Thread by @NomadCanadian

In 1833 James Forbes visited Berbera mentioning Sharmaarke as one of the prominent traders.

1838 the ABBADIE brothers reached Aden planning to travel to Abyssinia through Berbera. Their initial goal was to visit Harar a destination forbidden to all Europeans.

The two brothers ultimate destination was Shoa and king Sahle Selassie 1795 – 1847 however they claimed:

"The governor of Aden, who employed his agent against us, a Somauli named ScherMarka, established in Aden. This man, very influential among his compatriots,... continue

"....ScherMarka decided in a meeting of Somaulis that no leader of the caravan would admit us. Soon more annoying rumors circulated about us; our abbans warned us not to go out in the evening, not to move away, even during the day, from the dwellings"
.

This was 1839 , the British having annexed Aden .The French not far behind were seeking a base in Abyssinia & Somali region.The Abbadie brothers were working directly for the French government. This imperial rivalry in the red sea from would ultimately cost the life of Sharmarke

Berbera controlled the trade to/from both Harar and Shoa the strongest feudal kingdom in Abyssinia headed by Sahle Selassie (the grandfather of Menelik) an ally of Shermarke. Harar and Shoa was the ultimate prize for both the French and the British.

In 1839 D'héricourt a Frenchman attempted to reach Abyssinia through Tajoura again Sharmarke assisted in foiling the French interest. Accompanying captain Morseby to the Sultan of Tajoura sold the island of Mussa to the British. In the agreement Sharmarke appear as a witness.

In 1842 Charles Johnston (1810-1872) visited Berbera & described the trade season, the town & the residents. Besides Somalis coming as far as the Mareexaan and Hawiye clans, none Somalis came from as far as india, & Arabia .
Finally he describes the lord of Berbera... continue

Describing Berbera fair.

" During the
S. W. Monsoon, from September- March, thi place
is the busy scene of an extensive commerce, & a
deserted wilderness for the remaining months; after
which interval, again the ships of foreign & the caravans of native products begm to arrive.

After describing the Somalis of Berbera & the trading Arabs & Baniyans. Finally he meets Sharmarke the lord of Berbera & he describes him as :
"The well-known Shurmalkee, or Allee, his real name, is now upwards of fifty years old, tall,
thin, with slightly stooping
shoulders;

"his face
long, with small quickly moving eyes, &thin
white beard.The only deviation from the usual
dress of his countrymen is a white cotton cloth turban, a distinction, with the title of sheik, generally assumed by those who can read the Koran, or have performed the pilgrimage"

Sharmarke was the most famous Somal, most influential & the richest.
" By
his industry and enterprise he has become the
richest man along this coast ; nor is there scarcely
a prince or petty chief in the adjoining countries
who is not indebted to this African Rothschild"1842.

Conquering Zeila at last' 1843.

"Sheikh Ali Shoomarkee of Berbera , with his Somalee followers , had taken possession of the town of Zeila from the troops of the Sheriff of Mocha , making the whole detachment prisoners without bloodshed .... continue

."....the reason given by Shomarkee being that the Arab servants of the Sheriff had abused and insulted the English on the occasion of Lieutenant Cruttenden ' s mission : “ Zeila is mine , ” he concluded"

By taking Zeila Sharmaarke gained it's tributaries including Tajoura.

Xaaji Shermarke became the first Somali to rule Zeila overthrowing the Arab heridatory rulers. The population of Zeila according to Karpf who visited Zeila in 1844 after Shermarke take over was majority Gedabursi followed by Ciise, Habar Awal, Arabs and finally Danakil.

Schermarke had entered into negotiations with Ugas Farech to open up a route for travelers through the Isa country and via Killelu to the Tadjurra road to the Shoah. The ugas young son the later ugas Roble living in Zeila acted as a liaison.

