British Somaliland, 1884–1960: the protectorate before independence

In short

British Somaliland was the northern coast of the Somali lands, from Zeila in the west to the borders of the Majeerteen in the east. Britain held it as a protectorate for 76 years, from the treaties of 1884–1886 to independence on 26 June 1960 (Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study; Library of Congress).

Five days after independence, it joined the former Italian trust territory to form the Somali Republic. Since 1991 the self-declared Republic of Somaliland has claimed the protectorate's borders. In 2023 Dhulbahante communities in Las Anod and Sool rejected its rule and joined the federation, now as North Eastern State ("Las Anod conflict", Wikipedia).

Why Britain came, 1884

The Library of Congress says Britain wanted the coast "as a source of mutton and other livestock products for its naval port of Aden". Aden in turn guarded the sea route to British India (Library of Congress).

British occupation began "in earnest" in February 1884, when Major A. Hunter arrived at Berbera to sign treaties with the clans. He placed British vice-consuls at Berbera, Bulhar and Zeila (same source). The texts of those treaties, and how they changed from friendship to protection, are told in the colonial treaties, 1884–1897.

How large, and how ruled?

In 1910 Lord Curzon described the protectorate to the House of Lords as a strip "300 to 400 miles in length and some 200 miles in width". He put its people at "between 200,000 and 300,000" (HL Deb 6 April 1910, vol. 5, cc. 556–98).

British rule for its first decades was thin. From 1899 to 1920 the Dervish movement fought Britain across the interior. In 1910 the government withdrew its forces to the coast. Curzon called this "the abandonment" of the interior and asked the government to defend it (same source).

A "neglected backwater"?

The Library of Congress contrasts the two colonies. Italy planned plantations and settlers in the south. In its words, "British Somaliland stayed a neglected backwater", used as "little more than a supplier of meat products to Aden" (Library of Congress).

It adds that the cost of the Dervish wars took money away from development. When the two territories joined in 1960, the north "lagged far behind the south in economic infrastructure and skilled labor" (same source).

Burao, 1922

On 24 February 1922 Captain Allan Gibb, the District Commissioner at Burao, was shot dead while trying to stop a clash between two groups. The Colonial Secretary, Winston Churchill, told the Commons that the Governor sent for two aeroplanes from Aden "for purposes of demonstration". Churchill said that they "did not drop any bombs", and that the leaders "undertaken to carry out the terms imposed upon them" (HC Deb 14 March 1922, vol. 151, cc. 1953–4).

Later histories tell a fuller story. They say the trouble began over a new tax and a disarmament order, that the Governor proposed a fine of 2,500 camels, and that Burao was burned. The historian James Lawrence writes that "the entire area was razed by a combination of bombing, machine-gun fire and burning". The same accounts say the tax was dropped and the Governor, Geoffrey Archer, was soon replaced ("1922 Burao tax revolt", Wikipedia), citing Millman, British Somaliland (2013), and Lawrence, Imperial Rearguard, p. 168.

War, 1940–1941

In August 1940 Italian forces invaded and took British Somaliland. For a short time all the Somali territories except French Somaliland and Kenya's north were under one ruler. In March 1941 British forces came back and retook the protectorate, and from there drove Italy out of East Africa (Library of Congress). See fascist rule and the war, 1923–1941.

The military administration, 1941–1949

After 1941 a British military governor ran the protectorate. The Library of Congress records changes greater than in the decades before (Library of Congress):

• A new capital. The capital moved from Berbera, on the hot coast, to Hargeisa on the inland plateau.
• Services. Health and veterinary services began. Farming was improved in the Gabiley–Boorama corridor, more bore wells were dug, and the first secular elementary schools opened.
• Courts. The courts combined Somali customary law (xeer), sharia and British common law.
• Forces. The Somaliland Camel Corps, raised during the Dervish wars, was reorganised as five battalions of Somaliland Scouts.

In July 1945 Sheikh Bashir Sheikh Yusuf led an armed revolt near Burao and was killed. See Sheikh Bashir.

