Buuhoodle بوهودله
City
Buuhoodle Location in Somaliland
Coordinates: 8°13′50″N 46°19′36″E / 8.23056°N 46.32667°E / 8.23056; 46.32667
Country	Somaliland
Region	Togdheer
District	Buuhoodle
Population  (2005)[1]
• Total	38,428
Time zone	UTC+3 (EAT)

Buuhoodle (Somali: Buuhoodle, Arabic: بووهودل), also known as Bohotle, is a city in the Togdheer region of Somaliland.^[2] It is a prominent border town for movements of goods to and from Somaliland and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The surrounding district is rich in both livestock and fledgeling agriculture.

Overview

Buuhoodle is located on the border between Somaliland and Ethiopia. It serves as a commercial hub for the movement of goods to and from Bosaso, Garowe, Las Anod, Galkayo, Wardheer, Burao, the surrounding area, and the Ogaden.

Buuhoodle and its environs are disputed by the Somalian autonomous state of Puntland and Somaliland.^[3] A conflict ensued in Buuhoodle with Somaliland troops entering the town in 2010 and again in 2012.^[4] The conflict was eventually resolved in early 2012, with the official withdrawal of Somaliland troops to a 50 km radius of the city's perimeter.^[5]

In June 2014, the Puntland government launched a new tree-planting campaign in the state, with the regional Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism slated to plant 25,000 trees by the end of the year. Buuhoodle is among the 5 cities and towns earmarked for the reforestation initiative, which also include Garowe, Bosaso, Qardho, and Galkayo. The campaign is part of a broader partnership between the Puntland authorities and EU to set up various environmental protection measures in the region, with the aim of promoting reforestation and afforestation.^[6]

Dervish era

According to James Hayes Sadler, the Farah Garad were the only clan who would remain unwaveringly steadfast and resolute in their loyalty to the Darawiish identity in spite of the threat of a British military onslaught:^[7]

It is, however, believed that, with the exception of the Ali Gheri and possibly other sections of the Girad Farah, ... that a large seceding from his following may be expected when our expedition takes the field.

— James Hayes Sadler

Buuhoodle as founders of Darawiish

According to a contemporaneous news report from The Marion Star, the Ali Gheri subclan of reer Khayre whom are a paramount clan in Buuhoodle, were the first people to adopt the Darawiish identity; as such, making the Ali Gheri or Reer Khayre the founders of the Darawiish:^[8]

By his marriage he extended his influence from Abyssinia, on the west, to the borders of Italian Somaliland, on the east. The Ali Gheri were his first followers.

— The Marion Star, rehash from British intelligence reports

The Ali Geri, a clan in the to the south of Buuhoodle, were the people whom hosted the Sayid Mohamed during the fledgling moments of the Darawiish in the 19th century:^[9]

"This Haji Muhammad Abdullah belongs to the Habr Suleiman Ogaden tribe; he married into the Dolbahanta Ali Gheri, amongst whom he now lives".

British intelligence reports also claimed that the Ali Geri clan were the earliest or old allies of the Mad Mullah (Sayid Muhammad Abdullah Hassan):^[10]

"Mullah to flee eastwards and rejoin his old allies, the Ali Gheri, south of Bohotele, where he would be difficult to get at, either by the Abyssinians or ourselves".

Dharbash, Golaweyne, Miinanle, Ragxun

The Farah Garad clans whom predominate in Buuhoodle, discarded of their genealogical clan identities and adopted tariqah based clans, with newly coined names such as Dharbash, Golaweyne, Miinanle and Ragxun. The Ararsame clans adopted the name Dharbash, the southern Ciid Reer Khayr clans adopted the term Golaweyne, the western Ciid Reer Khayr clans adopted the term Miinanle or Ragxun, while others adopted entered the prestigious and major administrative divisions such as Shiikhyaale or the cavalry commanded by Nur Hedik in Dooxato.^[11]

In the oldest surviving work on Dervishes, Malcolm Mcneill states the two largest subclans in Buuhoodle, the Reer Khayre and Ararsame, were the main opponents of European colonialism:^[12]

The two principal offenders were the Ali Gheri and the Arasama tribes, who had for a long time made the whole Dolbahanta country unsafe for Europeans without a large escort; it was now time to settle with them once and for all.

— Malcolm McNeill

As a consequence of their anti-colonialism, 1200 Ararsame and Reer Khayre clansmen were killed and their livestock embezzled:^[13]

The total number of casualties inflicted on the enemy at McNeill's zariba and in the subsequent pursuit in the Ararsamah and the Ali Gheri country, and at Ferdiddin, cannot have fallen far short of some 1,200 men killed ... The camels were either given as compensation to the Ishak tribes who had been looted by the Mullah or were handed over to the men, with their how disposed consent, in lieu of pay, thus reducing the cost of the expedition.

