Suudi Shabeele Omar, more commonly known as Haji Sudi (; 1858–1920)Imperialism and resistance in the horn of Africa: Mohammed Abdullah Hassan and ... By Gerardo Nicolosi.p.281 was one of the leaders behind the Somali Dervish movement.Sadler to Salisbury-Correspondence Respecting the Rising of the Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and Consequent Military Operations, 1899-1901.(published 1901) 88pp. He was also the movement's right-hand man and chief lieutenant till its demise in 1920.Sun, Sand and somals: leaves from the note-book of a district commissioner by Henry RayneImperialismo e Ressitenza In Corn d'Africa: Mohammed Abdullah Hassan e il derviscismo somalo by Gerarado Nicolos. p. 281 He is described as the Mullah's right hand in the earlier days of his rise.ISMAY: 3/1/20 1919 May 21
Summary by Ismay (as intelligence officer 1916-18), Burao Somaliland, of intelligence in British Somaliland 1915-Dec 1918, including description of forts; Dervish organisation; Dervish tactics 1914-1917; notes on Dervish personalities (pp 64-74 missing but see 3/1/22); genealogical table of the Mullah (Mahomed bin Abdulla Hassan); map of portion of Somaliland (scale 1:1,000,000 GSGS 1781, revised 1906). Typescript 116pp and map He hailed from the Adan Madoba, sub-clan of the Habr Je'lo (Isaaq).
Overview
Haji Sudi was born approximately around 1857 in what's now Somaliland, before the arrival of European powers to the Horn of Africa. Nothing is known about his early life, but as most of the Somalis of his time his early life and youth was spent in the interior as a nomad. The nickname "Sudi" in Somali means hot tempered. In Somali language the term means hot or scourging temperature an indication of his temperament. Haji Sudi's real name was Warsame Omar (according to the modern family descendants) but to the British he was known as Ahmed Warsama before the dervish. During his dervish years he was popular as Haji Sudi.
According to Pestalozza (Aden, Yemen, Italian General-counsel and a man who met both the Mullah and Haji Sudi in 1904), Xaaji Suudi had been an Arab interpreter in the British service for twenty-five years in Sawakin, Egypt and Sudan, at the time of the Mahdist movement. He came into disagreement with the British authorities became the most valuable commander of the Sayid.from the report Pestalozza to the MAE, 'Aden, 26 Oct.1904, AUSSME, FONDO "Somalia", rep. D-3, racc.3, cont.2 The earliest record of Haji Sudi's life was his Royal Navy stint as an interpreter commencing in the early 1880s. He accompanied William Hewett on his mission to Abyssinia according to Cecil Lowther, who hired him as a guide and a headman for his 1894 big game hunting expedition in Somaliland:
As described by Cecil Lowther in his memoir From Pillar To Post, he was "a tall, slight fellow of thirty-five years of age, with close-shaven head, immense mouth disclosing a row of gleaming teeth, a great man in the estimation of all having three times made the journey to Mecca having a fourth trip in prospect. He had been years in the English Navy as interpreter, and accompanied Admiral Hewitt on his mission to Abyssinia".From Pillar To Post by Lowther, Cecil, Sir, 1869–1940; Kipling, Rudyard, 1865–1936. p. 22.
In 1884-1885, Haji Sudi spent time as an interpreter during the Suakin Expedition against Osman Digna dervishes directly observing the ways of the Sudanes Dervish during his work abroad HMS Ranger under William Hewett.for the expedition see Sudan: 1885. By Michael Tyquin. almost fifteen years later Haji Sudi will teach the Mullah what he learned of the methods of Osman Digna and Muhammad Ahmad Al-Mahdi.Report. 1914 v.60. by Commonwealth Shipping Committee. Published 1914 Enclosur 1 in No. 34. p. 24
“His purely political adherents were almost solely confined to a few dragomen and disgruntled Somalis residing in Aden, who cherished some personal grudge against the British Government. Typical of these was Haji Sudi, an ex-interpreter of the Royal Navy, who had been at Suakin and was conversant with Dervish customs, many of which he imported into Somaliland. For one and twenty years he was the Mullah's trusty lieutenant".Mad Mullah Of Somaliland, Douglas Jardin, p. 49-50
Haji Sudi was an ex-interpreter of the Royal Navy. He had been at Suakin and was conversant with Dervish ways and had imported many of their customs.Official History of the Operation Volume 1 p. 49
In 1892, he accompanied John Walter Gregory to east Africa, Gregory observing Haji Sudi's habit and manners in 1892-1893 expedition made the following observation regarding his character and his religious, Dervish Zeal.
