Dir (clan)

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Somali clan family

title: "Dir (clan)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["somali-clans", "somali-clans-in-ethiopia"] description: "Somali clan family" topic_path: "general/somali-clans" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dir_(clan)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Somali clan family ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ethnic group"]

FieldValue
groupDir
در
regionsSomalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somaliland, Saudi Arabia
langsSomali
relsIslam (Sunni)
::

| group = Dir در | image = | flag = | regions = Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somaliland, Saudi Arabia | ref5 = | langs = Somali | rels = Islam (Sunni) | native_name = | native_name_lang = | related_groups =

The Dir () is one of the largest and most prominent Somali clans in the Horn of Africa. They are also considered to be the oldest Somali stock to have inhabited the region. Its members inhabit Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia (Somali, Harar, Dire Dawa, Oromia and Afar regions), and northeastern Kenya (North Eastern Province).

Origins

Like the great majority of Somali clans, the Dir trace their ancestry to Aqil ibn Abi Talib (), a cousin of the prophet Muhammad () and an older brother of Ali ibn Abi Talib () and Ja'far ibn Abi Talib (). They trace their lineage to Aqil through Samaale (the source of the name 'Somali'), the purported forefather of the northern pastoralist clans such as the Dir, the Hawiye, and –matrilineally through the Dir– the Isaaq and the Darod.

History

The history of Islam being practised by the Dir clan goes back 1400 years. In Zeila, a Dir city, a mosque called Masjid al-Qiblatayn is known as the site of where early companions of the Prophet established a mosque shortly after the first Migration to Abyssinia By the 7th century, a large-scale conversion to Islam was taking place in the Somali peninsula, first spread by the Dir clan family, to the rest of the nation.

The early Adal Kingdom (9th century to 13th century) was an exclusive kingdom with its capital being Zeila. In the 10th century, the Jarso clan a sub-division of Dir established the Dawaro Sultanate centred in Hararghe Highlands.

Dir is one of the oldest clans in the Horn of Africa. According to the Muslim chronicles, two of the oldest monarchies in the northern region, the Ifat and Adal sultanates, were led by Dir.

The Dir, along with the Akisho, Gurgura, Issa and Gadabuursi subclans of the Dir represent the most native and indigenous Somali clan tree in Harar.

The city Dire Dawa was originally called Dir Dhabe and used to be part of Adal Sultanate during the medieval times and was exclusively settled by Dir which is a major Somali tribe and after the weakening of Adal Sultanate, the Oromos took advantage and were able to penetrate through the city and settle into these areas and also assimilate some of the local Gurgura clan.

The Somali Dir clan used to be the predominant inhabitants of Hararghe Highlands in the medieval times until the weakening of Adal Sultanate the Oromos took advantage of the crippling state and decided to invade and occupy the Haraghe Highlands and assimilate the local native Somali population which were Gurgura and Bursuk who were all sub-clans of Dir a major Somali tribe tree and were later confederated into Oromo Ethnics, the Afran Qallo tribes .

The Dir were supporters of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi during his 16th century conquest of Abyssinia; especially the Gurgura, Issa, Bursuk and Gadabuursi. In his medieval Futuh al-Habasha documenting this campaign, the chronicler Shihāb al-Dīn indicates that thousands of Dir soldiers took part in Imam Ahmad's Adal Sultanate army.

The Dir clan also led a revolt against the Italians during the colonial period. This revolt was mainly led by the Biimaal section of the Dir. The Biimaal clan is widely known for leading a resistance against the colonials in southern Somalia.The Biimaal violently resisted the imposition of colonialism and fought against the Italian colonialists of Italian Somaliland in a twenty-year war known as the Bimal revolt in which many of their warriors assassinated several Italian governors. This revolt can be compared to the war of the Mad Mullah in Somaliland. The Biimaal mainly lives in Somalia, the Somali region of Ethiopia, which their Gaadsen sub-clan mainly inhabits and in the NEP region of Kenya. The Biimaal are pastoralists. They were also successful merchants and traders in the 19th century. In the 19th century they have engaged in multiple wars with the Geledi clan, which they were victorious in.

Lineage

I.M. Lewis and many sources maintain that the Dir, a Proto-Somali, together with the Hawiye trace ancestry through Irir son of Samaale. Dir is regarded as the father-in-law of Darod, the progenitor of the Darod clan Although some sources state it was the daughter of Hawiye who Darod married.

Dir clan lineages:

According to others, Dir had a fifth son, Qaldho Dir.

DNA analysis of Dir clan members inhabiting Djibouti found that all of the individuals belonged to the Y-DNA T1 paternal haplogroup.

