The Habr Yunis Sultanate (, ) was a Somali kingdom that ruled parts of the Horn of Africa during the 18th century. It spanned the territories of the Habr Yunis clan which is part of the wider Isaaq in modern-day Somaliland and Ethiopia. The sultanate was governed by the Rer Ainanshe branch of the Habr Yunis clan.Cosmos: communicazioni sui progressi recenti e notevoli della geografia e delle scienze affini di Guido Cora, p.201British Somaliland By Drake Brockman. 1912.Truhart, P. (1984). Regents of nations: systematic chronology of states and their political representatives in past and present: a biographical reference book. pp.72
History Establishment The Habr Yunis Sultanate finds its roots in the Isaaq Sultanate which was established by the Rer Guled branch of the Eidagale after the Isaaq successfully defeated the Absame clan at Lafaruug in the 17th century. With time the Habr Yunis and later the Habr Awal and Habr Je'lo would break from the Isaaq Sultanate with the Habr Yunis forming their own Sultanate led by Sugulle the son of the previous Habr Yunis Chieftain, Ainanshe Hersi.NEW ISSUES IN REFUGEE RESEARCH Working Paper No. 65 Pastoral society and transnational refugees: population movements in Somaliland and eastern Ethiopia 1988 - 2000 Guido Ambroso, Table 1, pg.5 The Sultan Deria Sugulleh would establish his capital at Wadhan (Waram) near the Sheikh pass and tax and administer the affairs of the Habr Yunis from the town.The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society 1850, Volume 9, p.133
Expansion and Rayyad War
Following Sultan Deria's death in the 1850s his grandson Hersi Aman would come to succeed him and usher in an era of conquest. Hersi Aman belonged to the Bah Makahil section of the Sugulle dynasty.British Somaliland, by Ralph E. Drake-BrockmanAndrzejewski, B.W. and I.M. Lewis, 1964, Somali Poetry: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p.106 In 1870 he would launch the Rayyad Wars against the Darood of Hawd and Dollo which would continue intermittently from 1870 to 1940 and give birth to a string of poems, the Guba poetic chain, one of the most well-known series in Somali history.
Swiss Explorer Haggenmacher met Hersi Aman in 1873 and also wrote of a successful Habr Yunis battle in the Hawd that occurred during his visit The Habr Yunis had many wounded, but were also extremely rich in loot, the estimated number of loot was at least 10,000 camels.G. A. Haggenmacher's Reise Im Somali-Lande, 1874: Mit Einer Originalkarte by G.A.
At the battle of Haro Dhiig (Lake of Blood) in the Hawd, the victorious Habr Yunis had captured the Sultan of the Rer Haroun Ogaden with many lives lost on both sides. The captured Sultan sent a message to Hersi saying as a notable he should be spared. In response, Hersi replied with Laba Gob Kii Beer Jilicsan Baa Jaba meaning, amongst two counterparts the soft-hearted shall perish and the captive Sultan was subsequently executed.The Unknown Horn of Africa, Frank Linsly James, pg.335
First Civil War
Despite the great successes of Hersi Aman and new territory acquired, the other branches of the Rer Sugule grew wary of his increasing power as a ruler and stood to challenge him, fearing his unchecked leadership. The wise Guled Haji, another prominent member and elder of the Rer Sugule, had a fallout with Sultan Hersi, and his son was killed by one of Hersis' sons. Hersi's son approached his father and implored him to pay the traditional mag compensation to Guled for the loss of his child. Hersi arrogantly rebuffed his son and all-out conflict would break out between Ba Awal (Hersi's branch) and Baho Sugule branches of the Rer Sugule.War and Peace: An Anthology of Somali literature, p.169
The Sultan Hersi himself would be killed in battle after some early clashes and later his commander Warsame would also fall. Warsame's sister lamented to her son Ali for the loss of Hersi, her husband Geid and other relatives in this poem recorded separately by both Phillip Paulitschke and Robecchi Brichetti.Rendiconti by Reale Accademia dei Lincei; Reale Osservatorio del Campidoglio published 1885. Page 228.
Following Hersi's death, the Rer Sugule gathered and the issue of compensation for the Sultan's death was a pressing issue. The conflict originally starting because no compensation had been paid to Guled Haji for his son. They decided that none would be paid and they would try to put this conflict to rest.
