1. Distribution

2. History
    Lineage  Medieval period (Conquest of Abyssinia)  Descriptions of the Garhajis by European travellers in the 1800s  Shermaarke Ali, governor of Berbera, Zeila and Tajoura (1833-1861)  1870s -1940s (Rayyad Wars)  Dervish period  The shooting of Captain Allan Gibb DSO DCM, 1922  Somali civil war and the Somali National Movement 

3. Eidagale

4. Sultanate of the Habr Yunis

5. Clan tree

6. Notable people

7. References

The Garhajis ({{lang-so|Garxajis}}, {{lang-ar|غرحجس }}, Ismail (Garhajis) Shiekh Isaaq ibn Ahmad al-Hashimi) is a sub-clan of the Isaaq.^[1][2][3][4] They are the traditional holders of the Isaaq Sultanate since the late 18th century. Its members form a part of the Habar Magaadle confederation, and they contstitute the largest sub-clan of the Isaaq. The Garhajis are divided into two major sub-clans, the Habar Yunis and Eidagale.^[5][6] They are traditionally nomadic pastoralists and merchants. One of the earliest mentions of the Garhajis in Western literature was in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London in 1848, where they are described as a powerful and warlike clan.^[7]

Distribution

The Garhajis inhabit the western Togdheer, eastern Woqooyi Galbeed, southern Sahil, northern Sool and central Sanaag regions of Somaliland. They also inhabit the Degehbur, Wardheer and Aware zones in the Haud region of Ethiopia. They also have a large settlement in Kenya where they are known as a constituent segment of the Isahakia community.^[8][9]

History

Lineage

Sheikh Isaaq Bin Ahmed was one of the Arabian scholars that crossed the sea from Arabia to the Horn of Africa to spread Islam around 12th to 13th century. He is said to have been descended from Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatimah. Hence the Sheikh belonged to the Ashraf or Sada, titles given to the descendants of the prophet. It is said he married two local women in Somalia that left him eight sons, one of them being Ismail (Garhajis).^[10]

Medieval period (Conquest of Abyssinia)

Historically the Garhajis took part in the conquest of Abyssinia and were part of the Adal Sultanate and are mentioned in the book Futuh Al-Habash (Conquest of Abyssinia) as the Habar Magaadle along with the Habar Awal, Arap and Ayub clans. The Habar Magaadle are known for producing a historical figure known as Ahmad Girri bin Husain who was the right-hand man of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi.^[11]

Descriptions of the Garhajis by European travellers in the 1800s

Several early European travellers gave descriptions of the Garhajis clan during their travels through Somaliland in the 1800s and early 1900s. The Garhajis were described as being nomads who had a reputation of being fine warriors and who were very skilled equestrians, and were noted to be among the best horsemen and in possession of the best breed of Horses among the Somali.

Description of the Garhajis by C.J Cruttenden in the 1840s:

The Haber Gerhajis, the eldest branch of the three tribes of Ishaak, reside chiefly in the mountains to the south of berbera, whence they extend to the country of Ogahden. They are a powerful and warlike tribe, numbering many horses in addition to their flocks and herds.^[7]

Edward Standford FRGS, 1885:

The Haber-Gerhajis tribe had formerly been under one Sultan [Hirsi Aman] and were very powerful, making frequent raids into Ogadayn, but on his death, two cousins, Awad and Nur, divided the country between them.^[12]

Explorer Frank Linsly James, a guest of Sultan Awad (Cawad) Diiriye Sugulleh during his visit to Somaliland in 1884, described a performance he witnessed by Habr Yunis Horsemen at Burao's Togdheer River.

During our stay at Burao, the Sultan collected a great many of his people together, and twice entertained us with some well-executed and characteristic evolutions on horseback. On the first occasion some forty mounted men were collected in the Tug before our zariba; but this did not satisfy the Sultan, and he arranged a second "fantasia," in which fully two hundred warriors were engaged. It was the best and most characteristic thing of the kind I had ever seen. A procession was first formed in the river's bed, and on a given signal all dashed off, brandishing their spears and shields. Dressed in tobes of many colours, and sitting loosely on their gaily-caparisoned horses, they engaged in mimic contest with spear and shield, reining their horses upon their haunches when at full gallop, and with wild shouts flinging their spears into the air. Each warrior carried a short-handled whip with a broad raw hide thong, and with it lashed his steed unmercifully. Some of the riders went through regular circus feats, leaping from their horses when at full gallop, picking up objects thrown on the ground, and then remounting. After this had continued for some time they would gallop close to our zariba, and reining up, shout "Mort, mort" ("Welcome, welcome"), to which we replied, "Kul liban" ("Thanks").^[13]