Branches

The main subclans of the Dir today are:

  1. Mahe
  2. Madaluug
  3. Madoobe
  4. Madahweyne

For the first time since several centuries the Dir clan which widely dispersed in the Horn of Africa has successfully convened a meeting with all the major Dir subclans in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Suldaan Dhawal, of the Habr 'Affan Gadabuursi was elected the head and representative of the Dir clan in the Horn of Africa.

Notable Dir figures

Historical publications

  • Bughyaat al-amaal fii taariikh as-Soomaal, published in Mogadishu, Shariif 'Aydaruus Shariif 'Ali
  • Political History of Lower Shabelle, Dr. Mohamed Abukar Mahad (Gaetano)

Notes

Sources

References

  1. al-Huzaimi, Nasir. (2020-12-10). "The Mecca Uprising: An Insider's Account of Salafism and Insurrection in Saudi Arabia". Bloomsbury Publishing.
  2. (1975). "The Cambridge History of Africa". Cambridge University Press.
  3. (March 2002). "Clanship, Conflict and Refugees: An Introduction to Somalis in the Horn of Africa".
  4. (2005-08-17). "Voice and Power". Routledge.
  5. Lewis, I. M.. (2017-02-03). "Peoples of the Horn of Africa (Somali, Afar and Saho): North Eastern Africa Part I". Routledge.
  6. Jama, Hassan Ali. (2005). "Who Cares about Somalia: Hassan's Ordeal; Reflections on a Nation's Future". Verlag Hans Schiler.
  7. (May 2010). "Dynamics and Trends of Conflict in Greater Mandera". UNDP Kenya.
  8. Ozzonia (2010), page 7. The Quranyo section of the Garre claim descent from Dirr, who are born of the Irrir Samal.
  9. {{harvnb. Lewis. 1961
  10. {{harvnb. Rubin. 2009.
  11. Although these genealogical claims are historically untenable legends, they do reflect the longstanding cultural contacts between [[Somalia]] (especially, though not exclusively, its most northern part [[Somaliland]]) and [[Southern Arabia]].{{harvnb. Lewis. 1994
  12. Briggs, Phillip. (2012). "Somaliland". Bradt Travel Guides.
  13. Holzer, Georg-Sebastian. (2008). "POLITICAL ISLAM IN SOMALIA: A fertile ground for radical Islamic groups?". Geo Politics of the Middle East.
  14. (1965). "Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 25". Americana Corporation.
  15. Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha. (n.d.). Christian-Muslim Relations 1500 - 1900. {{doi. 10.1163/2451-9537_cmrii_com_26077
  16. Slikkerveer. (2013-10-28). "Plural Medical Systems In The Horn Of Africa: The Legacy Of Sheikh Hippocrates". Routledge.
  17. (1998). "Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society". The Red Sea Press.
  18. (17 March 2003). "A Modern History of the Somali: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa". Ohio University Press.
  19. ʻArabfaqīh, Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir. (2003-01-01). "The conquest of Abyssinia: 16th century". Tsehai Publishers & Distributors.
  20. Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin'Abd al-Qader, ''Futuh al-Habasa: The conquest of Ethiopia'', translated by Paul Lester Stenhouse with annotations by Richard Pankhurst (Hollywood: Tsehai, 2003), pp. 50, 76
  21. Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir ʻArabfaqīh, Translated by Paul Stenhouse, Richard Pankhurst. (2003). "The conquest of Abyssinia: 16th century". Tsehai Publishers & Distributors.
  22. Ciisa-Salwe, Cabdisalaam M.. (1996-01-01). "The collapse of the Somali state: the impact of the colonial legacy". HAAN.
  23. Abdullahi, Mohamed Diriye. (2001-01-01). "Culture and Customs of Somalia". Greenwood Publishing Group.
  24. Kariye, Badal. (2010-07-23). "The Kaleidoscopic Lover: The Civil War in the Horn of Africa & My Itinerary for a Peaceful Lover". Author House.
  25. Schlee, Günther. (1989-01-01). "Identities on the Move: Clanship and Pastoralism in Northern Kenya". Manchester University Press.
  26. Kefale, Asnake. (2013-07-31). "Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Ethiopia: A Comparative Regional Study". Routledge.
  27. Olson, James Stuart. (1996-01-01). "The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary". Greenwood Publishing Group.
  28. Ahmed, Ali Jimale. (1995). "The Invention of Somalia". The Red Sea Press Inc..
  29. {{harvnb. Lewis. 1994, p. [https://archive.org/details/bloodbonecallofk00ioan/page/104 104].
  30. Lewis, I.M.. (2008). "Understanding Somali and Somaliland Society: Culture History and Society". Hurst.
  31. Lewis, I.M.. (1998-01-01). "Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society". The Red Sea Press.
  32. Ahmed, Ali Jimale. (1995-01-01). "The Invention of Somalia". The Red Sea Press.
