Lafoole 1896: ''Axad Shiiki''

[Somaliweyn]

No Shiiki is how the Somali pronounce Cecchi

Anyways that verse of the shirib has a deep meaning. You can only appreciate that shirib when you know the whole background of the event and know who the guy Sheikh Axmed Xaaji (aun) was.

[Shirib]

I know about the pronounciation.

I know Virginia Lulling personally well my family does.

[Somaliweyn]

Mm interesting. I knew Virginia Lulling has spent more years in Somalia than I have spend

Your family must have been one of those people interviewed? Or was she just staying over with your family?

[Shirib]

More then half of the people in the acknowledgment is my family. I mean real blood family not that qabiil shit.

She stayed with my grandma, and grandpa. She took my grandpa's name we know her as Maryan Gaal but people used to call her Maryan Yusuf. She never told people she was writing a book but we were the first one to get it. I don't have the book on me but really the acknowledgment has a lot of people in my family in it I can list them off to you as who they are and how they're related to me.

I remember when I was young she came to visit us in Kenya like in 93 or something.

She speaks af-may way better then I do.

When I go to England I gotta go meet her.

[Somaliweyn]

3: The Somali response to Italian expansion

The Somali groups described in part 1 responded differently to the Italians who were expanding slowly but steadily into Benadir coast, and would inevitably venture into the hinterlands.

To start with the Geledi Sultanate,

The Geledi Sultanate was in decline throughout the 19th century. The Sultanate was in the shadow of its former splendid and power. The Geledi confederation headed by the Gobroon shaykhs of Afgooye had lost much of its cohesiveness as the nineteenth century drew to a close. The succession of Osman Ahmed in the 1880s brought to the Geledi sultanate a man of lesser ambitions and more political skills than his illustrious forebears. Osman, for example, did nothing to punish the Biyamaal when they blocked a branch of the Shabeelle River and thus caused severe hardship to Geledi´s agricultural allies downriver. ( Lee V. Cassanelli)

Despite these setbacks, Osman inherited baraka (grace) as a member of the Gobroon lineage was still respected by many ordinary Somalis in the region. In the mid 1890s Osman´s army had still been strong enough to defeat their traditional Hintire rivals down the river.

What was the view of the Sultan of the Italian expansion?
First of all what was the general mood in Geledi?

Most people were suspicious of the Italian encroachments and as described earlier people were whispering about Italians taking over the land and their farms. When the Italians came, The Geledi were divided on the issue to resist the penetration of Italians of Benadir coast or accommodate. While the people wanted to resist, the attitude of the Sultan and those in authority was cautiously accommodating the Italian presence in Benadir Coast. The Geledi-Wacdaan alliance came under strain at this time, for many of the Wacdaan were opposed to any compromise with the foreigners.

The Sultan started to accommodate the Italians and he started to establish friendly relationships with the Italian governors in Mogadishu. Cecchi apparently felt that Osman remained a force to be reckoned with, for the ill-fated Lafoole expedition had originated with Cecchi´s scheme for an Italian-Geledi alliance ( Lee V. Cassanelli)


The Wacdaan

The Wacdaan were mainly pastoralist, with a small group turning to farming throughout the centuries of their alliance with the Geledi clan who were mainly agriculturalists. As said above, the Wacdaan were opposed to any compromise with the foreigners. This fierce anti-foreign stance was persistent in the culture of Wacdaan and in the very place of Lafoole. The place has been called Lafoole because apparently the Wacdaan defeated the Gaalo Madoow when they migrated to the Lower Shabelle around the 18th century, hence the translation of Lafoole which is: Bones . ( Lee V. Cassanelli)

Because the Sultan of Geledi seemed hesitant to resist the Italian expansion into Benadir coast, the alliance was cooled off. Apart from the weakening of their bonds with the Geledi, the drought of the 1890s which lead to a large population of Wacdaan abandoning their homelands, the Italians posed the greatest threat to the group. They were, moreover, the first inland Somalis who’s territory was actually invaded by colonial soldiers at the time of the Cecchi expedition.

On of the most influential leaders among the Wacdaan was the leader Shaykh Ahmed Haji Mahhadi. He was not a Wacdaan but became the sheikh of the Wacdaan. He was born in Mogadishu and hailed from a lineage of Mogadishu (Abgal). He had lived there most of his life, teaching alongside such renowned Muslims scholars as Shaykh Sufi and Shaykh Mukhdaar. Like the latter, he found coexistence in a town which housed infidels intolerable, and he chose to retire to the small coastal enclave of Nimow, a little south of Mogadishu. There he set up a small jamaaca which attracted several of the local inhabitants. When Nimow was shelled by an Italian warship in retaliation for the Cecchi ambush, Ahmed Haji fled to Day Suufi (in the heart of Wacdaan territory) where he intensified his preaching against the infidels. As late as 1907, the acting Italian governor considered him ‘the most listened-to propagandist' in this area of the Shabeelle. Even the Geledi turn to him rather than to their own sultan for religious counsel. ( Lee V. Cassanelli)

One of the Wacdaan leaders apparently influenced by Ahmed Haji was Hassan Hussein, titular head of the largest subsection of the Wacdaan clan, the Abubakar Moldheere. The Abubakar Moldheere were the most numerous and hence the most militarily powerful section of the Wacdaan in the late nineteenth century. Hassan Hussein is remembered as one of the first Wacdaan to oppose the Italians: warriors from his lineage were prominent among the forces that attacked Cecchi at Lafoole. Likewise , his lineage was spokesmen for the Abubakar Moldheere who most strenuously urged the blockade of caravan routes to Mogadishu (economic sanctions).


The Biyamaal

This group is the best known group in the southern Somali resistance. Like the other groups in Benadir, the Biyamaal too were wary of Italian expansion into the Benadir coast. In the beginning the Biyamaal were following the actions of the Italians very carefully, while trying to accommodate them if they posed no threat. Yet there is little question that the resistance in Merca district was the fiercest and most prolonged in the Benadir. This is not surprising in light of the earlier history of the Biimaal: their continual struggle against many enemies had given them a cohesiveness and a military organization far tighter than that of most other southern Somali clans ( Lee V. Cassanelli).Throughout the nineteenth century the Biyamaal had stood together to defend their territory and their independence against encroachments by the powerful sultans of Geledi: both Yusuf Muhammad and his son Ahmed Yusuf lost their lives in battle against the Biyamaal. These proud nomads had also firmly resisted the sultan of Zanzibar´s growing influence in Marka by ambushing the governor of that town together with forty askaris in 1876 ( Lee V. Cassanelli).

Not only by sheer force were the Biyamaal able to resist the influence of the sultan of Zanzibar but they could also assure their influence on Marka by placing economic sanctions on the city. When occasional differences arose between the Biyamaal leadership in the interior and the old Arab and Somali families of Marka – who were always more interested than Biyamaal in establishing relations with foreign powers – the Biyamaal would hold up food supplies to the townsmen and divert their exports to smaller outlets along the coast. These boycotts proved extremely effective in assuring Biyamaal influence in urban politics, as the Italians would learn in 1904.

The Biyamaal consisted of four territorial sections spread along the coastal dunes between Jesiira and Mungiya and extending inland to the farmlands along the Shabelle. Each of these sections was represented by a number of religious authorities known generally as macaallimiin and by anumber of politico-military figures known as malaakhs and amaanduule. In times of crises, the leaders from all four sections would gather in shir to work out a common policy of action.

With the arrival of the Italians at the coast in 1890, Biyamaal leaders were almost in constant shir to coordinate their plans for the inevitable showdown between Italian expansion and their resistance. The Italian government always viewed them as its most determined opponent, colonial polcy was geared towards the dividing of Biyamaal leadership and thus divide the opposition. Remarkably the Biyamaal have presented a united front even when they were eventually defeated in 1908.

