Sultan Nuur Amaan And His Battle Against The British.

[Siciid85]

Sultaan Nuur amaan Contineus His Journey With 500 horsemen to attack Major Baynon

Interesting.

[The_Emperior5]

Sultan Nur amaan raiding the port of berbera This is the year of 1893 we go back in time Berbera was the stronghold of the British Empire And As sultan nur amaan wanted to strike them in the heart He raided berbera This is before the Estableshment of Darwiishism in burco 1899

[The_Emperior5]

Sultan nur amaan was Capabe Commander he was prepairing for a second raid he organised a group of horsemen Mostly from his clan

[The_Emperior5]

Suldaan nuur amaan did not rest He kept on going

[Siciid85]

There is a whole Blog dedicated to his majesty.


http://hornhistory.blogspot.com/2010/05 ... -nuur.html

[The_Emperior5]

When the British Could not Stop Sultan nuur amaan And His horsemen after the berbera raid They kidnapped His Wife The princess nicknamed garaado

[Siciid85]

Emperior, do you know his wife the supposed princess was dhulbahante but she was not the cuqdad ridden babygirl type of dhulbahante .




THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS

ABOUT a month after Sultan Nur's raid on Berbera, our
senior lamp-trimmer, Obseyah Mahomed, of the Habr
Gerhajis tribe and the Aden Port Trust service, asked
permission to see me alone. I admitted him at once to my
office, and he told me that his wife had travelled down
country with the Garadah, Sultan Nur's wife, who had
with her the Sultan's only son, an infant. The Garadah
was en route for Karam, a port 60 miles to the eastward
of Berbera, the embargo on her entrance to Berbera com-
pelling her to go there to purchase clothes and the annual
food supplies. She had, in fact, probably arrived at Bunder
Karam that morning.

I thanked Obseyah Mahomed for this very useful
information, and after he had left the Residency I immediately
sent for Mahomed Dosa, the harbour master; Jemedar
Khoda Buxsh (a Baloochi who spoke Somali fluently,
and had married a Somalin) ; and Baigsee Abseya, a Makail
(Ugas of Biladiehs). All three men sat cross-legged
on the floor of my office, and I disclosed to them the where-
abouts of Sultan Nur's wife and son. I then proposed
to catch the lady at Karam, and to bring her by sea to
Berbera.

To Khoda Buxsh I said : "You served for a few months
as a Camel Sowar in the Aden Desert Mounted Police, and
I now desire you to take command of a party of twelve
camels. Each animal carries two riflemen, but as you may
have to move rapidly, I think it would be safer to have
only one man up. You will reach Karam at a little before
three a.m., and fire on the town with blank cartridges. This
discharge will, I calculate, induce all the fighting men to
march out to oppose you ; in which case you are to run

away, and under no circumstances are you to fight. You

254



THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS 255

will, however, not commence this manoeuvre until you
see my barge off the port ; my barge will have two lamps
hung upon the mast. Mahomed Dosa will sail the barge
to Karam and land me and two orderlies there, keeping
the barge afloat with her stern to the shore. Every man
in the boat will be armed with a repeating rifle, and the
two swivel guns, under the direction of the police armourer,
Elshi Buxsh, will be loaded with canister and trained
on the beach."

Everything started according to plan, and before leaving
the Residency barge I heard the feu de joie made by Khoda
Buxsh's camelmen. I then landed and was directed by
Baigsee Abseya to the only stone building in the town,
in which he correctly predicted the Garadah would be
found. Oomradin (a Cashmiri), my personal orderly,
woke up the sleeping princess and endeavoured to carry
her bodily out of the house. This, however, he was
unable to accomplish owing to the prowess of the young
woman's arms, and he summoned Baigsee to his aid. There-
upon the two stalwart constables tied Her Highness's
skirt over her head, and so imprisoned her strong and
vigorous limbs. The lady was then lifted on to my left
shoulder, and I carried her safely to the barge. I had only
just bundled her on board, when some twelve or fifteen
of her retainers rushed on to the beach and hurled their
spears at me and the barge. Fortunately their missiles
fell short, and we got clear away without having fired a
shot or injured anyone. On our side, too, there were
no casualties.

Baigsee was very well known at Karam, as he frequently
conducted caravans to and from that port ; his presence,
therefore, had caused no surprise, and the inhabitants
simply considered he was in search of a traveller by caravan.
No one was aware that Baigsee had come to Karam with
Khoda Buxsh's camel corps, or that he had any connection
with the police party in the barge. In these circumstances
I felt satisfied that he ran no risk by remaining at Karam.
As it happened, after the barge had put to sea, Baigsee ran
up against the commander of the Garadah's escort. The
latter, having lost his mistress, was afraid to return to



256 UNDER THE FLAG

Sultan Nur, and he asked Baigsee if he thought that he and
his party, or at least some of them, would be permitted to
enter Berbera to attend on the Garadah. Baigsee very
rightly assured him that no member or servant of Sultan
Nur's tribe would be admitted into Berbera, but he thought-
fully suggested that the Garadah's clothes should be for-
warded to her there. This course was adopted, to the great
convenience of Her Highness.

As soon as the barge was safely away, our sail was
hoisted for Berbera. I unfastened Her Highness's skirt,
whereupon she abused me roundly for having seized her
in the dark by stealth, and not in the open field as a fighting
man should do. She vowed dire vengeance, saying that
her husband would attack and burn Berbera and drive the
British into the sea, as he and his friends had determined
not to accept the domination of the white man. I apolo-
gized, and expressed my sincere regret for the necessity
of seizing Her Highness ; but I explained that I had been
obliged to do so as the only means I had to compel the
Garadah's husband to restore the camels he had driven
off from the grazing-ground at the foot of the Golis range.
I predicted with deference that the Sultan would surely
prefer to have back his favourite wife and his only son
(who had also been captured) than to retain the camels
and cattle. I assured the Garadah that she would be
well treated, lodged, and fed while under my charge.

The sea was extremely rough, but the Garadah and her
little son were made as comfortable as circumstances per-
mitted. My Somali butler, Poblay Awali (Habr Gerhajis),
respectfully presented the seasick lady with a cup of hot
tea and a similar measure of cocoa and milk. The Garadah
at first declined these refreshments ; but Mahomed Dosa,
with whom she was personally acquainted, assured her
of her personal safety and good treatment, and, being
terribly fatigued, she finally accepted the tea and soon
dropped off to sleep. The infant prince meanwhile had
made himself quite at home, and, moreover, proved that
he possessed an excellent appetite.

On arriving at Berbera the barge was made fast to the
pier, and I endeavoured to help Her Highness to step on



THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS 257

shore. She declined, however, to accept aid, and made
indeed not the slightest acknowledgment of my overtures.
I had hurriedly decided to accommodate the Garadah in the
guest house on the Shaab, and I sent for a Somali constable's
wife, who had been employed to take care of the women
of the Nakib's slaves when they were interned in a quar-
antine hospital on an island in Aden harbour. I had seen
a good deal of this Somalin, as I happened to be the officer
in command of the police party on Quarantine Island.
A dholie was sent to convey the Garadah to her temporary
residence ; but she preferred to walk, and I gathered that
she had never before seen an ambulance.

As soon as the Princess was safely installed in the
guest house, a strong guard was posted for her protection.
I thereupon wrote a courteous, and in no sense defiant,
letter to Sultan Nur, informing him that his wife was under
my personal care, and that she neither had been, nor would
be, treated with anything but the respect due to her high
rank. I then invited the Sultan to restore the animals
he had carried off from the Berbera town grazing grounds.
I assured His Highness that when full restitution had been
made the Garadah would be freed and sent under a suitable
escort to whatever place His Highness might fix upon.

Having donned a white uniform, and wearing my medals
and sword, I sought and obtained an interview with the
Garadah. I showed and read to her my letter to her hus-
band, which bore the official seal of my office and my
personal signature, and I asked her if she desired to have a
letter written at her dictation, to travel with mine to Sultan
Nur. She said : "No", and then, to my intense surprise,
after requesting me to hand her again my letter, she began
to read it herself. Now I had never before heard of, let
alone met, an indigenous Somalin who could read or write.
The Garadah perceived my obvious bewilderment and
disbelief of her claim to such an educational attainment,
and she volunteered the following explanation.

"I am by parentage a Somalin, but I was born at Sannar,
and resided ail my girlhood in Arabia, where I was educated.
Indeed, I speak Arabic as my mother tongue. My father,
having prospered, purchased a considerable property in



2 5 8 UNDER THE FLAG

live stock and, on the death of his father, settled in the home
of his youth. My grandfather had sheltered in his kraal
a venerable widad, who taught me to read the Koran and
with whom I spoke Arabic. This holy man was not a great
scholar, but he had made the pilgrimage to Mecca as a
mendicant, and so had seen something of the world. I
then grew up to womanhood and married Sultan Nur.
Sultan Nur can neither read nor write any language ;
but he is a great foot soldier and leader of men, and I warn
you your letter will make him furiously angry. He will
probably tear it up, and at once send word to inform you
of his intention to attack and burn Berbera. He will
be afraid of looking ridiculous in the eyes of his neighbours
if he surrenders your camels simply because I have fallen
into your hands. I hope that Your Excellency will make
it quite clear to my husband that I became your prisoner
through no fault or negligence of mine."

