History

History of Garri Nation

By: Ahmedsiraj Alinur 

History of our people and where we came from is the subject of controversies over many years. The generation of our grandfathers who kept our histories in their mind and passed it from generation to generation are no more. Our generations who are capable of recording these facts using the latest technology have no facts to record or no will at all. Sighting all this challenges it is up to us at kayim garri to stimulate the brains of our youngsters to record this facts and most importantly inquire their parents and grandparents of their history. There is a saying in our language which says “Nami fula keesa Gadhuf inbeekne fula kee jir inbeeku nami fula kee jir inbeeknele fula it deem hinbeek”. (Whoever doesn’t know his history won’t know his current state and then will never know his future).

Coming back to the history of our nation it’s very important to understand who the Garris are. Many times people ask the wrong question like when they ask, Are Garrehs Oromo or Somali. The debate is everywhere especially in the diaspora and the question sometimes irritates the youngsters not to mention lack of concrete answer to be given to the questioner. However, I acknowledge the need for our community to solve this identity crisis immediately for the sake of the future generation.

The Garris answered these questions in our oral tradition by statements like "Garrin Garrum”.This statement explains why our people are so independent to the extent that they don't need to affiliate themselves to anyone.

Pre-Islamic Somalia

It’s very important to understand that Garris are independent nation that migrated from North Africa before the Christian era around 100BC. The land of punt existed as mentioned in the bible portrays that people existed in Somalia then, and this people happen to trade with the Egyptians. The products like frankincense (Lubaadin) and Myrrh (Qumbi) and Arabic gum (Haampe) were the commodity that interests the Egyptians and in turn our people were paid in ornaments (Imu),Jeweleries, and other artifacts like milk containers mainly made of woods which in our language is called soroor or butte.This historical facts about the land of punt is mentioned in the Old testament.

Although most of the Somali Historians manage to construct the beginning of the Somali nation and attribute the name Somali to a two adjoined words i.e Soo Maal which means go milk in reference to the camel or an animal being milked for consumption. The Somali clans are Mainly Dirr, Hawiye, Darood and Rahanweyn and all this clans supposedly trace their lineage to Au Samaal except Darood and Issaq who are tracing their lineage to the descendants of Prophet Muhammad (Sallalahu Alleyhi Wasallam) and this means their time line can only commence during the turmoil of the third caliph that led to many Arabian muslims to migrate to Africa and other world or when the swahabas conquered the red sea and fought the Berbers of north Africa.

If you consider all the major clans of  Somalis except Rahanweyn they do claim that their forefather is an Arab or specifically a hashemite from makkah. The fact that the horn of Africa existed prior to the start of the Islamic era is very evident in the historical archives as we have solomonic emperors in our neighbouring Abyssinia and not forgetting the Kush kingdom in Sudan prior to that and judging by the historical evolution of our people majority of them were just pastoralists all this time and they have no access to any form of interactions whatsoever with the outside world except may be the few who are merchants in the cities.

One of the narrative that was widely accepted by the Garris as their true origin was that of Gardheere Samaal that belongs to the larger Gugudandhabe of the hawiye clan. Their kinsmen in the soransoor clans comprise of Garri, Gaaljecel, Baadcade, Dogodi and many more. Since Hawiye was the resident of the Somalia pre to the Islamic era then there is a possibility that may be this clans are indeed related to each other but research is needed to establish it as the ultimate facts.

The second narrative of the origin of Garri is that of a traveller from the Arabian peninsula by the name Mohamed or nicknamed by the Somalis as Gardheere or Garrow. he came to Somalia and married ay Makko and hence bored him two sons Tuuf and Quraanyowa. The problem with this narrative is the belief that Garris are Arabs and according to the Arab traditions the children were taught very well about their ancestors and its very rare to find a man with no mention of his parents and not teaching it to his descendants which happened to be extremely strange phenomena judging from that time Arab customs.

