[2] During the late 19th century, as the region became subject to colonial rule, the Ughaz assumed a more traditional and ceremonial leadership of the clan.

Ughaz Ali Makail Dera (Cali Makayl-Dheere) who was born in 1575 in Dobo, an area north of the present town of Borama in north-western Somaliland, is recorded as having inflicted a heavy defeat on Galla forces at Nabadid.

[2] The Gadabuursi managed to defeat and kill the next Oromo King after Aale Boore during the reign of Ughaz Roble I who was crowned in 1817.

In the picture already shared titled 'An old map featuring the Harrawa Valley in the Gadabuursi country, north of Harar' one can read Gabri Nono, which is the anglicized version of the Somali Qabri Nuuno.

In his youth, he loved riding, hunting and the traditional arts and memorized a great number of proverbs, stories and poems.

[10] In the year 1876, Egypt using Islam as a bargaining chip signed a treaty with Ughaz Nur II and came to occupy the Northern Somali coast which included Zeila.

The treaty titled in French, Traitè de Protectorat sur les Territoires du pays des Gada-Boursis, was signed by both J. Henry, the Consular Agent of France and Dependencies at Harar-Zeila, and Nur Robleh, Ughaz of the Gadabuursi, at Zeila on 9 Djemmad 1302 (March 25, 1885).

3 The French government will have the option of establishing customs in the posts open to trade, and on the points of the borders of the territory of the Gada-boursis where it deems it necessary.

There was also suspicion that Ughaz Nur II had attempted to cause a diplomatic row between the British and French governments in order to consolidate his own power in the region.

The result was an Anglo-French agreement of 1888 which defined the boundaries of the two protectorates as between Zeila and Jibuti: four years later the latter port became the official capital of the French colony.

However Ughaz Nur II had little to do with the British, as long as they did not interfere with his rule, the customs of his people, and their trade routes.

Tolkayow xalay taah ma ladin toosna maan qabine Nimankaas Taagani waxay igu talaaleene Togii Herer Axmaaraa dul tagay oo dilay dadkeeniye Islaamkiina wuu wada tirtiray baa inoo timid eh Taawooday oo xalay hurdadii tow ka soo idhiye My people, last night my moans did not leave me yet no ailment plagued me.

Yet for this very reason, after the 1897 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, Ughaz Nur II, a far-sighted man, did everything in his power to prevent his people cultivating, for he realised that it would bring them under the control of the Amharic authority established at Harar.

I fear that they will make a permanent settlement in the Harrawa Valley from whence the encroachments and exactions will extend further into the Protectorate.”[22]Ras Makonnen sent a letter to Colonel E. V. Stace complaining that the Gadabuursi have begun attacking all caravans coming into Harar and denied any plans to militarily attack the Gadabuursi: "From - RAS MAKUNAN, Amir of Harrar and its Dependencies, To COLONEL E. V. STACE, Political Agent and Consul, Somali Coast...

"[23]Ras Makonnen, the newly appointed Ethiopian governor of Harar, offered the Gadabuursi protection in exchange for collaboration.

"Translation of another variation of the poem by B. W. Andrzejewski (1993):[27]"If any man intended aught of villainy against me, by God, how snug I made my forecourt for his bed-mat, none the less!

I offered banter and engaged in well-turned talk, All the while setting a trap for him, Ready for the day when he would show his real intentions.

Today marks the end, Ugâs Nûr shall pass away; If someone, merely a Foot binder, desires to dominate us, O Creator of the world, don't let him become our master!

Philipp Paulitschke (1893) comments on the above poem: "This poem is an example of the improvisational art of the Somâl, Somâl girls were singing in the interior of the Gadaburssi country when it became known that Ugâs Nûr Roble, the old prince of the land, was imprisoned in Zeila and a great statesman of the tribe, Elmi Worfa appointed Ugâs of the Gadaburssi-Somâl by the British government.

"[29]Major R. G. Edwards Leckie writes about his meeting with Ughaz Nur II in his A Visit to the Gadabuursi: "We were warned that he did not love the Feringi (white man), and therefore thought it better to send a messenger ahead to His Majesty and return with a confidential report on the situation.

[8] He eventually fell out of favor with the British and became close allies with Menelik II who officially recognized him as the Ughaz of the Gadabuursi.

[34][35][8] The Arab Bureau, which was a collection of British intelligence officers headquartered in Cairo and charged with the task of coordinating imperial intelligence activities, recorded this event in the Arab Bureau Summaries Volumes 1-114 (1986), where it also mentioned that the British deposed Ughaz Roble II from power due to his alliance with the Ethiopian establishment: "Lij Yasu has, however, given a female relative of his in marriage to the late Agaz of the Gadabursi, who was recently deposed by us for his intrigues and misgovernment.

He had given one of his relatives to its Ex-Ughaz Robleh Nur.”[36]After the deposition of his ally Lij Iyasu by Empress Zewditu, Ughaz Roble II witnessed the October 1916 massacre of the inhabitants of Harar by Abyssinian soldiers and was given immunity along with some of the other prominent leaders in the region.

Two of the best are "Dhega Taag” (A Battle-Cry) by 'Elmi the Tall or 'Elmi Dheire' and the other called "Aabudle" (A Declaration of Faith) by Farid Dabi-Hay,[44] who was one of Ughaz 'Elmi's rivals.

[45] He was a source of constant problems for the British Protectorate and was accused of conspiring with Italian forces during World War II.

After his return from forced exile, the Ethiopian government sent him a delegation informing him that Haile Selassie recognizes him as the Ughaz of the Gadabuursi in Ethiopia.

In 1948, Ughaz Dodi along with Sultan Hassan of the Jidwaq, signed a document called 'Petition for Amalgamation from the Jigjiga area, with the other Somali territories.'

The compensation rates for delicts committed within the clan were revised if necessary, and a corpus of Gadabuursi law, as it were, was placed on the statutes for the duration of the new Ugaas's rule.

He states: "Here, probably to commemorate the westward progress of the tribe, the Gudabirsi Ugaz or chief has the white canvass turban bound about his brows, and hence rides forth to witness the equestrian games in the Harawwah Valley.

Early on a Monday morning a man of the Reer Nuur (the laandeer of the Gadabuursi) plucks a flower or leaf and throws it upon the Ugaas.