I replied : "I will certainly comply with Your Highness's
request, which it is only fair and just that I should do.
I will now insert an extra paragraph in my letter narrating
the whole circumstances of your capture." I held out my
hand for the return of my letter, but apparently she did
not wish me after all to add anything. In giving the missive
back to me, however, she observed : "You write good
Arabic, but your calligraphy is that of a child. You need
to be taught by a scribe to write neatly, and to form
better connections between your syllables." I answered
her : "Your Highness is perfectly correct. Personally I
seldom write Arabic, and consequently get no practice in
penmanship. On this occasion I was compelled to write
myself because I had no Arabic clerk available. I will,
however, venture to request the honour and pleasure of
being given a few lessons in calligraphy by Your Highness."
She did not appear to be offended by this request, although
she made no reply to it. She then smiled, and did not seem
to have been annoyed or bored by our conversation.

My lamp-trimmer came to the Residency and asked me
not to tell his wife (who was then in actual attendance on the
Garadah), or indeed the Garadah herself, that I had learned
from him of the Princess's presence at Karam. I readily



THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS 259

promised not to give him away to anyone. Soon after-
wards the Garadah's clothes arrived, having been sent
by Baigsee on a fleet hygeen. This thoughtful attention
pleased the lady, and made her much more comfortable.
As a matter of fact, I had already been mindful to leave money
in the hands of the matron to enable her Highness to pur-
chase whatever garments she might require ; while the
ladies of Mahomed Shermarki's household, who had called
on the Garadah, had received a hint to place their ward-
robes at the Garadah's disposal.

Ten days elapsed, but no reply to my letter came from
Sultan Nur. I heard, however, that two Senousi Akwan
were guests in his kraal ; and this was a very significant
fact, since it showed that these guests, members of a very
influential community, were hatching a scheme to retaliate
on and injure the Administration.

I donned my uniform, medals and sword, and in that
"rig-out" called each day at noon on the Garadah. Little
by little we became friendly. One day I was watching her
playing backgammon with the lamp-trimmer's wife, who
was a member of Her Highness's tribe, when, suddenly
looking up, she asked in Arabic : "Does Your Excellency
play this game, or is it beneath the dignity of the wearer
of the 'Sword of State' to do so with a woman ?"

"Indeed, no," I replied. "I should consider it a great
honour and privilege to try a 'hit' with Your Highness."
And thereupon I sat down and arranged the board,
and we cast a die to decide who should have the first
throw. She won, and we played several "hits" with varying
success. But in the end she was two or three to the good.

In due course I received a note from the Political Officer
at Zeila. From the contents of this communication
I learned that a member of the Abubuker family had hired,
from our side of the western frontier, several camels to
carry goods from a Dunkali port, through the Gadabursi
country, to that part of Somaliland in which Sultan Nur
resided. As this was a very unusual route, and as also
the hirer of the camels was a well-known seller of smuggled
firearms, it at once appeared to me that rifles or ammunition,
or both, were being despatched to Sultan Nur. I therefore



260 UNDER THE FLAG

sent a mounted messenger to each of the two Duffadars in
charge of the Camel Sowar posts situated to the south and
south-west of Bulhar, with directions to scout in conjunc-
tion with each other to the southward and eastward of the
Jibril Abuker boundaries, where they adjoined the Gada-
bursi limits. Jemedar Khoda Buxsh was one of my mes-
sengers, and he had orders to take charge of all the mounted
men, including Friendlies. He could then collect the
horsemen and personally conduct the operations.

Hassan Ahmed, Major Hunter's second interpreter,
happened to be on leave at the time and at his house in the
Berbera country. He was therefore in a position to
assist, with some of his mounted friends. After a few days
of watching they located the loaded camels on their way
eastward, and they acquainted Jemedar Khoda Buxsh
of the exact whereabouts of the quarry. The Sowars
then speedily captured the lot, and found that the loads did
in actual fact contain rifles. This was a smart piece of
police work, and must have astonished Sultan Nur and
his two Senousi advisers considerably. Incidentally, before
the news of this seizure of rifles had reached me, I had
received an extremely impudent letter from Sultan Nur.
This I had returned to him, with an endorsement in red
ink, requesting him to admonish and punish his clerk for
the rude and undiplomatic language used on behalf of a
Sultan to a neighbouring ruler. He took no notice of my
remarks, but no doubt it had a useful effect, coming on the
top of the news regarding the capture of his rifles.

