Sunday, May 27, 2018

Beesha Barsuug Dir: Somali Dir Clan Barsuuk - Somali and English




Beesha Barsuug waa beelaha Direed ee dagan inta u dhexeysa Haraar ilaa magalada Jigjiga. Qoraaga weyn ee Richard Burton buugisa First Footstep ayuu ku xusayaa beesha Barsuug Dir iyo dagalada sadex geeska ay ku hayaan Barsuuga sedex beelood oo ku wareegsanaa Barsuuga.




Sidoo kale qarnigii 15 naad buuga Fatuhal xabash ayaa ku tilmaamay beesha Barsuug iney yihiin beelaha ugu waaweyn ee cidamadii Axmed Ibrahim Axamed Gurey ay ka mid ahyeen.


The Bursuuk or also written as Barsuk or Barsuq or Barsuug (Somali: Barsuug, Arabic: برسوق ) is a clan belonging to the major Dir clan family. They largely live in Ethiopia, in the Somali region, especially around the ancient city of Harar and in between the city and Jigjiga.[1][2]




Richard Burton described the Bursuk as one of the Somalis of the mountains who derive themselves from Dir. He explained in 1854 that they were at war with 3 different clans or tribes, of which the Girhi, the Berteri and the Gallas who are known today as Oromos.[3]

The Barsuuk are mentioned in the chronicle of Fatuuh Al Habash in the 15 century as one of the Somali Dir Clans who fought along side Ahmed Ibrahim Gurey. See: Futuh Al-Habasha: The Conquest of Abyssinia (Futuh Al-habasa)  by Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin Abd al-Qader bin Salem bin Utman (Author)


The Bursuk are a small Dir tribe to the east of Harar and are mainly cultivators. According to Burton, payment of blood-compensation is unknow amoungst them and fighting does not give rise to the interminable feuds. (1) 


The Dir-Madaxweyne Akisho, along with the Gurgura, Issa and Gadabuursi subclans of the Dir represent the most native and indigenous Somali tribes 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 Dir clan used to be the predominant inhabitants of Hararghe Highlands in the medieval times until the weakening of Adal Sultanate the opportunist 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 Jarso, Akisho, Gurgura, Nole, Metta, Oborra and Bursuk who were all sub-clans of Dir a major Somali tribe and were later confederated into Oromo tribe, the Afran Qallo clan. 


The Somalis, principally the Dir clan used to inhabit the Awash River. The Afars were mostly concentrated in the Red Sea and the Lake Abbe while Somalis during the medieval times inhabited Awash river which was back then called "Webiga Dir" named after its tribe. After the weakening of Adal Sultanate, the Somalis left Awash river and allowed Afars to settle in Awash river to serve as a buffer zone between the Somalis and Abyssinians.





1^ Lewis, I. M. (1998-01-01). Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho. Red Sea Press. p. 26. ISBN 9781569021057.


2. ^ Division, Great Britain War Office Intelligence (1941-01-01). A Handbook of Ethiopia. publisher not identified. p. 55.


3. ^ Burton, Sir Richard Francis; Speke, John Hanning; Barker, William C. (1856-01-01). First Footsteps in East Africa: Or, An Exploration of Harar. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 279.
4. Futuh Al-Habasha: The Conquest of Abyssinia (Futuh Al-habasa)  by Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin Abd al-Qader bin Salem bin Utman (Author)



 Image result for first footsteps in east africa

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jaarso are somalized Oromo who sometimes claim Dir. At the moment they claim Afran Qallo to get money from the Oromo Kilil. Jaarso, Barsuug and other border clans have shapeshifted back and forth so often, I don't think even they know what they are.
Son, how do you explain the Warra Absame subclan in the Jaarso then? Even among the Babile Oromos you have Darood. It is an established fact that the Somali and Oromo identities are fluid in Hararghe. However, clan origins are never completely forgotten.

As for Barsuug, they are clearly a Somali clan that acquired Oromo customs after adopting farming and intermarrying with their more numerous Oromo neighbours. Like I stated before, they are mentioned as being sworn enemies of the Oromo by Richard Burton and are identified as a Somali Dir clan in his book.

Anonymous said...

Identities on the Move: Clanship and Pastoralism in Northern Kenya
By Günther Schlee

https://books.google.ca/books?id=Sd1RAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=sheegad+somali+clans&source=bl&ots=6aYrbLEZ-E&sig=485Higk4Gt4BS0OTtuVH_t9P7rE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZ5PC2g7ncAhU8HDQIHR_RAEoQ6AEIaDAL#v=onepage&q=sheegad%20somali%20clans&f=false

Anonymous said...

The Gurgura actually retained their Somalinimo, Xeer and Ugaas even after the Adal Wars. Like the Ciise, they are all united behind one Ugaas. The adoption of farming in the last 200 years made most of them Oromo speakers due to intermarriage with the Oromo. Gurgura nomads that live near the Ciise still speak Somali. Both the Oromo and Somali speaking Gurguras acknowledge the leadership of the traditional Ugaas.

