Isaaq migrations
 Extent of the Isaaq clan-family at the end of the 19th century | |
| Date | 12th-20th century |
|---|---|
| Location | Horn of Africa |
| Participants | Various isaaq subclans |
| Outcome | Isaaq settlement of most of modern day Somaliland, Haud and parts of Yemen and kenya around Lake Naivasha[1] |
The Isaaq clans began migrating from their ancestral homeland in the city of Maydh, eventually settling and dispersing across various regions of the Horn of Africa.[2] These migrations were part of the broader movements of the Somali people around the Horn, which contributed to the establishment of Somali settlements in their present-day territories.[3]
History and migrations
Origins
The Isaaq people traditionally claim to have descended from Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed, an Islamic scholar who purportedly traveled to Somaliland in the 12th or 13th century and married two women; one from the local Dir clan. and the other from the neighboring Harari people.[4] He is said to have sired eight sons who are the common ancestors of the clans of the Isaaq clan-family. He remained in Maydh until his death.[5]
Somali genealogical tradition places the origin of the Isaaq tribe in the 12th or 13th century with the arrival of the Sheikh Ishaaq Bin Ahmed (Sheikh Ishaaq) from Arabia.[6][7] Sheikh Ishaaq settled in the coastal town of Maydh in modern-day northeastern Somaliland.Hence, Sheikh Ishaaq married two local women in Somaliland, which left him with eight.[4][8]
There are also numerous existing hagiographies in Arabic which describe Sheikh Ishaaq's travels, works and overall life in modern Somaliland, as well as his movements in Arabia before his arrival.[9] Besides historical sources, one of the more recent printed biographies of Sheikh Ishaaq is the Amjaad of Sheikh Husseen bin Ahmed Darwiish al-Isaaqi as-Soomaali, which was printed in Aden in 1955.[10]
Early migrations west
As the Isaaq grew in size and numbers during the 12th century, the clan-family migrated and spread from their core area in Mait (Maydh) and the wider Sanaag region in a southwestward expansion over a wide portion of present-day Somaliland by the 15th and 16th centuries.[11][12][3][13] By the 1300s the Isaaq clans united to defend their inhabited territories and resources during clan conflicts against migrating clans.[14] The Isaaq also played a prominent role in the Ethiopian-Adal War (1529–1543, referred to as the "Conquest of Abyssinia") in the army of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi,[15] The Habr Magadle division (Ayoub, Garhajis, Habr Awal and Arap) of the Isaaq were mentioned in chronicles of that war written by Shihab Al-Din Ahmad Al-Gizany known as Futuh Al Habash.[16]
According to I.M Lewis [17]
The Marrehan and the Habr Magadle [Magādi] also play a very prominent role (...) The text refers to two Ahmads's with the nickname 'Left-handed'. One is regularly presented as 'Ahmad Guray, the Somali' (...) identified as Ahmad Guray Xuseyn, chief of the Habr Magadle. Another reference, however, appears to link the Habr Magadle with the Marrehan. The other Ahmad is simply referred to as 'Imam Ahmad' or simply the 'Imam'.This Ahmad is not qualified by the adjective Somali (...) The two Ahmad's have been conflated into one figure, the heroic Ahmed Guray (...)
After the war,The isaaq clans (along with other tribes like the Daarood) grew in numbers and territory in the northeast, causing them to began to vie with their Oromo neighbours, who were expanding northwards themselves after the Great Oromo Migrations, thus creating a general thrust toward the southwest. By the 16th to 17th century the movements that followed seem to have established the Isaaqs on coastal Somaliland.[3]
Migrations southwards
According to oral tradition, the Isaaqs, who were established in the coastal areas with a kingdom led by the Tol jeclo branch of the wider Isaaq family,[18][19] began regularly fighting with the Darood tribes who lived to the south. The war was long and destructive, with both the Isaaqs and Daroods suffering heavy losses of life.[18]
The Isaaq kingdom and the King Harun dhuh barar was eventually overthrown by a coalition of Isaaq clans led by a military leader named Abdi Eisa.[20] According to tradition, Abdi Eisa successfully led the Isaaq forces in the Battle of Lafaruug, where they defeated the Absame tribes at the town of Lafaruug near Berbera[19]— a region where the Isaaq clan had expanded about a century earlier.
Following his victory, Abdi Eisa was offered the position of Sultan of the Isaaq, but he declined. Instead, he suggested that his underage son, Guled Abdi, be crowned while he ruled as regent until his son came of age.
The Isaaq gradually expanded their territory, reaching as far south as Toon and the edges of the Hawd by the beginning of the 19th century. The newly established Isaaq Sultanate subsequently made Toon its capital.
Migrations into the Hawd
References
- ^ "Kenya: The Story of a Fourth-Generation Isahakia Community in Naivasha, Kenya, from Somaliland". Horn Diplomat. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (1998). Saints and Somalis: Popular Issues in East African History. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-56902-103-3. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ a b c "The great Somali migrations". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ a b I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), pp. 31 & 42
- ^ Adam, Hussein M. (1980). Somalia and the World: Proceedings of the International Symposium Held in Mogadishu on the Tenth Anniversary of the Somali Revolution, October 15–21, 1979. Halgan.
- ^ Berns McGown, Rima (1999). Muslims in the diaspora. University of Toronto Press. pp. 27–28.
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (2002). A Modern History of the Somali (Fourth ed.). Oxford: James Currey. p. 22.
- ^ Gori, Alessandro (2003). Studi sulla letteratura agiografica islamica somala in lingua araba [Studies on Somali Islamic hagiographic literature in Arabic] (in Italian). Firenze: Dipartimento di linguistica, Università di Firenze. p. 72. ISBN 88-901340-0-3. OCLC 55104439. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ Roland Anthony Oliver, J. D. Fage, Journal of African history, Volume 3 (Cambridge University Press.: 1962), p.45
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (1999). A pastoral democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 131.
- ^ Abdi, Mohameddeq Ali (2022-04-19). Why Somalia does not get the right direction. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 25. ISBN 978-3-7543-5218-2.
- ^ Ahmed, Ali J., ed. (1995). The invention of Somalia (1. print ed.). Lawrenceville, NJ: Red Sea Press. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-932415-99-8.
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (1998). Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society. The Red Sea Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-56902-103-3.
- ^ Minahan, James B. (August 2016). Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 184–185. ISBN 979-8-216-14892-0. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (1999). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. James Currey Publishers. ISBN 9780852552803.
- ^ Lewis, I. M. (1959). "The Galla in Northern Somaliland". Rassegna di Studi Etiopici. 15. Istituto per l'Oriente C. A. Nallino: 21–38. JSTOR 41299539. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ^ Morin, Didier (2004). Dictionnaire historique afar: 1288–1982 [Historic dictionary of Afar: 1288–1982] (in French). KARTHALA Editions. ISBN 9782845864924. Archived from the original on 22 May 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ a b "Taariikhdii Boqortooyadii Toljecle iyo Boqor Haruun". La Foi Islam. 10 June 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ a b Sheekadii Magan Suldaan Guuleed (Magan-Gaabo) circa 1790-1840. Internet Archive. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ Sheekadii Magan Suldaan Guuleed (Magan-Gaabo) circa 1790-1840. Internet Archive. Retrieved 9 January 2025.