A few days afterwards the head of a small Habr
Gerhajis Jilib, who had once accompanied me on a short
shooting tour, came to pay his respects at the Residency.
He asked permission to see the Garadah, and the latter
consented to receive this visitor. He was, it transpired,
her distant cousin. Later the visitor saw me again, and,
having assured me he was in no sense an emissary from
Sultan Nur, he said he thought he might personally be
able to bring about peace. He pointed out that the real
difficulty of effecting an amicable settlement was the ridicu-
lous position in which my tactics and strategy had placed
the Sultan, a master of many thousand horse and foot



THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS 261

warriors. I answered that in order to indicate my desire for
peace and a settlement, I would, as a first step, liberate the
members of the Sultan's tribe detained as prisoners in
Aden, and also those held on bail in Berbera. On the other
hand, I definitely declined to release the Garadah until
every animal carried off had been restored, or its full value
paid for. I added that the amount of fine to be imposed
on His Highness was a matter open to discussion. I
flatly and firmly refused to pay Dia (blood money) for the
three raiders killed, or any compensation for the four horses
shot by my police. While I declared that, if Sultan Nur
attempted to carry out his threat to attack and burn Berbera,
I should at once send the Garadah to Aden for safety, and
thus, whatever might be the result of the fighting, the Sultan
would not recapture her. My visitor then left, after begging
hard to be made the authorized bearer of milder terms.
To that I replied : "You may tell the Sultan that it is a
matter of indifference to me whatever course he may take."

After the would-be peacemaker had departed I sought
an interview with the Garadah. She received me cordially,
and observed that her husband was not unlikely to come
to terms with me if I did not make them too onerous for
his acceptation. With that I told Her Highness also that
if Sultan Nur attempted to attack Berbera I would send her
for security to be detained at Aden. She had never anti-
cipated such an action upon my part, and my remark caused
her to weep and to accuse me of being only fit and capable
of making war on a woman. I said : "If Your Highness
is sent to Aden, it will be entirely your husband's fault.
Common sense dictates the value of the possession of Your
Highness's person, because the physical detention of your
priceless self provides an ample and adequate security
in one sense or another for the loss of the looted animals."
The Garadah admitted the force of my reasoning, and I
think was not annoyed with this expression of my views.

Her Highness then went on to say : "I told Your
Excellency that I had been taught to read the Koran, and
have therefore a slight knowledge of Islamic laws and
customs. I believe it is laid down in the 'Book' that a
woman made prisoner in war becomes 'the spoil of war'.



262 UNDER THE FLAG

I was captured by Your Excellency's sword, and therefore
I ask if I am 'yours' ? You have by force and skill gained
legal possession of me. Are you man enough to make
that announcement publicly to my late husband, for I
must necessarily regard him as such, since I have ceased
to be his wife in consequence of my capture by yourself."
She added : "I have never read your Bible ; but my old
teacher told me that many of the stories and parables related
therein resemble those in the Koran. Our revered prophet
'Nubbi-Isa' was as Jesus, the founder of your Christianity,
and I have gathered that in his Bible women captives of
war can be legally taken as concubines or made the slave
wives of their captors."

"Your Highness has correctly stated and interpreted
the laws of the Koran," I replied. "But Your Highness
does not seem to understand that I am a humble, loyal, and
obedient servant of the great and gracious Queen Victoria.
My Queen is the foremost woman of all women, and for
the protection of her sex she does not allow any servant of
her Crown to take any woman as the 'spoil of war'. I
am therefore not free to claim or act upon the laws and
customs which Your Highness has so correctly alluded
to and so appositely commented upon. If circumstances
had been different, I could have afforded Your Highness
another explanation of my conduct, attitude, and ideas."
I thought by this reply to have very adroitly got out of the
dilemma into which I had fallen by the Garadah's arguments
and frame of mind. I had no desire to affront her, as
I might easily have done, by asserting that, as a woman,
I would not accept her at any price or on any conditions.

Another ten days elapsed, and then Sultan Nur wrote
to say that he would treat with me with respect to the
looted animals. I at once released all the prisoners be-
longing to his tribe, and had a properly drawn up agreement
sent for his perusal. If he accepted the terms set forth
in the agreement, he was himself to bring that document
into Berbera and sign it at the Residency, after which he
would at once take possession of the Garadah, his wife.
With all these conditions Sultan Nur complied, and his
wife was handed over to him in the presence of the Akil

THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS

and notables of Berbera, under a salute and presentation
of arms by a Guard of Honour. The Garadah, veiled
and standing at the main entrance of the Residency ready
to mount her camel, publicly thanked me in Arabic for
the courteous treatment she had received at my hands.
She then turned, and to her husband, who also understood
Arabic, she said : "We owe a debt of gratitude to this
Christian officer. I felt much safer while in his charge
than I would have done if I had been in the custody of
a Moslem official."THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS

ABOUT a month after Sultan Nur's raid on Berbera, our
senior lamp-trimmer, Obseyah Mahomed, of the Habr
Gerhajis tribe and the Aden Port Trust service, asked
permission to see me alone. I admitted him at once to my
office, and he told me that his wife had travelled down
country with the Garadah, Sultan Nur's wife, who had
with her the Sultan's only son, an infant. The Garadah
was en route for Karam, a port 60 miles to the eastward
of Berbera, the embargo on her entrance to Berbera com-
pelling her to go there to purchase clothes and the annual
food supplies. She had, in fact, probably arrived at Bunder
Karam that morning.

I thanked Obseyah Mahomed for this very useful
information, and after he had left the Residency I immediately
sent for Mahomed Dosa, the harbour master; Jemedar
Khoda Buxsh (a Baloochi who spoke Somali fluently,
and had married a Somalin) ; and Baigsee Abseya, a Makail
(Ugas of Biladiehs). All three men sat cross-legged
on the floor of my office, and I disclosed to them the where-
abouts of Sultan Nur's wife and son. I then proposed
to catch the lady at Karam, and to bring her by sea to
Berbera.

To Khoda Buxsh I said : "You served for a few months
as a Camel Sowar in the Aden Desert Mounted Police, and
I now desire you to take command of a party of twelve
camels. Each animal carries two riflemen, but as you may
have to move rapidly, I think it would be safer to have
only one man up. You will reach Karam at a little before
three a.m., and fire on the town with blank cartridges. This
discharge will, I calculate, induce all the fighting men to
march out to oppose you ; in which case you are to run

away, and under no circumstances are you to fight. You

254



THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS 255

will, however, not commence this manoeuvre until you
see my barge off the port ; my barge will have two lamps
hung upon the mast. Mahomed Dosa will sail the barge
to Karam and land me and two orderlies there, keeping
the barge afloat with her stern to the shore. Every man
in the boat will be armed with a repeating rifle, and the
two swivel guns, under the direction of the police armourer,
Elshi Buxsh, will be loaded with canister and trained
on the beach."

Everything started according to plan, and before leaving
the Residency barge I heard the feu de joie made by Khoda
Buxsh's camelmen. I then landed and was directed by
Baigsee Abseya to the only stone building in the town,
in which he correctly predicted the Garadah would be
found. Oomradin (a Cashmiri), my personal orderly,
woke up the sleeping princess and endeavoured to carry
her bodily out of the house. This, however, he was
unable to accomplish owing to the prowess of the young
woman's arms, and he summoned Baigsee to his aid. There-
upon the two stalwart constables tied Her Highness's
skirt over her head, and so imprisoned her strong and
vigorous limbs. The lady was then lifted on to my left
shoulder, and I carried her safely to the barge. I had only
just bundled her on board, when some twelve or fifteen
of her retainers rushed on to the beach and hurled their
spears at me and the barge. Fortunately their missiles
fell short, and we got clear away without having fired a
shot or injured anyone. On our side, too, there were
no casualties.

Baigsee was very well known at Karam, as he frequently
conducted caravans to and from that port ; his presence,
therefore, had caused no surprise, and the inhabitants
simply considered he was in search of a traveller by caravan.
No one was aware that Baigsee had come to Karam with
Khoda Buxsh's camel corps, or that he had any connection
with the police party in the barge. In these circumstances
I felt satisfied that he ran no risk by remaining at Karam.
As it happened, after the barge had put to sea, Baigsee ran
up against the commander of the Garadah's escort. The
latter, having lost his mistress, was afraid to return to



256 UNDER THE FLAG

Sultan Nur, and he asked Baigsee if he thought that he and
his party, or at least some of them, would be permitted to
enter Berbera to attend on the Garadah. Baigsee very
rightly assured him that no member or servant of Sultan
Nur's tribe would be admitted into Berbera, but he thought-
fully suggested that the Garadah's clothes should be for-
warded to her there. This course was adopted, to the great
convenience of Her Highness.

As soon as the barge was safely away, our sail was
hoisted for Berbera. I unfastened Her Highness's skirt,
whereupon she abused me roundly for having seized her
in the dark by stealth, and not in the open field as a fighting
man should do. She vowed dire vengeance, saying that
her husband would attack and burn Berbera and drive the
British into the sea, as he and his friends had determined
not to accept the domination of the white man. I apolo-
gized, and expressed my sincere regret for the necessity
of seizing Her Highness ; but I explained that I had been
obliged to do so as the only means I had to compel the
Garadah's husband to restore the camels he had driven
off from the grazing-ground at the foot of the Golis range.
I predicted with deference that the Sultan would surely
prefer to have back his favourite wife and his only son
(who had also been captured) than to retain the camels
and cattle. I assured the Garadah that she would be
well treated, lodged, and fed while under my charge.

