Dir ha midowdo
The Jarso are a Dir Clan of Madaxweyn Dir extraction who were however surrounded by Oromo immigrants in the 1600s, the Jarso Islamized the Oromo following the death of Ahmed Gurey but the Jarso lost their distinctive Somali culture and intermarrried with their Muslim Oromo Brethen : the following is one Ethiopian's opinion of the Oromaized Geri and Jarso
SomaliAmir wrote:
yeah I guess so, somali folklore says that centuries ago there was a civil war between the oromos. the jarso against an alliance between the Nole and Ala. the jarso would have been nearly wipe out if it wasn't for the intervension of the Dir clans. the Dir defeat the Nole and Ala and ever since there has exist a special relationship between the Dir clans and the Jarso with some Jarso taking Dir genealogy and thus become somali but they still speak afan oromo.
another theory is that these eastern oromo are actually somali who assiminated afan oromo but continue to maintain somali genealogy. for example you will find Warre Geri amoung both the Jarso and the Babila and warre is the somali equivalance of Reer or family in Somali thus these groups are Geri Kombo/ Daroods so you understand why it very difficult to place people into a narrow category. for example the Garre in Southeast ethiopia used to be oromo in fact they still speak a version of Borana yet they have comepletely become Somali within the last 120 years also some segments of the Gabra might with the next 50 year become somali due to convertion to islam and also because they are camel pastoralists like the somalis.
I hope that answers some of your questions
The first theory shows that the jarso have an oromo origin and not somali but i have heard of that story before but in a different version. I heard that the ittu and ala were allies and the noole were the ones needing help from the dir and the jarso wern't even metnioned...maybe possibly because they were somali or mixed?
http://globalcoordinate.com/items/662351
I don't know and only Allah knows the unseen but continued on in oromo, the jarso call them selves "jahan Jarso" meaning the six jarso clans i will only name three of them. The "Warra Dorowo" mostly claim oromo but the name dorowo is the name of the ancient muslim emirate who i think were either hadiya or somali and also is a place in bale which is southern oromia. The "Warra Emir" who i think are really oromo claim oromo but if you look at emir meaning in arabic sultan and also i know somebody whose forefathers name is "garada" or sultan in somali as well. And the "Warra Dankqa" who i believe are the numerous among the jarso and widely accept being somali and majority really don't speak oromo at all. So i guess its up to these sub groups to decide.
Also, i heard of theory that will make some somali people be like Hell no because we are somali but that some somalis have maybe descended from oromo and really are oromo who were the early converts of islam in the region. and that the somali language spoken today is oromo and arab mixed together. This was probaly done because the mushirk faith of waqaefenna, the oromo traditional belief, revolved around a way of life for oromos who followed it. So if you were a convert to islam they you would want to stray far away from this way of life... and one of the criteria of being somali is being muslim is it not?. I find it hard myself to really believe the actuality of this theory but who knows.
salam
It is funny how these arguments are used over and over again when it comes to Oromo tribes actually being Somali! First it was Gurgura, though the majority of them identify themselves as being Oromo...even the Afran Qallo (my tribe) has not been spared!
ReplyDeleteLets look at this logically: the name "Jarso" is not even Somali (has an Oromo meaning). The fact that they say they are split into Jahan Jarso (instead of Lixda Jaarso) should tell u something. Until recently, there was no reference to how they were Somali (let alone Dir) before the emergence of the Somali-Abo program - to Somalize Oromos in order to get their support. The fact that their sub-clans have non-Somali names such as Warra Dhaqo (Garad is also used by the Oromos whereas Emir could be a common term used like the term "Sheikh" is in a religious connotation).
From common experience with the Somalis (my mother is Somali), they are held together by strong ties and a common belief that no foreign force can change - their origin, language, culture and deen. Somalis are normally wary of other people, let alone letting them settle with them, so I see no historical grounds to these claim about how Jarso are Somalis who were oromonized by Oromo "migrants". Which Oromo tribe oromoinzed them?
There are times when people change sides due to geo-political climate, so being a Somali (during Ziad Barre's time) was helpful since Somalis were powerful then.
Allah knows best, no doubt, but if there is a theory about something, it will always be a theory till proof is brought to the table.
Thanks names are adopted as well as identity. Jarso is a somali name meaning elder and Ware=Wareer or family in Somali and afar Qolo is somali meaning the four clans. The Sublineage names are also more important than the overall clan names can you explain why do these groups have somali name subclans like Nabidoor, Gacalwaaq, Layiile, Miyo, Dhanqo are all distinctive Somali names. The problem is the Magosso concept of Oromos which adopts non-oromos. In Bale the population is all Hadiya but the were brainwashed into thinking they are Oromo Arsi.
ReplyDeleteJarso are oromized Harari. Not only jarso, all oromo clan with warra tittles are Harari
Deleteaftirsintjarso
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