Shermaarke from 1844-1852 diverted trade from Harar to weaken the Emir of Abu Bakr & ultimately take Harar..
Abu Bakr allied with the H. Awal of Berbera finally succeeded in overthrowing Shermarke after nearly half century. The tower of Berbera built by Shermarke was demolished.

One can understand the conflict generally, but the French are heavily bias against Sharmaarke the man who kept the French away from the coast from Tajoura to Berbera from 1839-1860.

In 1843 taken zeila by force from The head of the Arab tribes
near Zaila, by name Seid Muhammad Bar, Sharmaarke declared " zeila is mine " to the British.

The French recounts and of events. Sharmaarke losing Berbera and charged with piracy.

https://twitter.com/NomadCanadian/status/1310396079431544832/photo/1

Shermarke's reign in Berbera beginning in the 1820s came to an end in 1852 .Ruling the vital coast from Tajoura to Berbera, his final ambition to unset the Emir of Harar unraveled his domain & united his rivals. He brilliantly outfox the powers rulling Yemen, British & Turks..

Sharmaarke administration in Zeila was composed of Abdullah Mohamed, commander of troops .
Shermarke, had a secretary,an Arab from Hadramount, Ali Toor,  in charge of military spending. Zeila employed at least two police officers, Jama Robly & Syed Ali and Abdullahi a Qadi.

Emir Abubakar of Harar imprisoned Shermaarke's agents. Sharmakay persuaded the son of Sahle Selassie to imprison about 300 Hararis.

That conflict lasted till 1852 when the Emir died & Shermarke lost Berbera. Shermaarke continued planning to take over Harar according to Burton

Between the Amirs of Harar Abubakar & his son Ahmed and Shermaarke the various Somali clan cheifs came under the influence of either Shermaarke or Harar.

Gerad wiilwaal , Gerad Aden of Geri, Gerad Boon of H.Awal, ugas Nur of gedabursi and ugas Farah of the Isa.

In 1854 Burton visited Harar via Zeila, Disguised as a Muslim. Reaching Berbera the Habar Awal upon suspicious of British plot to reinstall Shermaarke in Berbera attacked his party killing one officer and wounding Burton.

This caused the second blockade of Berbera 1855-1856.

Abu Bakr Ibrahim shaxim a wealthy Afar slave trader from Tajoura files a complaint against Shermaarke with Mohamed Pasha, for having looted one of his 62 caravans to Zeila.

Shermarke was removed from his post as governor of Zeila in 1855 and was replaced by Abu Bakr.

A rebellion in Asir region in 1856, occupies Mohammed Pasha & the Turks .Shermarke slips out of Aden , Governor Coghlan signals his departure to Bombay, adding that the military setbacks suffered by the Turks in Yemen may allow Shermarke to attempt a forceful recovery of Zeila.

Aboubeker accuses Shermarke of having expected that the Turks, to lose Yemen, and took the advantage to seize Zeila. He explains how the city was taken in pliers, blocked by sea with eight boats and subjected from inland to a joint attack by the Issas, provoked by Shermarke.

Shermarke, learning the victory of the Turks in Yemen, lifted the siege. He denied everything & claims that he was refused his property. He complains the order of Mahmoud Pasha has not been respected & accuses Abubker of having bought the complicity of one of the pasha's cawas

The interview, according to Playfair (assistant political agent at Aden,) is stormy:

"I can't give the measure of the hatred that each manifests for the other; there was no salvation exchanged between them, they frequently hurled violent insults at each other"

Playfair explains Shermarke's attitude through the interview, opportunity to see the Turks driven out of Yemen by the Asris & the fact that Aden has been without warship. If things had turned out favourably for him, he would have made a desperate effort to take back Zeila.

The blockade of Zayla harbour lasted for weeks, Shermarke was assisted by his eldest son Mohammed.The news about Zeila suddenly becomes alarming the port is blocked & no boat has managed to come to Aden. Coghlan the British governor of Aden had no warship to send to Zeila.