D. G. Elliot commenting on the Garhajis during his visit to the Haud in 1896:

The Haber Yunis tribe, one of the most powerful in this part of Africa, and which could place several thousand warriors in the field. Like all of the natives of Somaliland they are nomads, wandering from place to place in search of water and pasture for their flocks and herds...The Habr Yunis warriors commenced to give an exhibition of their horsemanship, riding away singly or in pairs advancing to the attack, thrusting with the spear and guarding with the shield on which the point of the spear was received. They had fine horses, much superior to our own, and in the best condition.^[14]

According to military historian Roy Irons, Major J. G. Beresford of the 7th Hussars Cavalry regiment also attested to the skill of Habar Yunis horsemen.^[15]

"Of the Somali tribal horse, Major J.G beresford reported that the Habr Yunis, Dolbahanta and Ba Idris were the best." Roy Irons, Churchill and the Mad Mullah.^[16]

Richard Francis Burton the British explorer, gave a description of the Garhajis during his visit to Somaliland in 1855:

The Habr Gerhajis, or eldest branch of the sons of Ishak, inhabit the Ghauts behind Berberah, whence they extend for several days' march to- wards Ogadayn, the southern region. This tribe is divided into a multitude of clans. The Ismail Arrah supply the Sultan, a nominal chief like the Eesa Ugaz ; they extend from Makhar to the south of Gulays, number about 15,000, shields and are subdivided into three septs. The Musa Arrah hold the land between Gulays and the seats of the Mijjarthayn and Warsangeli tribes on the windward coast. The Ishak Arrah count 5000 or 6000 shields, and inhabit the Gulays Range.^[17]

Shermaarke Ali, governor of Berbera, Zeila and Tajoura (1833-1861)

The Habar yoonis exercised real power over Zeila and its adjacent regions and had established themselves as a coastal power, with Sharmarke Ali Saleh (Musa Arreh) solidifying and consolidating his power in governing Zeila, Berbera and Tadjoura. In 1841 Sharmarke with 50 Matchlock men, 2 cannons and an army of mounted spearmen managed to invade Zeila and depose its Arab Governor, Mohammed Al Barr. Sharmarke used the canons to fire at the city walls which frightened Al Barr's followers and caused them to flee. Sharmarke succeeded Al Barr as the ruler of Zeila and its dependencies.^[18][19] Sharmarke's governorship had an instant effect on the city, as he maneuvered to monopolize as much of the regional trade as possible, with his sights set as far as Harar and the Ogaden.^[20] Having secured Zeila, in 1845 Sharmarke moved on to Berbera which at the time was experiencing instability as a result of a war between The Habr Awal Ail Yunus and Ail Ahmed clans over the Abban-ship. Sharmarke took advantage of this rivalry and supported the Ail Ahmed who had since been expelled from Berbera. Sharmarke took over Berbera and built four Martello towers in the vicinity of the town and garrisoned them with 30 Matchlock men. A war ensued with in the city as the Ail Yunus tried gain a foothold within Berbera, the Ail Yunus were no match for Sharmarke and his modern weapons and thus failed. The Ail Yunus were expelled and moved to Bulhar ^[21] Sharmarke's influence was not limited to the coast as he had many allies in the interior of the Somali country and even further in Abbyssinia. Among his allies were the Sultans of Shewa. When there was tension between the Amir of Harar Abu Bakr II ibn `Abd al-Munan and Sharmarke, as a result of the Amir arresting one of his agents in Harar, Sharmarke persuaded the son of Sahle Selassie, ruler of Shewa, to imprison on his behalf about 300 citizens of Harar then resident in Shewa, for a length of two years.^[22]

1870s -1940s (Rayyad Wars)

During this period the Garhajis were fighting an expansionist war against the Ogaden clans and gained much new territory in the Haud region. These battles are today known as the Rayyad or Guba Wars. It was a volatile era that gave birth to some of the best known Somali poetry.