The sea was extremely rough, but the Garadah and her
little son were made as comfortable as circumstances per-
mitted. My Somali butler, Poblay Awali (Habr Gerhajis),
respectfully presented the seasick lady with a cup of hot
tea and a similar measure of cocoa and milk. The Garadah
at first declined these refreshments ; but Mahomed Dosa,
with whom she was personally acquainted, assured her
of her personal safety and good treatment, and, being
terribly fatigued, she finally accepted the tea and soon
dropped off to sleep. The infant prince meanwhile had
made himself quite at home, and, moreover, proved that
he possessed an excellent appetite.

On arriving at Berbera the barge was made fast to the
pier, and I endeavoured to help Her Highness to step on



THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS 257

shore. She declined, however, to accept aid, and made
indeed not the slightest acknowledgment of my overtures.
I had hurriedly decided to accommodate the Garadah in the
guest house on the Shaab, and I sent for a Somali constable's
wife, who had been employed to take care of the women
of the Nakib's slaves when they were interned in a quar-
antine hospital on an island in Aden harbour. I had seen
a good deal of this Somalin, as I happened to be the officer
in command of the police party on Quarantine Island.
A dholie was sent to convey the Garadah to her temporary
residence ; but she preferred to walk, and I gathered that
she had never before seen an ambulance.

As soon as the Princess was safely installed in the
guest house, a strong guard was posted for her protection.
I thereupon wrote a courteous, and in no sense defiant,
letter to Sultan Nur, informing him that his wife was under
my personal care, and that she neither had been, nor would
be, treated with anything but the respect due to her high
rank. I then invited the Sultan to restore the animals
he had carried off from the Berbera town grazing grounds.
I assured His Highness that when full restitution had been
made the Garadah would be freed and sent under a suitable
escort to whatever place His Highness might fix upon.

Having donned a white uniform, and wearing my medals
and sword, I sought and obtained an interview with the
Garadah. I showed and read to her my letter to her hus-
band, which bore the official seal of my office and my
personal signature, and I asked her if she desired to have a
letter written at her dictation, to travel with mine to Sultan
Nur. She said : "No", and then, to my intense surprise,
after requesting me to hand her again my letter, she began
to read it herself. Now I had never before heard of, let
alone met, an indigenous Somalin who could read or write.
The Garadah perceived my obvious bewilderment and
disbelief of her claim to such an educational attainment,
and she volunteered the following explanation.

"I am by parentage a Somalin, but I was born at Sannar,
and resided ail my girlhood in Arabia, where I was educated.
Indeed, I speak Arabic as my mother tongue. My father,
having prospered, purchased a considerable property in



2 5 8 UNDER THE FLAG

live stock and, on the death of his father, settled in the home
of his youth. My grandfather had sheltered in his kraal
a venerable widad, who taught me to read the Koran and
with whom I spoke Arabic. This holy man was not a great
scholar, but he had made the pilgrimage to Mecca as a
mendicant, and so had seen something of the world. I
then grew up to womanhood and married Sultan Nur.
Sultan Nur can neither read nor write any language ;
but he is a great foot soldier and leader of men, and I warn
you your letter will make him furiously angry. He will
probably tear it up, and at once send word to inform you
of his intention to attack and burn Berbera. He will
be afraid of looking ridiculous in the eyes of his neighbours
if he surrenders your camels simply because I have fallen
into your hands. I hope that Your Excellency will make
it quite clear to my husband that I became your prisoner
through no fault or negligence of mine."

I replied : "I will certainly comply with Your Highness's
request, which it is only fair and just that I should do.
I will now insert an extra paragraph in my letter narrating
the whole circumstances of your capture." I held out my
hand for the return of my letter, but apparently she did
not wish me after all to add anything. In giving the missive
back to me, however, she observed : "You write good
Arabic, but your calligraphy is that of a child. You need
to be taught by a scribe to write neatly, and to form
better connections between your syllables." I answered
her : "Your Highness is perfectly correct. Personally I
seldom write Arabic, and consequently get no practice in
penmanship. On this occasion I was compelled to write
myself because I had no Arabic clerk available. I will,
however, venture to request the honour and pleasure of
being given a few lessons in calligraphy by Your Highness."
She did not appear to be offended by this request, although
she made no reply to it. She then smiled, and did not seem
to have been annoyed or bored by our conversation.