The Third narrative is that of amalgamation of two different clans that came to together and form Garri tribe i.e in this narrative it is believed that Quranyowa has desended from Dirr clan while Tuuf is from hawiye clan of Somalia. The hawiye part of the Garri is affliated to the Gugundhabe clans while quranyowa is believed to be the son of mohamed xiinfire that has close ties to Ciise, sheekhaal and the rest.

The Somalis started organizing themselves in to sultanate and dynasties as early 1000 AD where the likes of saad din 2 and fakrudiin manage to lead them form Muslim sultanates like Awdal, Biyamaal,Ajuraan and others and in this time there were major conflicts with all the clans especially ajuraan who are said to be decimated during this time. The Garrehs are Somalis during this time I will give you a simple example, think of going backwards in tracing your fore fathers am sure all the grandfathers taught their children especially the first born  how to trace their lineage i.e.Abtiris(counting one's forefathers backwards) in doing this one can go back may be up to 15 great grandfathers and although many of them are Somali names but as we go further many of those names appear African with no traces of Arabic names which were the as a result of the Islamic influences.

The typical Garri names are Issack,Ibreen Mamad and Osman but as we go further in to our ancestors we find the names are not familiar with Somalis and Arabic. This a clear indication that this people have roots other than the ones we are made to believe for many decades.

The Second indicator that refutes the popular belief of the community belonging to some group, is that of the what i call the clan names hypothesis. Contemplating on the Clans of the Garri nation we have;

Garri : Main Tribe

Tuuf and Quranyowa as the sub tribe 

Ali, Adola, Assare and Furkesha as the main Clans

Ali : Sabdhawa, Kalula and Taule

Adola: Reermug, Kalwina, Kalmaasa, Bursuni, Maqabile, Tubadi,and Meed

Assare: Killiya and Banna

Furkeesha: Daraawa, Urrdeeq, Oothkooya, Oytira, Birkaaya, Kalweesha, and Sugubtire

All of this names are very familiar names to the May May speaking community around Shebelle region of Somalia.Considering the language of the Garri Koofar (southern Garri) slightly differs from that of the May or rahanweyn as they are widely known.

 Ajuran[i] Dynasty: The First Migration

Anyway if we do a simple back track to the original time line we can get up to may be 400-500 years same time as kedhiguuray ( the great trek) but the Garris first immigration from the Shabelle region was believed to have happen during this time which has also consequently destroyed the Ajuraan Dynasty. During this time the conflict were so serious and ruthless to the extent that many tribes decided to migrate towards the west of Somalia in to now Kenya and Ethiopia. Among the clans that embarked on this trek are The Garris, Ajuraans, Dogodia, Rendille,sakuye and Gabras.

Its a known fact that historically the Garri community survived many adversities over the years due to their resilience and survival spirit and intellectual capabilities of its patriots not forgetting their unity and much respect for their leaders. During the war of Ajuran dynasty our people decided to migrate from Somalia due to wars and mayhem that existed during that time but one thing for sure is they held to their belief and the religion of Islam and never compromised when their contemporaries like Rendille (reerdinle) and Gabras did and succumbed to their master i.e. samburu and borana respectively.  In the fourteen century many of the historians believe that Ahmed gureey’s regiments were made of the Garri soldiers due to their ability to speak two languages Oromo and Somali and their skills of being bilingual gave them the edge.