In 1874 German Explorer G.A Haggenmacher witnessed the aftermath of a battle between Habr yunis and Ogaden. He wrote:

The Habr Yunis had many wounded, but were also extremely rich in loot, the estimated number of loot was at least 10,000 camels.^[23]

In 1877 the Garhajis under the leadership of Sultan Hersi Aman conquered Daroor and subjugated the Haroun sub-clan of the Ogaden, during the battle they captured and subsequently executed their Sultan.^[24] The Habr Yunis then proceeded to expand into Doolo region and took control of watering wells, grazing land and looted thousands of camels from the Cabdille, Makahil, Ali and Haroun sub clans of the Ogaden, forcing them to leave their homeland and flee south to Hiiraan. This particular series of conquests was what initiated the famous chains of poems known as Guba in which Ali Dhuh a Daarood poet laments, and berates the Ogadenis for losing so much land and exchanges heated poems with the Ogaden and Habr Yunis.^[25][26]

Historian Siegbert Uhlig commenting on the Guba poem writes the following:

From a historical point of view Ali dhuhs poem explicitly details the large gains in traditionally Ogaden territory and wells, and the looting of Ogaden camels by the Isaq. He details the scatterring of the Ogaden clan, their forced migration southwards seeking refuge in the feverish river valleys, and even turning to hunting and farming- measures that were again considered very shameful usually only undertaken by slaves and low-caste Somalis and utterly demeaning for the once great pastoral Ogaden clan. The Ogaden, Ali recounts, have been forced to accept refuge with the clans that defeated them, especially the Habr Yunis, and cannot take revenge. The Isaq are portrayed as particularly callous and shameful in the way they parade looted Ogaden camels in front of their previous owners. Even in translation it is a very evocative poem".^[25]

The Habr Yunis advance into Ogaden territory was eventually halted by the intervention of the British protectrate authorities with assistance from the Ethiopian Empire, who considered the Ogaden their subjects and whose safety was their priority. In one incident the Habar Yunis looted 1330 camels from the Ogaden, but were pressured by the British and the Ethiopians to return the camels to their previous owners. The Habr Yunis obliged and promised to desist in their raids, but despite their promise they continued to successfully raid the Ogadens unhindered up until the British ceded the Haud to Ethiopia.^[27][28][29]

Dervish period

The Garhajis clan played a prominent role in the inception of the Dervish movement and its subsequent struggle against the British Empire. Among the prominent members of the Dervish was the Sultan of the Habar Yunis, Nur Ahmed Aman, whose letter to Mohammed Abdullah Hassan initiated the Dervish rebillion. Nur was the principle agitator that rallied the dervish behind his anti-French Catholic Mission campaign that would become the cause of the dervish uprise.^[30]

The news of the incident that sparked the Dervish rebellion and the 21 years disturbance according to the consul-general James Hayes Sadler was either spread or as he alleged was concocted by Sultan Nur of the Habr Yunis. The incident in question was that of a group of Somali children that were converted to Christianity and adopted by the French Catholic Mission at Berbera in 1899. Whether Sultan Nur experienced the incident first hand or whether he was told of it is not clear but what is known is that he propagated the incident in the Tariqa at Kob Fardod in June 1899 precipitating the religious rebellion that later morphed into the Somali Dervish.^[31]

Sultan Nur leading his Dervish clansmen participated in numerous battles against the British. These confrontations took place at Samala, Ferdidin, Erigo, Daratoleh and Gumburu. In 1899 Sultan Nur was among the top five (Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, Haji Sudi, Deria Arrale and Deria Gure) wanted leaders of the movement.^[32]

Before dispatching forces to face the Dervish at Samala, Consul-General Hayes Salder made the following instructions to the overall commander of the forces Eric John Eagles Swayne:

"In the unlikely event of the: Mullah offering to surrender, in his case and that of the Following: Haji Sudi, Deria Arale, Deria Gure Only an unconditional surrender should be accepted no guarantee of any kind to future treatment been given. Sultan Nur the , sultan of the Habr Yunis, may be guaranteed his life." J. Hayes-Sadler, His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General, Somali Coast Protectorate. Aden April 11, 1901."^[33]