— McNeill

James Hayes Sadler stated that the primary base of Darawiish support came from Buuhoodle:^[14]

Unless we can soon operate with Abyssinia to suppress the Mullah, I shall have to create a diversion by moving with available forces, supported by tribal levies, to punish tribes who are Mullah's principal supporters round Bohotele. This could be safely done, as the eastern Ishak tribes are friendly and united.

— Sadler

After the assassination of Darawiish prime minister Cabbaas Xuseen in early 1900, the Darawiish retired to Buuhoodle:^[15]

the Abyssinians, after the Dervish attack on JigJigga, realising that the Mullah's movement challenged their sovereignty over the Mohammedan tribes in their Harrar province, had despatched a force of some 15,000 men to the western edge of the Haud. Alarmed at this development, the Mullah retired eastward into British territory to the Bohotle area, where he was assured of a welcome from his own kinsmen, the Dolbahanta.

— Jardine

Eric Swayne stated that the people of Buuhoodle had "always proved to be the backbone" of adherence to Darawiishnimo.^[16]

He had attempted to combine the Ogaden against Mersin for them, but these tribes having been badly treated by him, would not now help, and Dolbahanta on the punishment of one of their outlying sections by the Abyssinians, the Mullah found himself compelled to retire eastward to Bohotle to our Dolbahanta tribes, his own kinsmen, who have always proved to be the backbone of his following.

— Eric Swayne

1912 was a tumultuous year for the Dhulbahante clans inhabiting Bohotle and the Ain valley. The clans of Bohotle being allies of the British Empire, were set upon and attacked by Hassan and his Dervish army, forcing them to evacuate and seek refuge in Burao, Berbera and Haud among the Isaaq clans. British colonial governor Horace Byatt reported that 800 Dhulbahante refugees arrived in Berbera, but feared that they could not be protected nor fed properly, stating that only 300 native infantry and 200 King's African Rifles were in Berbera and insufficient to hold off a Dervish attack. Byatt also raised concerns for the Dhulbahante refugees en route to British controlled territory and the possibility of them being looted by hostile clans, particularly the Habr Yunis.^[17]

Baron Ismay's intelligence report on the Dervish raids on the Ali Gheri and the Dolbahanta clan's of Bohotle

No important move was made till November 1911, when he successfully attacked the Ali gheri at Bohotleh. He followed this up in February 1912 with an attack on the Dolbahanta at Eildab, In this engagement our people lost all their stock and were reduced to starvation. They flocked to Berbera demanding to be supported. Yet another attack on Bohotleh in March resulted in the remaining Dolbahanta in that vicinity being looted and driven out. Bohotleh remained in Dervish hands.^[18]

Bristish colonial administrator Sir Douglas Jardine describing the plight of the Dhulbahante writes :

The most pitiful lot of all fell to certain sections of the Dolbahanta. Ousted from their ancestral grazing grounds by the Mullah's advance and bereft of all their stock, the remnants wandered like veritable Ishmaelites in the Ishaak country, deprived of Asylum and almost all access to the coast.^[19]

These conditions were not limited to the Dhulbahante only but encompassed the entire territory of British Somaliland Protectorate.^[20][21] The British retreat to coastal outposts left the interior country in a state of power vacuum that heralded a period acute distress, scarcity and violence that came to be known locally as Xaaraame Cune "time of eating filth". An estimated one third of the entire population of Somaliland perished during this period.^[22]

Demographics

The broader Buuhoodle District has a total population of 38,428^[1] residents. Buuhoodle is primarily inhabited by people from the Somali ethnic group, with the Ararsame and Reer Khayr subclans^[23] of Dhulbahante especially well-represented.^[24]

Education

Buuhoodle has a number of academic institutions. According to the Puntland Ministry of Education, there are 12 primary schools, 3 high schools and 2 universities in the Buuhoodle District. Among these are H/dh Abu-Bakar Sadiq, H/dh Al-Najax, H/dh Al-Furqan and so on.^[25] Secondary schools in the area include Howd and Samatar Bahman.^[26]

For health education, there is Buhodle College Of Health Science.

For higher studies, Buuhoodle is served by the East Africa University (EAU). The institution opened a seventh branch in the town on 18 April 2012 to serve pupils from the Cayn region.^[27]

Notable residents

• Abdihakim Abdullahi Haji Omar – Vice President of Puntland
• Mohammed Abdullah Hassan – emir of Diiriye Guure
• Saado Ali Warsame – Singer & MP in the Federal Parliament of Somalia
• Ismail Mire - Somali poet and Dervish movement general
• Ali Dhuh - Somali poet
• Saleban Essa Ahmed 'Xaglatoosiye' - Somaliland Minister of Health & former SSC militia leader

Notes

References

• Buuhoodle, Somalia