The colonial treaties, 1884–1897: how the Somali lands were divided on paper

In short

The Somali lands were divided by paper before they were divided by force. Between 1884 and 1897 a chain of treaties put the north under British protection, the north-east and centre under Italian protection, and the western grazing lands under Ethiopia.

The texts survive in full in two British reference collections (Aitchison, A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads, vol. XIII, 1909, pp. 189–207; Hertslet, The Map of Africa by Treaty, 3rd ed., 1909). This page lets them speak.

Before 1884: the first agreements

Britain's first agreement on the northern coast came in 1827, with the elders of the Habr Awal, after a British ship was plundered off Berbera (Aitchison 1909, p. 189). In 1840 the chief of Tajoura sold Britain the island of Musa, and the ruler of Zeila ceded the island of Bab (same source).

On 18 April 1855 the party of the explorer Richard Burton was attacked near Berbera. Britain blockaded the port, and a new treaty followed in 1856 (same source). From 1877 to 1884 Britain recognised Egypt's claim to the coast, and Egyptian garrisons held Zeila and Berbera (Hertslet 1909, vol. 1).

1884: "the maintenance of our independence"

When Egypt withdrew in 1884, Britain moved to secure the coast that fed its garrison at Aden. On 14 July 1884 the elders of the Habr Awal signed a treaty at Berbera. Its opening words are their own (Aitchison 1909, Treaty LXXXIX):

"We, the undersigned Elders of the Habar Awal tribe, are desirous of entering into an agreement with the British Government for the maintenance of our independence, the preservation of order…"

The five articles were short:

• Article 1. The Habr Awal would never cede land "save to the British Government".
• Article 2. Trade at Berbera and Bulhar would be free to all.
• Article 3. British subjects would be safe in their country.
• Article 4. The slave trade would end.
• Article 5. A British agent could live among them.

Similar treaties followed within months: the Gadabursi on 11 December 1884, the Habr Toljaala on 26 December, the Esa on 31 December, and the Habr Gerhajis on 13 January 1885 (Hertslet 1909, vol. 1).

1886: from friendship to protection

In 1886 a second round changed the meaning. The supplementary treaty with the Habr Awal placed them under British "protection". They agreed not to write to, or make agreements with, any other foreign power (Aitchison 1909, Treaty XC). Major F. M. Hunter signed for Britain.

The Habr Toljaala and Habr Gerhajis signed protection treaties on 1 February 1886, and the Warsangali on 27 January 1886 (same source). In the north-east, Britain had paid the Mijjertayn sultan a yearly subsidy since 1866, and renewed the agreement on 1 May 1884 (Hertslet 1909, vol. 1).

Britain notified the world of its Somali Coast protectorate on 20 July 1887 (same source). Britain and France settled the line between their claims near Zeila and Djibouti in February 1887 and by convention in 1888. India ran the protectorate until October 1898, when London took it over (Aitchison 1909).

1889: the Italian treaties

Italy came to the north-east and the Indian Ocean coast. On 8 February 1889 the Italian flag was raised at Obbia (Hobyo), and Italy notified its protectorate on 2 March 1889 (Hertslet 1909, vol. 3, pp. 1119–1124). In May its limits were set from Warsheikh to Cape Awad.

On 7 April 1889, at Bender Alula, the Sultan of the Migertini signed his treaty with Italy (Hertslet 1909, vol. 3, No. 346):

"We, Sultan Osman Mahmud Jusuf, Sultan of all the Migertini… of our own free will… placed our country… from Ras Auad to Ras-el-Kyle… under the protection and government of His Majesty Umberto I."

Yusuf Ali Yusuf, Sultan of Obbia, signed as a witness, with the Italian agent Vincenzo Filonardi (same source). Further conventions with the Migertini followed in 1901.

1897: the line through the grazing lands

On 14 May 1897, at Addis Ababa, Britain's envoy Rennell Rodd and Emperor Menelik II signed a treaty of friendship. Article II left the frontier of the British protectorate to be fixed by letters at Harar (Hertslet 1909, vol. 2, No. 99, pp. 423–430).

Those letters, dated 4 June 1897, drew a line from the wells of Hadou eastward to 44°E 9°N, then to 47°E 8°N. Much of the grazing land of the Haud fell on the Ethiopian side (same source).

Rodd asked that the communities "formerly… under British protection" should receive "equitable treatment". Menelik answered in writing (same source):

"The Somalis who may by boundary arrangements become subjects of Ethiopia shall be well treated and have orderly government."

The letters added one clause that would matter for sixty years: "The tribes occupying either side of the line shall have the right to use the grazing grounds on the other side", with "free access to the nearest wells" (same source). The treaty was ratified and notified on 30 August 1897.

Who was in the room?

The 1884 and 1886 treaties carry the marks of Somali elders and sultans. The 1897 treaty does not. No Somali signed the line that divided the Haud, though the earlier treaties had promised that land would pass only to Britain.

The Library of Congress records that the 1897 treaty became the legal basis for Ethiopia's claim to the Haud and the Ogaden (Library of Congress, Ethiopia: A Country Study). Britain handed the Haud to Ethiopia in 1955 under it (same source). See the Ogaden war for where that led.

Sources differ

• The date of the 1886 Habr Awal treaty. Aitchison's summary gives 13 March 1886. Hertslet gives 15 March 1886, the date it took effect.
• What the elders understood. The English texts are the only versions in these collections. Whether Somali copies said the same thing is not recorded in the sources we can link to.
• The 1884 Mijjertayn agreement. Hertslet dates it 1 May 1884; Aitchison groups it with the 1866 subsidy agreement.

What it moved forward

The elders of 1884 signed for "the maintenance of our independence". That aim did not die with the treaties. Within fifteen years the Dervishes took it up by arms, and within sixty the Somali Youth League took it up through the UN. In 1960 it was won.

Read the primary sources yourself

• C. U. Aitchison, A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads relating to India and Neighbouring Countries, vol. XIII, 1909, Somali Coast section, pp. 189–207: full text.
• E. Hertslet, The Map of Africa by Treaty, 3rd ed., 1909: vol. 1, vol. 2 (the 1897 Anglo-Ethiopian treaty, No. 99), vol. 3 (the Italian treaties, Nos. 346–347).