A chronology on the beginning of the Dervish movement February-1899-March 1901
In mid-February 1899, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, later the spiritual head of the Dervish movement, for the first time came to the attention of the British authority at Berbera. James Hayes Sadler updating the colonial office on 12 April 1899, stated that the Somali Coastal Administration initially came to hear about this Mullah of Kob Fardod on mid February 1899, when the new Stipendiary Akil Ahmed Muhammad Shermarki (Habr Yunis, Mussa Arrah) raided some livestock belonging to the religious mullahs of Kob Fardod. This incident brought Sultan Nur to the tariqa at Kob Fardod, after Sultan Madar Hirsi, his rival, assisted the mullahs in recovering the stocks and thus gaining the allegiance and support of the tariqa for his rival sultanate.Churchill and the Mad Mullah of Somaliland: Betrayal and Redemption 1899-1921. p. 24 by Roy Irons
Contrary to the fanciful adventure later writers wrote about him, the Mullah only came to the attention of the British in February 1899, he never confronted the authority at Berbera upon arrival in 1895 as some claim, nor were there major uprisings in Berbera as official Somali biographies purport, much of this embellishment was a later invention, beyond a few complaints about not receiving their full herds, the mullahs at Kob Fardod and Mohammed Abdullah Hassan had no complaints against the British coastal administration and even the French Roman Catholic Mission which had been established in Berbera since the early 1890s. Mohamed Abdullah Hassan lived in Berbera and his relatives both Duale Liban, a clerk in Berbera customs, and Deria Magan, a personal translator of the council-general, both held high positions in Berbera administration. Mohammed Abdullah Hassan married a sister of Duale Liban and had his first son Mahdi in Berbera in 1893. Throughout the month of March, the Mullahs peacefully corresponded with the coastal authority in friendly terms, requesting the remainder of their herd.Inclosure 4, No. 1 Foreign Department—External—B. August, 1899, No. 33/234, NAI, New Delhi
On March 29, 1899, the vice-council at the coast sent a letter to the Mullah requesting the return of a stolen rifle. The Mullah replied in person to this letter as it was addressed to him personally, denying any knowledge of such a matter.
On April 10, Camel sowar, Ahmed Adan; who carried the letter to the mullah, arrived at Berbera with two replies and made a report to the effect that the assembled mullahs at Kob Fardod and the various tribesmen adopted a hostile attitude and referred to him as a Kafir in addition he reported that a number of them had rifles and were practicing.Inclosure 5, No. 1. Statement by Ahmed Adan, Camel Sowar.Foreign Department, External, B, August, 1899, No. 33-234, NAI, New Delhi
On April 20, Dragoman Deria Magan, Hayes Sadler's personal translator and a relative of the Mullah was sent to ascertain the nature of the activities at Kob Fardod. He reported that the Mullah had 52 rifles with about 200 rounds of ammunition and that the various tribesmen Habr Toljaala and Dolbahnata were wavering and they hold no hostile attitude towards the administrations. He added that the Mullah had abandoned the cause of Sultan Madar Hirsi and was now espousing the sultanate of Nur who had recently brought presents and was with him. He also stated that the Mahmood Girad had recently raided the Aligheri.Inclosure 1, No. 1 Report by Dragoman Deria Magan Foreign Department—External—B. August, 1899, No. 33/234,
End of April 1899, the dervish movement was declared adopting the term "dervish" to refer to their core followers not their allied clans-men, and they also announced their independence, having their own Amir, Sultan and chiefs. However, they didn't declare war or open hostility, they merely requested to be respected as an independent community.Inclosure 2, No. 1 Haji Muhammad Abdullah to the Vice-Consul, Berbera. (No date. Received May 3, 1899), Foreign Department, External, B, August, 1899, No. 33-234, NAI, New Delhi.
End of June 1899, Sultan Nur leaves the tariqa at Kob Fardod and arrives in his country Odweina in an effort to collect arms and men from the western section of the Habr Yunis clan. On June 27, James Hayes Sadler sent a letter to Nur inquiring about his intentions and involvement in the new movement, no reply was received.Correspondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and consequent military operations, 1899-1901. P. 4.
In early July 1899, Sultan Nur called for a tribal assembly for the western Habr Yunis on July 22. However, the assembly was aborted when most of the western Habr Yunis clan refused to join the rebellion. Sultan Nur, failing to convince the western Habr Yunis, left eastward to Burao joining the eastern section of the clan who declared allegiance to the new dervish cause.Correspondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and consequent military operations,1899-1901. P. 4.
In the end of August, 1899, the dervish assembled at Burao, declaring an open war. On September 1 a letter arrived from the dervish camp at Burao to Berbera essentially a declaration of war.Correspondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and consequent military operations, 1899-1901. p. 8
In September 1899, after assembling at Burao the Dervish and their clan allies attacked the western Habr Yunis at Odweina under the insistence of Sultan Nur to punish the clansmen who opposed his call to join the rebellion. Also at the end of September they burned and looted the Ahmadia Tariqa at Sheikh.
In October 1899 the chief of the Dolbahnata, Girad Ali Farah, was murdered by the Dervish. The Dolbahnata chief Girad Ali Farah sent a letter to the British Coastal administration disavowing the Mullah's cause and the Dervish rebellion .Correspondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed v. 48. page.46.
In November 1899 the core Dervish forces crossed the border into Ethiopia and settled at Harradiggit (Hara-Digeed). In March 1900, the Dervish allies in the Ogaden were defeated at the battle of Jig Jiga, no dervishes participated in this battle.Correspondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and consequent military operations, 1899-1901 p.49
In July 1900, The Dervishes loot and raid the Aidagalla clan in Ethiopia.Correspondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and consequent military operations, 1899-1901 p.55
In August 1900, the dervish attack the habr Awal tribe killing 220 including women and children, losing 130 raiders killed.Correspondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and consequent military operations, 1899-1901 p.64
In October 1900, a combined various Isaq tribes (Samatar/Ahmed Abdalla, Habr Yunis and Aidagalla) attack the dervish and the Ogaden in retaliations crossing the border into Ethiopia.Correspondence respecting the Rising of Mullah Muhammed Abdullah in Somaliland, and consequent military operations, 1899-1901 p.65