Wadamago Wadaamagoo | |
|---|---|
Town | |
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  Wadamago Location in Somaliland  Wadamago Wadamago (Somaliland) | |
| Coordinates: 8°55′28″N46°16′00″E / 8.92444°N 46.26667°E | |
| Country |  Somaliland |
| Region | Sool |
| District | Aynabo District |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mahamed Ahmed Naaf [1] |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Wadamago (Somali : Wadaamagoo) is a historic town in Aynabo District, in the Sool region of Somaliland. [2] [3] [4]
The name Wadamago (Somali : Wadaamagoo) stems from the phrase Wadaamo go', meaning wadaan breaker in Somali. A wadaan is a hand made bucket that is made up of animal skin and is a watertight round cylinder, with an open top that is attached to a semicircular carrying handle, which is also attached to a rope. Somali nomads grab the rope and drop the wadaan into a well to carry water. [1]
Wadamago is situated in the Aynaba District in the western part of Sool region. Wadamago is approximately 18 km west of Aynaba, the administrative seat of the wider district. [5] Other nearby towns include Qoorlugud (61 km), [6] Buuhoodle (102 km) [7] and Kirit (15 km). [8]
The town contains a 40 ft deep cave well with an abundant supply of water, made of limestone used by nomads nearby to sustain themselves and their livestock. [9] [10] The altitude of the town is estimated to be 800m. [11]
A road connecting the town to the nearby towns of Qorilugud and Buuhoodle is being constructed. Once completed, the 102 km long road will boost trade and economic activity in the Aynaba and Buuhoodle districts. [12] [13]
Wadamago was one of many Dervish outposts used throughout the duration of the Somaliland campaign. Guarded by some estimated 2,000 Dervish troops, it was one of the largest Dervish outposts in Somaliland. [14] [15] The town was described as having an abundant supply of good water from underground aquefiers. [16]
Wadamago is also the site where a battalion led by Henry Alexander Walker performed mundane escort duties and fatigues for a year before returning to Nyasaland. [17] [18]
The 1945 Sheikh Bashir Rebellion was a rebellion waged by tribesmen of the Habr Je'lo clan in the former British Somaliland protectorate against British authorities in July 1945 led by Sheikh Bashir, a Somali religious leader. [19]
On 2 July, Sheikh Bashir collected 25 of his followers in the town of Wadamago and transported them on a lorry to the vicinity of Burao, where he distributed arms to half of his followers. On the evening of 3 July the group entered Burao and opened fire on the police guard of the central prison in the city, which was filled with prisoners arrested for previous demonstrations. The group also attacked the house of the district commissioner of Burao District, Major Chambers, resulting in the death of Major Chamber's police guard before escaping to Bur Dhab, a strategic mountain south-east of Burao, where Sheikh Bashir's small unit occupied a fort and took up a defensive position in anticipation of a British counterattack. [20]
The British campaign against Sheikh Bashir's troops proved abortive after several defeats as his forces kept moving from place to place and avoiding any permanent location. No sooner had the expedition left the area, than the news traveled fast among the Somali nomads across the plain. The war had exposed the British administration to humiliation. The government came to a conclusion that another expedition against him would be useless; that they must build a railway, make roads and effectively occupy the whole of the protectorate, or else abandon the interior completely. The latter course was decided upon, and during the first months of 1945, the advance posts were withdrawn and the British administration confined to the coast town of Berbera. [21]
Sheikh Bashir settled many disputes among the tribes in the vicinity, which kept them from raiding each other. He was generally thought to settle disputes through the use of Islamic Sharia and gathered around him a strong following. [22]
The British administration recruited Indian and South African troops, led by police general James David, to fight against Sheikh Bashir and had intelligence plans to capture him alive. The British authorities mobilized a police force, and eventually on 7 July found Sheikh Bashir and his unit in defensive positions behind their fortifications in the mountains of Bur Dhab. After clashes Sheikh Bashir and his second-in-command, Alin Yusuf Ali, nicknamed Qaybdiid, were killed. A third rebel was wounded and was captured along with two other rebels. The rest fled the fortifications and dispersed. On the British side the police general leading the British troops as well as a number of Indian and South African troops perished in the clashes, and a policeman was injured. [22]