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The setting of 'Axad Shiiki' is completed, it is time to discuss that very day of 25th Novermber of 1896 and the morning of 26th Novermber of 1896.

What happened on those two days? Who attacked and annihilated the Italian expedition force? And how did this event spark the fire of resistance in the whole of Banadir which would last till 1908?

[Somaliweyn]

Shirib,

She had done a great job. When you meet her, give her my regards and thanks. Because Somalis are not known to write down their own history, always someone else should do it for us.

[Advocatar]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bjx86BbXspY

some good stuff.

[Koronto91]

Advo,

You survived them blazes, huh? Is it all cleared out by now or is CALI still burning?

[Advocatar]

waraa thank god for that, both of our places.....one in east diego and the other in la jolla miraculously survived by sheer luck. Cus you can see where the fire was contained only few streets down. alxadulilah.


fox news said, the fire was caused by alqaida, who are these myterious genetic group who seem to be responsible for all these horrendous attacks?

[Voltage]

Somaliweyn so when you were after the Marehan for their "tribal history" seems like you were not concerned about them being tribalistic but the fact you felt jealous.

Anyways great stuff, you should compile it.


-DawladSade

[fagash_killer]

how came that isaaqs know more about british history and southerns nothing about italian history eventhough british somaliland toke over italian somaliland by force and ruled muqadisho

[Somaliweyn]

DS,

We know each other too well. Lets not spread lies. I was never after Marehan tribal history, I was only after the tendensy of quasi-Professors compiling history based on a few lines and then boosting about it, while at the same time denouncing other's history, and posting derogative remarks about it.

Here are the topics:

http://somalinet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=118115&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=60
http://somalinet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=250&t=119044


My response to the first topic is in that topic itself.....my respond to the second topic is in this new topic:

http://somalinet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=264&t=120042


---

Now tell me, wasn't I right into stepping in those discussions to balance the situation? Tell me, who is doing the hating is those topic with derogative remaks and who is been proffesional in presenting an objective account of how history went?

[Somaliweyn]

FK,

Italy was not an ''advanced'' and organized colonial power in the world as was Britain. So Italy wrote not as many papers on their colonies than say Britain which had a well-functioning colonial deparments, like the Colonial War Office, which has the most data about Sayyid Muhamed Abdulle Hassan and his darwish army.

And to make matters worse, all the colonial data about Southern Somalia is burried in Italian language. As most Somalis speak by now English, it is difficult to go for Italian account.

I have an Italian book, which takes alot of time to translate, and since it concerns history, one must be very carefull in translation and interpretation.

---

Anyways, I will do my utmost best to present the resistance in Benadir-Southern Somalia against Italian expansion. Axad Shiiki (1896) is the sparking point, and I'll continue down to 1910, when Italy succeeded in their occupation of Southern Somalia.

The reasons for resurrecting this history has to do with the current situation in Benadir. The shamefull Ethiopian occupation is something all Somalis who are aware of our greatness strokes in their heart.

[Somaliweyn]

We have now arrived at the event that ignited the resistance of Southern Somalia (Benadir) against the Italian expansion into the Benadir coast.

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4. The spark that lit the Resistance: Lafoole 25-26th of November 1896

Lafoole as explained earlier was within Wacdaan territory. It lay in an area with thick brush and scrub grass, a suitable spot for a well-prepared ambush. The Wacdaan were waiting for this moment, as Cecchi was despised by all Somali groups in the Benadir, since he embodied colonial aggressiveness which became evident by his plans to ‘tap into the rich resources of Somalia’.

Also, the Wacdaan were from the beginning fiercely opposed to any compromise with the 'infidels'. This attitude was persisent in the culture of Wacdaan as explained earlier. Another impulse to this fierce anti-infidel attitude was the coming of Sheik Axmed Xaaji, the sheikh that found it intolerable to coexist with the 'infidels' in Mogadishu (see part 3). He lived among the Wacdaan, set up a jamaaca (religious school) and became the sheikh of the Wacdaan (religious leader). His ideas have apparently influenced the leader of the largest subgroup of Wacdaan (Abubakar Moldheere): Hassan Hussein.

