The Majeerteen Sultanate was a costal kingdom in the north eastern corner of Somalia. The exact formation date of the Sultanate is unknown with some scholars attesting that it was created in the late seventeenth century, while others acknowledging its origin from the later part of the eighteenth century. The Majeerteen Sultanate was a subgroup of the Darod Clan and had their capital situated at Alula.
[1]
The Majeerteen Sultanate was a lucrative kingdom with Omani, Egyptian, Yemeni and Arabian trading alliances.
[2]
In 1839, the Majeerteen Sultan, Isman Mahamud, entered into a British trade agreement which also guaranteed safe passage for British ships and crew members who sometimes shipwrecked in the Sultanate’s waters.
[3]
Due to the Sultanates subordination to the British crown, the Sultan was able to maintain his kingdom’s freedom up until the later part of the nineteenth century.
[1]
The decline of the Sultanate centred on a civil war between Sultan Isman Mahamud and his cousin Yusuf Ali. With the help of foreign fighters, Yusuf Ali was able to take control of some Majeerteen territory and created a new Sultanate called Hobyo. During the final years of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Majeerteen and Hobyo Sultanates became under pressure by European colonial powers, particularly Italy. In 1926, Italian colonial forces occupied both kingdoms creating Italian Somaliland.
[1]
No information on population sizes were found in the consulted sources.
[1]: (Njoku 2013, 41-42) Njoku, Raphael C. 2013. The History of Somalia. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/U9FHBPZF/library
[2]: (Smith 2021, 73) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
[3]: (Lewis 2002, 38) Lewis, Ioan M. 2002. A Modern History of the Somali: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/UQWUPZBM/collection
| Year Range | Majeerteen Sultanate (so_majeerteen_sultanate) was in: |
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“In the 18th century, the nascent Geledi Sultanate ruled over a confederacy of all the Digil clans and their harifa (allies) in Afgoy, while the Majerteen boqors (‘sultans’) established protostates among the Darood at Alula and, later, among the Darood and Hawiye at Hobyo.” [1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 3) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Mukhtar/titleCreatorYear/items/J8WZB6VI/item-list
The peak dates shown highlight the apex of the Sultanate in the early nineteenth century (approximate date of the beginning of the peak not known) before being involved in treaty agreements with the British government in 1839. The Sultanate prospered under the Sultan Isman Mahamud who ruled from 1844 to 1860. The Sultanate began to unravel due to foreign contact with the British and the Italians and fighting between Sultan Isman Mahamud and his rival cousin Yusuf Ali. “Although the Majerteen Sultanate was founded in the second half of the eighteenth century it only came into prominence in the nineteenth century following the time in power of the famous Boqor Isman Mahamud.” [1]
[1]: (Njoku 2013, 41) Njoku, Raphael C. 2013. The History of Somalia. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/U9FHBPZF/library
“Although the Majerteen Sultanate was founded in the second half of the eighteenth century, it only came into prominence in the nineteenth century following the time in power of the famous Boqor Isman Mahamud.” [1] “When Italy occupied the two Majerteen Sultanates of Alula and Hobiya in 1926 and exiled the Sultans Boqor Isman Mohamud and Yusif Ali to Mogadishu, many Darood fled to the south.” [2]
[1]: (Njoku 2013, 41) Njoku, Raphael C. 2013. The History of Somalia. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/U9FHBPZF/library
[2]: (Mukhtar 2003, 71) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Mukhtar/titleCreatorYear/items/J8WZB6VI/item-list
“Ultimately, it was the Italians who outmanoeuvred their competitors and systematically wrapped up the entire Majerteen territories into what became the Italian Somaliland.” [1]
[1]: (Njoku 2013, 42) Njoku, Raphael C. 2013. The History of Somalia. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/U9FHBPZF/library
In the Majeerteen Sultanate there were some individuals who could write in Arabic but most used Somali Cushitic languages. “They likewise worshipped Islamic saints from the Arabian Peninsula, intermarried, and sometimes used Arabic scripts, since Somali Cushitic remained oral.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 41) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
In the Majeerteen Sultanate there were some individuals who could write in Arabic but most used Somali Cushitic languages. “They likewise worshipped Islamic saints from the Arabian Peninsula, intermarried, and sometimes used Arabic scripts, since Somali Cushitic remained oral.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 41) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
“The Majerteen Sultan professed Sunni Islam and adherence to the Shafi’i branch of Sunni Islamic law. They sponsored madrasas, built mosques, encouraged prayer and pilgrimage, and undertook many of the other obligations of Muslim rulers.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 43) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
