Zanzibar and the Geledi divided Benadir control through a delicate balance
Evidence
Thus by the middle of the nineteenth century, the southern Benadir coast as a whole recognized the suzerainty of Zanzibar, although the Sultan’s power was vague and uncertain compared with the direct influence exerted by the Geledi who dominated the hinterland. Yet the Geledi did not generally dispute Zanzibar’s position, and the two Sultans were friends rather than rivals maintaining between them a delicate balance of control over the Benadir. Farther to the south the Sultan of Zanzibar’s writ ran more directly, so that, for example, when in 1868 after the rout of the Galla Warday, new Darod reinforcements arrived to swell the further Darod thrust south, and came from the north by sea to Kismayu, they sought and obtained the Sultan’s authority. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 136
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Zanzibar and Geledi shared overlapping sovereignty over the Benadir ports — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 133