Along the upper and middle reaches of the Shabelle valley, the pastoral Gaaljecel, Baadicade and Xawaadle waged several unsuccessful campaigns before they eventually united to drive the Ajuuraan out of the area.

[4] By 1700, the Hiraab and other clans occupied a large territory stretching the interior from the Shabelle valley to the arid lands of Mudug and to the coastal areas of Mogadishu towards Hobyo.

[15] The Imam would receive dignitaries in Mogadishu, correspond with leaders such as the Sultan of Zanzibar or foreign explorers and assign them patrons when they visited his territory to assist them in their business and trade.

In short, it is a real feast for which even when two tribes were at war, if a Somali assumes the title of Ugaz or Imam - the hostilities pursued - gain temporary peace.

The agricultural centers of El Dhere and Harardhere included the production of sorghum, maize and beans supplemented with herds of camels, cattle, goats, and sheep.

Harvesting along the Shabelle river where major agricultural centers were located like Beledweyne and Jowhar, a large number of fruits and vegetables were produced and brought to Mogadishu and Warsheikh for trade.

Also, the increasing importance and rapid settlement of more southerly cities such as Mogadishu further boosted prosperity, as more and more ships made their way down the Somali coast to trade and replenish their supplies.

[19] The economy of the Hiraab in the interior includes nomadic pastoralism, cultivation within agricultural settlements of the Shebelle valley and fertile plains of central Somalia, as well as mercantile commerce along the urban coast.

The Hiraab ports would export various commodities through its maritime routes including cattle skin, slaves, ivory, textiles, iron, gold, silva, pearls, ambergris, incense and numerous other exotic goods.

[20][21] Explorer John Kirk arrived in southern Somalia in 1873 during a period of great economic prosperity with the region being dominated by the Imamate and the Geledi Sultanate.

Roughly 20 large dhows were docked in both Mogadishu and Merka respectively filled with grain produced from the farms of the Geledi in the interior with much of the trade being destined for Zanzibar.

It also observed sharia law, protected the trade caravans, used a powerful mounted unit that policed the state, collected taxes or tributes of cereal and livestock.

[23] It is known in several records that the Imamate imported firearms from Aden, Djibouti and Zanzibar to maintain armed guards in Mogadishu and to defend its country borders.

The dispute was very fierce, so much so that for this election there was a great war between the tribes, where, it is said, about five hundred people were killed on both sides"Si assicura, che finalmente uno della tribù degli Abgal, chiamato Omar Egalle, proponesse la pace, offrendosi di accomodare l'affare per l'elezione dell'Imam.

[30][31][32] Since the British-sponsored bombing of Mogadishu Port in 1828 by Oman for refusing protection, the Hiraab Imamate fought for decades to maintain a sphere of influence impending the arrival of European Powers and their regional allies in Zanzibar and Egypt.

[33][34][35][36] In exchange for support over conflict in Kismayo, Barawa and Merca against Hiraab clans of the hinterland such as the Abgaal, Wacdaan and Sheekhaal,[37][38][39] Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar, who had been greatly indebted to Britain, had requested the Sultanate of Geledi in the early 1870's to interpose his good offices and marriage ties with one of the factions of the Imamate for a trade garrison between them all, though initially rejected by the other Imamate faction[40][41] but faced with a trade injunction in Afgoye and Bulo Marerto, acquiesed with setting up an office near the Old City while some of the tribute went to the Imamate such as Malaakh Hassan Geedi Abtow the Malaakh of Xamar and Xamar daye who surrounded the numerous roads into the city.

As one of the very first acts signifying the start of foreign Colonialism in Somalia in 1884 with British patronage, they used the chief of Alula in the Bari region, Yusuf Ali Kenadid, to their advantage who, at the time of the 1884 Berlin Conference earlier in the year, was in conflict with his cousin-ruler over Alula, so a case was made to set up a new base in Hobyo with the help of British Colonial Yemeni musketeer fighters enlisted to satisfy all the parties.

[54] Some treaty concludes with the sultan of Opia, an obscure princelet now put forward as the "chief of all of the Somali people", his very existence is unknown to the vast majority of the nation, as is theirs to him.

But even diplomatists will never be able to make it the center of any large population, for the surrounding country is a waterless steppe, while the neighbouring seaboard is absolutely destitute of harboursThe Horn of Africa had been partitioned following the Berlin Conference in 1884 and after up to five years of local Hiraab clans blockading Merca to Ras Elhur and Hobyo in repelling the European influence,[55][56][57] the Italians in observation of other powers had made several attempts to trail warships along the coast from Zanzibar, first succeeding to negotiate with Bargash over Baraawe in 1885-1887 while officially moving into the colonial space of the rest of the Indian Ocean in early 1889 lifting the sieges through negotiations to re-open trade, lobbying voting bids against other European powers and by the dedicated offices of the Italian Consul General in Zanzibar and Fervent Imperial Explorer of East Africa, Antonio Cecchi who was later killed in Lafole in 1896 after seeking potential allies amongst the 1889-Italian possessions retitled the "Afgoi territory", "Obbia territory" and "Migiurtinia region" against the Ethiopian Empire fighting in Adwa before some of the local chiefs were later pensioned off in 1908 and 1925-1927, respectively.

[58] Though some of the several chiefs of those regions or territories had long conspired or requested Italian protection several months or years earlier, Sultan Abiker Ali Jacub representing the Imamate's coastal faction and descendants of Imam Ali Mohamed who ruled the Jasira-Itala-Meregh-Elhur corridor with his seat in Itala (Cadale or 'Adale') signed the first local Somali-Italian treaty of friendship and commerce on 7 January 1889.

The evacuation of the Egyptian garrison at Harrar and the military prowess of Ras Makonnen had permitted Menelik to extend his new Ethiopian empire eastwards into the Ogaden region inhabited by various Somali tribes.

[73][74][75] Tra le popolazioni che , per la loro normale dislocazione verso i limiti interni del retroterra del Benadir e dei Sultanati, erano da considerarsi « genti di confine », andavano annoverate, oltre quelle già dette : - le tribù degli Herab, insediate nella zona a cavallo.

"Among the populations that, due to their normal location towards the boundaries of the hinterland of Benadir and the Sultanates, were to be considered "border peoples", in addition to those already mentioned: - the Herab tribes, settled in the area on Horseback""The Obbian was not to initiate an offensive against the Mullah without the consent of the Resident, whom he recognised as the representative of the Italian government in all matters.