“The Majerteen Sultan professed Sunni Islam and adherence to the Shafi’i branch of Sunni Islamic law. They sponsored madrasas, built mosques, encouraged prayer and pilgrimage, and undertook many of the other obligations of Muslim rulers.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 43) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
levels.1.Sultan :2. Vizier/close advisor (inferred from similar polities) ::3. Court Councillors :::“In a further affirmation of the Sultan’s sovereignty, Nur Uthman elevated six other brothers to the role of councillor in court.” [1] :::4. Lesser court officials (inferred) ::::5. Provincial governors :::::“The sultan reminded the assembled crowd of Majerteen nobels that his brother, Uthman Semantar, was governor of Bandar Maryah in the Sultan’s absence.” [1] :::::6. Local chiefs ::::::“Shortly after their arrival in Bandar Maryah the Sultan called a meeting of chiefs to discuss the event.” [1] ::::::7. Aban (NB: unclear where to place this position in the overall hierarchy, but it does seem to have constituted a separate tier) :::::::“On a day-to-day basis, all foreign traders, travellers, and shipwrecked sailors were obliged to engage an aban, or mediator, who took responsibility for a visitor’s security, acted as a broker, for business transactions, made introductions, and played the role of host and interpreter […] In fact, abans were diplomats, guides, translators, merchants, and intermediaries […] Specifically, abans came from the sultan’s lineage, the house of Uthman Mahmud. The majority of commercial visitors were thus incorporated directly into the Uthman Mahmud lineage, rather than to one of the more numerous regional lineage families.” [2]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 49) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
[2]: (Smith 2021, 70-71) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
“The Majerteen Sultan professed Sunni Islam and adherence to the Shafi’i branch of Sunni Islamic law.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 43) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
The quote below suggests that markets were likely present. “However, there periodically emerged throughout Somali history regional sultanates whose leaders claimed authority over many clans and over large tracts of territory. Examples include the medieval Sultanates of Adal, Ifat and Harar on the eastern fringes of the Ethiopian highlands; the Ajuraan Sultanate in the sixteenth century; The Majeerteen Sultanate in the extreme northeast which arose in the eighteenth century; and the nineteenth-century Sultanates of Hobya and Geledi. While it is impossible to determine with any precision the boundaries of these pastoral polities, it is apparent that they encompassed well sites, trade routes, and market towns shared by many different clans.” [1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 70-71) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library
The quote below suggests that well sites were likely present. “However, there periodically emerged throughout Somali history regional sultanates whose leaders claimed authority over many clans and over large tracts of territory. Examples include the medieval Sultanates of Adal, Ifat and Harar on the eastern fringes of the Ethiopian highlands; the Ajuraan Sultanate in the sixteenth century; The Majeerteen Sultanate in the extreme northeast which arose in the eighteenth century; and the nineteenth-century Sultanates of Hobya and Geledi. While it is impossible to determine with any precision the boundaries of these pastoral polities, it is apparent that they encompassed well sites, trade routes, and market towns shared by many different clans.” [1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 70-71) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library
Mosques. “The Majerteen Sultan professed Sunni Islam and adherence to the Shafi’i branch of Sunni Islamic law. They sponsored madrasas, built mosques, encouraged prayer and pilgrimage, and undertook many of the other obligations of Muslim rulers.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 43) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
E.g. markets, well sites. The quote below suggests the existence of both. “However, there periodically emerged throughout Somali history regional sultanates whose leaders claimed authority over many clans and over large tracts of territory. Examples include the medieval Sultanates of Adal, Ifat and Harar on the eastern fringes of the Ethiopian highlands; the Ajuraan Sultanate in the sixteenth century; The Majeerteen Sultanate in the extreme northeast which arose in the eighteenth century; and the nineteenth-century Sultanates of Hobya and Geledi. While it is impossible to determine with any precision the boundaries of these pastoral polities, it is apparent that they encompassed well sites, trade routes, and market towns shared by many different clans.” [1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 70-71) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library
“The Majerteen Sultan professed Sunni Islam and adherence to the Shafi’i branch of Sunni Islamic law. They sponsored madrasas, built mosques, encouraged prayer and pilgrimage, and undertook many of the other obligations of Muslim rulers.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 43) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
