SULTAN MOHAMOOD ALI SHIRE
The vibrant pomp and pageantry tradition emitted by the fabled Sultan Shire as it was so intense and evident. On August 1912, when the British warship docked in Las-qorey, the emerging British commander of the ship pointedly requested a meeting with the Sultan. No sooner, he was to come from the countryside the next day to meet him.
Sultan Mohamoud, possessing exceptional courage and intelligence, as observed by the British commander was poised then to assume the reigns of power in legendary sultanate of his ancestors stretching into over 26 dynasties, each adding its own power and awe. Sultan Mohamoud formulated a vision and foreign policy that would keep his sultanate an independent entity, refraining from taking sides in the ongoing power struggle between the British colony and Mohamed A.Hassan’s forces unless forced to do so.
Sultan Mohamoud Ali built a mighty cavalry and assembled an exceptionally powerful army that had incessantly displayed one of the greatest shows of force at that time. He was one of the key figures in Somali history that resisted British occupation and sought to establish his own authority. It had been known for some time that He had acquired considerable, well respective influence over the people inhabiting the remoter parts of the protectorate.
The stringing good-looking elegantly stylish young man with the radiant face and awe-inspiring royal pasture was contemplating on something so great; He was a man in the prime of his life, and his person is described as a dark-coloured, tall, and thin male with a small goat’s-beard.
The officer administering the government in Somali land, Col.Summers, realizing that the British recognized Sultan Mohamoud in the friendship treaty as a sovereign entity to which the local Somali land rules were not applicable, had to concoct a case to the Lord admiral in London that would permit British action in an “act of state” outside the jurisdiction of Somali land ordinance.
The Sultan’s independence policy, strength and indifference to the powers surrounding him, including the British, had faxed London and this led to his arrest and deportation to the Seychelles. This was explicitly cited in the letter part of Lt. Co. Summer’s dispatch, “There would be grave danger of his initiating a fresh movement similar to that of his ultimate friend Farad Omaar. He is possessed of the courage displayed by other fanatical leaders in Africa and I consider that his removal eventually was inevitable unless serious risks of trouble in the furore were to be incurred. I think I am correct in stating that this view is shared by all officers of experience in Somali Land”.
The shortcomings of the Sultan himself were well known and it was fully realized that he would be a power to be reckoned with on the overthrow the Darawishes.Close administration of Sultan Mohamoud has never been attempted and it has been suffering to exercise general supervision of the Sultan’s actions.
On his return from exile in 1929, the British often invited him to meet the British Monarchs whenever they came close by. Sultan Mohamoud was the second Somali person being decorated as an OBE at a meeting with British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth 11 in Aden of Yemen, 1954. Sultan Mohamoud was one of the most prominent and well respected leaders in Somali history and deserved to be honoured.
A.Qoorcadde and cynawi
