Hargeisa’s 1947 unrest stemmed from an intra-Isaq split, not Isaq-Darod rivalry
Evidence
For although the S.Y.L. was generally representative of all the Somali clans, to the dominantly Isaq population of the Protectorate it was tinged with a strongly Darod flavour, appealing therefore more immediately to the eastern Dulbahante and Warsangeli clans than to the central Isaq. However, the serious disturbances which marked the political scene in Hargeisa in 1947, though connected with a proposed merger of the S.N.L. and S.Y.L., were apparently not motivated by traditional Isaq-Darod antagonism. They were produced, in fact, it seems, by a split within the Isaq themselves, one party favouring the new alliance, while the other, being more conservative, supported the Isaqiya association. One of the two factions concerned consisted mainly of Habar Yunis clansmen who had recently lost their traditional position as the main source of employees in government service. The loss of this lucrative and influential monopoly, which dated from the earliest days of British rule, had been hastened by the new administrative policy of seeking to relate the employment of Somali personnel to the relative strengths of the various clans. This policy, while appealing to others, had little attraction for the Habar Yunis, and caused considerable bitterness. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 366
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Lewis’s recurring accountancy of clan particularism and how British employment policies (clan quota) reshaped political alliances. — connects to: S.Y.L. internal Darod-Hawiye rivalry split it into moderate and militant factions; Hargeisa’s 1947 disturbances stemmed from intra-Isaq clan rivalry over civil service jobs.
- QUESTION: Worth chasing: how did the British clan-proportional employment policy shape later independence-era political alignments?