In the late 19th century, after the Berlin Conference of 1884, European powers began the Scramble for Africa. In that year, a British protectorate was declared over part of Somalia, on the African coast opposite South Yemen. Initially, this region was under the control of the Indian Office, and so administered as part of the Indian Empire; in 1898 it was transferred to control by London. This was followed by a legal court Darawiish tariqa being established in the year 1895, which according to Douglas Jardine, was primarily engaged in settling legal disputes. This early Darawiish court tariqa was also described as friendly to the British government: In Darawiish nomenclature, a person learned in the  rulings, legal codes and stipulations of this early Darawiish court, was referred to as a ''muqaddim'', which roughly translates as ''arbitrator''.