My lamp-trimmer came to the Residency and asked me
not to tell his wife (who was then in actual attendance on the
Garadah), or indeed the Garadah herself, that I had learned
from him of the Princess's presence at Karam. I readily



THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS 259

promised not to give him away to anyone. Soon after-
wards the Garadah's clothes arrived, having been sent
by Baigsee on a fleet hygeen. This thoughtful attention
pleased the lady, and made her much more comfortable.
As a matter of fact, I had already been mindful to leave money
in the hands of the matron to enable her Highness to pur-
chase whatever garments she might require ; while the
ladies of Mahomed Shermarki's household, who had called
on the Garadah, had received a hint to place their ward-
robes at the Garadah's disposal.

Ten days elapsed, but no reply to my letter came from
Sultan Nur. I heard, however, that two Senousi Akwan
were guests in his kraal ; and this was a very significant
fact, since it showed that these guests, members of a very
influential community, were hatching a scheme to retaliate
on and injure the Administration.

I donned my uniform, medals and sword, and in that
"rig-out" called each day at noon on the Garadah. Little
by little we became friendly. One day I was watching her
playing backgammon with the lamp-trimmer's wife, who
was a member of Her Highness's tribe, when, suddenly
looking up, she asked in Arabic : "Does Your Excellency
play this game, or is it beneath the dignity of the wearer
of the 'Sword of State' to do so with a woman ?"

"Indeed, no," I replied. "I should consider it a great
honour and privilege to try a 'hit' with Your Highness."
And thereupon I sat down and arranged the board,
and we cast a die to decide who should have the first
throw. She won, and we played several "hits" with varying
success. But in the end she was two or three to the good.

In due course I received a note from the Political Officer
at Zeila. From the contents of this communication
I learned that a member of the Abubuker family had hired,
from our side of the western frontier, several camels to
carry goods from a Dunkali port, through the Gadabursi
country, to that part of Somaliland in which Sultan Nur
resided. As this was a very unusual route, and as also
the hirer of the camels was a well-known seller of smuggled
firearms, it at once appeared to me that rifles or ammunition,
or both, were being despatched to Sultan Nur. I therefore



260 UNDER THE FLAG

sent a mounted messenger to each of the two Duffadars in
charge of the Camel Sowar posts situated to the south and
south-west of Bulhar, with directions to scout in conjunc-
tion with each other to the southward and eastward of the
Jibril Abuker boundaries, where they adjoined the Gada-
bursi limits. Jemedar Khoda Buxsh was one of my mes-
sengers, and he had orders to take charge of all the mounted
men, including Friendlies. He could then collect the
horsemen and personally conduct the operations.

Hassan Ahmed, Major Hunter's second interpreter,
happened to be on leave at the time and at his house in the
Berbera country. He was therefore in a position to
assist, with some of his mounted friends. After a few days
of watching they located the loaded camels on their way
eastward, and they acquainted Jemedar Khoda Buxsh
of the exact whereabouts of the quarry. The Sowars
then speedily captured the lot, and found that the loads did
in actual fact contain rifles. This was a smart piece of
police work, and must have astonished Sultan Nur and
his two Senousi advisers considerably. Incidentally, before
the news of this seizure of rifles had reached me, I had
received an extremely impudent letter from Sultan Nur.
This I had returned to him, with an endorsement in red
ink, requesting him to admonish and punish his clerk for
the rude and undiplomatic language used on behalf of a
Sultan to a neighbouring ruler. He took no notice of my
remarks, but no doubt it had a useful effect, coming on the
top of the news regarding the capture of his rifles.

A few days afterwards the head of a small Habr
Gerhajis Jilib, who had once accompanied me on a short
shooting tour, came to pay his respects at the Residency.
He asked permission to see the Garadah, and the latter
consented to receive this visitor. He was, it transpired,
her distant cousin. Later the visitor saw me again, and,
having assured me he was in no sense an emissary from
Sultan Nur, he said he thought he might personally be
able to bring about peace. He pointed out that the real
difficulty of effecting an amicable settlement was the ridicu-
lous position in which my tactics and strategy had placed
the Sultan, a master of many thousand horse and foot



THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS 261

warriors. I answered that in order to indicate my desire for
peace and a settlement, I would, as a first step, liberate the
members of the Sultan's tribe detained as prisoners in
Aden, and also those held on bail in Berbera. On the other
hand, I definitely declined to release the Garadah until
every animal carried off had been restored, or its full value
paid for. I added that the amount of fine to be imposed
on His Highness was a matter open to discussion. I
flatly and firmly refused to pay Dia (blood money) for the
three raiders killed, or any compensation for the four horses
shot by my police. While I declared that, if Sultan Nur
attempted to carry out his threat to attack and burn Berbera,
I should at once send the Garadah to Aden for safety, and
thus, whatever might be the result of the fighting, the Sultan
would not recapture her. My visitor then left, after begging
hard to be made the authorized bearer of milder terms.
To that I replied : "You may tell the Sultan that it is a
matter of indifference to me whatever course he may take."