Playfair absolves Shermarke of the violence,he admits the presence of a flotilla of eight boats constitutes a blockade of the port & he is also guilty of having incited the Issas against the city Coghlan informed him of the preconditions for his return to Aden Shermarke accepted

Meanwhile the Turks crushed the revolt &Mohammed Pasha who removed Shermarke from the governorship of Zayla was replaced by Ahmed Pasha
Ahmed immediately reinstated Shermarke &AbuBakr was hauled to prison. The French were furious accusing the new Pasha of been bribed by Shermarke

Henry Lambert arrived in Aden in l 1855, and visited Zeila & Tadjourah in 1856. He was appointed unpaid French consular agent in Aden in September 1857. Abu Bakr offered to sell a coastal outpost to France, Ras Ali and Obockh. At last France found what it was seeking for 20 years

Lambert: tribal murder & Zeyla justice:

"At night, a bloody fight broke out between two parties of Essas. . Next day, the governor called the Bedouins to his court,& afterwards a rather long debate, condemned four of these bandits to be chained by the neck."

After eight months imprisonment Aboubeker proposed to the Pasha a ransom of five thousand piasters, this was divided in half between the pasha and Sharmarke. Or so thr French claimed. French Navy commander Mequet openly forced the Pasha to refund AbuBakr.

Shermaarke retaliated by confiscating a shipment belonging to Lambert. The owner was thrown in jail, the crew dispersed; all the cargo was lost.

In the summer of 1859 Lambert sailed to Tajoura aboard the ship Nalchery, whose nakhoda was, of the tribe of Esse, named Abdul Ah.

Lambert
" I was secretly warned not to leave, because something bad would happen to me".

Meeting Ahmed Pasha in Hodeida he purported that he was given the sword of govenership of Zeila to be handed to AbuBakr replacing Shermarke. An outlandish claim by L. Simonin

Henri Lambert died on the evening of June 4, 1859, between the Moussah lines, in the Gulf of Tadjoura in a shipwreck.

But to the French the "murder" was allegedly camouflaged as a shipwreck.

Both the French and British investigated the incident reaching pollar apart conclusion.

The British governor of Aden Coghlan immediately sent an investigative team lead by his deputy playfair and the commander of Furious Osborne. The British conclusion was an obvious shipwreck.

The French claim The murder was camouflaged as a shipwreck. The boat, . Alerted by Aboubeker, whose brother Diny had visited saw the traces of blood and collected the confessions of sailors.

Alarmingly the French cheif witnesses and investigators are Shermarke's enemies.!

On July 16 Count Walewski charged Mr. Meurant, his chief of staff, to settle the matter and the Political Direction wrote the Ambassador of France in Constantinople, in the direction desired by the Admiral. Langle's investigation will be long.

1s confessions of Abdillahi, the Nacouda of Nassery. The Somme anchored in front of Zeila June 7 . Thanks to the combined efforts of Aboubeker, Seyed Mohamed Al Bar and notables. of the city, Nacouda of Nassery was surrounded by a large delegation of the Tribe the Issas.

All of Zeila's notables boarded the ship La Somme. on June 8, accompanied by a hundred Issas, led by their great Ugas Roble , Aboubeker Ibrahim & former governor Mohammed Al Bar .In front of de Langly & the Qadi of Zeila , Abdullahi the "Naakhuda" began his "confession".

According to De Langle:

During a cross-examination of Aly Tuur, the katib & Mohamed Hassan Robly Shermaarke confidante .Samantar Sherwa the capta, who had sailed the two men to Hodeida, certified all the details of the conversation between Abdillahi and the two in Hodeida.

Aouat Fakil, Shermarke's banker, who had organized Lambert's murder, according to the French did make a full confession.He wrote a report confirming the accounts of his accomplices, blaming Shermarke &Ahmed Pasha for the crime of which he claimed to have been only the instrument.