The Garri community were divided in their quest for escaping the war and turmoil and the group that decided to migrate towards west i.e the current Kenya and Ethiopia were later known as Garri Liban ( Garri of Liban Area) and The remaining ones were later known us Garri koonfar (Southern Garri).  There are Garreh living in Baley and Hararge and this were believed to be the reminants of this soldiers family that comprised of the Harar emirates governing structure

Kediguuraay : Migration to Kedi ( Gedo Somalia)

During this conflict all the oral tradition refers to the Garrehs leaders of the Garreh community as Aw which means mister or respectable title very common with Garrehs that affiliates with the May culture possibly the current Garre koofar. Aw abookar mashar, Aw Aliow Hache and Aw Abeey Umur had special skills or powers so to speak that had resemblance of the then spiritual piousness that was very common with the Sufis. All this happened some 600 years ago and in this time according to the oral tradition the Garrehs crossed from Somalia in to different parts of the east Africa. Some Garrehs chose to remain in Somalia and became Garreh koofar while the others went ahead to liban (historically Garreh County in Kenya and liban zone of Ethiopia) while others went straight to live with the Oromo in barley and amalgamated with them and hence the main cause for the whoo ha! about Garrehs being Oromo tribe.The trying times of the second migration was due to the hardship suffered by the tribe. From the oral narratives this was a very dangerous period experienced by all the communities that were subservient to the Borans. 

The dirre zone that normally starts from Luuq in Somalia to Nagelle in Ethiopia is home to different tribes that includes Borana, Gabra, Garri,Ajuran and Sakuye. All this tribes were colonized by the Borans with the help of the Christian Abyssinian who were fond of the pagan Borans due to their dislikes for the religion of Islam and Muslims.Over the The years Solomonic emperors like Tewodros 1 and 2 were all using the Borans as the buffer zone against the Muslim Somalis.Similarly other Somali clans were protected from the powerful Borans by the buffer zone created as a result of the existence of the Garris in the middle and therefore any of their expedition must come through the Garri county first. 

This explains why there were very limited interactions between the Borans and other Somali clans. As result of this historical facts Many Somali clans have no knowledge of the Boran and often consider them to be ruthless, archaic and barbaric people.Many times their reference to Garris being Borans is a deregatory term they use to psychologically intimidate them to feel insecure and many times their little knowledge about this community is what fuels this stereotypes. 

Prior to kediguuray there was mayhem everywhere and the many tribes like the Sakuyes were decimated by the Borans during this period. The Borans subjugated the gabras and wanted to call the Garba or Garbich which meant slaves of which the Gabras pleaded with them and begged to be called Gabras. Many historians believe that the Gabras were splinter group from the Garris although their current historians refute those claims and that of the Borans even though the oral narratives of the two communities are contrary to that claim.The Sakuyes and Gabras were the victims of this colonization while the Garris resisted this and decided to migrate when they could not persevere the daily attacks by the Borans in killing and hunting men and young boys and raping women. 

This is how the kediguuray migration was orchestrated. There was a massive operations planned and executed by the committee of elders and religious leaders under the leadership of king Buul Hussein.The logistics of this exodus were nightmare for this leaders and due their spiritual attachment to their creator a plan was hatched to motivate and psychologically prepare them for this dangerous and treacherous journey. 

The king had special assistance from his saints cum religious leaders who had different faculties as their speciality. Aw Aliow hache had the roles of praying fir the return of the livestock and if any one lost their livestock they won't hesitate to call his names and the help arrives. Aw Abukar Mashar had the power of transforming sands in to grains  and people were secured in terms of what to eat.Aw Abeey Umur Muthoow Muuse job was to cure the sick and the patients were guaranteed quick recovery. With that they started months of movement until they reached their destinations in the areas of Luuq and Buurdhuub in Somalia and that is where they settled and formed a vibrant community.

 

king Buul Hussein was smuggled from the claws of the Borans by a clever scheme. The people informed the borans that the king became very ill and died and they convincingly performed a fake funeral procession and smuggled the king to lead his people throughout the migration.While in kedi (Gedo) throughout 17^th and 18^th century, at Bardheer another intellectual cum religious leader came up and his name was Sheikh Abdullow Isaaq he was a contemporary of my great grand-father sheikh Mohamed Osman who was also the qaadhi and the faqih of the institution and the village. This ulamaas led their people in these hard times as our people became affected with the paganistic activities they copied from the borans. They reintroduced the monotheistic belief and transformed our people in going back to the towhiid while upholding their sufis kind of religious practices. Although there are no proofs to this hypothesis there are no traces of any influences from the teaching of Muhammad bin abdulwahab even though they happen to be in the same time frame.  