Hassan Hussein, together with Sheikh Axmed Xaaji were instrumental in articulating the opposition to the Italian presence in Benadir. As already explained this too had its consequences for the political geography in Benadir, mainly the cooling of the alliance between Geledi and Wacdaan. Within the Geledi, the people wanted to resist the Italian expansion but the Sultan and the ones with authority choose for accommodation. In this the Wacdaan were slowly moving away from Geledi, and moving towards the Biyamaal, their erstwhile enemy.

The clash at Lafoole:

On 25th of Novermber in 1896, the moment arrived in which the Italian government gave the approval to venture into the interior, thus effectively leaving the garrisons in Mogadishu. Cecchi too was waiting for this moment since he was eager to sign treaties with the Sultan of Geledi, which he still thought was powerful enough to be instrumental in the Italian plans for Somalia. What he didn’t know however was that the Sultan did not represent the feelings of the people, who were fiercely opposed to Italian expansion. Cecchi and the others in the expedition would find out too late about this fierce anti-infidel attitude of the Somalis.

This expedition consisted of Antonio Cecchi, Commander Ferdinando Maffei of the Staffetta, Commander Franscesco Mongiardini of the Volturno, and fourteen other Italians. In the evening when the expedition force set their camp at Lafoole, they were attacked in which a fierce fight followed. Apparently, this attack was not decisive enough to finish off the expedition. The next morning a renewed attack followed which successfully finished off the expedition, with only 3 survivors to tell the story.

''With government approval, Cecchi prepared for an expedition into the interior. By November 25, he was ready to move; his caravan consisted of seventy askaris, Commander Ferdinando Maffei of the Staffetta, Commander Franscesco Mongiardini of the Volturno, and fourteen other Italians, for the most part members of the crews of the two ships. That very night their encampment at Lafolé, some twelve miles inland, was attacked. In the early morning hours, as the caravan once more got under way, it was attacked again. By eight-thirty in the morning of November 26, all but three sailors were dead or dying.'' (Robert. L Hess)

Who were these groups that attacked the Italian expedition?

In the Shaping of Somali Society, (Lee V. Cassanelli) it becomes clear that the group that attacked the Italians were of mainly Wacdaan warriors, accompanied by Murursade and Geledi warriors.

''In November 1896, he and a score of Arab askaris set out to meet with the presumably influential sultan of Geledi. It was the first colonial attempt to penetrate the interior with a military contingent, and it ended disastrously for the Italians. Cecchi’s expedition was besieged and most of it destroyed at a place called Lafoole, along the Muqdisho-Afgooye road by Somali warriors of the Wacdaan clan.''

In another passage the author reveals more about the composition:

''Geledi’s long-time allies the Wacdaan had apparently acted independently at Lafoole; and they had been assisted by a handful of warriors from the Murursade, also Geledi allies''

Virginia Luling instead talks about Wacdaan and others, which thus means Murursade and Geledi warriors, since the alliance consisted of these three groups:

''…Antonio Cecchi, famous as an explorer and one of the most enthusiastic and influential advocates of Italian colonisation, set out from Muqdisho for Geledi with a party of soldiers in Novermber 1896, intending to negotiate with Sultan Cusmaan Axmed.
They were surprised and attacked while camping in Wacdaan territory, at Laafoole at the edge of the deex, where the white earth meets the black, and the thorny bush gives way to more open country. Out of the seventeen Italians, only three survived.
The assailants were from the Wacdaan and perhaps other clans.''

