Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops | |
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![]() Italian soldiers in Africa. | |
Active | 5 April 1908 – 5 May 1936 |
Country | ![]() |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Branch | Royal Corps of Colonial Troops |
Type | Royal Army |
Headquarters | Mogadishu |
Engagements | Somaliland Campaign Italo-Turkish War Second Italo-Ethiopian War Italian conquest of British Somaliland East African Campaign |
Decorations | 1 Gold Medal of Military Valour |
The Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops (Italian : Regio corpo truppe coloniali della Somalia italiana) was the colonial body of the Royal Italian Army based in Italian Somaliland, in present-day northeastern, central and southern Somalia. [1]
In the late 19th century, Mogadishu was under the joint control of the Somali Geledi Sultanate (which, also holding sway over the Shebelle region in the interior, was at the height of its power), Hiraab Imamate and the Omani Sultan of Zanzibar. [2] Mogadishu was thereafter made the capital of the newly established Italian Somaliland colony.
On 5 April 1908, the Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops was established, after the Italians had captured the southern Benadir region from the Sultan of Zanzibar. [3] [4] The troops were originally referred to as "Guard Corps of Benadir" (Italian : Corpo della Guardia di Benadir). However, after the territory was renamed from Benadir Coast Italian Protectorate to Italian Somaliland, the troops officially became known as the Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops.
In 1908, the Royal Corps assumed the final name Regio corpo truppe coloniali della Somalia italiana. This included a command, a department of Zaptie, 5 local companies, and a company of local cannon-gunners.
In 1907, the rebels Bimal lost again at Dongab and Danane, defeated by 500 Somali troops and Eritrean Ascari under Captain Vitali. The forces were supported by the Royal ship N "Relay". Between 11 and 12 July 1908, troops led by major Antonino Di Giorgio conquereded the city of Merca, after clashing with rebels in Merére and occupying Afgooye. Following a series of Italian victories, the Sultan of Geledi and his 5,000 strong army were subdued. [5]
The British became convinced of their need of Italian assistance in their campaign against the Dervish forces of Diiriye Guure. [6] However, memories of the disastrous Battle of Adowa inhibited any Italian fervour for action in the Horn region. In 1903, the Italian Foreign Ministry permitted the British to land forces at Hobyo (Obbia). An Italian naval commander off Hobyo feared "that the expedition will end in a fiasco; the Mad Mullah will become a myth for the British, who will never come across him, and a serious worry for ... our sphere of influence." [7]
The relationship between the Sultanate of Hobyo and Italy soured when Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid refused the Italians' proposal to allow British troops to disembark in his Sultanate so that they might then pursue their battle against Diiriye Guure's Dervish forces. [8] Viewed as too much of a threat by the Italians, Kenadid was exiled first to the British-controlled Aden Protectorate, and then to Italian Eritrea, as was his son Ali Yusuf, the heir apparent to his throne. [9] In May, the British Foreign Office realised the error, and had Kenadid's son appointed regent, just in time to forestall an attack in Mudug by the Sultan's army. [10]
The expedition ended in failure soon after.Diiriye Guure forces defeated a British detachment near Gumburru and then another near Daratoleh. With 1,200–1,500 rifles, 4,000 ponies and some spearmen, he occupied the Nugal Valley from Halin in the British protectorate to Ilig (or Illig) on the Italian-held coast. The main British force near Galad (Galadi) under General William Manning retreated north along the line Bohotleh–Burao–Sheekh. This "old-established line" had already been breached by Guure when he invaded the Nugal. [11] By the end of June, the withdrawal was complete.
In 1925, the Dubats were established. These irregular Somali troops initially served under major Camillo Bechis as guerrilla forces of the Royal Corps, sometimes using camels. The troops mainly operated in the Ogaden region. [12]
During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the Somali Colonial Troops served alongside soldiers from Italy and Eritrea in a second attempt by Italian troops to defeat the Ethiopian forces.
In the Battle of the Ogaden, commanded by General Luigi Frusci who was to move forward to the pivotal point of the "Hindenburg Wall" of Ethiopian defenses under Wehib Pasha (a military advisor to the Ethiopian army), the Royal Corps of Somali Colonial troops in April 1936 fought bravely defeating the Ethiopian troops. They received an Italian "Military Gold Medal" award mainly for this victory.
On 5 May 1936, Italian troops captured Addis Ababa after defeating Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. Benito Mussolini then proclaimed the establishment of Italian East Africa, which unified Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland with defeated Ethiopia. Addis Ababa was later made the capital city of Italian East Africa.
The Somali Colonial Troops would then be merged with other Royal troops, creating even the Italian African Police and the Somali "Carabinieri" (Zaptie [13] ).
In 1940, the Somali Colonial Troops were officially added to the Italian Army, establishing the Italian Somali Divisions (101 and 102).
After World War II, a former member of the Zaptìé corps, Siad Barre, became President of Somalia from 1969 to 1991. [14]
Gold Medal of Military Valor - Awarded for heroism during the Italo-Ethiopian War of October 3, 1935 to May 5, 1936. [15]
This letter is sent by all the Dervishes, the Amir, and all the Dolbahanta to the Ruler of Berbera ... We are a Government, we have a Sultan, an Amir, and Chiefs, and subjects ... (reply) In his last letter the Mullah pretends to speak in the name of the Dervishes, their Amir (himself), and the Dolbahanta tribes. This letter shows his object is to establish himself as the Ruler of the Dolbahanta
Italian Somaliland was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia, which was ruled in the 19th century by the Sultanate of Hobyo and Majeerteen in the north, and in the south by the political entities; Hiraab Imamate and the Geledi Sultanate.
