Yusuf Ali Kenadid

Yusuf Ali Kenadid Yuusuf Cali Keenadiid
1st Sultan of the Sultanate of Hobyo
Reign	1870s-early 1900s
Predecessor	inaugural
Successor	Ali Yusuf Kenadid
Spouse	Khadija
Issue	Ali Yusuf Kenadid, Osman Yusuf Kenadid
Full name Yuusuf Cali Keenadiid
Religion	Islam

Full name
Yuusuf Cali Keenadiid

Yusuf Ali Kenadid (Somali: Yuusuf Cali Keenadiid,was a Somali Sultan. He was the founder of the Sultanate of Hobyo in the 1870s. Along with Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire of the Warsangali Sultanate and King Osman Mahamuud of the Majeerteen Sultanate, Yusuf Ali was one of the three prominent rulers of present-day Somalia at the turn of the 20th century. He was succeeded atop the throne by his son Ali Yusuf Kenadid. The army of Yusuf Ali Kenadid conquered the local Hawiye clan and established Sultanate of Hobyo in 1870s.

Yusuf Ali Kenadid was born into a Majeerteen Darod family. He is the father of Osman Yusuf Kenadid, who would go on to create the Osmanya writing script for the Somali language. Yusuf Ali's grandson, Yasin Osman Kenadid, would later help found the Society for Somali Language and Literature.

Yusuf Ali was not a lineal descendant of the previous dynasties that governed over northeastern Somalia. He independently amassed his own fortune, and would later evolve into a skilled military leader commanding more senior troops. "Kenadid" was not his surname, but rather a title given to him by his rivals.

As per custom among the period's prominent urban traders, to ensure commercial success in the interior, Kenadid married a local woman. While traveling to the coast in his capacity as a merchant prince, he would thereafter entrust his business affairs to his second wife, Khadija. Her duties during her husband's absence included maintaining the extant commercial transactions with the local population, collecting debts, securing loans, and safeguarding merchandise stock that had been acquired during previous journeys.

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