Taleh

In the Dervish-written letter's description of the fall of Taleh in February 1920, in an April 1920 letter transcribed from the original Arabic script into Italian by the incumbent Governatori della Somalia, the various Dervish-built installations are described as garesas taken from the Dhulbahante clan by the British:[1][14]

The Mogadishu governor was later inspired to similarly refer to his resident mansion as a garesa.[15]

The last residents of the Silsilad fort were Haji Yusuf Barre, the singlehanded defender of Taleh, Mohamud Hosh (pictured), the last castellan of Taleh and Jama Biixi Kidin, an abandoned Dervish child prisoner.

According to Dervish veteran Ciise Faarax Fikad, Taleh was chosen as the Dervish capital because the Nugaal Valley lies at the heartland of Dhulbahante territory, its distance from colonial administrative centers and to generate geographical distance from the hostile bodies such as Rayid signatories to British treaties, the Majeerteen, those under Mohamoud Ali Shire and the Ogaden who were in general opposed to the Dervish:[16]

Colonial sources concur with Somali sources that non-Dhulbahante clans were hostile towards the Dervish:[17]

The coast tribes, viz ., the Habr Toljaala, the Habr Gerhajis, the Warsangli of our own Protectorate, and the Mijjarten tribes of the Italian Protectorate were all professedly hostile to the Mullah.

— Charles Egerton (Indian Army officer)

Territory of Dervish sultan Diiriye Guure in 1907 (marked out in black ink delineation), according to Somali historian Muxamed Ibraahim Muxamed, consisted of the Ciid-Nugaal regions of Nugaal province, Las Anod District, Xudun District, Taleh District, Boocame District and Bookh District.

Aerial photograph of the largest Dhulbahante fort in Taleh

Taleh is home to several historic structures dating to the Dervish era. Of these, there are five forts erected by Mohammed Abdullah Hassan's former Dervish movement in present-day Sool and Sanaag. Constructed between 1901 and 1915, most of the edifices are concentrated in the Sanaag & Sool region, including Dalyare fort, Jidali fort, Midhisho, Shimbir Bariis and Badhan. Taleh/Taleex is the largest of the structures. According to Cabdi-Yaar Cali Guuleed, a Dervish veteran, the largest Dhulbahante fort from the Dervish era is the Dhulbahante fort of Taleh which according to him was built between 1909 and 1910 and he said the following:[18]

It was built around a collection of Dervish tombs, the earliest of which belongs to Sultan Nur Ahmed Aman and Carro Seed Magan, the mother of the emir of Diiriye Guure,[19] i.e. the Sayid. From 1909 to 1910, the Dervish constructed the main fort around the older tombs. They spent the next two years in the mountainous regions of Sanaag building three more smaller forts.[20]

Maxamuud Xoosh Cigaal was the last Dervish man to be resident at the Taleh fort,[21] whilst the six-year old Jaamac Biixi Kidin was the last Dervish person in the fort overall.[22]

A 1931 diary-book by former governor of Italian Somaliland Francesco Caroselli notes an April 1920 letter by the Sayid to the then Italian-Somalia governor which states the Taleh fort was one of 27 forts built by Dervish and that they're called Dhulbahante garesas.[1]

'The Mullah's fortifications at Taleh'. The tombs of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, Sultan Nur and unnamed Habr Je'lo and Hawiye notabales can be seen in the Dhulbahante garesa

In 1919–1920, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) bombarded the Sanaag forts, where most of the Dervish had operated since 1913. Having destroyed the structures and driven out Mohammed Abdullah Hassan's men to Taleh in 1920, they finally attacked the town, assisted by horsemen and Somali personalities. The settlement was bombarded by the Royal Air Force on 4 February and taken days later, with the British having defeated the last pockets of Dervish resistance.[23] Among the casualties at Taleh were Ibrahim Buqul and Haji Sudi, two of the closest men to the Mullah and both being of the Adan Madobe sub-division of the Habr Je'lo. The former was the commander of the Dervish at Taleh, and the latter was a long-standing member of the movement according to Douglas Jardin (1923) and Henry Rayne (1921). Another Dervish leader, Yusuf Xayle, was captured alive and later executed by former Dervish Abdi Dhere, who had defected to the opposition in 1919. Muhammad Abdullah Hassan himself managed to escape to the Ogaden, where his Dervishes were later routed in a 1921 raid led by the clan leader Haji Warabe.[24]

