'15/4 TRIBES OF BRITISH SOMALILAND' [6r] (10/24)
The record is made up of 1 file (12 folios). It was created in 30 Jan 1941-19 Dec 1941. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
About this item
- Content
The file consists of two documents:
1. A letter dated 19 December 1941 from the Chief Secretary to the Government, Government of Aden, to the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Bahrain. The letter encloses the pamphlet The Tribes of British Somaliland and advises that 'difficulty is frequently experienced with identifying individual Somalis or in deciding their nationality by passport authorities' and that the pamphlet may assist with this task.
2. The pamphlet entitled The Tribes of British Somaliland by Lieutenant-Colonel R H Smith. The report is dated 30 January 1941, and was printed by the Caxton Press at Aden. The pamphlet consists of a report and geneaological diagrams of the tribes:
The pamphlet commences with a list of the British Protected tribes and their geographical distribution noting that the grazing grounds of the British protected tribes are not all contained in British Somaliland. Furthermore their lands straddle adjacent frontiers of French Somaliland and Ethiopia and far into Italian East Africa. The pamphlet notes (folio 4) that the 'arbitrary boundary which divides the Somali grazing grounds into two, has been the chief cause of our administrative difficulties in the past.' The means of contact between the [British] Government and the tribes is through 'Akils, and where they exist, hereditary chiefs i.e. Sultans or Gerads'.
There follows a description of each British Protected tribes, their tribal sub-divisions, grazing grounds, towns and ports, and chief means of subsistence: the Warsangeli; the Dolbahanta; theHabr Toljaala; the Habr Yunis; the Habr Awal; the Edagalla; the Arab; the Gadabursi; the Esa.
British Somaliland was divided into five administrative districts each with a District Officer. District boundaries are given for Erigavo District; Burao District; Berbara District; Hargeisa District; Buramo District.
The file includes genealogical diagrams showing the lineage and tribal sub-divisions of the Warsangeli; Arab; Habr Yunis; Eida Galla; Habr Awal; Habr Toljala; Dolbahanta; Esa; Gadabursi.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (12 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged as a letter, a pamphlet, a page of file notes (folio 11).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 1-11; these numbers are also written in pencil, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence, but they are not circled.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'15/4 TRIBES OF BRITISH SOMALILAND' [6r] (10/24), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/545, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025675308.0x00000c> [accessed 28 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/545
- Title
- '15/4 TRIBES OF BRITISH SOMALILAND'
- Pages
- front-i, 2r:11v, back-i, back, front
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence