Taleh (, ) is a historical town in the eastern Sool region of Somaliland. As of September 2015, both Puntland and Somaliland had nominal influence or control in Taleh and it's vicinity. The town served as the capital of the pre-independence Dervish movement. The Dalyare fort and the Taleh complex built between 1909 and 1910 are among the least disfigured Dervish era structures that remain in Sool province, whom altogether comprise 27 Dervish era structures. The oldest or first of these forts was the Ugaadhyahan Dhulbahante-inhabited fort at Halin and destroyed by Eric Swayne in 1902; the second-oldest was the Bah Ali Gheri Dhulbahante-inhabited fort at Eyl built in 1903. Taleh succeeded the city of Eyl (Illig) as the Dervish capital for four years from 1905 onwards. According to the concurrent London Gazette, Taleh and Jidali were the two main Dhulbahante garesas inhabited by Dervish. History Dervish State Dhulbahante garesa In the Dervish-written letter's description of the fall of Taleh in February 1920, in an April 1920 letter transcribed from the original Arabic script into Italian by the incumbent Governatori della Somalia, the various Dervish-built installations are described as garesas taken from the Dhulbahante clan by the British: The Mogadishu governor was later inspired to similarly refer to his resident mansion as a garesa. Choice as capital According to Dervish veteran Ciise Faarax Fikad, Taleh was chosen as the Dervish capital because the Nugaal Valley lies at the heartland of Dhulbahante territory, its distance from colonial administrative centers and to generate geographical distance from the hostile bodies such as Rayid signatories to British treaties, the Majeerteen, those under Mohamoud Ali Shire and the Ogaden who were in general opposed to the Dervish: Colonial sources concur with Somali sources that non-Dhulbahante clans were hostile towards the Dervish: Dervish forts/Dhulbahante garesas Taleh is home to several historic structures dating to the Dervish era. Of these, there are five forts erected by Mohammed Abdullah Hassan's former Dervish movement in present-day Sool and Sanaag. Constructed between 1901 and 1915, most of the edifices are concentrated in the Sanaag & Sool region, including Dalyare fort, Jidali fort, Midhisho, Shimbir Bariis and Badhan. Taleh/Taleex is the largest of the structures. According to Cabdi-Yaar Cali Guuleed, a Dervish veteran, the largest Dhulbahante fort from the Dervish era is the Dhulbahante fort of Taleh which according to him was built between 1909 and 1910 and he said the