Somalia Italiana was a full blown colony with upto 60,000 white Italians settlers. Somaliland was not a colony, it was only a protectorate of Great Britain, with whom it had legal agreements. It only became such because the community leaders had signed treaties with the Brits. The definition of a treaty is "a formally concluded and ratified agreement between states" Here is an example.
The primary concern of the British with regards to Somaliland was only ever to deny their European competitors a foothold in that very strategic part of Africa. There is also another reason Somaliland wasn’t a colony as say Kenya or Somalia Italiana were, Somaliland is and was not particularly suitable for commercial scale agriculture and there were no other natural resources as such. Somaliland also did not have large urban population whom the Brits could tax or govern because the population, beyond the port of Berbera and the towns in the hinterland, was largely nomadic. Because by this time >90% of Africa had already been colonised, the community leaders agreed to this arrangement in return for protection to ensure that they could keep out other European and foreign powers from their country.It was also a way to secure the Berbera-Adan livestock trade as Britain was in control of Adan. It was a strategic security and business decision to 'secure the bag' to 'secure the coin'.
This meant that Brits only ever had a very small presence in Somaliland, often not extending beyond the port town of Berbera and a few other towns. This was in accordance with the nominal protectorate status of Somaliland. For the most part, the locals were free to and did indeed rule themselves. They nomads carried on with their lives. The business people in the port towns continued trading. At no point did the Somali inhabitants see the Brits as “their masters”. Somalis are known for their independence and strict adherence to their culture and religion. The British left no trial or evidence of their presence in Somaliland, because they were hardly present at all.
Above I mentioned there were treaties that the community leaders and elders signed with the Brits. Those treaties defined very clearly, unequivocally and explicitly the nature and extent of the relationship between Great Britain and Somaliland. The Brits could not: claim Somaliland as a colony, or claim proprietorship or sovereignty over the land, except to the minimal and nominal extent allowed by the treaties, which was face-value and for strategic security reasons only. They could not legally marry the locals, build any churches or propagate their religion openly or distribute bibles. They could not bury their dead except in one specified graveyard in the town of Hargeisa, but even there they could only bury their Muslim employees from Yemen and India. They could not bear children in the country. They could not construct buildings or plant flora except in those towns specified in the treaties. Somalilanders even went around uprooting any trees planted by the British in Hargeisa and Berbera because this violated the treaties.
Somaliland British Protectorate
This meant that Brits only ever had a very small presence in Somaliland, often not extending beyond the port town of Berbera and a few other towns. This was in accordance with the nominal protectorate status of Somaliland. For the most part, the locals were free to and did indeed rule themselves. They nomads carried on with their lives. The business people in the port towns continued trading. At no point did the Somali inhabitants see the Brits as “their masters”. Somalis are known for their independence and strict adherence to their culture and religion. The British left no trial or evidence of their presence in Somaliland, because they were hardly present at all.
