Introduction

Few people know that the British exiled the most illustrious and influential Sultan of the former British Protectorate of Somaliland, Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shireh, in 1920, soon after the defeat of Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan. Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shireh was exiled to the Seychelles – the islands to which many prominent anti-colonial leaders used to be exiled. Although the Sultan fought against the Sayid, the British thought that he would be their next source of trouble because he was vehemently and actively opposed to British rule of Somaliland. Moreover, having just emerged from debilitating wars, not only with the Sayid but also with some European powers (WWI), the British viewed with awe the prospect of another twenty years of costly and protracted conflict against yet another local potentate.

Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shireh

The Sultan – it is worth mentioning – was the brother in law of the Sayid but the two could not see eye to eye on many political, religious and social issues, and the Sultan fiercely defended the independence of his Sultanate against the incursions of the Dervish Movement. In a similar vein, he never allowed the British Administration to establish itself in his Sultanate and even after his return from exile, the Administration never intefered in the internal affairs of his Sultanate. As a matter of fact, there is ample documentary evidence to show that the British Administration was so careful to avoid his alienation that it sought out his support for any major policy changes before they were introduced. To that end, the Sultan continued to play a prominent role in the affairs of the country until his death a few months after independence.

To begin a long term and cruel exile, the Sultan of British Somaliland protectorate, Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shireh arrived in Seychelles from Bombay (India) on May 3 rd, 1920 on board HMS Odin. At the time when the Sultan began to serve his exile in Seychelles, two African Kings, King Prempeh of Ashanti (Ghana) and king Kabarego of Bunyoro (Uganda), and a former Prime Minister of Egypt, Sa'ad Zaghlul Pasha, as well as other luminaries of leaders in the wars of African resistance to the British colonialism were also there as exilees. It is related that the Sa'ad Zaghlul Pasha told the Sultan “your father had spoiled your chances by not educating you; otherwise you would have been a king.” Of course, this was true because his lack of education severely circumscribed the development of his area into a properly organized and administered Sultanate over which his suzerainty would be recognized.

But, mind you, there were nonetheless, the rudiments of organized administration which comprised of a protocol and decorum (which included a certain manner of addressing the Sultan), a council of elders which he summoned from time to time and presided over; guards equipped with rifles, a large cavalry under his overall command, but also with their subsidiary commanders; extensive animal wealth which included more than a hundred, if not more, thoroughbred Arabian horses which both British teams from England and the Italians used to buy from him. The Sultan also maintained a fortress, which is now, dilapidated but still remains a historical landmark and a huge two-story building (which was his palace) in Las Qoray. The Sultan also maintained files, which contained correspondence, not only with the British but also with the Sultans of South Arabia. The Sultan, apart from his strong and charismatic personality, was after all, the product of a six-hundred-year-old tradition, which saw a long succession of Sultans of which he was the twenty-fourth.

Amb. Garad with nieces & nephews in Seychelles

However, the Seychelles saga in the Sultan's journey in life gives us a very interesting human story today, which, because it resembles a fairy tale, shows a rare instance in which real life plagiarizes fiction. During the long years of exile, the Sultan left behind in Seychelles a son and a daughter. No one heard about them and not many relatives of the Sultan knew about them. As always true with well kept secrets, the days that the Sultan lived in the Seychelles and his family life remained an enigma to all the subsequent decedents of the Sultan in Somalia. Those who knew about these secrets did not and could not know what became of them.

Now, here is what might look like a fairy tale but happens to be a true family tale. On a particularly auspicious day in far away Tokyo, Japan, a Djiboutian diplomat (the late Fuad Awaleh) saw, while walking along a main street, a slender Somali-looking girl, who was going the other way. He turned around and dogged her until she stopped at the crossroads and he confidently greeted her in Somali, which she could not understand. Mr. Awaleh told that he had thought she was a Somali woman. On hearing that her face lightened up and she told him that she was from Seychelles but that her paternal grandfather was the “Sultan of Somaliland” (as he was then known in those Islands) that his name was Sultan Ina Ali Shire,” as she put it.

Mohamed Garad, and his niece Ms. Amia Jovanovic-Desir, her husband, Mr. Dejan Jovanovic and son Sasha

He told her that he knows a Somali family in Tokyo and he would ask them if they knew about him but that he would need to know first what clan the Sultan came from. The young lady, Ms. Amia Jovanovic-Desir who was a senior officer in the Ministry of Tourism and Transport in Seychelles, called her office and asked them to look in to the files and fax her the name of her grandfather's clan. That was done immediately, and she told Mr. Awaleh of Djibouti that her grandfather was from the Warsengali clan of Somalia.

Amb. Garad, sister, daughter, son & grandson

The Somali family in Tokyo happened to be that of Ibrahim Meygaag Samatar, former Somali ambassador in Germany and a resident of Somaliland. To Ibrahim a prominent Somali and some one with a broad knowledge of the history of Somaliland had no doubt whom Ambassador Awale was talking about. Ibrahim's wife, Amina Cadhoole, equally an educated Somali woman from the region where the Sultan hails from, took the job of finding members of the lost tribe. She quickly got hold of the telephone number of Ambassador Mohammed Garad (better known as “Garad”), the best known of the many surviving sons of the Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shireh. Garad thereafter quickly moved on to help establish, for the first time ever, the long-sought linkage of blood ties between the two branches of the Sulatan Mohamoud Ali Shire family. That was in 2000 and after so many telephone conversations, Ambassador Garad was able to answer a long-standing invitation to visit his brother, sister as well as his many nephews, nieces (and the children of the children of Sultan Ali Shire) in 2004 in Seychelles.

Postscript:

As is often the case with decendents of great leaders, Amb. Garad has the natural traits of his father's leadership. A resident of Maryland, U.S.A. and now a well respected elder, Amb. Mohamed Garad is the patriarch of a large family that has roots in many countries and continents, including North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Amb. Mohamed M. Garad ( Garad)

The Garad received his education in many countries including England (Pitman College, London, 1962), Sudan (Omdurman Commercial College, 1952 and Bakht Er. Ruda Institute of Education, 1949) and Somalia (Sheikh, 1947 and Hargaisa elementary school, 1943).

Amb. Garad's work experience is extremely impressive and speaks to his leadership both among his community and the Somali nation at large. He has a long career in foreign affairs and has held numerous diplomatic positions: Somalia Ambassador to the State of Qatar, Republic of Uganda, Federal Republic of Nigeria and political Counselor, Somalia Embassy in Bonn, Germany. Amb. Garad had participated in many bilateral talks on behalf of Somalia involving various interlocutors from Africa, Asia and Europe. He is the recipient of “meritorious Medal of the State of Qatar” in January 1988 by the Emir of Qatar.

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