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Gurgura

غرغرة
Languages
Somali, Oromo and Arabic
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Akisho, Issa, Gadabursi, Surre, Bursuuk, Biimaal, Garre and other Dir clans.

The Gurgure, Gorgorah or Gurgura (Template:Lang-so, Template:Lang-om, Template:Lang-ar) is a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Dir clan family.

Distribution

The Gurgure are the majority in the Erer district in the Sitti Zone and Dire Dawa. Gurgure are among the first people who lived around what is now the city of Dire Dawa with their Dir relative Issa. Today the Gurgure live in Dire Dawa, all over Somali Region of Ethiopia, Harar region, Djibouti, Somaliland, Somalia, the Oromia Region and the Afar Region.

The Gurgure are of the Madaxweyne Dir, making them directly related to the Gurre, Akisho and Gariire and other Dir. They also have lineal ties with other Dir subclans.

History

The city of 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 clan 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 through marriage also assimilate some of the local Gurgure, Nole, Metta, Oborra. And other Madahweine Dir clans.

Oromo political organizations sought to coerce the Gurgure, (whose identity was very contentious for the city of Dire Dawa) who largely speak the Oromo language (Oromiffa), to identify themselves as Oromo, though they belong to the Dir clan family of the Somalis. Oromo political organizations claimed that "the Gurgure people who speak Oromiffa belong to the Oromo nation and they only started to identify themselves with the Somali after the 1974 change of the Haile Selassie regime". This is false since the Gurgura are mentioned in the Futuh Al Habasha : Conquest of Abyssinia as source dating back as far as the 16th century, by author: Shihabudin Ahmad bin Abd al-Qadir 'Arab Faqih or 'Arab Faqih. It is recorded that the Gurgura were Somalis who fought alongside Ahmed Gran or Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi with knights, spear-men and foot-soldiers and their leader Garad 'Abd.

Many prominent Gurgure in Dire Dawa, including traditional leaders, have identified themselves either Oromo or Somali. Since 1991, majority of them identify themselves as Somalis though we have still others that identify themselves as Oromos.

The Gurgure fought for the Somalis rebels during the Ethiopian Civil War and supported the annexation of Dire Dawa, they actively participated in the Issa and Gurgure Liberation Front and clashed with the Oromo Liberation Front on numerous occasions for control over Dire Dawa.

Gurgure Political Organization

• Issa Gurgure Libration Front (IGLF) was active until 1991 it was led by an Issa Mr.Riyaale Ahmed

• Independent Gurgure Libration Front (GLF) was founded by Member of Parliament Abdi Aziz Gurgure who is former Ethiopian Ambassador to Ivory Coast.

• Horiyaal Democratic Party was a Gadaburis led political Party in Ethiopia with their Dir Issa and Gurgure, however; several attempts to unite the three with other Somali tribes didn’t fall through.

Clan tree

Gurgure are subdivided into seven major subtribes. Reer Kundhuble, Gufaatile, Sanceele, Sanaye, Nibidoor, Bicida, and Gacalwaaq. These are the seven well known and major sub groups that make Gurgura.

• Dir
• Madaxweyne
• Gurgure

1-Habar Daar

• • Reer Kundhuble
    • Cali
    • Abdalle

2-Quwaxade

• • Reer Gufaatile
  • Reer Sanceele
  • Reer Sanaye

3-Liban

• • Nibidoor
  • Bicida
  • Gacalwaaq

Notable Gurgure People

Ugaas Bux Ugaas Gadiid Cabduwahab Sh. Cabdiwali Ugaas Dawud Cabdiaziz Gurgure (former MP and Ambassador to Ivory Coast)

References

1. ^ Lewis, I. M. (1998). Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho. Red Sea Press. ISBN 9781569021057. At the end of the book "Tribal Distribution of Somali Afar and Saho"
2. Expectations and belonging in Dire Dawa Drivers, dynamics and challenges of rural to urban mobility. Research and Evidence facility. 2018. p. 10. The Gurgura share both Somali and Oromo identities, speaking the Oromo language and tracing their genealogy to the Dir, a Somali clan family.
3. Verdier, Isabelle (1997). Ethiopia: the top 100 people. Indigo Publications. p. 13. ISBN 9782905760128.
4. ʻArabfaqīh, Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir (2003-01-01). The conquest of Abyssinia: 16th century. Annotation: Dir, According to Huntingford a settlement which may be modern Dire Dawa. Tsehai Publishers & Distributors. p. 24. ISBN 9780972317269.
5. Sindjoun, Luc (2010). The Coming African Hour: Dialectics of Opportunities and Constraints. African Books Collective. p. 210. ISBN 9780798302302.
6. ʻArabfaqīh, Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir (2003-01-01). The conquest of Abyssinia: 16th century. Tsehai Publishers & Distributors. pp. 120, 123 and 401. ISBN 9780972317269.
7. Asnake Kefale (2014). "Ethnic decentralization and the challenges of inclusive governance in multiethnic cities: The case of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia". Regional & Federal Studies. 24 (5): 589–605. doi:10.1080/13597566.2014.971772. S2CID 154137709.

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