De Langle thus persumply concluded his investigation and as promised he released Abdillahi as promised. The principal witness of the case.

De Langle dubiously left Abdullahi in Zeila abd took Dini Ibrahim Shaxim the rival of Shermaarke's as a witness to France.

Once De Langle released Abdillahi the Issa Naakhuda. Ugas Roble of the Issa emotionally remarked :

"These are the true believers," said the Ugas, pointing to the French; " its us who are the true infidels, we are dogs with hair inside"

The dethroning of Ugaas Rooble. Less then a year later Ugaas Rooble lost his title. A clan assembly removed his ceremonial turban & ritually shaved his head. The incident is retold in

" Aden Et Le Golfe d'Aden: Lettres Du R. P. Exupère de Prats de Mollo, Capucin.,1868".

" Robli is no longer an ogaz. And for that reason. It had been a long time since it rained; They began to say that it was he who had attracted this punishment from Heaven by delivering the murderers of Mr. Lambert to France,...... continue

.. one day, in full assembly, they took his turban and shaved off his head: .This man, whose lofty character the Rear Admiral had noticed, took it philosophically, he let his hair grow, & here he is Bedouin as before." P.107

Plon-Plon a cousin of emproer Napoleon the 3rd , control of Foreign Affairs, pursuing aggressive expansionist policy in the red sea since 1858 at last found a suitable pretext in gaining a foot hold in the red sea using Lambert's case.

"

"I am laying the foundations of a regular communication of France's steam ships & its colonies of the Indian Sea. If this is realized thanks to the liners and to the Imperial Navy our colors will float continuously from the Nile delta to the coast of Madagascar. " Plon-plon.

Between April and July 1860 various reports collected by Russell confirm that Lambert was assassinated .Marine & Foreign Affairs collaborated to restore French prestige . Navy ship commaner captain Fleuriot de Langle investigation establishes the guilt of Charmarké on the docks.

After leaving Zeyla with the "prisoners" de Langle demanded that Turks prosecute the accused, he was refused both by Ahmed Pasha in Yemen and Ali Pasha in Jeddah.

Langle also refused to share the evidence against the to prisoners. Even Playfair and the British were left out.

The accused were the following:

1- Shermaarke Cali Saalax arrested in Hodeida in 1861. Died in Jeddah .
2- Ahmed Pasha the Ottoman governor of the Yemen not arrested.
3- Feredj, one of the secretary of Sharmarke. Died in reunion island.
4- Aly Bar Omar Tour. Died on sea.

These men were sent to Constantinople for trial.
5- Mohammed Hassan Rooble.
6- Aouat Bel Fakil. .
7-El Téré, who first had confessed. Died in France .
8- Xaaji Cismaan Shermaarke third secretary.
9- Geele Geedi a sailor.
10- Cali sanqoolay.
11- Muuse Mohammed.

They were accompanied by the Samanta Sheroua, as the only witness. Abdillahi the primary witness was let go in Zeila. The third witness DDiny was not sent to Constantinople as a witness.
Rather suspiciously he signed the acquisition of Obockh to France.

Joseph Lambert brother of Henri in 1863 wrote to the French foreign minister Drouyn de Lhuys:

"Your Excellency you are not aware of the real cause of this assassination, the resentment raised by the treaty that my brother had made with Abu-Baker, on the orders of ....

.......H.S.H. Prince Napoleon at that time Minister of Algeria and Colonies.
This treaty transferred to France in exchange for ten thousand thalaris of a fairly extensive territory with a view to the creation of an Algerian like colony near. Aden. "

December 1864 Ahmed Pasha imprisoned Abu Bakr. Six months later under French pressure he was released . Abu Bakr fled Zeila in fear.The sublime porte Abdulaziz ( The Sublime Porte,( باب عالی ) at last offered to settle directly the compensation due to the Lambert family.