Despite confronting Nur in many battles the British failed in their mission to capture or kill him. Gabriel Ferrand, the Vice-Council of France following these events observed that:

"Neither the Mahdi nor his chief advisor Ahmed Warsama, better known under the name Haji Sudi, nor the Sultan Nur, leader of the Habr Younis clan were killed or captured. The optimism of Colonel Sadler and Lieutenant-Colonel Swayne in the latest reports relating to military operations is inexplicable." ^[34]

In 1904 the Dervish state entered into talks with Italy and both parties agreed to sign a peace treaty, this treaty came to be known as the Pestalozza agreement.^[35] Sultan Nur and his brother Geele Ahmed were among the signatories of the Pestalozza agreement between Italy and the Dervish state in 1905. In the original Arabic document the following signatures appear - sultan Nur Ahmed (the chief dervish sultan) and his brother Geele Ahmed (Kila Ahmed), Ugas Diria Arabe and Ugas Issa Farek.^[36][37]

The last intelligence report mention of Sultan Nur in the Italian archives was in 1907.^[38] After the death of sultan Nur 1907/1908 in the dervish camp at Taleh his son Dolal sultan Nur ascended the sultanate in the dervish camp.^[39]

Sultan Nur was buried by his dervish in a large domed tomb in Taleh, his tomb predated the later dervish forts. His white tomb in the dervish capital is a testimony to his contribution to the movement. Few dervish founders are commemorated in Taleh, numbering only four.^[40]

William Archibald Macfadyen, a British geologist and the only scholar to study the structures of Taleh fort, mentioned the handful of tombs constructed by the dervish for their leaders and gave a detailed description of the tombs in 1931. In his article Macfayden only identified Sultan Nur's tomb by name out of the four dervish entombed in Taleh:

"South of the main cave-well is the considerable tomb of Abdullah Hasan

senior, well plastered inside and out; it is now said to be empty. Adjoining this

on the west is a walled garden with massive gateway and guard-house; the rest

of the wall is not more than 5 feet high and plastered. There are still odd bushes

and signs of cultivation to be seen, but the comparatively deep well in the middle

is dry. To the east lies a row of four tombs. The most northerly is that of one

Soldan Nur of the Habr Yunis tribe; the next two, neither being plastered.

and the first with the top left unfinished, are those of Hawiya notables whose

names my Somalis did not know. The most southerly tomb is that of a

man of the Habr Jaalo tribe. The isolated tomb still farther east is that of

'AbdullahHasan's mother. All the tombs are provided with narrow but very

massive wooden doors, swinging about vertical extensions from top and base

of one side."^[40]

The Habr Yunis sub-clans that joined the Dervish were the Musa Ismail (Gadwein), the Sa'ad Yunis and sections of Sultan Nur's own sub-clan, the Hersi Osman. The Gadwein Dervishes who were located in coastal Sanaag and the towns of Midisho and Jidali created complications for the Warsengeli Sultanate, who they regularly raided. The Warsengeli who were at that time allied with the British called for their assistance. Consequently, in 1912 the British sent the warship HMS Philomel and shelled the Gadwein Dervishes, pushing them from the coast and inland towards Las Dureh.^{[41][42][43][44]} The Dervish forces of Sanaag were supplied with arms and munitions by two Habr Yunis men of the Musa Arreh clan, namely, Haji Hirsi of Maydh and Bulhan Ali, they both operated with in Yemen, the former being stationed at Mukalla and the latter at Aden. Both were Ottoman agents and were accused by Sultan Mohamoud Ali Shire of instigating attacks on Las Khorey.^[45] Among the prominent Sa'ad Yunis Dervish was Haji Yusuf, popularly known as Taminlaaye, he was in charge of the Sanaag division of the Dervish army. The British put a bounty on his head and his name appeared in the 1919 most wanted Dervish list published by the British, alongside him appeared the names of other Isaaq clan members such as Haji Sudi, Ibrahim Boghl, Ibraahim Gioode and Deria Arale.^[46]

