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Gurgure

غرغرة
Regions with significant populations
Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somaliland, and Somalia
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 Oromo- Somali clan, who are a mix of the Isse Dir and Nole Oromo.

Distribution

The Gurgure are the majority in the Erer district in the Sitti Zone. 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 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.

Overview

Origins

The Gurgura are a Somali-Oromo clan who inhabit the area between Zeila and Dire Dawa the Origins of the Gurgura Clan has been disputed amongst the Oromo, and Somali Tribes. According to Somali traditions the Gurgura are a Somali tribe who were assimilated by the Oromos in the 16th century, and the original name of the tribe was reer mahmmed Madaxweyne. And after the arrival of the Oromos they were given a name by the oromos "Gurgura" (one who trades/sells). They also believe that the Gurgura were part of the Ali Madaxweyne (Qaldho) Dir confederate tribes I.M Lewis also agrees that the Gurgura are of Somali origin. However other historians such as Caulk mentioned the Gurgura in his book Harar Town and its Neigbours as a people of Dire Dawa, part of the Nole Oromo ruled by the Waday Rige. Other historians such as Wade Anastasia agree with Caulk, and Record that the Gurgura is one of the tribes subclans and names of the Nole Oromo. According to Oromo's a small number of Gurgura only started Claiming a Somali ancestry after the collapse of the selassie regime in 1974 though Somali sources strongly disagree. Other sources claim that similar to the Geri Kombe but the other way around, the Gurgura are a mix of Somali, and Oromo, the Isse Somali men married the Nole Oromo women, and bore the Gurgura tribe. The Arab faqih of the 15th century records them as Somalis. Historians conclude that the Gurgura who live amongst the Oromo in Ethiopia claim Oromo ancestry, and the ones near the border to Djibouti, and Somaliland claim Somali ancestry.

History

The Gurgure 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 Gurgure were among the famous Somali spearmen led by their chief Garad Abdi who fought alongside Ahmed Gurey or Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi with thirty knights and one-thousand foot-soldiers .

The city of Dire Dawa was originally called Diri Dhaba and used to be part of the Sultanate of Ifat and Adal Sultanate during the medieval times and was exclusively settled by Dir clan (Gurgure, Issa and Gadabuursi). After the weakening of Adal Sultanate, the Oromos took advantage and were able to penetrate through the city and settle the surrounding areas. Through marriage the Oromo assimilated some of the local Gurgure into their tribe.

Patrick Gilkes (2003) mentions the Gurgura as one of the clans that participated in the Futuh Al Habasha : Conquest of Abyssinia:

Emir Ahmed Gurrey, known to the Ethiopians as Ahmed Gran. The emir himself was almost certainly from one of the pre-Somali peoples around Harar, but Somalis from a number of clans, particularly the Gorgora, a clan that probably originated around Zelia, certainly fought in his armies. Ahmed himself probably had no direct links with Somalis other than recruiting them, but his mythic value was substantial. He had launched a highly successful jihad against Ethiopia in the 1530s.

In his book Across Widest Africa: An Account of the Country and People of Eastern, Central and Western Africa As Seen During a Twelve Months' Journey from Djibuti to Cape Verde, Volume 2, written in 1905, Arnold Henry Savage Landor describes the Gurgura as a Somali tribe that he encountered on his to Harar from Djibouti in and around Dire Dawa and back towards Abyssinia. The authors refers to the land between Dire Dawa and Harar as in Gurgura. The author says he met the Gurgura in great numbers with their spears, looking after sheep and camels. Landor describes the Gurgura possessing a skin of a deep chocolate colour, and divided them into two distinct types: one with wholly hair, or twisted into curls; the other not so common, with smooth hair, which is always left long and reaches the shoulders. Some grew a slight beard upon the cheeks and chin. The author goes on to say that they all had eyes the iris of which was of a deep brown, but that portion of the eye-ball which is white was dark yellowish tone.

Landor writes about making a camp near hot springs on his way to Abyssinia today known as Erer hot springs in the Sitti Zone of Somali Region. There he met the Hawiya, like the Gurgura, who speak somali, and some also understand the Galla (Oromo) language. The author describes the Hawiya, Issa, Gurgura, Haberual (Habar Awal), the Ghedebursi (Gadabuursi) and Dahrot (Darod) as speaking Somali.