The sum of 296,000 Turkish piasters was promised to Lambert family as an indemnity.Meanwhile the French insisted on prosecuting Ahmed Pasha in the murder of Lambert. At the end neither indemnity was paid nor was Ahmed Pasha tried.

While Dini Ibrahim was in France in 1862 ostensibly as the witnesses in Lambert murder, in reality he was there to make a sale. He sold Obockh to France for 10,000 dollars , in the name of the Emperor Napoleon. That and France refusing to send him to Constantinople to testify.

Eventually the Porte leased over to France the revenues of the port of Zeila, till the sum of 30,000 dollars, the estimated cost of M. de Langle's mission to investigate M. Lambert's death. Strangely the French didn't pursue an indemnity for Lambert's family.

France suddenly was disinterested in the fate of the Lambert alleged murder trial and the prosecution of the alleged conspirators.

What happened to the accused and the only witness? No record of their fate whatsoever in French, or British archives.

The last record of those prisoners in the British archives was in 1862.
Vol I File 22 Somali prisoners taken to France by Commodore d'Langhe in the case of the late M Henri Lambert [Secret]
British Library: Date:01 January 1862 - 28 February 1862.Reference:IOR/R/20/E/67, Item 4

The French case against Sharmarke was dubious & politically motivated.Their primary witness Abdullahi claimed he had a letter with Shermaarke seal absolving him in the case he was cought.

Its absolutely preposterous. Conveniently he alleged Shermarke took the letter back.

Leaving behind their star witness Abdullahi&taking Dini Ibrahim to France as a witness is suspect.Dini a known enemy of Shermarke can't be a credible witness .His entire allegation are all second hand hersay No other nation believed the charges against Shermaarke & his associates

The French narrative on Shermarke hardly evolved from Louis Simonin in 1862 to Roger Daguenet 1992 writings on the case.Almost a century and half after Shermarke's suspicious death Daguenet included all the racist innuendos and contemptuous snides originally written by Simmons.

Daguenet a contemporary specialist in the region not once questioned the French motivation. He didn't deviate from the 1862 interpretation of louis simonin vilification of Shermarke character & a final guilty verdict.Two claims are a worthy examples of clear bias.

Example 1. Speaking of Shermarke

"He is the grandson of an Abyssinian slave. He probably born in 1776, when his emancipated father married a Somali woman of the Haber Garajis: "He's a colossus, Herculean in size, who has lost an eye . He was light-skinned and had blue eyes."

Example 2.

"A week before his death from heart disease,Shermarke, as a sign of repentance , put on his turban and asked for Western clothes, showing guilt and considered it unworthy to die as a Muslim"

Both writers a century and half apart repeats these absurdity.

The struggle between France and England generally and specifically Shermarke's role frustrating the French's effort to gain a foothold for decades and Abu Bakr ultimately overtaking his master and Zeila. All these events eventually created the country known as Djibouti today.

The life of Shermarke was orally recounted by traditional Isaaq oral historians.

Radio Hargeisa weekly program included a weekly account of the biography of Shermarke.

"Unforgettable names in Somali history the life of the late Shermarke Ali governor of Zeila"

Shermarke appears in African biographies and Djibouti historical Dictionary.

1-Dictionary of African Biography, . By Emmanuel Akyeampong, and Henry L. Gates.

2- Historical Dictionary of Djibouti. By Daoud Alwan, Yohanis Mibrathu.

In Somalia's , " Historical Dictionary of Somalia By Mohamed Haji Mukhtar" absurdly Shermaarke doesn't appear, even though the author covered his era extensively from 1800-1869 and covered local clan cheifs.

Yet he ommitrd the most famous Somali locally and internationally.!