Though some sections of the Garhajis supported the Dervish movement at the time of its inception, like many other Dervish allied clans they became disillusioned with the movement towards the end. After the Bombing campaign of the Taleh fort and the Dervish retreat into Ethiopia, Tribal Chief Haji Mohammad Bullaleh (Haji the Hyena) who hailed from the Rer Ainanshe clan of the Habr Yunis, commanded a 3000 strong army that consisted of Habr Yunis, Habar Jeclo and Dhulbahante warriors and pursued the fleeing Dervishes. They attacked Muhammad Abdallah Hassan and his army in the Ogaden region and swiftly defeated them, causing Muhammad to flee to the town of Imi. Haji and his army looted 60,000 livestock and 700 rifles from the dervishes, which dealt a severe blow to them economically, a blow from which they did not recover.^{[47][48][44][49]} The Garhajis, especially the Habr Yunis, had a hand in the birth and the eventual demise of the Dervish state.

The Dervish era was one of the most violent and bloodiest periods in British Somaliland, a third of the population had been estimated to have died either through warfare or its indirect effects. Colonial Administarator Douglas Jardine described it as a holocaust.

British colonial administrator Sir Douglas Jardine:

The various sections of the Habr Toljaala were continually at each other's throats. Similarly, the Aidegalla split into two main sections and carried on a desultory warfare with one another. The eastern Habr Yunis came into frequent collision with the western sections of the tribe ; and the tribe as a whole attempted to recuperate its strength by a large and successful raid upon the Ogaden, which culminated in an enquiry by a British officer in Abyssinian territory, as the result of which the Habr Yunis were called upon to return a balance of no less than 1,330 camels to the Ogaden. As might be expected, the coastal Habr Awal were an easy prey to the more virile tribes of the interior until, emboldened by adversity, they retaliated by waylaying and looting traders' caravans as they passed to and from the coast. In this holocaust, in which it is estimated that not less than one-third of the male population of Somaliland perished, there was no tribe that did not suffer either from internal schisms or from attacks by their neighbours. But the most pitiful

lot of all fell to certain sections of the Dolbahanta. Ousted from their ancestral grazing grounds by the Mullah's advance and bereft of all their stock, the remnants wandered like veritable Ishmaelites in the Ishaak country, deprived of asylum and almost of access to the coast, owing to the inveterate hatred which the Ishaak harbour for the Darod.^[50]

The shooting of Captain Allan Gibb DSO DCM, 1922

Sections of the Habr Yunis once again clashed with the British in 1922 after a tax was imposed upon them at Burao. This resulted in the Baho Ainanshe and Rer Sugulleh sub-clans revolting in opposition to the tax and clashing with other sections of the Habr Yunis and the British colonial government. This resulted in a shoot out in which Captain Allan Gibb, a Dervish war veteran, was shot and killed. The British as retaliation burnt down Burao and requested from Sir Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, to send troops from Aden and Airplane bombers in order to bomb the wells and livestock of the Rer Ainanshe clans and quell any further rebellion.^[51]

After the killing of Gibb all Europeans entered the Burao fort, which at the time was occupied by the Native Somali B Company of the Somaliland Camel Corps. The Hargeisa Camel Corps was wired and informed of the incident and ordered to send troops to Burao. The Indian Sepoys having been sent back to the sub-continent forced the Government to rely on the Somali B company, but when ordered to open fire on the hostile Habr Yunis clansmen, they declined. The British had to resort to sending Indian troops from Aden as they could not trust the native Somalis. Instead The B company was tasked with collecting the fine imposed on the Rer Ainanshe. B company was eventually disbanded and replaced with the more obedient Yao Askaris from the 1st King's African Rifles.^{[52][53][54][55]}

Telegram from Sir Geoffrey Archer, Governor of British Somaliland to Sir Winston Churchill the Secretary of State for the Colonies:

I deeply regret to inform that during an affray at Burao yesterday between Rer Sugulleh and Akils of other tribes Captain Gibb was shot dead. Having called out Camel corps company to quell the disturbance, he went forward himself with his interperter, whereupon fire opened on him by some Rer segulleh riflemen and he was instantly killed..Miscreants then dissapered under the cover of darkness.

