. He gained great prestige in recovering the looted stock from the Ethiopians and he used it along with his charisma and powers of oratory to improve his undisputed authority among the Ogaden. To harness Ogaden enthusiasm into final commitment, Hassan married thedaughter of a prominent Ogaden chieftain and in return gave his own sister, Toohyar Sheikh Adbile, to Abdi Mohammed Waale, a notable Mohammed Subeer elder. However, soon angered by his autocratic rule, Hussen Hirsi Dala Iljech' - a Mohammed Subeer chieftain - plotted to kill him. Thenews of the plot leaked to Hassan. He escaped but his prime minister and maternal uncle, Aw 'Abbas, was killed. Some weeks later, Mohammed Subeer sent a peace delegation of 32 men to Hassan, but he had all the members of the delegation arrested and killed. Shocked by this, Mohammed Subeer sought the help of the Ethiopians and the Dervish withdrew to Nugaal . Hassan (by now better known by his honorific title of " Sayyid ") patched up with the Dulbahante temporarily by paying huge bloodmonies . This frightened the British-protected North Somali pastoralists. Towards the end of 1900, Ethiopian Emperor Menelik proposed a joint action with the British against the Dervish. Accordingly, British Lt. Col. E. J. Swayne assembled a force of 1,500 Somali soldiers led by 21 European officers and started from Burco on 22 May 1901, while an Ethiopian army of 15,000 soldiers started from Harar to join the British forces intent on crushing the 20,000 Dervish fighters (of whom 40 percent were cavalry ). During 1901 and 1904, the Dervisharmy inflicted heavy losses on their enemies - the Ethiopians, the British, and the Italian forces."His successes attracted to his banner even Somalis who did notfollow his religious beliefs." On 9 January 1904, at the Jidaale (Jidballi) plain, the British Commander, General Charles Egerton , killed 7,000 Dervish. Thisdefeat forced Sayyid and his remaining men to flee to Majeerteen country. Around 1910, in a secret meeting under a big tree later nicknamed"Anjeel tale waa" ("The Tree of Bad Counsel"), about 600 Dervish followers decided to stop following Sayyid due to his perceived high-handedness. Theirdeparture weakened, demoralized and angered Sayyid, and it was at this juncture that he composed his most famous poem entitled The Tree of Bad Counsel . ↑Jump back a section Push to the south During his campaign to gather fighting men in southern Somalia, Sayyid Mohamed received enormous support from the Marehan population, securingforces from the hinterland in northern Somalia to the length ofthe entire Jubba region in southern Somalia, from Serinley near Bardera to the coast. Sayyid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan'sown Ogaden clansmen weren't entirely on his side when the Marehan saw the importance of siding with the nationalist leader in ridding themselves of the colonial powers. From Serinley onwards to Dolow, the second arm of the Marehan wasn't happywith giving the British a second front for confrontation. The peaceful communities between Bardera and Dolow to the Tana River in East Africa were long established before the late 19th century uprising of Sayyid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan. The Marehan Rer Guri were content and basically wanted to herd their livestock from the grasslands of Jubba to Tana River peacefully, where they had settled at the time. The Marehan Galti from the north and central Somalia were antagonistic. Northern Gedo Sheikh of Ali Dheere, who was at the time in concert with the rer Guri, was content with the status quo. ↑Jump back a section Consolidation Mohammed Abdullah Hassan's fort in Taleex . During 1910-1914, Sayyid's capitalmoved from Illig to Taleex in the heart of Nugaal where he built three garrison forts of massive stone work and a number of houses. He built a luxurious palace for himself and kept new guards drawn from outcast clans.By 1913, he had dominated the entire hinterland of the Somali peninsula by building forts at Jildali and Mirashi in Warsangali country, at Werder and Korahe in the Ogaden and Beledweyne in southern Somalia. On 9 August 1913, at the Battle of Dul Madoba , a Dervish force raided the HabarYoonis clan near Burco and killed or wounded 57 members of the 110-man Somaliland Camel Constabulary . The dead included the British officer who commanded the constabulary, Colonel Richard Corfield . Hassan memorialized this action in his poem simply entitled "The Death of Richard Corfield." In the same year, the Dervish attacked Berbera and looted and destroyed it. In 1914, the Somaliland Camel Corps was founded as an expanded and improved version of the constabulary. A British force was gathering against the Dervishes when they were interrupted by the outbreakof World War I . Among the British officers deployed were Adrian Carton de Wiart (later Lieutenant General), who lost an eye in the campaign, and Hastings Ismay , a staff officer who was later Winston Churchill 's chief military advisor. By 1919, despite the British having built large stone forts to guard the passes to the hills, Hassan and his armed bands were at large, robbing and killing. [ 1 ] The vision of Sayyid and his followers in Jubba was similar to that of people in Sudanand Egypt when the Ottoman Sultanate was retreating from those other Northeast African territories. ↑Jump back a section Defeat Main article: 1920 conflict between British forces and the Dervish State In the beginning of 1920, the British struck the Dervish settlements with a well-coordinated air and land attack and inflicted a stunning defeat. The forts of Hassan were damaged