Oromo political organizations sought to coerce the Gurgure, who were also another tribe in Dire Dawa who speak the Oromo language (Oromiffa), to identify themselves as Oromo, though they belong to and identified as Dir Somalis. Oromo elders claimed that "the Gurgura people who speak the Oromo language belong to the Oromo nation and they only started to identify themselves with the Somali after the 1974 change of the Haile Selassie regime" though Somali's strongly disagree.

Gurgure Political Organization

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.

• 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. Kundhuble, Gufaatile, Sanceele, Sanaye, Nibidoor, Bicida, and Gacalwaaq.

• Dir

Madaxweyne 
  Gurgure (Mohamed)
   Habar Daar 
     Reer Kundhuble
     .Cali
     .Abdalle
   Dudub
     Liban
       .Reer Gufaatile
       .Reer Sanceele
       .Reer Sanaye
     Quwaxade
       .Nibidoor
       .Biciida
       .Gacalwaaq

Notable Gurgure People

• Ugaas Buux Gaiid(52nd Ugaas of Gurgure and one of Dir Dhabah’s most notable figures)
• Ugaas Gadiid Abdullahi Ugaas Buux (53rd Ugaas of Gurgure)
• AbduWahab Sh. Abdiwali (former Colonel in the Somali National Army, Politician and prominent Gurgure leader well known by Dire Dawa residents and in Somali Region.
• Ugaas Siyad Daud Cumar (54th and current Ugaas)
• Cabdiaziz Gurgure (MP, former Ethiopian Ambassador to Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and among other countries)

References

1. ^ "Women in conflict and indigenous conflict resolution among the Issa and Gurgura clans of Somali in Eastern Ethiopia". ACCORD. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
2. ^ 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"
3. Expectations and belonging in Dire Dawa Drivers, dynamics and challenges of rural to urban mobility. Research and Evidence facility. 2018. p. 10. The Gurgure share both Somali and Oromo identities, speaking the Oromo language and tracing their genealogy to the Dir, a Somali clan family.
4. Verdier, Isabelle (1997). Ethiopia: the top 100 people. Indigo Publications. p. 13. ISBN 9782905760128.
5. Dirsame (2012-04-07). "The Somali Dir Clan's History: Codka Beesha Direed: ISSA GURGURE FRONT GURGURE DISTRICT DIRA DHAWE". The Somali Dir Clan's History. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
6. Dirsame (2010-01-06). "The Somali Dir Clan's History: Codka Beesha Direed: The Madaxweyn Dir Gurgure Clan Of Dira Dhawa". The Somali Dir Clan's History. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
7. "The origin and History of the Somali People" (PDF).
8. profilpelajar.com. "Reer Nuur - profilpelajar.com". Retrieved 2022-12-18.
9. "The Somali Dir clan (Beesha Direed)". Beelaha Direed Official Site. 2013-07-13. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
10. Lewis, I. M. (1998). Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho. Red Sea Press. ISBN 978-1-56902-105-7.
11. Caulk, R. A. (1977). "Harär Town and Its Neighbours in the Nineteenth Century". The Journal of African History. 18 (3): 369–386. ISSN 0021-8537.
12. Jere, Wade Anastasia (2011-11-13). Gurgura. Equ Press. ISBN 978-613-8-34934-1.
13. Dirsame (2018-09-16). "The Somali Dir Clan's History: Codka Beesha Direed: The Gurgura clan Uags Gadid Abdullahi Ugas Bouh ( Aaskii Ugaas Cabdullahi Ugas Buux) Beesha Gurgure Madaxweyn Dir ee Magaalada Dira Dhawe". The Somali Dir Clan's History. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
14. Sindjoun, Luc (2010). The Coming African Hour: Dialectics of Opportunities and Constraints. African Books Collective. ISBN 978-0-7983-0230-2.
15. Abebe, Wegayehu (2017-07). The Gurgura Ethnic Identity Controversy in DireDawa Administrative Region EastEthiopia (Thesis thesis). Addis Ababa University. {{cite thesis}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. Gikes, Patrick (2003). "National Identity and Historical Mythology in Eritrea and Somaliland". Northeast African Studies. 10 (3). Michigan State University Press: 174. JSTOR 41931244.
19. Sindjoun, Luc (2010). The Coming African Hour: Dialectics of Opportunities and Constraints. African Books Collective. p. 210. ISBN 9780798302302.

• Somali clans in Ethiopia