Bohotleh

Buuhoodle ( so, Buuhoodle, ar, بووهودل), also known as Bohotle, is the second largest city in the Togdheer region of Somaliland and also the capital of the Cayn region under Puntland. 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.

Territorial dispute

Buuhoodle which is the second most important city for the Dhulbahante after Las Anod is under the control of local unionist militia. Despite attempts the 2021 Somaliland parliamentary and municipal elections did not take place in the city.

The city is disputed by Puntland and Somaliland. The former bases its claim due to the kinship ties between the Dhulbahante clan and the dominant clan in Puntland, the Majeerteen. Whilst the later's claim is grounded on the border of the former British Somaliland Protectorate. The city was the de facto capital of Khatumo State throughout its existence until its dissolvement in 2017.

A conflict ensued in the vicinity of Buuhoodle between Somaliland and SSC Movement troops in 2010 and again in 2012. The conflict which became known as the Kalshale conflict was at first a clan skirmish but quickly escalated to involve the two administrations. It was eventually resolved in early 2012, with the official withdrawal of Somaliland troops to a 50 km radius of the city's perimeter.

Geography

Physiographically, Buuhoodle is located in Ciid,and geopolitically, on the border between Somaliland and Ethiopia.

Politics

Buuhoodle is the capital of the Cayn region which was carved out of the Togdheer region and encompasses the majority of Buuhoodle District.

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.

History

Dervish period

The Dervish Movement emerged in Buuhoodle and localities in its vicinity. According to a contemporaneous news report from The Marion Star, the Bah Ali Gheri, were the first people to adopt the Dervish identity; as such, making the ''Bah Ali Gheri onelings'' the founders of the Dervish:

The Bah Ali Geri, a clan in the south of Buuhoodle, were the people whom hosted the Sayid Mohamed during the fledgling moments of the Dervish in the 19th century:

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

In the oldest surviving work on Dervishes, Malcolm Mcneill states the two largest subclans in Buuhoodle, the Bah Ali Gheri and Ararsame were the main opponents of European colonialism:

As a consequence of their anti-colonialism, 1200 Ararsame and Bah Ali Gheri clansmen were killed and their livestock embezzled:

James Hayes Sadler stated that the primary base of Dervish support came from Buuhoodle:Das Staatsarchiv: Sammlung der offiziellen Aktenstücke zur Aussenpolitik der Gegenwart ..., Volumes 65-66

Eric Swayne stated that the people of Buuhoodle had "always proved to be the backbone" of adherence to ''Dervishnimo''.

Dervish raids

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.

Baron Ismay's intelligence report on the Dervish raids on the Bah 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.

British 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.''

These conditions were not limited to the Dhulbahante only but encompassed the entire territory of British Somaliland Protectorate. 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.

Economy

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.

Demographics

As of 2014 the broader Buuhoodle District had a estimated population of 83,747 residents. Buuhoodle is primarily inhabited by people from the Somali ethnic group, with the clan eponyms of Ararsame and Bah Ali GheriHoehne, Markus V. (2015) of Dhulbahante especially well-represented.

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. Secondary schools in the area include Howd and Samatar Bahman.

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.

Notable residents

*Abdihakim Abdullahi Haji Omar – Vice President of Puntland
* Mohammed Abdullah Hassan – Leader of the Dervish
* 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

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External links

Buuhoodle, Somalia

Ethiopia–Somaliland border crossings
Territorial disputes of Somalia
Border crossings of the Darawiish
Populated places in Togdheer