[7][8] Another example of the Somali distrust of Europeans is when, in 1855, the governor of Zeila Haji Sharmarke refused to sell a house to a French agent in the town, and claimed that he preferred a significant loss over the presence of dangerous friends.

[9][10] Yet another example of the distrust of the Europeans is when massive riots throughout the entire protectorate had taken place in 1945 in response to the British authorities putting poison bait in grazing lands as part of an anti-locust campaign aimed at combatting locust swarms.

After studying in the markaz in Beer he opened a Sufi tariqa (order) sometime in the 1930s, where he preached his ideology of anti-imperialism, stressing the evil of colonial rule and the bringing of radical change through war.

His ideology was shaped by a millennial bent, which according to Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm is the "hope of a complete and radical change in the world shorn of all its present deficiencies".

In response, Sheikh Bashir organized a group of some hundred armed tribesmen and dared the British authorities to enforce the policy, which resulted in him being arrested at the end of 1939 and sentenced to a minor term of imprisonment.

The exchange between Sheikh Bashir and the sheikhs was passed over into history in a poem composed by Yasin Ahmed Haji Nur in January 1980, Muruq Baa Dagaal Gala (Muscle Partakes in War), where he describes the incident: Sheekh Bashiir ka daalaco Wadaadii dikriyayee daasada uu dhex keenee ku daloosha uu yidhi diinkay akhriyayeen wax kastay du-dubiyaan markay diisi waayeen waa kii budh doontee dam-dagiigan kaga dhigay Dulucdeedu waxay tahay muruq baa dagaal gala Take Sheikh Bashir as an example The chanting priests Among whom he placed a can And asked them to break it With the religious verses they wen reading Mer they read everything And failed to dent it He took a big stick And destroyed it with one swing.

The government came to a conclusion that another expedition against him would be useless; that they must build a railway, make roads and effectively occupy the whole of the protectorate, or else abandon the interior completely.

[18] The British administration recruited Indian and South African troops, led by police general James David, to fight against Sheikh Bashir and had intelligence plans to capture him alive.

The British authorities mobilized a police force, and eventually on 7 July found Sheikh Bashir and his unit in defensive positions behind their fortifications in the mountains of Bur Dhab.

Ma duugoobin Qaybdiid, lafuhu waana duhanayaane Da'dii u ahaa baa Faarax, jeelka loo diraye Imminkuu siduu dawri yahay, debedda meeraaye Loo diid dadkii uu dhaliyo, duunyaduu dhaqaye Dad oo idil soo eri, ninkii daalinka ahaaye

Ingriis wuxuu dooni jirey, reer Hindiya diidye, Daarihii Banjaab iyo ka kace, dahabkii hoos yiile, Daymada hadeeray indhuhu, dib u jaleecaane.

Dekedaha maraakiib shixnadan, baa ka soo degeye, Daadxoorta oo idil, halkanaa lala damcaayaaye, Halka daawad xeradeedu tahay, gaaladaa degiye, Nin daymud iyo gaadhi laa, beer idiin dirane, Durgufkiina soo hadhay, waxaan doonayuu garane Sheikh Bashir was hanged in day-light, at a house near you, With bullets, they made holes on his chest, While his body was covered with blood, They also kicked him, and insulted him.

Many ships will arrive at (our) ports, They will bring here (Somaliland) those thrown out by the stream of shit The place were you pasture Daawad (she-camel), the infidels will settle, A man on a car and an airplane, will force you to work on his farms, The few who survive that, will then know what I want (today) (Mogadisho: Madbacada Qaranka, n.d.), pp.49-50[2] Adan Ahmed Af-Qallooc also composed another poem in Sheikh Bashir's honour, titled Gobonimo (Freedom).

Siyaadiyo Nuqsaan laguma daro, suu Ilaah yidhiye kuwo saymihii nabad galaa, seexday oo go'a e Saxarba waa dilaa niman wakhtiga, sed ugu laabnayne Geesiga senaad weyn leh, iyo fulaha seeraara Geerida u siman Sharafna, way kala Sarreeyaane

Sarakaca, Kufrigu wa Sasabo, suu na leeyahaye Freedom is never attained with ease Nor with indifferent chit-chat It is never bestowed without struggle And it never recognizes the man that was not hurt for it

Fire and heat surround it It wants you to go through that and appear somewhere on the other side The desire and struggle are for posterity to remember This place (jail) has been prepared for men

The hero Nakruma and Jamal slept here The chain and iron were not moulded for women But for men who refuse subjection This ugly blanket (upon which we sit) is better than the best Persian carpet

We must never complain Sheikh Bashir's rebellion can also be credited for contributing to the rise of balwo and heello, two famous styles of music and poetry practiced in modern-day Somaliland as well as Djibouti.