"Strategically important at the mouth of the Red Sea, Britain wanted to control this coastline of the Horn of Africa to maintain vital links between Europe and British India via the Suez Canal. The Somaliland Protectorate was the scene of a long and infamous rebellion to colonial rule led by the inspirational Muslim leader Sayyid Muḥammad 'Abdallāh Hassan, whom the British called the 'Mad Mullah.'"
"An Arab sultanate in the medieval period, this coastal region was known as the Cinnamon Coast (for its import of that precious spice from the Indian subcontinent), with Mogadishu to the south (in what would later become Italian Somaliland) flourishing as one of the major ports of East Africa. The region was the northernmost part of the trade network that thrived along the Swahili coast of East Africa."
"The Somali people adopted Sunni Islam from Arab traders from as early as the second half of the 7th century. The inland Somali people were mostly transhumant herders, that is, they moved regularly with their livestock (cattle and sheep) each season to find the most favourable grazing areas."
The Somaliland Protectorate was created by Britain in 1884 and ruled until 1960, when the Somali Republic gained independence. Located at the mouth of the Red Sea in the Horn of Africa, this territory held strategic importance for maintaining British trade links to India via the Suez Canal. Before British colonization, the region was known as the Cinnamon Coast during the medieval period, with Mogadishu serving as a major East African port. The Somali people, organized into complex tribal and clan structures, adopted Sunni Islam from Arab traders in the seventh century. Inland Somali populations were primarily transhumant herders who moved seasonally with livestock. British colonial rule faced significant resistance, particularly from the Muslim leader Sayyid Muḥammad 'Abdallāh Hassan, whom the British derisively called the 'Mad Mullah.'
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