and his army suffered great losses. They hastily fled to Ogaden . Here, again with the help of his patriotic poetry and charisma, he tried to rebuild his army and accomplish the coalition of Ogaden clans, which made him a power in the land once again. ↑Jump back a section Death On 21 December 1920, Hassan died of influenza at the age of 64, His grave is believed to be somewhere close to Imay town of the Somali region of Ethiopia; however, the exact spot of the Sayid's tomb isn't known, a matter that has concerned and occupied the Somali people. However, in the middle of 2009, the Somali Regional State administration expressed that they will exhume the remains of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan and rebury him in his old castle at Imme. [ 2 ] Although, most individuals who knew the exact location of the Hassan`s tomb aredead for a long time now, the Regional Information Minister Mr. Guled Casowe told on VOA Somali Section interview, that very few, senile individuals who can reveal the details of the Hassan`s grave may be alive, making the region`ssearch efforts attainable. The Somali Region of Ethiopia is trying to sample DNA test to determine whether the remains they found in a graveyard at Gindhir, could be that of Sayid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan. [ 3 ] ↑Jump back a section In popular culture *. The documentary film The Parching Winds of Somalia includes a section on the Dervish struggle and its leader Muhammad Abdullah Hassan . *. The historic romance novel Ignorance is the Enemy of Love by Farah Mohamed Jama Awl has a Dervish protagonist called Calimaax , who is part of an ill-fated love story and fights against the British , Italians and Ethiopians in the Horn of Africa . *. A 1983, film entitled A Somali Dervish was directed by Abdulkadir Ahmed Said . *. In the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode Loyalty , references are made to the Dervishes and their leader. The episode also features a character purported to have been descended from Muhammad Abdullah Hassan. *. In 1985, a 4 hour and 40 minute Indian -produced epic film by filmmaker Salah Ahmed entitledthe Somalia Dervishes went intoproduction. With a budget of$1.8 million, it included an actual descendant of Hassan as its star, and featured hundreds of actors and extras. [ 4 ] *. In the popular comic book series Corto Maltese , the protagonist travels to the Horn of Africa during the Dervishes' battle against the British, and witnesses the former power storm a British fort. During these travels, he develops a long-term friendship with a Dervish warrior named Cush , who subsequently features in several other of Corto's adventures around the world. ↑Jump back a section See also *. Hasna Doreh - wife of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan and commander in his Dervish Army. *. Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi - Somali Imam and General of theSultanate of Adal *. Mohamoud Ali Shire - Sultan of Warsengeli *. John Gough - Awarded a VictoriaCross for his actions as a column commander during the Third Somaliland Expedition against Hassan. *. Alexander Stanhope Cobbe - Awarded a Victoria Cross for his actions at Erego 1902. *. Adrian Carton de Wiart - (British army officer) lost an eye attacking a fort at Shimbiris in 1914 ↑Jump back a section Notes 1. ^ Baker, Anne (2003). From Biplane to Spitfire . Pen And Sword Books . p. 161. ISBN 0-85052-980-8 . 2. ^ Honouring Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan, By Mohamed Bakayr . 3. ^ "Guled Asowe: We are Searching The Burial Place of Sayid Mohamed." , VOA , 02 January 2010 (accessed 18 January 2011) 4. ^ Exploits of Somalia's national hero becomes basis for movie - Kentucky New Era ↑Jump back a section References *. Abdisalam Issa-Salwe , The Failure of The Daraawiish State, The Clash Between Somali Clanship and State System , paper presented at the 5th International Congress of Somali Studies, December 1993 [1] *. Abdi Sheik Abdi , Divine Madness: Mohammed Abdulle Hassan (1856–1920) , Zed Books Ltd., London, 1993 *. Bartholet, Jeffrey. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World , Newsweek, Oct. 12, 2009, pp. 43–47. *. Battersby, Henry Francis Prevost . Richard Corfield of Somaliland (1914), ASIN: B000WFUQT8. *. Jaamac Cumar Ciise , Taariikhdii Daraawiishta iyo Sayid MaxamedCabdulle Xasan, (1895–1921), Wasaaradda Hiddaha iyo Tacliinta Sare , edited by Akadeemiyaha Dhaqanka, Mogadishu, 1976. *. Jardine, Douglas J. , The Mad Mullah of Somaliland , London: Jenkins, 1923. Reprint. New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969 (one of the main sources of this article) *. McNeill, Malcom, In Pursuit of the 'Mad' Mullah , 1902. *. Said S. Samatar , Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism: The Case of Sayyid Mahammad Abdille Hasan , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982 (analyzes Mahammad Abdille's poetry andassesses his nationalist and literary contributions to the Somali heritage) *. Skoulding, F.A. With 'Z' Unit in Somaliland , RAF Quarterly 2, no.3, (July 1931), pp. 387–396. *. Swayne, H.G.C., Seventeen Trips through Somaliland and a visit to Abyssinia: With Supplementary preface on the 'Mad Mullah' risings , 1903. Authority control *. VIAF : 211768128 ↑Jump back a section Read in another language This page is available in 12 languagesالعربية català česky ... *. norsk bokmål *. русский *. Soomaaliga *. suomi Last modified on 6 April 2013, at 17:04 Desktop Mobile Page by contributors like you Content available under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Terms of Use Privac