After his death, Sheikh Bashir was widely hailed by locals as a martyr and was held in great reverence. His family took quick action to remove his body from the place of his death at Geela-eeg mountain, about 20 miles from Burao. [23]
Wadamago is situated in a very strategic location, lying on the only tarmac road connecting Somaliland with Somalia, and contained a military base belonging to the Somali National Movement. As a result, the town was heavily mined by the Somali National Army led by Siad Barre during the Somaliland War of Independence. [24]
A famous landmark associated with the town is a fig tree of the Ficus platyphylla order believed to be hundreds of years old called Bardaha Wadaamagoo. Located in the center of the town, a Chinese crew had attempted to cut the tree down during the construction of the main road in the town however after resistance from locals the road was built bending around it. [25] [26] [27] The tree was used by the SNM to ambush and inflict heavy casualties on convoys of Siad Barre's soldiers passing through the town. [28]
The bloody and costly ambushes spawned a famous saying in the town; Ninkii wadada dheer wanaag ku maroow Wadaamagoo baa wadkaa yaal, which translated from Somali means; Whoever passes by the long road in peace will meet his fate in Wadamago, in reference to the heavy Somali army casualties. [29]
The town is exclusively inhabited by the Solomadow sub-division of the Habr Je'lo Isaaq clan. [30]
According to a book written in 1952, Wadamago was inhabited by the Musa Arreh and Musa Ismail sub-division of the Habar Yoonis, [31] : 164 Adan Madoba, Solomadow and Dahir Farah sub-division of the Habr Je'lo, [31] : 165 sub-division of Isaaq, and Khalid and Hagr Adan sub-division of the Dhulbahante. [31] : 166
British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate, was a crown colony and protectorate of the United Kingdom in modern Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Somalia, French Somali Coast and Abyssinia. From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa.
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The Habar Yoonis alternatively spelled as Habr Yunis is a major clan part of the sub-clan Garhajis of the wider Isaaq. As descendants of Ismail bin Sheikh Isaaq, its members form a part of the wider Habar Magaadle confederation which constitutes the largest sub-clan of the Isaaq.
The Isaaq (Somali: Reer Sheekh Isxaaq, is a major clan in Somaliland. It is one of the major clans in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territories.
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The Habr Je'lo, Arabic: هبر جعلو, Full Name: Mūsa ibn ash-Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad,bin Muḥammad bin al-Ḥusayn bin 'Ali bin Muhammad bin Ḥamza bin 'Abdullah bin Ayyub bin Qasim bin Ahmad bin Ali bin Isa bin Ali Akbar bin Hasan al-Askari bin Ali al-Hadi bin Muhammad al-Jawad bin Ali al-Ridha bin Musa al-Kadhim bin Ja'far al-Sadiq bin Muhammad al-Baqir bin Ali Zayn Al-Abidin bin Husayn bin Ali bin Abi Talib al-Hashimi historically known as the Habr Toljaala is a major sub-tribe of the wider Isaaq family. Its members form the confederation along with the Ibran, Sanbuur and Tolje’lo. The Habr Je'lo are divided into three further sub-tribes: the Mohamed Abokor, Musa Abokor, and Omar. Historically, the Mohamed Abokor were chiefly nomadic pastoralists, whereas the Musa Abokor and Omar obtained much of their wealth via their frankincense plantations in the mountainous interior adjacent to the coastline.The Habr Je'lo played a prominent role in the livestock and frankincense trade during the pre-colonial period.
The Mohamed Abokor is a Somali clan, and a major sub-division of the muuse sh isxaaq clan of the Isaaq.
Ruguda, also known as Rakudah is a historic coastal port town located in the Sanaag region of Somaliland, near Heis.
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The 1945 Sheikh Bashir Rebellion was a rebellion waged by tribesmen of the Habr Je'lo clan in the cities of Burao and Erigavo in the former British Somaliland colony and protectorate against British authorities in July 1945 led by Sheikh Bashir, a Somali religious leader, This rebellion occurred at a time two months upon the end of the Second World War in Europe, and post-war conditions, and the impending collapse of the British Empire, may have been the reasons for the rebellion in the first place.
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