  33. Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji. (2003-02-25). "Historical Dictionary of Somalia". Scarecrow Press.
  34. (1893). "The Works of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: First footsteps in East Africa". Tylston & Edwards.
  35. (1921-01-01). "Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society". Longmans, Green.
  36. Burton, Richard Francis. (1856-01-01). "First Footsteps in East Africa". Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans.
  37. (2017). "Forensic data and microvariant sequence characterization of 27 Y-STR loci analyzed in four Eastern African countries". Forensic Science International: Genetics.
  38. Lewis, I.M.. (1998-01-01). "Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho". Red Sea Press.
  39. Ahmed, Ali Jimale. (1995-01-01). "The Invention of Somalia". The Red Sea Press.
  40. (1994-01-01). "Africa Confidential". Miramoor Publications Limited.
  41. Verdier, Isabelle. (1997-05-31). "Ethiopia: the top 100 people". Indigo Publications.
  42. Regional & Federal Studies. Volume 24, Issue 5, 2014. Special Issue: Federalism and Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ethnic Decentralization and the Challenges of Inclusive Governance in Multiethnic Cities: The Case of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
  43. Abdullahi, p. 172.
  44. Johnson, p. xv.
  45. Phillips, Sarah. [http://publications.dlprog.org/Political%20Settlements%20and%20State%20Formation%20-%20the%20Case%20of%20Somaliland.pdf Developmental Leadership Program – Policy and Practice for Developmental Leaders, Elites and Coalitions Political Settlements and State Formation: The Case of Somaliland] {{Webarchive. link. (2017-02-02 University of Sydney, December 2013, page 9.)
  46. [https://www.africaintelligence.com/ION/politics--power/2016/07/29/pm-desalegn-picks-his-candidate-to-head-igad,108177322-BRE The Indian Ocean Newsletter — PM Desalegn picks his candidate to head IGAD] {{Webarchive. link. (19 April 2017 "Abdirahman Duale Beyle, a former Somali Foreign Minister" "an economist who hails from the Gadabursi community.")
  47. "Vice President Saylici (whose Gadabursi)".
  48. (28 January 2015). "Nominated Ministers and Their Clans".
  49. ʻArabfaqīh, Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir. (2003-01-01). "The conquest of Abyssinia: 16th century". Tsehai Publishers & Distributors.
  50. Lewis, I.M.. (1998). "Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho". Red Sea Press.
  51. [https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/id/1299/vaughanphd.pdf/ page 210]
  52. geeskadmin. (2014-12-10). "Kenya: Ethiopia Replaced Ambassador Shemsedin Ahmed for security reasons - Geeska Afrika Online".
  53. [https://web.archive.org/web/20161113113616/http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00KQB9.pdf Untitled] "Mawlid Hayir Hassan, Regional Vice president," page 27.
  54. [https://www.africaintelligence.com/ION/politics--power/2016/11/11/rise-of-spdp-in-addis-gives-green-light-for-internal-purge,108189345-ART The Indian Ocean Newsletter — Rise of SPDP in Addis gives green light for internal purge] ""including the Vice President of SNRS, Mawlid Hayir."
  55. Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji. (2003-02-25). "Historical Dictionary of Somalia". Scarecrow Press.
  56. Lewis, I.M.. (1958-01-01). "The Gadabuursi Somali Script". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
  57. Rayne, Henry a. (2015-08-08). "Sun, Sand and Somals; Leaves from the Note-Book of a District Commissioner in British Somaliland". BiblioLife.
  58. Farah, Rachad. (2013-09-01). "Un embajador en el centro de los acontecimientos". Editions L'Harmattan.
  59. [http://ediss.sub.uni-hamburg.de/volltexte/2011/5127/pdf/Yas_Diss_2010.pdf As indicated in Morin (2005:640) the name of "Cote francaise des Somalis" itself is said to have been proposed by hağği Diideh (Mahad-Ase clan of Gedebursi. He was Prosperous merchant of Zayla who built the first Mosque in Djibouti Ğami ar-Rahma in 1891) to the French administration in imitation of British Somaliland, page 92]
  60. Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji. (2003-02-25). "Historical Dictionary of Somalia". Scarecrow Press.
  61. [http://www.africaintelligence.com/ION/politics-power/2013/11/08/yussur-abrar-did-not-last-long,107993799-ART Yussur Abrar (Dir/Gadabursi), who hails from Borama in Somaliland]
  62. Quath, Faati. (1957). "Islam Walbaasha Cabra Taarikh".

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