Maxamed Bulxan's poem touches on the unique nature of the meeting
Dual Sultans Era
After the death of Sultan Hersi Aman, the Baha Deria and Baha Makahil sections of the Sugulle dynasty vied for the Sultanship, which divided the Habr Yunis clan into two factions, the Baha Deria faction led by Guled Haji crowned Awad Deria a surviving son of the Sultan Deria Sugulleh. The Bah Makahil crowned Nur Ahmed Aman a young Mullah and nephew of Hersi Aman. Nur was initially uneasy and preferred his life as a Mullah rather than being the Sultan designate. The Habr Yunis were not interrupted by the British Somaliland protectorate which had been established in 1884 and was still largely relegated to the coast and its capital of Berbera.British Somaliland by Drake Brockman, pp.79 - 821912 Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography 1885, Volume 7, p.627 The two Sultans engaged in a lengthy war and divided the Sultanate's territory, where Awad ruled the Sultanate from his chosen capital of Burao and Nur from the Tuuyo plains and Oodweyne.The Academy: a weekly review of literature, science, and art. Volume 35, 1889, p.126
Frank Linsly James visited Sultan Awad at Burao in 1884 and witnessed the dissenting situation between the two Sultans. Describing the political situation in the region and frequent raids between the two rival Rer Sugulleh factions and their allied Habr Yunis subclans It appeared the great Habr Gerhajis tribe was divided into two rival factions, the one owning allegiance to Sultan Owd, the other to his cousin, Sultan Noor. Between these two the country was about evenly divided, and the border-line was an everlasting scene of wars and rumours of wars, cattle raids, and attempted murders.The Unknown Horn of Africa: An Exploration From Berbera to the Leopard River, 1888 The Haber-Gerhajis tribe had formerly been under one Sultan and were very powerful, making frequent raids into Ogadayn, but on his death, two cousins, Awad and Nur, divided the country between them.Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, 1885, Volume 7, p.627 Awad was killed fighting in Ogaden by the Reer Ali. This allowed Nur to establish himself at Burao and rule over the entirety of the Habr Yunis. The Baha Deria still did not concede defeat and would eventually choose Awad's nephew, Madar Hersi, as their successor following Nur's death.Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 21, p.161 Sultan Nur convened a shir of the Habr Yunis and decided to draw lots to settle the dispute with his challenger Madar Hersi rather than continue the senseless infighting that had lasted since Hersi Aman's death. Sultan Nur won the draw and gave Madar Hersi 100 camels as compensation and was proclaimed the uncontested Sultan of the Habr Yunis.British Somaliland by Drake Brockman, pages 79–82, 1912. The reunified rule under one Sultan Nur would last until the formation of the Dervish Movement several years later in 1899.
Early Dervish Era
Sultan Nur had been the architect of disturbances at Berbera and was the man who narrated the famous story of French Catholic missionaries in Berbera converting Somali children.Under the flag: and Somali coast stories by Walsh, Langton Prendergast. p. 243Somali Coast administration Report of the protectorate 1892–1893, Bombay Castle, NAY, New Delhi According to the consul-general James Hayes Sadler this news was either spread or concocted by Sultan Nur of the Habr Yunis. Madar Hersi his former rival for the Sultan title had aided the Mullahs of Kob Fardod in recovering livestock that was previously looted by some of the Habr Yunis and this reignited after receiving aid from the Mullahs there notably Mohammed Abdullah Hassan.Churchill and the Mad Mullah of Somaliland: Betrayal and Redemption 1899-1921. p. 24 by Roy IronsCorrespondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and consequent military operations, 1899-1901. P. 4. Upon his visit to Oodweyne in July 1899 Sultan Nur convened a great shir of the western Habr Yunis clans and called on them to join the new Dervish movement and upon their refusal he would leave to Burao and successfully rallied the eastern sections of the clan. The Dervish would declare war from Burao on September 1 of 1899.Correspondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and consequent military operations, 1899-1901. P. 8. Madar was soon propagated as the legitimate Sultan by British authorities and managed the western sections of the clan throughout the period of the Dervish wars.
Incorporation into British Somaliland Sultan Nur continued and would be heavily involved as a key figure of the Dervish movement and the main signatory of the Treaty of Illig in 1905 that granted them large tracts of today's Nugaal and the port of Eyl from the Italians to use.Il Benadir, Vico Mantegazza. 1908. pp. 323–324 Following Sultan Nur's death in 1907 he was entombmed in Taleh the headquarters of the movement and his son Dolal Nur was crowned by the Dervish Habr Yunis clans while Sultan Madar Hersi the more established and powerful of the two eventually would become the uncontested Sultan as Dolal died prematurely in 1917 and left no heirs.British Somaliland by Drake Brockman, pages 82, 1912. With the widespread involvement of the British in the interior against the Dervish the once de facto independent interior clans were brought under British administration and the Habr Yunis Sultanate would end.
Economy
The Habr Yunis Sultanate had strong economy and controlled two routes to the major port of Berbera leading from the Jerato and Sheikh mountain passes into the Hawd and Ogaden country. The key city of Burao was the Trade was significant and bolstered during the period that a Habr Yunis man Sharmarke Ali Saleh had established himself as Emir of Berbera and Zeila. The eastern sections of the Habr Yunis had coastal access and several ports of their own. They attained a lot of frankincense in the mountains south of Maydh and Harshaw. Arab and Banyan merchants would visit Maydh for commerce before continuing on to the larger ports such as Berbera and Zeila. Maydh was the preeminent export point for large hides the town had dialogue with Berbera with a large amount of cross trade occurring usually by dhow. As well alongside other northern Somalis and Isaaqs in particular, the Habr Yunis were significant traders in Yemen with Frederick Hunter giving an 1877 account of their trade.Hunter, Frederick (1877). An Account of the British Settlement of Aden in Arabia. Cengage Gale. p. 41. Somalis of the Habr Gerhajis tribe arrive from Ogadain with feathers, myrrh, gum, sheep, cattle, and ghee, carrying away in exchange piece goods; they also make four trips in the season; they remain for less than a month, and during their stay reside with fellow-tribesmen, taking their meals in the mokhbâzah or eating-house.
Administration