Oromos try and seduce them because they know that without the Gurgura they cannot lay claim to Dire Dawa as the countryside surrounding it is settled mainly by them, and the Ciise. The non-urban district of Dire Dawa is not called 'Gurgura' for nothing. The city itself is very multicultural, forget Oromos, there are loads of Habashas too.

The perception that it is an Oromo majority city is due to the fact they classify the Oromo speaking Gurguras as Oromo when they bloody ain't.

The Gurguras need Af-Celis. So do the Barsuug and other Dirs that are in the Afran Qallo confederacy. East Hararghe has a population of roughly 3 million people. A good chunk of the people who live there are Somalis that have become Oromified.

Anonymous said...

Ahmed Grañ The Muslim emirates in the Horn of Africa carried on a centuries-long war of attrition against Abyssinia. The oldest and most famous of them was Adal, which had its capital at Seylac and whose line of emirs belonged to the town's ruling house. Adal was in turn part of the large sultanate of Ifat whose hegemony stretched at its height as far as the foothills of eastern Shewa. The northern Somali clans fell nominally under its suzerainty and fought in the sultan's armies. War was always waged as a religious crusade, but unity in the Muslim forces was difficult to sustain beyond a single campaign. In 1415 Ifat was decisively beaten by the Abyssinians, and its sultan, Sad ad-Din, was killed in battle, subsequently to be revered as a saint by the Somalis. An Abyssinian victory song in celebration of the event makes the earliest recorded reference to the Somalis (or Samaal), who were listed among the defeated foes. The sultanate fell apart, and Muslim power receded for a time, but in the second decade of the sixteenth century Ada! became the base for a new assault on Abyssinia under the leadership of Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi, better known as Ahmed Grañ—the lefthanded. A famous warrior who had assumed the religious title of imam, Ahmed Grañ overthrew the ruling dynasty on the grounds
10
Historical Setting
that it was more interested in the value of Seylac's trade with Abyssinia than in holy war against the Christians. Having moved his headquarters inland to Harer, the imam rallied an army of Somali and Afar warriors, reinforced by Turkish mercenaries who introduced field artillery in the Horn of Africa. In less than ten years he had conquered most of Abyssinia and divided it among Muslim emirs. Perhaps out of concern that the Ottoman sultan would attempt to impose suzerainty over the region, Ahmed Gran dismissed his Turkish troops at a crucial point in the campaign before his victory over the Abyssinians was complete. In 1542 the Abyssinian emperor Galawdewos, with Portuguese aid, inflicted a decisive defeat on the Muslims at Lake Tana, and Ahmed Grail was killed in the fighting. The unity of purpose that the imam's personality had imposed on his Somali fighting force disappeared with his death, and their highland conquests were abandoned. The wars continued into the 1570s, ending only when both Somalis and Abyssinians had to face an invasion by the Oromos who, in the course of their northward migrations, drove a wedge between the older antagonists. The Ottoman Empire cited Turkish participation in Ahmed Gran's early campaigns to justify its territorial claims in the Horn of Africa, but otherwise the imam, through his conquests, left no lasting political legacy. Even at the apogee of his military success, he was unable—perhaps unwilling—to impose a government on the land he controlled and over the people who owed him allegiance. The nomadic pastoral Somalis were willing to fight in his cause and for Islam, but they were not amenable to being administered. Ahmed Grañ did become a folk hero among the Somalis, who tend to regard him as one of their own although there is no clear evidence of his origins. President Siad Barre has referred to him as the first significant character in Somali history.

Anonymous said...

Beesha Barsuug Dir waa beel taarikh Dheer oo Kitaabka Fatuuxal Xabash lagu magacaabey in ay Ka Mid ahayeen beelihii Hormoodka U ahaa cidamadii Axmed Ibraahim Qaazi Axmed Gurey oo Dir qudhiisa ahaa.

Qoraaga weyn ee Ingirriska ahaa Richard Burton ayaa ku tilmaamay beel dagta buurah Harar iyo Jigjigga u dhexeeya oo markii uu dhulkaa booqday ay dagaal kula jireen sadex geesod daagaal ah: Dhinac ay Oramada (Galla) ay la dagaalamayeen, dhanka kalena ay la dagaalamayeen Gerri Koombo, iyo dhan ay Bartire kula dagaalamayeen.

Waxaa kale uu qoraaga (3) Ku tilmaamay in ay dagaal la galeen Barsuug Dir Cidamaadii Masaarid ( Egyptian Khediv army who occupied) ee Harar xukumi jiray iyo iyagoo mar lagu tilmaamay in ay weeraren badeecadihii Isaaq Habar Awal ay u suuq keeni jireen dalka Galbeedkiisa.