At the beginning of the Somali civil war, the Sool region was in a drought, and the area around Taleh was particularly affected. Local nomads lost much of their assets and migrated to nearby cities such as Las Anod.[25]

In 2009, women reportedly have no voting or suffrage rights in Taleh at this time.[26]

In March 2011, elders of Taleh resolved to call for the withdrawal of Somaliland troops from Sool.[27] On December 26, 2011, an SSC meeting was held in Taleh, attended by elder Haji Abdikarim Hussein and others.[28]

In August 2011, fighting between Somaliland and Puntland forces occurred in Taleh, with at least 3 killed and 7 wounded.[29]

In January 2012, Somaliland police arrested a reporter from Universal TV in Las Anod who broadcast news about the Taleh clan meeting for allegedly distorting the content of the meeting.[30]

In January 2012, the Dhulbahante clan proclaimed the independence of Khatumo State with Taleh as its capital. However, this was not recognized internationally, nor by neighboring countries Somaliland and Puntland.[31]

In November 2012, Somaliland municipal elections were held, but voting did not take place in Taleh for security reasons.[32]

In November 2013, there were clashes between Puntland and Khatumo forces, which also killed several civilians. Many of Taleh's residents were evacuated to nearby neighborhoods. Epidemics of diarrhea, pneumonia, and other diseases occurred in evacuated areas.[33]

In mid-April 2014, Somaliland sent hundreds of troops to occupy Taleh,[34] the main town in Khatumo.[35] The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somali Affairs, Nicholas Kay, expressed concern about the conflict between Somaliland and Puntland and urged mediation by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).[36] Somaliland troops withdrew one day after occupation.[37]

In June 2014, Somaliland also temporarily occupied Taleh.[35]

In April 2015, five people were injured in a confrontation between the Samakab Ali and Farah Ali clans in Taleh.[38]

In December 2015, the Somaliland government granted a foreign company a permit to conduct oil exploration in the Sool region, and when that company conducted oil exploration in Taleh and Hudun, Puntland condemned this as a provocation by Somaliland.[39]

In May 2016, Puntland's Minister of Insurance visited Taleh to lay the cornerstone for the birth center.[40]

In December 2016, the region was in drought and a delegation, including Somaliland's Interior Minister, has visited several towns in the Sool region, including Taleh, to survey the drought situation.[41]

In 2017, the Puntland President Abdiweli Gaas appointed Mohamed Roble Isse as Taleh District Commissioner.[42]

The 2017 Somaliland presidential election saw Taleh become a constituency for the first time.[43]

In June 2018, a SOMNEWS TV reporter was arrested by Somaliland police for reporting on a press conference held by elders in the Taleh district.[44]

In April 2019, Somaliland forces and pro-Somaliland militias took control of the Taleh district. Khatumo forces withdrew without fighting.[45]

In April 2019, diarrhea symptoms caused by water shortage occurred in Taleh. Taleh has no hospital and is coping with traditional home remedies, with some patients being taken to Las Anod, which is dominated by Somaliland, and others to Garoowe, the capital of Puntland.[46]

In December 2019, Somaliland's Minister of Information visited Taleh.[47]

In January 2021, the Somaliland government begins voter registration for municipal elections and parliamentary election in Sool region, including Taleh.[48] One polling station was set up in the Taleh area, and the distribution of ballots was scheduled for three days until March 15, but a one-week postponement was announced.[49] In June, preliminary results from the regional parliaments were announced and Kulmiye 6, Wadani 3, UCID 0 are selected in Taleh.[50]

