1903 Stanford Folding Map of the British Somaliland

An impressive large-format folding map of British Somaliland, prepared and published in 1903 by Stanford's Geographical Establishment, London. It presents the region near the end of the 'Scramble for Africa,' when nearly the entire continent was carved up by European colonial powers, except Ethiopia, which also tried to expand into this region to secure its borders.

A Closer Look

Covering much of the northern part of the Horn of Africa, the map outlines the British Somaliland protectorate as well as neighboring French and Italian protectorates and unclaimed territory to the south (now part of Ethiopia). Settlements, regions, paths, topographic features, wells, and other features are labeled throughout. Notes and the table of explanations at the bottom right provide additional information. Some areas remained largely unknown, particularly towards the right, with features followed by question marks. Dashed lines mark out unofficial boundaries, such as the 'approximate northern boundary of the Haud' and the lines of the 'Anglo-Italian Boundary Protocol 1894.' An inset map at the top displays the wider Horn of Africa region. Harar, the capital of the eponymous Ethiopian region, appears in the margin on the left.

Fighting Fire with Fire

At bottom-left is the Ogaden region, a borderland on the edge of Ethiopia traditionally beyond the control of the Ethiopian emperor or noblemen (Ethiopia and Somalia fought a war over the region in 1977 - 1978). In addition to the British and Italians, the Ethiopians were also expanding into this region to buffer against European powers. They established a garrison at Jijiga in 1891 (here as 'Abyssinian Post' at 'Jigjiga' at left), which promptly became a target of a local uprising aimed at expelling all outside powers (the Dervish movement, discussed below).

British Somaliland and the Dervish Movement

British Somaliland was a protectorate encompassing the northern part of present-day Somalia, congruent with the unrecognized but de facto state of Somaliland. Established in the late 19th century during the Scramble for Africa, British Somaliland was strategically important due to its location near the Gulf of Aden, a crucial passage for British maritime routes to India and the Far East. This map was printed to capitalize on British interest in the ongoing conflict with the Dervish State, an anti-colonial movement led by the charismatic and militant religious leader Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, known as the 'Mad Mullah' by the British. His campaigns aimed to resist colonial rule and establish a unified Somali state under Islamic (Sufi) governance. The British military armed rival Somali clans and launched several expeditions to quell the Dervish resistance, but the rugged terrain and Hassan's guerrilla tactics made the conflict protracted and challenging. After a 1905 treaty that ceded the Nugaal (Nogal) Valley (near center) to the Dervishes, Hassan was more popular and powerful than ever. The Dervish State maintained control over significant parts of what is modern-day Somalia until it was defeated in 1920 by a combined British air and ground assault. The legacy of the Dervish State survives today in terms of militant Islamist tendencies and fierce nationalism.

British East Africa

The British presence in East Africa first appeared in the form of missionaries in the 1840s and then commercial ventures in the 1880s. While British interest was mostly focused on the lands between Mombasa and Lake Victoria, they were concerned about rival powers in the region, especially the Germans, but also the Italians, who rapidly increased their presence in the Horn of Africa in the late 1880s. In the Horn of Africa, the British primarily wanted to secure the Suez Canal and routes to India. At least some colonial officials were also motivated by a desire to wipe out slave trading. Therefore, in 1884, the British established a protectorate over the northern Somali territories following treaties with local Somali clans. As with many British colonies, administration was light, with the local clans retaining considerable autonomy over local matters.

Scramble for Africa

The map is an artifact of the 'Scramble for Africa,' the series of late 19th and early 20th century protectorates, occupations, usurpations, annexations, divisions, and land seizures by European powers in Africa, including Britain, Germany, and France, among others. The Scramble for Africa was mainly characterized by heightened occupation and direct ownership of colonial lands. Rivalries and treaties led to several new African states, many of which remain, but few of which paid heed to traditional boundaries or cultural distinctions. The Scramble was punctuated by the Berlin Conference of 1884, wherein European colonization of Africa was regulated and made official. It was at the Berlin Conference that the doctrine of Effective Occupation became the benchmark for European colonialism in Africa. According to this doctrine, colonial powers needed to prove 'effective occupation.' This included proving the existence of treaties with local powers, their flags being flown, or having active forts in the region.

The conference was meant to regulate European colonization of Africa to avoid conflicts. However, in some ways, the conference facilitated an even more rapid division of the continent. Rival powers raced to establish a presence in unclaimed territory, often building railways in their wake to strengthen their hold. Indigenous rulers aligned with one or another of the competing European powers to try to maintain a degree of independence. However, these agreements were later used to reduce or eliminate their autonomy under colonial administrations.

In terms of East Africa, a British sphere of influence in the region was confirmed at the Berlin Conference, but its boundaries were ill-defined, in part due to limited geographical knowledge of the continent's interior. These uncertainties lie behind efforts to divide the Horn of Africa and nearby territories in the 1880s. (Aside from British Somaliland, the French established their own Somaliland colony, future Djibouti, in 1884, while the Italians established a Somaliland colony in 1889, occupied Eritrea in 1890, and attempted to invade Abyssinia or Ethiopia in the mid-1890s.)

Publication History and Census

This map was produced and published by Stanford's Geographical Establishment in London in 1903. It is rare; we only note institutional examples at the University of Cambridge and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (dated 1902, perhaps an earlier printing), and it is scarce to the market.