El-Sheikh ( so, Ceel-Sheekh) is a coastal settlement in the western edge of the Sahil region of Somaliland.

History

El-Sheikh was also known historically as ''Buurta Almis'' or جبل ألمس ''Jebel Amis'' after the nearby Mount Almis just south of the settlement. It was a well known landmark to navigators and legendary Arab explorer Ahmad ibn Mājid wrote of El-Sheikh and a few other notable landmarks and ports of the northern Somali coast, including

Berbera Berbera (; so, Barbara, ar, بربرة) is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. It ...

, Siyara, the Sa'ad ad-Din islands aka the Zeila Archipelago near

Zeila Zeila ( so, Saylac, ar, زيلع, Zayla), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland. In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila (or Hawilah) with the Bib ...

, Alula,

Maydh Maydh (also transliterated as Mait or Meit) (, ) is an ancient port city in the eastern Sanaag region of Somaliland. History Antiquity According to Augustus Henry Keane, Maydh represents an early center of dispersal of the Somali people. Natio ...

Ruguda Ruguda, also known as Rakudah ( so, Ruguuda) is a historic coastal port town located in the Sanaag region of Somaliland, near Heis. Overview Ruguda is a coastal town approximately 38km away from the larger Heis town nearby. Other nearby citi ...

, Heis and

El-Darad El-Darad ( so, Ceel Daraad) was a historic coastal settlement and fort located in the Sahil region of Somaliland. History Legendary 15th century Arab explorer Ahmad ibn Mājid wrote of El-Darad and several other notable landmarks and ports ...

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable p ...

visited the settlement and noted the mountain in his map. After the

Habr Awal The Habr Awal, also contemporarily known as the Subeer Awal, and alternately romanized as the Zubeyr Awal ( so, Habar Awal, ar, هبر أول, Full Name: '' Zubeyr ibn Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ash- Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad)'' is a major clan of ...

massacre of

's travel party and death of a number of British officers in 1854 led the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

to blockad the Habr Awal coast. The blockade was established from Mount Almis to Siyara and crippled trade in Berbera and Bulhar with a settlement being reached in 1856. El-Sheikh remained a well used by the Habr Awal Saad Musa throughout the British Somaliland period and this is noted in the late 1940s and 50s survey of the protectorate.

Demographics

The Sa'ad Musa subclan of the

Isaaq The Isaaq (also Isaq, Ishaak, Isaac) ( so, Reer Sheekh Isxaaq, ar, بني إسحاق, Banī Isḥāq) is a Somali clan. It is one of the major Somali clans in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory. Pe ...

reside in Ceel-Sheekh and its environs.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Ceel Sheekh - coordinates
Populated places in Sahil, Somaliland

History

Demographics

See also

References

External links