In 1843 the Yoonis Nuux pushed their rival Axmed Nuux from Berbera.With the help of Shermarke then the governor of Zeyla the reer Axmed retook Berbera& Shermarke to protect Berbera built two mortello towers in 1844.The Somali historian Muuse Galaal adds the following oral history

The oral history
After Shermarke built the two mortello towers, Muuse Galaal according to the oral history attributed this rhyme to Shermarke. " Daartu Daar bay Daalibaysaa, Anna Duul baan u Dan leeyahay' Alluding to expansion in Berbera and to his plotting against his enemies.

The poet Cali Jaamac Haabiil vowed on his manhood:
Awal aan la marin Saaxil oon, meesha laga waayin
Nin madoobi xeebtii hadduu, maro ka soo qaato
Abtirsiimaday muran gashiyo manidi Haabiile
The poet maxamed Bulxan also composed a poem to his clan to confront Shermarke.

Muuse Galaal continues , narrating that the Habar Awal foiled Shermarke plan and he finally fled and he was killed when Habar Awal assassins managed to pass his guards and slaves.

Muuse Galaal refer to Shire Shermarke , implying he was the son of Shermarke not himself. Continue

There is an issue here. The poem can be estimated at beginning of colonialism.The following couplet indicates it was composed after King Menelik II came to prominence between 1866-1889.
Gaalada Miskoo iyo haddii, Minilig lay keeno
Ingiriis madaafiic hadduu, nagu milaaleeyo.

We know for a fact the last time Mohammed Shermaarke the eldest son was in command in Berbera was 1852. In that year his father lost power & the two mortello towers were demolished by the H.A.The first British colonial official in Berbera Welsh dated Mohamed's rule's end in 1854.

No possibility that either Maxamed Bulxan or Cali Jaamac could have composed these poems in 1852. The only plausible solution to this enigma is that Mohammed Shermaarke at some point during the Egyptian Somali coast era garnered enough political power to restablish himself.....

Galaal's oral source conflated the battle of Berbera in 1852 , where Shermarke lost the port and his fortifications .With much later events in 1870s where Mohammed the son gained power under the Egyptians..Cali Jaamac's poem addressed to M.Shermarke is one of his earliest

M. Shermarke died in 1898, his son Axmed popular as Acned Shire inherited the Akil position, perhaps thats where the Shire name came into the narration.

Akil A. Shire raided Qoob Fardood. This was the first time the British came to know the mad Mullah the victim of the raid,

Axmed was killed in Daboolane raid in 1910 along brother Guhaad in Galaadi by the Ba Geri Ogaden. He lead a H.Yoonis force pursuing the ogaden looters. The ogaden composed two poems (erroneously attributed to the mad Mullah on the raid) , .... continue

one stanza refers to the killing of Axmed. Shire.
Nijaaskaan shalayto mudmuday waa muqadinkoodiiye.

Salaan carraby composed a eulogy to the brothers and a vowed a Jihad to end against the dervish... continue.

Salaan carraby on the death of Axmed and Guhaad:

Muuse Carre Sharafkii ka dhimay, Shaambaddii boqore
Shaalkii Galladduu ku hadhay, shire hog-guu yiile.

Shiinena an keennee haddaan, sharacgal kaa weyney.
Waynoo shihiid dirir xumaad naga shaqayseene.

Jaamac inherited his fathers position in 1910. From 1914-1920 he lead a perpetual campaign against the dervish finally along caaqil Xaaji Waraabe leading 1, 500 Isaaq tribal forces took Taleex on Feburary 6-7/1920 avenging his father.
Victorious forces pictured at Taleex attached

He lived in a turbulent times of clan wars and dervish destruction.During Guba years his personal assassinations were called for by daarood poets such as ina Dage in revenge of their killed Akils.

Shaybiyo haddii aan la layn Ina Shiraa Jaamac.

He died late 1950s.

The below horsemen photo had become a faqash paraphernalia. Suffice to say both Xaaji Waraabe and Xaaji Jaamac appear in the pictures .I hope Afweyne loyalist aren't disappointed & these men have destroyed the first Al Shabaab movement a.k.a. the Somali dervish.

The end.