The notion of the building of fortresses for Dervish inhabitation pre-existed 1902 as Eric Swayne encountered a fort at Halin during the second expedition in 1902, as such, arguably timeframing the building of the Halin fort at 1901. The British War Office stated that Eric Swayne destroyed the fort in 1902, and that it was inhabited by the Ugaadhyahan Dhulbahante subclans of Naleye Ahmed and Nur Ahmed:[10]

a detached force proceeded the same night to Biyu Gudud and attacked the Naliya Ahmed and Nur Ahmed, the pursuit being carried into the plain of the Northern Hand as far as Kol Dorran. Some guns and ammunition were captured and the tribes fled northward towards some wells about 60 miles from the sea. The whole force then returned to Biyu Gudud on 1 August, and the dervish fort at Halin (9 miles (14 km) north-northease of Lower Halin) was destroyed.

The second-oldest Dhulbahante fort of the Dervish era is the Dhowre Sheneeleh fort which was constructed at Eyl (Illig) in 1903. According to the British War Office, the castle at Illig was exclusively inhabited by the Dhulbahante clan, and in particular by the Bah Ali Gheri subclan of the Dhulbahante:[11]

The Mullah, with practically only his Ali Gheri following, is a discredited refugee in the Mijjarten territory, at the mercy of Osman Mahmud. His actual capture by the field force is, under present conditions, in my opinion impracticable ... the operations already ordered for the capture of lllig and dealing a last blow at the Mullah are to be carried out

Historian Douglas Jardine concurs with the British War Office that the Dervish capital at Illig (Eyl) was exclusively inhabited by the Dhulbahante:[12]

while the Mullah's Dolbahanta allies had retreated south-east towards Illig, the Mullah himself, with all his sheep and goats, but abandoning his camels, bullocks, and ponies, had fled post-haste across the waterless Haud to Mudug.

Although the term Taleh or Taleex is often used to describe the entire Dervish fort complex in the town, it more strictly applies to only one of the structures in a four-part compound. The latter complex includes Falat, Silsilad, Dar Ilaalo and Taleh.

The main fortress, Silsilat, is about 350 feet long by 300 feet broad. The two buildings next in importance are Dar llalo, the look-out tower, some 50 feet high, built on the top of a hillock close behind Silsilat, and Taleh (in a restricted sense) of similar height, built on lower ground to the east.[20]

According to Jardine, prior to Taleh becoming Dervish capital, the Dervish capital had for four years from 1905 onwards been at Eyl, also known as Illig:[12]

Thus the Mullah became an Italian-protected subject; and during the three years that followed, his haroun remained in the neighbourhood of Illig.

Besides the human habitation, Silsilad also had a horse stable whose substance commonly features in Somali popular culture:[51]

Like other poems, horses as a symbol of love can also eruptly turn to belligerence:

One Dervish war tactic was hit-and-run, exemplified by dispersion in all directions:[52]

... some 500 horsemen, was encountered, and at first it seemed that he would attack the column's rear-guard, but, when the mounted troops were withdrawn from the front to oppose him, his horse-men broke into groups and, when pursued, adopted the tactics which were subsequently to become so familiar to us, and split up into small parties which made off through a score of practicable passes in the stony hills.[52]

Counter-tactics used by colonial forces were dehydrating when blocking Dervish horses' access to wells:

On June 15th, 238 rifles and 300 spearmen, under the command of Major A. G. Sharp, Leinster Regi-ment, were established in the fort of Bohotle to guard the reserve of supplies and to prevent the Dervish horsemen from watering at the wells

— Douglas Jardine

Dervish subdivided their horses into Barroor, a beige color, and Xamar, a chest-nut colored horse, alternating each depending on the intensity of the sun or heat.[53] The largest Dervish horse stableyard outside Taleh was arguably Damot, also called Docmo, with large assemblages reported between 1900 and 1903.[54]

Notable horses included Shan-maray, owned by Gaanni Gaalleef Cali Xaad which was the fastest horse in the Nugaal, Isxal was the main stallion used for breeding Dervish-owned horses,[55]