History of Baardhere
A religious group led by Sheikh Yabbarow founded Baardhere community in 1776. Their mission was not only to set up an ideal community whose members are ruled in accordance with the Islamic ideals, but also to attain economic development and social justice for the newly established community. It grow in size and influence and helped the spread of Islam in the southern Somali interior, which was characterized at the time by the proliferation of saints and religious settlements that evolved later as territorial confederacy. This has brought confrontation with adversaries. As a result Baardhere fought many wars, the most known of which is the one with the Geledi sultanate, when it was defeated. The town was burned and abandoned for 20 years, when it was re-grouped and reformed. After reformation baardhere community continued to be a conservative Muslim society and the home of religious learning for Somalia.
The emergence of foreign powers initiated the most profound disruption of Somali history i.e. the marginalization of indigenous institutions and their slow but sustained diminishing power and influence. The liberation from colonial rule and the forms of state practice that followed didn’t bring any sustainable alternative to the indigenous rule.