The quote below infers that roads were likely present with the presence of trade routes. “However, there periodically emerged throughout Somali history regional sultanates whose leaders claimed authority over many clans and over large tracts of territory. Examples include the medieval Sultanates of Adal, Ifat and Harar on the eastern fringes of the Ethiopian highlands; the Ajuraan Sultanate in the sixteenth century; The Majeerteen Sultanate in the extreme northeast which arose in the eighteenth century; and the nineteenth-century Sultanates of Hobya and Geledi. While it is impossible to determine with any precision the boundaries of these pastoral polities, it is apparent that they encompassed well sites, trade routes, and market towns shared by many different clans.” [1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 70-71) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library
“For example, in 1875 a Majerteen Somali was killed by local residents in Mukalla, triggering blood-reprisals against Mukalla merchants in Majerteen ports.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 45) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
The honouring of Islamic saints is a big part of Somali society. “Their tombs, which dot the country side, are frequently the sites of annual religious celebrations held to commemorate the life and works of the deceased saint.” [1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 120) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library
The honouring of Islamic saints is a big part of Somali society. “Their tombs, which dot the country side, are frequently the sites of annual religious celebrations held to commemorate the life and works of the deceased saint.” [1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 120) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library
The honouring of Islamic saints is a big part of Somali society. “Their tombs, which dot the country side, are frequently the sites of annual religious celebrations held to commemorate the life and works of the deceased saint.” [1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 120) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library
In the Majeerteen Sultanate there were some individuals who could write in Arabic. “They likewise worshipped Islamic saints from the Arabian Peninsula, intermarried, and sometimes used Arabic scripts, since Somali Cushitic remained oral.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 41) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” [1]
[1]: (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Semaan/titleCreatorYear/items/U3W57I6B/item-list
The Quran. “Majerteenia was thus simultaneously part of the dar al-Islam and the dar al’ahd; it was concomitantly Indian Ocean in its observation of Shafi’i Sunnism, and regional in its veneration of the sultan’s status and other lineage saints.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 44) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
The following quote highlights the presence of madrasas which would have likely produced religious literature. “The Majerteen Sultan professed Sunni Islam and adherence to the Shafi’i branch of Sunni Islamic law. They sponsored madrasas, built mosques, encouraged prayer and pilgrimage, and undertook many of the other obligations of Muslim rulers.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 43) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
“For example, the existence of a double recording system of lunar months is clearly documented in Somalia. There was normal usage to distinguish al-sana al-qama-riyya (‘lunar year’) – reckoned on the basis of months corresponding to the effective sightings of the new moon – from al-sana al-ta’ rīh iyya (‘civil year’) – reckoned according to the written Islamic calendar.” [1]
[1]: (Classen 2010, 1654) Classen, Albrecht. 2010. Handbook of Medieval Studies: Terms, Methods, Trends. Berlin: De Gruyter. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/R727NPC6/library
When shipwrecks happened in the Sultanate’s waters, local Marjeerteen chiefs would ask for a salvage fee. “After a few days exploring the area, a local chief from the port of Alula met the survivors at their camp. The chief requested eight hundred British Rupees (about £6,000 in today’s money) as a payment of tribute and agreed to sail the survivors to Aden. The crew accepted the chief’s offer.” [1]
[1]: (Smith 2021, 77) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection
Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties. [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list
"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties." [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list
Islamic calendar. “For example, the existence of a double recording system of lunar months is clearly documented in Somalia. There was normal usage to distinguish al-sana al-qama-riyya (‘lunar year’) – reckoned on the basis of months corresponding to the effective sightings of the new moon – from al-sana al-ta’ rīh iyya (‘civil year’) – reckoned according to the written Islamic calendar.” [1]
[1]: (Classen 2010, 1654) Classen, Albrecht. 2010. Handbook of Medieval Studies: Terms, Methods, Trends. Berlin: De Gruyter. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/R727NPC6/library
"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties." [1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list