In order to meet the situation created by the Murder of Gibb, we require two aeroplanes for about fourteen days. I have arranged with resident, Aden, for these. And made formal application, which please confirm. It is proposed they fly via Perim, confining sea crossing to 12 miles. We propose to inflict fine of 2,500 camels on implicated sections, who are practically isolated and demand surrender of man who killed Gibbs. He is known. Fine to be doubled in failure to comply with latter conditions and aeroplanes to be used to bomb stock on grazing grounds.^[56]

Sir Winston Churchill reporting on the Burao incident at the House of Commons:

On 25th February the Governor of Somaliland telegraphed that an affray between tribesmen had taken place at Burao on the previous day, in the course of which Captain Allan Gibb, D.S.O., D.C.M., the District Commissioner at Burao, had been shot dead. Captain Gibb had advanced with his interpreter to quell the disturbance, when 1954 fire was opened upon him by some riflemen, and he was instantly killed. The murderers escaped under cover of falling darkness.

Captain Gibb was an officer of long and valued service in Somaliland, whose loss I deeply regret. From the information available, his murder does not appear to have been premeditated, but it inevitably had a disturbing effect upon the surrounding tribes, and immediate dispositions of troops became necessary in order to ensure the apprehension and punishment of those responsible for the murder. On 27th February the Governor telegraphed that, in order to meet the situation which had arisen, he required two aeroplanes for purposes of demonstration, and suggested that two aeroplanes from the Royal Air Force Detachment at Aden should fly over to Berber a from Aden. He also telegraphed that in certain circumstances it might become necessary to ask for reinforcements of troops to be sent to the Protectorate.^[57]

Sir Geoffrey Archer reporting on situation after RAF mission:

Effect of Areoplane demonstration on country has been electrical, and its unlikely now that i shall require troops from Aden as an emergency measure..One section of Rer Ainanshe has surrenderd 450 camels. Fine will be completed in a few days. It is realised that the surest way to effect capture is to mark them down and arrest them ourselves. With this end in view names have not been divulged.^[55]

Bomber planes were flown over Burao and the Haud, while watering wells that were essential to the Habr Yunis nomads were blocked by the Camel corps. The Rer Ainanshe clans isolated and without support eventually acquiesced, agreeing to pay the fine but they refused to identify and apprehend the accused individuals. Most of the men responsible for Gibb's shooting were never caught and evaded punishment. Captain Gibb was among the most respected and valued British Officers in British Somaliland, he fought during the Dervish wars and operated a Maxim Gun, and was credited with capturing Taleh fort in 1920.^[58][55]

Somali civil war and the Somali National Movement

The Somali National Movement (SNM) was a 1980s–1990s rebel group. The SNM was organized in London, England, on April 6, 1981 by Hasan Adan Wadadid (Faarah Ainanshe) a former Somali diplomat and he stated that the group's purpose was to overthrow the Siaad Barre regime.^[59] The SNM gathered its main base of support from members of the Isaaq clan, who formed and supported the movement in response to years of systematic discrimination by the Siaad Barre government.

Members of the Garhajis clan made up a significant portion of the leadership and soldiers of the SNM. Garhajis Commanders carried out many successful operations that led to the decisive victory of the group and to the downfall of the Siad Barre regime.

Such operations included the Birjeex raid led by Colonel Ibrahim Koodbuur ( Eidagale) and Operation Mandheera led by Mohamed Hashi Diriye lixle (Musa Abdallah) where they successfully freed hundreds of Isaaq political prisoners whose executions were imminent.^[60]

Under the leadership of Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur (Musa Arreh) the SNM carried out a successful invasion of Northern Somalia overthrowing the Communist regime and establishing the democratic state of Somaliland. Abdirahman was sworn in as Somaliland's first president.

List of Garhajis SNM leaders:^[61][62]

• Abdirahman Tuur
• Abdulkadir Koosaar
• Mohamed Hashi Lihle
• Ibrahim Koodbuur
• Mohamed Ali
• Haragwaafi
• Madah-diin
• Wiyilfurato
• Omar Aseyr
• Ahmed Mire
• Dhancade
• General Hassan Kayd

Eidagale

The Eidagale ({{lang-so|Ciidagale/Ciidan Gale}}, which translates to "army joiner") are the traditional holders of the Isaaq Sultanate since the 18th century.

