Mohamoud Ali Shire - Mohammed Abdullah Hassan

Mohammed Abdullah Hassan

Sultan Shire had a rather complicated relationship with Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, the Somali religious and nationalist leader whose Dervish State fought a two-decade long war against British, Italian and Ethiopian forces. Despite being Hassan's brother-in-law, the two rulers could not see eye-to-eye on a number of political, religious and social matters. Sultan Shire steadfastly defended his sultanate from being incorporated into Hassan's Dervish movement, and fought a number of battles to preserve its autonomy.

The British Somaliland protectorate's administration had also dealt with both Sultan Shire and Sayyid Hassan secretly, working to prevent any possible bilateral alliance of power-sharing and economic and political integration on their part. A notable incident took place in 1908, when British airplanes bombarded Jidali, Badhan and Taleex. This led to the dispersal of Hassan's Dervishes into many areas, and it took a long period for the Sayyid to recoup his strength. However, despite the rift between them, Sultan Shire and his army within the British Somaliland protectorate's claimed areas of Sanaag were severely disturbed by the sudden ebb in Dervish activities. To demonstrate his concern, Sultan Shire ordered his army to open fire on a British ship that was about to land at the port of Las Khorey. I.M. Lewis cites this brief incident in his book, A Modern History of the Somali:

The Warsangali clan within the British protectorate on the eastern coast who under their spirited leader Garad Mahamud 'Ali Shire had now decided to throw in their lot with the Dervishes and in Jan 1908, fired on a British dhow as it was landing on their coast. This incident has led to a hostile exchange of letters with the consul at Berbera and it was evident that the Dervishes would soon be on the march again.

Furthermore, Hassan's association with Sultan Shire as brother-in-law gave him access to the Maakhir coast, which served as a gateway to the Arabian Peninsula for the importation of firearms and ammunition. The Dervishes thus resumed their movements, which rendered the British nervous, especially since their alliance with the Isaaq forged in a treaty from 1885 had proved ineffectual.

After a quarter of a century of holding the British at bay, the Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 as a direct consequence of Britain's new policy of aerial bombardment.