Virginia Luling further sheds light on the location of Laafoole:

''It must be a particularly suitable place for surprise attacks, for fourteen years earlier, Révoil’s caravan had been attacked by Wacdaan at the same spot, and its name ‘place of bones’, comes from a much earlier slaughter, supposedely of the ‘gaalo madow’. ''

------
Reactions to the clash:

The ‘Lafoole Massacre’ as the Italian press called it, came less than a year after the humiliating Italian defeat at Adowa in Ethiopia. It was a severe physiological damage to Italian colonial ambitions.

For Somalis, it was a great day, which send a shockwave throughout the Benadir region. The 'Lafoole Massacre' which already severely shocked the Italian colonialists, was immediately followed by sporadic incidents along the whole Benadir coast.

In Mogadishu 100 or more Italians were wounded in a general uprising. In Marka, a young Somali, Omar Hassan Yusuf, assassinated the Italian resident, Giacomo Trevis. According to local accounts, Omar emerged after praying in the small mosque of Shaykh Osman ‘Marka-yaalle’ and knifed the ‘infidel’ Trevis as he walked along the beach. Giacomo Trevis was a hated man in Marka for a lot of reasons, besides been an unwanted colonialist, he was also hated for his policy of compulsory labor. In Warsheekh, a government askari was confronted as he stepped outside the garrison.In Baraawe, the well-known and influential Haji Shaykh Abbas railed against his Somali compatriots and called them ‘woman’ for allowing the Italians free movement there. ( Lee V. Cassanelli).

The Italians in Benadir were shocked, and when the news reached Rome, the foreign minister immediately appointed Commander Giorgio Sorrentino as royal commissioner extraordinary for the Benadir. Initialy, the Italians thought that Lafoole was an Ethiopian ambush since Ethiopians were besieging Lugh at that time and since there were rumours of an Ethiopian invasion of Benadir. When Sorrentino landed in Mogadishu,on 26th of January 1897, he immediately started the investigation of Lafole.

''Within ten days he had determined that Lafolé was neither the precursor of a general urprising against the Italians nor an Ethiopian ambush but an isolated case of action by Wadan tribesmen and the tribes of Geledi; who had been spurred to the act by two Arabs from Mogadishu’’ (Robert L. Hess)

This was a gross understatement of the Lafoole incident, and the attitude of the Benadir groups to the Italian presence.

Throughout the Benadir, from Warsheekh to well south of Marka, 1896-97 is remembered as Axad Shiiki ( the ‘Sunday year of Cecchi’). The Biyamaal date the beginning of their twelve-year resistance at Axad Shiiki. ( Lee V. Cassanelli).

The clash at Lafoole is immortalized by this shirib:

Shiin digow Sheikh Axmed Xaaji
Shiiki sheydaan mooho?

Translation:

Writer of (the Koranic verse) shiin, Sheikh Axmed Xaaji
Is not Cecchi a devil?

Sheikh Axmed Xaaji is the well-known religious leader of the Wacdaan who had established the jamaaca to teach Quran, religon etc

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The Italians have misinterpreted the signs of the coming storm which would engulf the Benadir region.

In the coming part, I'll explain the immediate consequences of the clash at Lafoole. How the Italians reacted to the 'Lafoole Massacre' and how the different Somali groups in Benadir reacted to the event and the wider issue of Italian pressence in Benadir coast. Slowly on from there we will arrive at the heroic struggle of the Biyamaal and their allies, amongst which their erstwhile enemy Wacdaan, against the Italian expansion.

[Xusseyn]

[quote="Somaliweyn"]Shirib,

She had done a great job. When you meet her, give her my regards and thanks. Because Somalis are not known to write down their own history, always someone else should do it for us.[/quote]

It's not really Somalis who don't collect and write about their history but Hawiyes, other Somalis do collect what ever history they have although some governments in the past have turned some of these histories into national history ignoring the history of the peoples in the south. Certain people who were in charge at national research and documenting academia where in the opinion that certain regions and tribes in Somalia didn't have history

I am suprised that no one actually talks about the Moobleen who were able to defeat the Ethiopians lead by Haile Sallasie's father I believe near Balcad alone at a very hight cost.