Samaale

Samaale (var. Samali or Samale), also known as Osmaan (Somali: Samaale, Beesha Samaale, Cusmaan, Beesha Cusmaan, Arabic: بنو سأملي ,بنو عثمان‎‎), is the oldest common forefather of several major Somali clans and their respective sub-clans.[1] It constitutes the largest and most widespread Somali lineage. Two of the constituent Samaale sub-clans, the Dir and Hawiye, are regarded as major clans today.[2][3] Samaale traces its ancestry to Arabian Banu Hashim origins through Aqiil Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib.[2][3]

History

Shariif 'Aydaruus Shariif 'Ali records a tradition that the eponymous ancestor Samaale came from Yemen in the ninth century to settle in the Somali peninsula or Somaliland and founded the Samaale clan.[4]

Samaale is generally regarded as the source of the ethnonym Somali. The name "Somali" is, in turn, held to be derived from the words soo and maal, which together mean "go and milk"—a reference to the ubiquitous pastoralism of the Somali people. Another etymology proposes that the term Somali is derived from the Arabic for "wealthy" (dhawamaal), again referring to Somali riches in livestock.[1]

Genealogy

According to traditions recorded in Shariif 'Aydaruus Shariif 'Ali's Bughyat al-amaal fii taariikh as-Soomaal (1955), the patriarch Samaale arrived in northern Somalia from Yemen during the 9th century and subsequently founded the eponymous Somali ethnic group.[1]

Most Somalis trace their origins to Samaale:[1]

The eponymous ancestor of majority of Somalis today had 9 sons:

Although Quranyow is part of the Garre confederacy, the sub-clan actually claims descent from Dir, son of Irir, son of Samaale.[8][9] This example does indeed strengthen the Somali saying: "Tol waa tolane", which means "clan is something joined together"[8][9] The same could be said about Gaaljecel, Degodi and Hawadle who have allied themselves to the Hawiye section of Irir in the borders of Somalia,[10][11] the Dabarre and Irrole of Maqarre and the Garre who have allied themselves to the Digil Rahanweyn confederacy and 'Awrmale to the Harti Darood section.[6][7][12]

The Rahanweyn (Digil and Mirifle) clan traces descent from a separate patriarch called Sab. Both Samaale and Sab are said to have descended from a forefather named "Hiil", whose is held to be the common patrilineal ancestor of all the Somali clans.[1][13]

Historical publications

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Lewis, I. M.; Said Samatar (1999). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster. pp. 11–13. ISBN 3-8258-3084-5.
  2. 1 2 3 Ahmed, Ali Jimale (1995). The Invention of Somalia. Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea Press Inc. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-932415-98-1.
  3. 1 2 3 Lewis, Ioan. M. (1994). Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society. Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea Press Inc. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-932415-92-9.
  4. ↑ Lewis, I. M. (1999-01-01). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. James Currey Publishers. p. 12. ISBN 9780852552803.
  5. 1 2 Ahmed, Ali Jimale (1995-01-01). The Invention of Somalia. The Red Sea Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780932415998.
  6. 1 2 3 Ahmed, Ali Jimale (1995-01-01). The Invention of Somalia. The Red Sea Press. p. 122. ISBN 9780932415998.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ahmed, Ali Jimale (1995-01-01). The Invention of Somalia. The Red Sea Press. p. 130. ISBN 9780932415998.
  8. 1 2 Hayward, R. J.; Lewis, I. M. (2005-08-17). Voice and Power. Routledge. p. 242. ISBN 9781135751753.
  9. 1 2 The Quranyo section of the Garre claim descent from Dirr, who are born of the Irrir Samal. UNDP Paper in Keyna http://www.undp.org/content/dam/kenya/docs/Amani%20Papers/AP_Volume1_n2_May2010.pdf
  10. ↑ Adam, Hussein Mohamed; Ford, Richard (1997-01-01). Mending rips in the sky: options for Somali communities in the 21st century. Red Sea Press. p. 127. ISBN 9781569020739.
  11. ↑ Ahmed, Ali Jimale (1995-01-01). The Invention of Somalia. The Red Sea Press. p. 121. ISBN 9780932415998.
  12. ↑ Dabarre and Iroole Digil (Rahanweyn) groups in southern Somalia. http://dice.missouri.edu/docs/afro-asiatic/Dabarre.pdf
  13. ↑ Adam, Hussein Mohamed (1997). Mending rips in the sky: options for Somali communities in the 21st century. Red Sea Press. ISBN 9781569020739. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
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