Benadiri people

Benadiri
بناديري
Regions with significant populations
 Somalia
 Yemen
Languages

Somali and Arabic
Religion 
Islam
Related ethnic groups

Arabs, Somalis

The Benadiri people (Somali: Reer Benaadir, Arabic: بناديري‎), also known as Reer Xamar (pronounced "Hamar") or "people of Mogadishu",[1] are an ethnic group in Somalia.

Contents

Overview

The Benadiri traditionally live in Mogadishu, Merca and Barawa on the Benadir coast, and are principally engaged in business and fishing. They speak a dialect of the Afro-Asiatic Somali language referred to as Coastal Somali.[2]

Although the Benadiri are sometimes described as the founders of Mogadishu (hence, their colloquial name Reer Xamar or "People of Mogadishu"[3]), their members actually trace their origins to diverse groups. The latter include Arab, Persian and Cushitic peoples, with, in some cases, varying degrees of additional Bantu and Bushman admixture.[4]

Reer Xamar were instrumental in helping to consolidate the local Muslim community, especially in the coastal Benadir region.[5][6] During the colonial period, they were also among the founding members of the Somali Youth League, Somalia's first political party.[7]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Abbink, p.18.
  2. ^ Abdullahi, p.10.
  3. ^ Abbink, p.18.
  4. ^ Abdullahi, p.11.
  5. ^ Cassanelli, Lee V. (1973). The Benaadir past: essays in southern Somali history. University of Wisconsin. p. 24 
  6. ^ Muslims in the Diaspora (1999) Rima Berns McGown, page 21
  7. ^ I. M. Lewis, A pastoral democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa, (LIT Verlag Münster: 1999), p.304.

References