Isaaq migrations
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 Isaaq horsemen of the Habr Je'lo clan, 1898 | |
| Date | 12th-20th century |
|---|---|
| Location | Horn of Africa |
| Participants | Various isaaq subclans |
| Outcome | Isaaq settlement of most of modern day Somaliland, Haud and parts of Yemen and kenya around Lake Naivasha[1] |
The Isaaq clans began migrating from their ancestral homeland in the city of Maydh, eventually settling and dispersing across various regions of the Horn of Africa.[2] These migrations were part of the broader movements of the Somali people around the Horn, which contributed to the establishment of Somali settlements in their present-day territories.[3]
| History of Somaliland |
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 Somaliland portal |
The Isaaq people traditionally claim to have descended from Sheikh Ishaaq bin Ahmed, an Islamic scholar who purportedly traveled to Somaliland in the 12th or 13th century and married two women; one from the local Dir clan. and the other from the neighboring Harari people.[4] He is said to have sired eight sons who are the common ancestors of the clans of the Isaaq clan-family. He remained in Maydh until his death.[5]
Somali genealogical tradition and historical accounts places the origin of the Isaaq tribe in the 11th or 12th, century with the arrival of the Sheikh Ishaaq Bin Ahmed (Sheikh Ishaaq) from Arabia. Muhammad ibn Hassan Al Basri, Who was a near contemporary of Sheikh Ishaaq After his settlement in Maydh, Wrote a book compiling stories and poems about him, Which was referenced by the Hashemite scholar Imam Muhammad ‘Azza Ad Din Al Gherbani in his book “Al-‘Asjad al-manẓūm fī al-tārīkh wa al-‘ulūm. Makhtūṭat sīrat al-Sharīf Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad fī al-Yaman wa al-Ṣūmāl”, Better known as the Gherbani Manuscript in the 19th century. [6][7][8] Sheikh Ishaaq settled in the coastal town of Maydh in modern-day northeastern Somaliland.Hence, Sheikh Ishaaq married two local women in Somaliland, which left him with eight.[4][9]
There are also numerous existing hagiographies in Arabic which describe Sheikh Ishaaq's travels, works and overall life in modern Somaliland, as well as his movements in Arabia before his arrival.[10] Besides historical sources, one of the more recent printed biographies of Sheikh Ishaaq is the Amjaad of Sheikh Husseen bin Ahmed Darwiish al-Isaaqi as-Soomaali, which was printed in Aden in 1955.[11]
Early migrations west
As the Isaaq grew in size and numbers during the 12th century, the clan-family migrated and spread from their core area in Mait (Maydh) and the wider Sanaag region in a southwestward expansion over a wide portion of present-day Somaliland by the 15th and 16th centuries.[12][13][3][14] As the Isaaq expanded the earlier Dir communities of Mait and the wider Sanaag region were driven westwards and to the south towards their present positions.[15] In this general expansion the Isaaq split up into their present component segments, however one fraction of the Habar Yunis clan, the Muse 'Arre, remains behind in Mait as the custodians of the tomb of Sheikh Ishaaq.[15] By the 1300s the Isaaq clans united to defend their inhabited territories and resources during clan conflicts against migrating clans.[16]
The Isaaq also played a prominent role in the Ethiopian-Adal War (1529–1543, referred to as the "Conquest of Abyssinia") in the army of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi,[17] The Habr Magadle division (Ayoub, Garhajis, Habr Awal and Arap) of the Isaaq were mentioned in chronicles of that war written by Shihab Al-Din Ahmad Al-Gizany known as Futuh al-Habasha.[15]
According to I.M Lewis [18]
The Marrehan and the Habr Magadle [Magādi] also play a very prominent role (...) The text refers to two Ahmads's with the nickname 'Left-handed'. One is regularly presented as 'Ahmad Guray, the Somali' (...) identified as Ahmad Guray Xuseyn, chief of the Habr Magadle. Another reference, however, appears to link the Habr Magadle with the Marrehan. The other Ahmad is simply referred to as 'Imam Ahmad' or simply the 'Imam'.This Ahmad is not qualified by the adjective Somali (...) The two Ahmad's have been conflated into one figure, the heroic Ahmed Guray (...)
After the war, the Isaaq clans (along with other tribes like the Daarood) grew in numbers and territory in the northeast, causing them to began to vie with their Oromo neighbours, who were expanding northwards themselves after the Great Oromo Migrations, thus creating a general thrust toward the southwest. The Isaaq, along with Darood subclans pushed westwards into the plains of Jigjiga and further, beyond where they played an important role in the Adal Sultanate's campaigns against Christian Abyssinia.[19] By the 16th to 17th century the movements that followed seem to have established the Isaaqs on coastal Somaliland,[3] while also having taken over much of Somaliland in that time period pushing the Oromo from the area.[20]
Migrations southwards
According to oral tradition, the Isaaqs, who were established in the coastal areas with a kingdom led by the Tol jeclo branch of the wider Isaaq family,[21][22] began regularly fighting with the Darood tribes who lived to the south. The war was long and destructive, with both the Isaaqs and Daroods suffering heavy losses of life.[21]
The Isaaq kingdom and the King Harun dhuh barar was eventually overthrown by a coalition of Isaaq clans led by a military leader named Abdi Eisa.[23] According to tradition, Abdi Eisa successfully led the Isaaq forces in the Battle of Lafaruug, where they defeated the Absame tribes at the town of Lafaruug near Berbera[22]— a region where the Isaaq clan had expanded about a century earlier.[22]
Following his victory, Abdi Eisa was offered the position of Sultan of the Isaaq, but he declined. Instead, he suggested that his underage son, Guled Abdi, be crowned while he ruled as regent until his son came of age. The Isaaq gradually expanded their territory, reaching as far south as Toon and the edges of the Hawd by the beginning of the 19th century. The newly established Isaaq Sultanate subsequently made Toon its capital.[22]