After the would-be peacemaker had departed I sought
an interview with the Garadah. She received me cordially,
and observed that her husband was not unlikely to come
to terms with me if I did not make them too onerous for
his acceptation. With that I told Her Highness also that
if Sultan Nur attempted to attack Berbera I would send her
for security to be detained at Aden. She had never anti-
cipated such an action upon my part, and my remark caused
her to weep and to accuse me of being only fit and capable
of making war on a woman. I said : "If Your Highness
is sent to Aden, it will be entirely your husband's fault.
Common sense dictates the value of the possession of Your
Highness's person, because the physical detention of your
priceless self provides an ample and adequate security
in one sense or another for the loss of the looted animals."
The Garadah admitted the force of my reasoning, and I
think was not annoyed with this expression of my views.

Her Highness then went on to say : "I told Your
Excellency that I had been taught to read the Koran, and
have therefore a slight knowledge of Islamic laws and
customs. I believe it is laid down in the 'Book' that a
woman made prisoner in war becomes 'the spoil of war'.



262 UNDER THE FLAG

I was captured by Your Excellency's sword, and therefore
I ask if I am 'yours' ? You have by force and skill gained
legal possession of me. Are you man enough to make
that announcement publicly to my late husband, for I
must necessarily regard him as such, since I have ceased
to be his wife in consequence of my capture by yourself."
She added : "I have never read your Bible ; but my old
teacher told me that many of the stories and parables related
therein resemble those in the Koran. Our revered prophet
'Nubbi-Isa' was as Jesus, the founder of your Christianity,
and I have gathered that in his Bible women captives of
war can be legally taken as concubines or made the slave
wives of their captors."

"Your Highness has correctly stated and interpreted
the laws of the Koran," I replied. "But Your Highness
does not seem to understand that I am a humble, loyal, and
obedient servant of the great and gracious Queen Victoria.
My Queen is the foremost woman of all women, and for
the protection of her sex she does not allow any servant of
her Crown to take any woman as the 'spoil of war'. I
am therefore not free to claim or act upon the laws and
customs which Your Highness has so correctly alluded
to and so appositely commented upon. If circumstances
had been different, I could have afforded Your Highness
another explanation of my conduct, attitude, and ideas."
I thought by this reply to have very adroitly got out of the
dilemma into which I had fallen by the Garadah's arguments
and frame of mind. I had no desire to affront her, as
I might easily have done, by asserting that, as a woman,
I would not accept her at any price or on any conditions.

Another ten days elapsed, and then Sultan Nur wrote
to say that he would treat with me with respect to the
looted animals. I at once released all the prisoners be-
longing to his tribe, and had a properly drawn up agreement
sent for his perusal. If he accepted the terms set forth
in the agreement, he was himself to bring that document
into Berbera and sign it at the Residency, after which he
would at once take possession of the Garadah, his wife.
With all these conditions Sultan Nur complied, and his
wife was handed over to him in the presence of the Akil

THE CAPTURE OF A PRINCESS

and notables of Berbera, under a salute and presentation
of arms by a Guard of Honour. The Garadah, veiled
and standing at the main entrance of the Residency ready
to mount her camel, publicly thanked me in Arabic for
the courteous treatment she had received at my hands.
She then turned, and to her husband, who also understood
Arabic, she said : "We owe a debt of gratitude to this
Christian officer. I felt much safer while in his charge
than I would have done if I had been in the custody of
a Moslem official."

[The_Emperior5]

yeah i have seen that his wife was dhulbahante she was a daughter of a sheikh Thats why she is refered as the garaada Any how Sultan nur Amaan he threatened the British Governer in berbera if he does not return his wife he will burn berbera He was a brave man and the British Governer in berbera said i will release some of your horsemen that raided berbera whow were locked up in Adan yemen few weeks before who belonged to Sultan nuur amaans tribe

[Siciid85]

yeah i have seen that his wife was dhulbahante she was a daughter of a sheikh Thats why she is refered as the garaada Any how Sultan nur Amaan he threatened the British Governer in berbera if he does not return his wife he will burn berbera He was a brave man and the British Governer in berbera said i will release some of your horsemen that raided berbera whow were locked up in Adan yemen few weeks before who belonged to Sultan nuur amaans tribe

I have seen it before sxb of how he was threatening to burn down berbera if they don't free his wife, son, horsemens, rageedi.