According to C.J Cruttenden, the tomb of saint Aw Barkhadle, which is located to the southwest of Berbera, was used by the Isaaq clans to settle disputes and to swear oaths of alliances under a holy relic attributed to Bilal Ibn Rabah. As traditional leaders of the Isaaq clans, the Eidagale placed themselves as mediators during the disputes.

When any grave question arises affecting the interests of the Isaakh tribe in general. On a paper yet carefully preserved in the tomb, and bearing the sign-manual of Belat [Bilal], the slave of one the early khaleefehs, fresh oaths of lasting friendship and lasting alliances are made...In the season of 1846 this relic was brought to Berbera in charge of the Haber Gerhajis [Eidagale], and on it the rival tribes of Aial Ahmed and Aial Yunus swore to bury all animosity and live as brethren.^[63]

The Eidagale were renowned for their equestrian skills, and their devastating raids extended between the coast and the interior.^[64] According to Swayne, who traversed through Somaliland in the late 19th century, the Eidagale were amongst the clans most addicted to raiding:

The tribes near the northern coast most addicted to raiding appear to be the Jibril Abokor sub-tribe of the Habr Awal, the Mahamud Gerad Dolbahanta, and the Eidagalla, Habr Gerhajis.^[65]

Apart from their equestrian skills, the Eidagale are also famed for their eloquence in traditional Somali poetry (gabay), producing many famous poets such as Abdi Gahayr, Xasan Tarabi, and Elmi Boodhari. According to Canadian novelist and scholar Margaret Laurence, who originally coined the term "Nation of Poets"^[66] to describe the Somali Peninsular, the Eidagale were viewed as "the recognized experts in the composition of poetry":

Among the tribes, the Eidagalla are the recognized experts in the composition of poetry. One individual poet of the Eidagalla may be no better than a good poet of another tribe, but the Eidagalla appear to have more poets than any other tribe. "if you had a hundred Eidagalla men here," Hersi Jama once told me, "And asked which of them could sing his own gabei ninety-five would be able to sing. The others would still be learning."^[67]

For centuries, the Eidagale (along with their Habar Yunis kin) were influential stakeholders in the long-distance Somali caravan trade. Eidagale merchants procured various goods from the Somali Region in present-day Ethiopia, such as livestock, acacia gum, myrrh, ivory and ghee, which were subsequently exported to Southern Arabia. The Eidagale caravan merchants founded several inland trade entrepôts in the interior, which also includes the modern city of Hargeisa, founded in the 19th century as a caravan junction between Berbera and the Somali interior.^[68][69][70]

Sultanate of the Habr Yunis

The Habr Yunis Sultanate is traditionally held by the Sugulleh Ainanshe sub clan.^[71]

Sugulleh Ainanshe was the first Sultan of the Habar Yunis. Of his descendants were Sultan Nur a founding member of the Dervish movement and King Xirsi Amaan the warrior Sultan who ruthlessly waged war on the Ogaden and expanded Habr Yunis territory in Haud.

Sultan Nur was the great grand son of the first Habr Yunis Sultan Deria Segulleh circa (1780–1859). He spent much of his early life before his sultanate as a religious Sufi pupil in Hahi and Berato Ahmadiya tariqa under its head mullah Mohomed Arab.^[72] According to the wife of sultan Nur an Aden (Yemen) born Somali, Nur couldn't not read or write but he could converse in Arabic.^[73]

Nur became a sultan after the death of his uncle Sultan Hersi Aman (1825–1879)^[74] in an intertribal fight. Sultan Hersi the chief of the Habr Yunis clan since the mid 1850s was killed in an inter civil war with the sage Haji Guled around 1879 his uncle.

The ascent of Nur to the sultanate caused a decade long civil war when his relative ( great uncle) Awad sultan Deria declared himself a rival sultan in 1881.^[75] Drake Brockman a medical doctor in Somaliland protectorate and the author of British Somaliland narrated the long conflict caused by Nur's ascent to the sultanate in his book.^[76]

Drake Brockman summarized Nur's story as the following in 1911:{{clarify|date=August 2018|reason=Is the following a direct quote?}}

Deriyeh, the head of the Rer Segulleh, was universally proclaimed Sultan by the rest of the Habr Yunis tribe, and was really the first of the Habr Yunis Sultans, although his father, Segulleh, had tried to pose as such. Sultan Deriyeh lived to a great age, and had no less than eighteen sons, of whom the first two were borne to him by a woman of the Makahil section of the Habr Awal tribe, and the elder of these, Aman by name, joining with his brother, formed the Ba Maka-hil, while his remaining sixteen stepbrothers formed the Baha Deriyeh.