History

The Bursuuk are a Dir tribe that mainly reside in Ethiopia, and are considered one of the native Dir tribes of Harar.[3] During the Egyptian occupation of Harar, the Barsuug resisted against the Egyptian colonizer and fought many battles against them. During the Egyptian retreat from Harar, they burned many Barsuuk villages. In retaliation, the Bursuuk attacked the retreating Egyptian troops, and looted caravans of the Habr Awal clan.


[4] Richard Burton described the Bursuk as one of the Somalis of the mountains who derive themselves from Dir. He explained in 1854 that they were at war with 3 different clans or tribes, of which the Girhi, the Berteri and the Gallas (who are known today as Oromos).
References

1-Lewis, I. M. (1998-01-01). Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho. Red Sea Press. p. 26. ISBN 9781569021057.

2-Division, Great Britain War Office Intelligence (1941-01-01). A Handbook of Ethiopia. publisher not identified. p. 55.


3- Bulletin de correspondance africaine : antiquités libyques, puniques, grecques et romaines. Impr. de l'Association ouvrière P. Fontana et compagnie. 1884. p. 288.

4- Notes sur le Harar par M. Alfred Bardey. Paris: IMPRIMERIE NATIONALE. 1989. p. 55.

5-Burton, Sir Richard Francis; Speke, John Hanning; Barker, William C. (1856-01-01). First Footsteps in East Africa: Or, An Exploration of Harar. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 279.


Unknown said...

Barsuuk are a Madexweyne dir clan from Northern Galbeed, they have nothing to do with Isaaq
They are mentioned in futuh al habash with other Madexweyne subclans such as Gurgura etc. They existed before Shiekh Isaaq kooshin

Anonymous said...

Oromo practice of mass adoption of indigenous ethnic groups, known as guddifacha
The Somali region has been found and discovered two wells of gas, fuel, petrol and oil in JEEXDIN area under SHILAABO district-Korahey region, and CUNADHEERE area between GODEY (Shabelle Region) and DHOOBAWEYN. After Cunadheere Gas was tested and becomes functional, Ethiopia begins Extracting Crude Oil in Somali Region in June this year




GUDDIFACHAA PRACTICE:: As Community Based Child Problem Intervention in Oromo of Ada'a Liban Paperback – Mar 15 2011
by DESSALEGN NEGERI (Author)


This study is about the practice of Guddifachaa (adoption) of children in Oromo society: the largest population in the horn. It is an ethnographic case study of Ada'a Liban of the Tulama Oromo clan Guddifachaa Practice past and today with its changes and the continuity.In Ethiopia, adoption is referred as guddifachaa with the origin from Oromo society. Culturally, guddifachaa refers to the process of taking another family's son or daughter as a child of own with all his /her privileges, rights, responsibilities and other duties based on the Gada law by adopters. Guddifachaa promotes the safety and well-being of children in the adoptive family setting to vulnerable children in Ethiopia. Guddifachaa has undergone some slight changes in terms of practice and has continuity. It is also practiced in 11 nation and nationalities of Ethiopia.




... difachaa (Beckstrom, 1972). The cultural practice of guddifachaa involves taking an oath in front of community members and leaders to assimilate a nonbiological child into the family. The term, coming from the Oromo language, was incorporated into the Ethiopian legal framework and also used to describe the formal legal process of domestic adoption. Negeri (2006) described some of the specific cultural rituals used in guddifachaa . The adoptive parents usually conduct a ceremony at their home with community members in attendance. They take responsibility for the child, and the child is given a name. In one community in the region of Oromia, the families approach tribal leaders and sing a request ...


https://advocacy4oromia.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/guddifachaa-oromo.pdf

n the case of Moggaasaa children.
In some places different terms like Moggaasaa (adoption) and Guddifachaa (to ... Before a group can be assimilated into the Oromo they have to be set free and ...


Dhalata Free Born

The rise and expansion of Islam in Bale of Ethiopia:
Socio-cultural and political factors and inter- religious relations
By TESHOME AMENU

https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/171981/Master_Amenu_v08.pdf?sequence=1

Anonymous said...

Beesha Barsuug wax ay dagantahay magaaloyinka koonfurta ku yaal sida Jamaame, gobolka Bay, iyo Marka iyo Sarinley Bakool inta badana waxa ay la dagaan beelaha Biyomaal , Mandaluug iyo beesha Surre. Bay waxa ay dhexdagaan Reer Aw said ka. Gobolka Gurro dhaamoole iyo Afdheer waxa Jira lafo dagan sida Ismaail Sheikh Ali oo Gadsan iyo Gurre dhex dagaan. Beesha waxa qaar dagaaan Dolo Ado iyagoo Surre .

Anonymous said...

Barsuuk Celi Arab sheikh isxaaq

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