Come to 19^th century and this is the time of Garreh sultanate led by Au Gababa. Many of this recent history are documented by the early explorers and British imperialist. The oral narrative of his childhood and his times of herding cattle in the plains of bokola are all re-narrated throughout history. The story was about the visit by the representative that was collecting ziyaara on behalf of the sheriff of Makah. 

The role played by Gababa a young herd’s boy at the fundraising, his selflessness and being compassionate and he donated everything he had to the sheriff. Stories were told over generations how he was rewarded by that act of charity and he became wealthy without any toil. The famous duaa made by the sheriff i.e. Gababa tokk… Gababa lamm… up to Gababa sadeed people translated all to mean his forth coming descendants which were blessed. Then came the time he defied the British over the tax as he felt that his people were over taxed and he opted to shift them to Ethiopia. Some went while others stayed behind and hence we occupied both Kenya and Ethiopia and Gedo province of Somalia. I believe the intellectual capability of Sultaan Gababa is understood by the mere fact he combined the wisdom (hikma) and the ability to be compassionate with his subjects. My grandfather once told me the Garreh community used three criteria when they choose their leader.

One the person should be brave during the times of war, two he has to be wealthy and giving (never stingy) and third and most importantly he has to be very wise especially in times of adjudication (kor). In the twentieth century there were conflict with our neighbours especially Boran and Dogodia. A distant relative grandfather of mine called mzee Hussein was my main source use to narrate to me all this historical facts (may allah grant him janatul firdaus) the day he died I knew that my library is gone. Although I was a good listener I had not made time to record all his knowledge. 

The 18^thand 19^th century Garre nation is articulated by the commercial activities that were rife during that time. Our neighbouring communities’ oral tradition can testify to such times. Our people are known over the years for their eyes for entrepreneurship and among the commodities that bought and sold were cattle, Ghee, hides, coffee and horses supplied by the Borana merchants and some of their Abyssinian counterparts. In return the Garres supplied them with textiles, shoes, different types of clothes men and women, ornaments (elelaan and imu) sea shells and jewelleries. Clothes like Jacfaan (white cloth) normally used as trousers by the Borans and also Andaar and Agoogo were used by their women. 

During this time the boundaries of this two communities is a place known as Dadach waraab which is currently near the town of Elwaq in Somalia. The Garres were believed to be speaking maay and aff garr koofar at this time. The generation of kediguuray who were well versed in their own language mixed with maay, Boran and Somali languages and named as Afaan Garri has passed on. The language is a secondary to the Boran or Oromo language and in this period the community was forced to relearn the language for the commercial purposes and as means of communication with their customers namely the Borans. 

Many conflicts were experienced over the years and wars were fought that resulted many casualties on both sides. Among the practices employed by their rivals were the tactic known as Gaad (hunting) where the men were poached like animals and killed and their body parts used for the paganistic rituals and it also portrayed as signs of bravery to impress their fiancées and concubines. Many wars were fought which was a direct result of this ancient practices. Other wars were fought due to the competition over water and pastures. Towns like El waaqo (waqo’s well), Boru Hache (a borana chief named after the town) were lost by the Borans during this conflict and they were driven towards wajir and Buna.

There were also conflicts with Ormas the current inhabitants of Tana River and Hola of Kenyan coast province. There was relative calm during this time and seldom punctuated by minor skirmishes due to the personal vendetta that might pass from generation to generation.

