Marehan Sultanate
Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the Marehan Sultanate was an important sultanate, which extended from Bender Ziyade on the Gulf of Aden to beyond Ras el-Khail on the Indian Ocean, or much of northern Somalia. Its Marehan constituents are recorded as having played a major role in Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi's campaigns against Ethiopia during the 16th century. The commander of the Somali forces and the closest deputy of the Imam was a Marehan commander, Garad Ahmed bin Hirabu. The Marehan helped push westward into the plains of Jijiga and farther, helping destabilize the highland Christian empire. Evident in these battles were the Somali archers, namely the Marehan and the Gerri archers, through whom al-Ghazi was able to defeat the numerically superior Ethiopian Army that consisted of 16,000 cavalry and more than 200,000 infantry.
Nearing the 19th century, the Marehan sultanate declined and withdrew from the Nugaal area and became confined to the Gedo and Galgadud regions. The Marehan were also the allies of the Somali hero Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, and fought against the British. In a boast of Hassan, he declares his power and reach is such that he can climb even the highest trees that exist; the trees of the Marehan. This is meant to signify that Hassan is so powerful that he even has the support of the powerful Marehan and only they, out of the rest of the Somalis, can aptly describe the reach of his power. As early as 1850, the Marehan were recorded moving into Jubaland. It was recorded that:
"To the east the Somalis were once more on the move. By 1850, one of the Darod Somali groups, the Marehan crossed the Juba in force. In 1865 they went on to break the Tana Galla and by 1880 had turned on the Boran. Pagan peoples in this region were now being dominated by Muslims, and peasants by nomads from the north."