Somali troops with a British Political Officer, 1910 (c)

Photograph, 1910 (c).

The British established a protectorate over Somaliland in 1884 and garrisoned it from Aden. The protectorate was administered from British India until 1898, then by the Foreign Office, and after 1905 the Colonial Office. As in all their colonies, the British recruited indigenous peoples into their armed forces to maintain security. When this photograph was taken the British were engaged against the forces of the so-called 'Mad Mullah, Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, who had led a revolt against British rule since 1899.