The parties

The Somali Youth League opened branches in the north. The Library of Congress names the two main northern parties (Library of Congress):

• The Somali National League (SNL), "mainly associated with the Isaaq clan-family".
• The United Somali Party (USP), supported by the Gadabuursi and Ciise of the Dir, and the Dhulbahante and Warsangeli of the Daarood.

The same source says that until 1954 no party "could mobilize grass-roots support" (Library of Congress).

The Haud and the turn to self-rule, 1954–1959

In 1954–1955 Britain handed the Haud grazing lands to Ethiopian administration. Protests followed, and a new party, the National United Front (NUF), rose under Michael Mariano. See the Haud, 1954–1955.

The Library of Congress says the protests "forced Britain in 1956 to introduce representative government in its protectorate" and to accept eventual union with the south (Library of Congress):

• 1957. A Legislative Council of six members, appointed by the governor to represent the main clan-families.
• 1958. Enlarged to twelve elected members, two appointed and fifteen elders and notables. Towns voted by secret ballot; the countryside chose by acclamation in clan assemblies.

In June 1958 a British MP, Fenner Brockway, told the Commons that political progress had been "much greater in Italian Somaliland" and that there were "no elected Ministers in British Somaliland" (HC Deb 26 June 1958, vol. 590, cc. 596–7).

The 1960 election

In 1960 the first party elections were held for a 33-seat Legislative Assembly. The SNL and the USP won all seats but one. Michael Mariano won the last seat for the NUF (Library of Congress). The Library of Congress writes that his party's defeat was "clearly attributable to his Christian affiliation", which opponents had made a campaign issue (same source).

Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal became the first Somali to lead the government, as head of a four-member cabinet (same source). See Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal.

Independence and union, 1960

• April 1960. Leaders of the two territories met in Mogadishu and agreed to form a unitary state (Library of Congress).
• 26 June 1960. The protectorate became the independent State of Somaliland. Control of the Somaliland Scouts passed to its government (HC Deb 25 July 1960, vol. 627, cc. 1068–70).
• 1 July 1960. The union with the south was "acclaimed", and Britain's first ambassador to the Somali Republic presented his credentials (same source).

The same record says that about 1,500 Somalis living in Britain "became aliens on 26th June, 1960" when the protectorate became independent (same source). The full story of those five days is told in independence and union, 26 June to 1 July 1960.

Who suffered?

• In the Dervish wars, 1899–1920, fighters and families across the interior were killed, and herds were lost on all sides. See the Dervish movement.
• In 1922, a British official was killed at Burao. Later histories say the town was burned and a fine in camels was imposed on the people ("1922 Burao tax revolt", Wikipedia).
• In 1945, Sheikh Bashir and men of his group were killed in the revolt near Burao. See Sheikh Bashir.
• From 1955, herders lost British administration of the Haud grazing lands. See the Haud.

Sources differ

• The size of the population. Curzon gave 200,000 to 300,000 in 1910, as an estimate, not a count.
• When the union was complete. Britain's Foreign Secretary told the Commons on 25 July 1960 that there was "a little uncertainty" about how far the Act of Union "has been consummated" (HC Deb 25 July 1960).
• Burao, 1922. Churchill told Parliament the aircraft "did not drop any bombs". Later historians, as cited on Wikipedia, say the town was bombed and burned ("1922 Burao tax revolt", Wikipedia).

Legacy, as recorded

On 26 June 1960 the protectorate became an independent state with an elected government, and on 1 July it joined the south. The Library of Congress writes that "popular demand compelled the leaders of the two territories to proceed with plans for immediate unification" (Library of Congress). The Library of Congress also records that after union, the gap between north and south "bred a sense of betrayal and bitterness among northerners" (Library of Congress). See Somaliland question today.

Read the primary sources yourself

• UK House of Lords debate on the evacuation of the protectorate, 6 April 1910: Hansard.
• UK House of Commons, statement on Burao, 14 March 1922: Hansard.
• UK House of Commons, question on the protectorate's future, 26 June 1958: Hansard.
• UK House of Commons, Somaliland independence, 25 July 1960: Hansard.
• Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study (1993): Imperial partition, Consolidation of colonial rule, British Military Administration, The road to independence.