Bida ( Chimini: Bidda,

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Soma ...

: Biida) or Bido are a clan confederacy based in

Baraawe Barawa ( so, Baraawe, Maay: ''Barawy'', ar, ﺑﺮﺍﻭة ''Barāwa''), also known as Barawe and Brava, is the capital of the South West State of Somalia.Pelizzari, Elisa. "Guerre civile et question de genre en Somalie. Les événements et le ...

South West State The South-West State of Somalia ( so, Goboleedka Koonfur Galbeed ee Soomaaliya, Maay Maay: ''Koofur Orsi''), is a Federal Member State in southwestern Somalia. It was founded by Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud, leader of the Somalia RRA on 1 Ap ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

and make up one of the groups part of the "todobo Tol" (roughly translates to 7 clans) also known as Bravanese people. Member clans of this clan umbrella can also be found in other confederacies further up the coast in

Marka Marka may refer to: Places * Marka (river), Lower Saxony, Germany * Marka, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province * Marka, Malawi a town in Nsanje District * Marka district, Jordan * Marka refugee camp, a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan * ...

and

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...

Overview

Biida which translates to "settled" in Chimini is a clan confederacy now made up of 10 clans, where each clan came in different historical periods and joined over the course of the last millennia. The original members of this confederacies belonged to the Wa'ili, Amwawi, Jabri, Qahtani and other tribes from mainly southern Arabia. These Arabic names can still be found on the nisbas of the local families however in the course of times these names have changed locally, hence Wa'ili are called Ra Waali, Amwawi are called Ra Ma'limu, Jabri are called Gabra/Gabro and the Qahtani are called Reer Faqi. Any new arrivals from Arabia could potentially be included under this confederacy/umbrella after they had settled in

for some time and they gave official allegiance to the confederation.

Geography

Members of the Biida confederacy can be found all over southern

's major cities such as

Afgooye Afgooye ( so, Afgooye, ar, أفجويى, it, Afgoi) is a town in the southwestern Somalia Lower Shebelle (Shabellaha Hoose) region of Somalia. It is the center of the Afgooye District. Afgooye is the third largest city of Southwest State. Afgo ...

, Jilib, Buale,

Baidoa Baidoa (, Somali: f-Maxaa: Baydhabo, Maay: ''Baydhowy)'' is the largest city of the South West State of Somalia. Between 2002 and 2014, Baidoa was the capital of the South West State of Somalia">South West State. In 2014, the capital was change ...

, Bardheere and Diinsoor. Some of the member clans under the Biida umbrella can also be found in other confederacy of clans further up the coast in

and

, such as the reer Faqi's and the Shanshiyo's. Members of the Biidah umbrella clans can also be found in both

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, especially in coastal settlements such as

Lamu Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island. ...

Malindi Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Sabaki River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi was 119,859 as of the 2019 census. It is the largest urban cen ...

and

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

(most had moved to these areas after the war).

Clan Tree

* Biido ** Ra Waali ** Ra Ma'limu ** Gabro ** Ra Mashaanga ** Reer Faqi **Ra Shaqali (Ra Baqtiile, Ra Duressa) ** Cabdi Shuqaale ** Ra Bakari (Ra Nurshe, Ra Raabe, Ra Banawari) ** Ba Sadiq ** Raa Mkaawu ** Zimarka **Ra Mgumi

Notable people

Traditional elders and religious leaders

* ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Al-Amawī Al-Barawi * Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Qaḥṭānī Al-Wa'ili Al-Barawi *Qasim Muḥyī al-Dīn Al-Wa'ili Al-Barawi

Politics

* Jeilani Sheikh Bin Sheikh * Ahmed Ada Munie * Mohamed Jeilani Sheikh * Ali Bobo Faqi * Bur’i Hamza * Maryam Qasim * Hamza Said Hamza * Intellectuals and Professionals ** Dr Ali Mungana Maye, a senior urology surgeon, who was one of the few specialists before the start of civil war. ** Dr Maye Abu Omar, University Professor and international consultant in Health. Former senior civil servant at the Ministry of Health prior to civil war ** Dr Abubakar Mohamed Buho, was specialist of neuro-psychiatry. The only one on Somalia until the beginning of civil

References

{{reflist Ethnic groups in Somalia