|
Post by Power Cosmic on Oct 1, 2005 13:24:42 GMT -5
To the Somalis who infrequently post here, how are clans in Somalia structured and who decides whom the leader is or is there no designated leader? Are non Muslim Somalis the purest Somalis? Just a couple questions I wonder about.
|
|
|
Post by Power Cosmic on Oct 1, 2005 14:28:45 GMT -5
Come on, I know at least one Somali is in here lurking.
|
|
|
Post by Soomaal on Oct 1, 2005 14:53:38 GMT -5
Each subclan usually has a Sultan and sub sub clans may have an Aqil head chief. Here is how the the three main clans Isaq, Darod and Hawiye are formed. For your question about non-Muslim Somalis, the only ones I know where converted to Christianity. There is also another group of Somalis called Yibir; Yibir probably being Somali translation of Hebrew. Here is a pic of a Yibir man.
|
|
|
Post by Power Cosmic on Oct 1, 2005 15:06:09 GMT -5
Each subclan usually has a Sultan and sub sub clans may have an Aqil head chief. Here is how the the three main clans Isaq, Darod and Hawiye are formed. For your question about non-Muslim Somalis, the only ones I know where converted to Christianity. There is also another group of Somalis called Yibir; Yibir probably being Somali translation of Hebrew. Here is a pic of a Yibir man. Damn, you guys are well educated about your family history, I commend you all for that. My next question is who are Bravanese and Bannadirs?
|
|
|
Post by Soomaal on Oct 1, 2005 15:11:00 GMT -5
I'm not sure exactly who they are since I am from the northwest-northeast region. From what I know Barawans are a mixture of portugese, yemeni, iranian, somali and bantu. I think benadiris are the Arabs who settle on the coast that intermarry Somalis, most benadiris I have seen look pretty much Arab, barawanis can look like any thing from a Somali to anything.
|
|
|
Post by Power Cosmic on Oct 1, 2005 15:25:12 GMT -5
Are Abdullahi Yusuf type people very common? He doesn't look Arab but he has some type of extreme look.
|
|
barre
New Member
Posts: 44
|
Post by barre on Oct 3, 2005 2:47:58 GMT -5
The Somali clan strcture is quite similiar to bedouin arab structure, that is probably becuase it was created under the influence of arab imigrants and religous missionaries during the late 600's. Several arab missionaries married into the existing clans and new alliances grew out of the groups that islamised earliest forming todays recognisable clans. Those that didnt group toghether in the clan structure became ostracised clans subserviant to todays clans. these outcast clans were probably town dwellers , farmers and crafts men and are the purist somalis today. These are probably the people mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythrean sea that Roman guide written in the AD100 about the red sea coast. The others were pastoralists and despised town dwellers. Todays Existing clans claim ancestry from a single father, they are DI, Hawiye,Darood , Isaaq and Digil Mirifle, and several smaller ones.
The ancestral homeland of all somalis is not even somalis it is in Ethiopia from the awash valley down to the Lake tana in the south.
Benadris are the decedants of the arab and Iranian settlers who founded cities like Moqadishu the capital. Moqadishu was founded by Iranians before Islam, then it was followed by arab settlers, they both intermarried with the native people who were mostly bantu,( a bantu state existed in the riverine area) somalis arrived a bit later after them after displacing the Oromos who were in the Interior close to the coastal cities.
So Benadiris are mostly arab/persian with a little somali admixture and look middle eastern , those with bantu mixture look mullato and light sikinned,
Another interesting note is that in the 1490's to the early 1500's the Portoguese captured the east african city states except for the Benadir cities like Moqadishu were they suffered defeats. Hundreds of Portogouse prisoners were sold as slaves , later became muslim and mixed with the local population. Thats why you will find sometimes some Benadiri with green eyes.
|
|
|
Post by Power Cosmic on Oct 3, 2005 11:27:20 GMT -5
Which clan is numerically the most dominant and how numerous are Benadirs and Bravanese?
|
|
|
Post by Wadaad on Oct 3, 2005 12:39:23 GMT -5
number wise its definitely the Daarod...Benaadirs/Bravanese probably constiute at most 3% of Somalia (im being very generous)
|
|
|
Post by Power Cosmic on Oct 3, 2005 12:51:15 GMT -5
number wise its definitely the Daarod...Benaadirs/Bravanese probably constiute at most 3% of Somalia (im being very generous) Since Daarod are the most numerous why don't they just take over the country? Is it more or less political within clans?
|
|
|
Post by Mike the Jedi on Oct 3, 2005 12:52:10 GMT -5
All those clan names sound pretty cool. I've got to learn Somali.
|
|
|
Post by Power Cosmic on Oct 3, 2005 12:54:25 GMT -5
All those clan names sound pretty cool. I've got to learn Somali. That language seems very hard to speak. The words I've seen these guys type in forums seem nearly impossible to say.
|
|
|
Post by Wadaad on Oct 3, 2005 12:57:37 GMT -5
number wise its definitely the Daarod...Benaadirs/Bravanese probably constiute at most 3% of Somalia (im being very generous) Since Daarod are the most numerous why don't they just take over the country? Is it more or less political within clans? Yes it would seem so but clan unity and loyalty is much more complex than that. Within clans are sub-clans and thats where most of the quarrels stem from. inter-clan rivalries are more frequent than intra-clan ones, so in Mogadishu for example most of the fighting is between fellow Hawiye from warring Abgal and Habar Gedir clans.
|
|
|
Post by Mike the Jedi on Oct 3, 2005 12:57:45 GMT -5
All those clan names sound pretty cool. I've got to learn Somali. That language seems very hard to speak. The words I've seen these guys type in forums seem nearly impossible to say. Indeed, that's what I find so fascinating about it. Which makes me wonder if all Cushitic languages are like that.
|
|
|
Post by Wadaad on Oct 3, 2005 13:01:09 GMT -5
All those clan names sound pretty cool. I've got to learn Somali. That language seems very hard to speak. The words I've seen these guys type in forums seem nearly impossible to say. its not nearly as guttural as Arabic or other semitic languages but its up there. If you wanna what Somali sounds like click on the audio links on the right on this link: www.bbc.co.uk/somali/index.shtml
|
|