The Sultanate of Hobyo (, ), also known as the Sultanate of Obbia, was a 19th-century Somali Sultanate in present-day northeastern and central Somalia and eastern Ethiopia. It was established in 1878 by Yusuf Ali Kenadid .
Administration
As with the Majeerteen Sultanate, the Sultanate of Hobyo exerted a strong centralised authority during its existence and possessed all of the organs and trappings of an integrated modern state: a functioning bureaucracy, a hereditary nobility, titled aristocrats, a state flag as well as a professional army. Like the Majeerteen Sultanate, it was another example of the determination of the Migiurtini people to maintain a traditional and free society. Both sultanates also maintained written records of their activities, which still exist.
History
Rise of the Sultanate
The sultanate of Hobyo originated from a rift within the Majeerteen. The election of Yusuf Ali as Sultan by Bah Lelkase and Bah Yaqub in Alula(which from the time of Boqor Xawaadane had been designated as the residence of the Bah Yaqubs) was the origin of a dynastic conflict.
Initially, Ali Yusuf Kenadid's goal was to seize control of the neighbouring Majeerteen Sultanate, which was then ruled by his cousin Boqor Osman Mahamud. However, he was unsuccessful in this endeavour, and was eventually forced into exile in Yemen. A decade later, in the 1870s, Kenadid returned from the Arabian Peninsula with a band of Hadhrami and Mehri fighters led by Husni bin Neymer and a group of devoted lieutenant, among them a close strategist Ali Bos, and Ahmed Sayah, a prominent arms dealer; both from Arab Salah of Mahri Origin), with their assistance, he managed to overpower the local Habar Gidir clans and establish the Sultanate of Hobyo in 1878.
In the late 19th century, all extant Somali monarchs entered into treaties with one of the colonial powers, Abyssinia, Britain or Italy, In late 1888, Sultan Kenadid entered into a treaty with the Italians, making his realm an Italian protectorate. His rival Boqor Osman would sign a similar agreement vis-a-vis his own Sultanate the following year. Both rulers had signed the protectorate treaties to advance their own expansionist objectives, with Kenadid looking to use Italy's support in his dispute with the Omani Sultan of Zanzibar over an area bordering Warsheikh, in addition to his ongoing power struggle over the Majeerteen Sultanate with Boqor Osman. In signing the agreements, the rulers also hoped to exploit the rival objectives of the European imperial powers so as to more effectively assure the continued independence of their territories.
The terms of each treaty specified that Italy was to steer clear of any interference in the sultanates' respective administrations. In return for Italian arms and an annual subsidy, the Sultans conceded to a minimum of oversight and economic concessions. The Italians also agreed to dispatch a few ambassadors to promote both the sultanates' and their own interests.
However, the relationship between Hobyo and Italy soured when Sultan Kenadid refused the Italians' proposal to allow a British contingent of troops to disembark in his Sultanate so that they might then pursue their battle against the emir of Diiriye Guure, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan and their Dervish forces. Viewed as too much of a threat by the Italians, Sultan Kenadid was eventually exiled to Aden in Yemen and then to Eritrea, as was his son Ali Yusuf, the heir apparent to his throne. However, unlike the southern territories, the northern sultanates were not subject to direct rule due to the earlier treaties they had signed with the Italians.
Omar Samatar's Rebellion
Though victorious against the sultan's forces, the populace had yet to accept Italian rule without a fight. Commissioner Trivulzio, assigned with administering Hobyo, reported the movement of armed men towards the borders of the sultanate before and after the annexation. As preparations were underway to continue the Corpo Zaptié's advance into Majeerteen, a new threat emerged. One of Sultan Ali Yusuf's commanders, Omar Samatar, attacked and captured El Buur on 9 November 1925. The local populace sided with Omar, and soon enough the Italians had a full-scale revolution on their hands after Omar followed up his previous success with the capture of El-Dhere. The Corpo Zaptié tried and failed to recapture El-Bur from Omar. By 15 November the Italians had fled to Bud Bud, ambushed by partisans the whole way and rather diminished in forces and resolve.