The Majeerteen, alternately known as MohammedHarti, are a Somali sub-clan part of the Harti branch of the Darod clan. Traditionally, they inhabit extensive territories in the Bari, Nugaal, and Mudug regions of Somalia, spanning from Bosaso to Garacad, mainly in Puntland state. Additionally, Majeerteen populations are present in southern towns such as Kismayo.
Hobyo, is an ancient port city in Galmudug state in the north-central Mudug region of Somalia.
The Harti, (Somali: Harti), are a Somali clan that trace their lineage back to SalehAbdi (Harti). They are a sub-clan of the larger Darod clan. Notable sub-clans within Harti include the Majeerteen, Dhulbahante, and the Warsengeli. They predominantly reside in the apex of the Horn of Africa and its surrounding regions. Furthermore, in the southern territories, the clan's settlements span both sides of the Kenya-Somalia border.
Zaptié was the designation given to locally raised gendarmerie units in the Italian colonies of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, Eritrea and Somaliland between 1888 and 1943.
The Sultanate of Hobyo, also known as the Sultanate of Obbia, was a 19th-century Somali Sultanate in present-day northeastern and central Somalia and eastern Ethiopia. It was established in 1878 by Yusuf Ali Kenadid.
Dubat ; Arabic:العمائم البيضاء ); ḍubbāṭ: English: White turban) was the designation given to members of the semi-regular armed bands employed by the Italian "Royal Corps of Colonial Troops" in Italian Somaliland from 1924 to 1941. The word dubat was derived from a Somali phrase meaning "white turban".
The Dervish War, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Somaliland Campaign, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920 in modern-day Somalia. The British were assisted in their offensives by the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy.
Yusuf Ali Kenadid was a Somali Sultan and the founder of the Sultanate of Hobyo. He was succeeded to the throne by his son Ali Yusuf Kenadid.
The Royal Corps Of Eritrean Colonial Troops were indigenous soldiers from Eritrea, who were enrolled as askaris in the Royal Corps of Colonial Troops of the Royal Italian Army during the period 1889–1941.
The Dervish Movement was an armed resistance movement between 1899 and 1920, which was led by the Salihiyya Sufi Muslim poet and militant leader Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, also known as Sayyid Mohamed, who called for independence from the British and Italian colonisers and for the defeat of Ethiopian forces. The Dervish movement aimed to remove the British and Italian influence from the region and restore an "Islamic system of governance with a Sufi doctrine as its foundation", according to Mohamed-Rahis Hasan and Salada Robleh.
Osman Mahamuud, also known as Uthman III ibn Mahmud, was a Somali king. He led the Majeerteen Sultanate during the 19th century.
The military history of Somalia encompasses the major conventional wars, conflicts and skirmishes involving the historic empires, kingdoms and sultanates in the territory of present-day Somalia, through to modern times. It also covers the martial traditions, military architecture and hardware employed by Somali armies and their opponents.
The Royal Corps of Colonial Troops was a corps of the Royal Italian Army, in which all the Italian colonial troops were grouped until the end of World War II in North Africa campaign.
Italy–Somalia relations are bilateral relations between Italy and Somalia.
Ali Yusuf Kenadid was a Somali Sultan and the second ruler of the Sultanate of Hobyo.
SultanNur Ahmed Aman, was a learned religious leader and the 5th Sultan of the Habr Yunis Sultanate and later also one of the leaders behind the Somali Dervish movement and revolt (1899–1920). He was the principal agitator rallying the followers of the Kob Fardod Tariqa behind his anti-French Roman Catholic Mission campaign that would become the cause of the Dervish uprising. He assisted in assembling men and arms and hosted the revolting tribesmen in his quarter at Burao in August 1899, declaring the Dervish rebellion. He fought and led the war throughout the years 1899–1904. He and his brother Geleh Ahmed were the main signatories of the Dervish peace treaty with the British, Ethiopians and Italian colonial powers on March 5, 1905, known as the Ilig Treaty or the Pestalozza agreement. Sultan Nur is entombed in a white-domed shrine in Taleh, the location of the largest Dervish forts and the capital of the Dervish from 1912 to 1920, a testimony to his contribution in creating the movement.
Abdallah Mohamed Shihiri was a senior Khusuusi member of the Somali Dervish movement and was part of the movement since its inception. He was long time companion and a childhood friend of Mohamed Abdullah Hassan and notable weapons smuggler. He belonged to the Adan Madoba sub-clan of the Habr Je'lo clan of the Isaaq clan family.
The Dhulbahante Garadship begun in the 16th century, as a successor to the Sultanate of Adal with Garad Shishore assuming the royal title in approximately 1530. The current Garad, Garad Jama Garad Ali hails from this long line of succession.
The Pacification of Somalia was a military occupation carried by the fascist government of Italy to pacify Somalia's southern tribes and northern Muslims sultanates. After the end of the Dervish war, this event altered Italy's approach to the colony. The fascist government ordered occupation of all Somalia by force, which led to armed resistance movements across the country.