Religion

From the oral tradition that was passed on from the previous generations, The Garre nation were the strict followers of the Sunni of Shafii school of thought. Their jurisprudence were taught in the Islamic institutions like Bardheere where there was an established Islamic university  that taught religious education and many of the religious scholars are believed to be the students of this institutions. Although some are believed to have gone as far as Harar Islamic institutions to further their studies their work was not very popular since many of our scholars taught or learnt using either Somali (maxa tiri) or Rahanweyn (May) language. 

Among the things that are inherited from this time is the use of the May May alphabets which is taught to the beginners of the Quran. Alif wax maleh, ba hoos ka leh, is all the structure of the phonetics that was meant to understand and to read the alphabets. The next stage is mastering the vowels known as shaqal after this the learner knows how to write the words and finally the course is completed by pronouncing the words and sentences which is also known as hangaadis. Normally the children were taught to start from suratul fatixa and followed by the easy ones i.e. suratu Naas unlike the system in the Arab schools where the students were taught from Baqarah coming down. The main lectures that starts after the Morning Prayer and after noon prayer is known as cashar. While the revision sessions in mid mornings are known as akhtiin. The students of this school are taught by the teacher mainly with the title of Maalim while the monitor or the school prefect is known as kabiir. 

There is a revision session at night of the holy Quran and most of the duksis complete one Juzzu every night and the students are required to recite the verses alternately in turn and the failures are sometimes reprimanded and in severe cases punished with lashes on their backs. 

After completing the entire Quran the student’s parents prepare a feast for the entire students and the neighborhood to celebrate the graduation ceremony of the successful student. An animal is slaughtered to bless the kid and to progress in his or her future endeavors.

The next step for the graduate is to start taking lessons at the institutions. As soon as he completes the Kitaabs at the Halqah he will take the title of hirti. After that he will acquire the name of Maallim if he can teach others with supervision of his sheikh. When he completes all the lessons the he receives what is known as Ijaaza from his sheikh which can be translated as a certificate or a license to conduct the science of teaching and implementing his newly acquired knowledge. After becoming a sheikh one has the sole license to preside over marriage, Funeral and walima celebrations. 

During this time the Garres were believed to be the followers of qaadiriya Sufi order and since most of them are followers of Imam Shafii there was little conflict with regards to the Fig’h or the jurisprudence employed with regards to the rituals that were to be performed. The masajids and xalqaas were celebrated with thikr and hadras and it’s believed that the community was very religious during this period.

 

The Garrehs that settled in Gharri district of kenya and in liban ethiopia interacted with borans by supplying them with the cloth loved by the borans (Abu jadi, andaar, guntiina and agoogo, imu and other ornaments) and in this time the social cohesion facilitated the Garrehs to learn borana language for communication purposes and over the years the amalgamation of the Garreh language (Garreh koofar, Somali and may language mixed with boran is now afaan Garreh.

The Borans traded with Garrehs by supplying coffees and cattle and ghees. During this interaction due to the cultural difference between the Garrehs who are muslims and the Borans who are pagans there were conflict between the two communities and a lot of war was fought over the years and also they were times of peace where many Borans converted to muslims and peaceful coexistence materialized only to be exploited by the colonialist in the form of British or the Amharas. The exodus of the Garreh tribesmen from the gharri district under leadership of Aw Gababa was well documented by the British colonialists’ historians and the reasons being the Garrehs complained of the hefty charges in tax to their animals. 

In conclusion there is a major missing link to our history like the famous phrase lafti duuban danqara, this means there is a huge communication breakdown between the last great grandfather of this generation and the older generation due to something that happened in the past that lead to this breakdown it can be war or famine, as this are the only factors that can make the ancient tribes to migrate from their original homelands.

One thing I know for sure that Garrehs are independent African tribe that originated from either chad or Sudan but the missing link should be established. It is not just a coincidence to have a similarity in name with the African tribe form chad which is : Tuubu (Tuuf ) and Gur’aan( quran). There are similarities in clan with our cousins from Gabra and Rendille which has same names with the Garreh clans like banna and daraawa.

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[i] References : oral narration from my grandfather and others.