Aman had ten sons, the eldest of whom was Ahmed, who died before his father, who himself died before his old father, the aged Sultan Deriyeh. Now, as soon as Sultan Deriyeh died there was trouble as to his successor. The Ba Makahil claimed that Ismail and Hirsi, of their section, were entitled to the honour ; but the Rer Segulleh and some of the Baha Deriyeh, said, "No, as several of the late Sultan's sons are still living, one of them should be their Sultan before any of the grandsons"; so they invited Awid Deriyeh to be their representative. In the meantime, Ismail was killed fighting with the Ogaden and Hirsi by the Baha Segulleh.

Clan tree

A summarized clan family tree of the major Garhajis subclan of Habar Yonis is presented below.^[77][78]

• Sheikh Isaaq Bin Ahmed Al Hashimi (Sheikh Isaaq)
  • Habar Habuusheed
  • Ahmed (Tol-Ja'lo)
  • Muuse (Habar Jeclo)
  • Ibrahiim (Sanbuur)
  • Muhammad ('Ibraan)
  • Habar Magaadle
  • Abdirahman (Habar Awal)
  • Ayub
  • Muhammad (Arap)
  • Ismail (Garhajis)
  • Said Ismail (Habar Yonis)
  • Ali Said
  • Arreh Said
  • Ishak Arreh
  • Abdillahi Ishak
  • Kassim Ishak
  • Musa Arreh
  • Hassan Musa,Ibrahim Musa,Damal Musa
  • Ismail Arreh
  • Sa'ad Yunis
  • Musa Ismail
  • Abdallah Ismail
  • Idris (idrays)
  • Musa Abdallah
  • Omar Abdallah
  • Hersi Osman
  • Said Hersi
  • Rer Warsama (Waraba)
  • Rer Weid
  • Abdi Hersi
  • Ainanshe Hersi (The Ainanshe Hersi are the royal sub-clan of the Habr Yunis and the hereditary Sultanate is currently held by them.)^[71][78]
  • Rer Ainanshe
  • Rer Sugulleh
• Daud Ismail (Eidagale) (The Eidagale sub-clan are divided into the following sections)^[77]
  • Abokor Musa
  • Rer Yunis Abdurahman
  • Ba delo
  • Gashanbur
  • Damal Yera
  • Rer Esa

Notable people

• Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur, last Somali National Movement Chairman and first President of Somaliland
• Abdullahi Qarshe, Somali musician, poet and playwright; known as the "father of Somali music"
• Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Somaliland and the Chairman of Wadani political party
• Elmi Boodhari, Poet known in the Somali world for his famous love poems
• Amina Moghe Hersi, prominent businesswoman and wealthiest Somali woman
• Fowsiyo Yusuf Haji Adan, former Foreign Minister of Somalia and MP in Federal Parliament
• Faysal Ali Warabe, chairman of the For Justice and Development party of Somaliland
• Hussein Arab Isse, Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia from July 20, 2011 to November 4, 2012
• Ismail Mahmud Hurre, foreign minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia from mid-2006 to early 2007
• Jama Mohamed Ghalib, former Police Commissioner of the Somali Democratic Republic, Secretary of Interior, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Minister of Transportation, and Minister of Interior
• Mohamed Mooge Liibaan, prominent Somali instrumentalist and vocalist
• Mohamed Ainanshe Guleid, Major General in the Somali National Army and Vice president of the Somali Democratic Republic
• Sultan Nur, sultan of the Habr Yunis and one of the founders of the Somali Dervish movement
• Sharmarke Ali Saleh, 19th century tribal chief, business magnate and Governor of Zeila, Berbera, and Tadjoura
• Ali Sugule, One of the greatest composer, poet and playwrighter of the Somali language.
• Abdikarim Mohamed Eid, CEO of Telesom, the largest telecommunications company in Somaliland
• Mahdi M. Gulaid, the current Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia
• Mohamoud Ahmed Ali, widely considered the father of modern Somali education^[79]

References

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