Issa (clan)

The Issa (also Eesah, Esa, Aysa) ( so, Ciise, '', ar, عيسى)'' is a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Dir clan family.'

Overview

As a Dir sub-clan, the Issa have immediate lineal ties with the Gadabuursi, the Surre (Abdalle and Qubeys), the Biimaal (who the Gaadsen also belong to), the Bajimal, the Bursuk, the Madigan Dir, the Gurgura, the Garre (the Quranyow sub-clan to be precise as they claim descent from Dir), Gurre, Gariire, other Dir sub-clans and they have lineal ties with the Hawiye (Irir), Hawadle, Ajuran, Degoodi, Gaalje'el clan groups, who share the same ancestor Samaale.The Quranyo section of the Garre claim descent from Dirr, who are born of the Irrir Samal. UNDP Paper in Kenya http://www.undp.org/content/dam/kenya/docs/Amani%20Papers/AP_Volume1_n2_May2010.pdf

For the treaty between the Issa and colonial powers, see "treaties".

History

The Issa clan has produced numerous noble Somali men and women over the centuries, consisted of a King (Ugaas) and including many Sultans. Traditionally, the Northern Dir (Issa and Gadabuursi) men ruled these settlement pockets until the European colonial powers changed the political dynamics of Djibouti, Somaliland and Ethiopia during the late 19th century.

The name of Dire Dawa means were the "Dir Hit" Meeshii Dir Dhabah in reference to 14th century battles between the Sultanate of Ifat and Oromo people. In the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935/36, Issa fought on the Italian side, in return benefited from weapons and military training and lucrative marketing opportunities for their cattle. In the second half of the twentieth century, Somalia supplied additional weapons to the Issa, which it upgraded as part of the West Somalia Liberation Front.

The Aysha massacre was a massacre of ethnic Issa Somalis by Ethiopian army on 13 August 1960 in Aysha, Ethiopia. The Ethiopian troops had descended on the area to reportedly help defuse clan-related conflict. However, according to eye-witness testimony, that Somali men were then taken to a different location and then executed by Ethiopian soldiers. Among the latter, those who fled to Dikhil and Ali Sabieh in Djibouti. The drought and hunger crisis of 1972-1973/74 intensified the conflicts. The Ethiopian army intervened against the Issa and in 1971/72 killed hundreds and seized nearly 200,000 cattle. After the defeat of the Western Somali Liberation Front, the Issa Division remained under the name Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front. They continued to receive support from Somalia and joined the EPRDF. In 1987 the autonomous region of Dire Dawa was created for the Issa (which had previously belonged to the province of Xararge) as part of a new administrative division of Ethiopia. Since the EPRDF took over in 1991, the Issa areas in Ethiopia were part of the ethnic definition of the Somali Region.

In Djibouti, which was colonized by France under the name of the French Coast of Somalis, (up until 1967, then to the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas), there were also tensions between Issa and Afar, as the Issa and other Somalis natives of Djibouti sought to connect with Somalia independent since 1960. Most Afar preferred the fate of France. Mahamoud Harbi was a major leader of the independence movement but was killed on 29 September 1960 and his comrades Djama Mahamoud Boreh and Mohamed Gahanlo disappeared on a flight from Geneva to Cairo. Officially, they were killed in a plane crash, but a possible role of the organization de l'armée secrète is speculated. In 1977 Djibouti gained its independence, but did not unite with Somalia. During the Ogaden War, influential Issa politicians envisioned a Greater Djibouti or "Issa-land", where Djibouti's borders would extend from the Red Sea to Dire Dawa. That dream however was dashed towards the end of the war as Somali forces were routed from Ethiopia. Under Hassan Gouled Aptidon, Djibouti developed into the one-party state of the Rassemblement Populaire pour le Progrès (RPP) In which the interests of the Afar minority were little considered. In 1991–1994, there was therefore a civil war in Djibouti between the Issa-dominated government and the Afar rebels of the FRUD. Finally, other opposition parties were admitted and Afar was involved in the government, while Issa still dominated political life. In 1999 Ismail Omar Guelleh, a nephew of Hassan Gouled Aptidon, succeeded Djibouti as his successor.

In the Awdal region of Somaliland there were battles with the Gadabuursi, another Dir subclans. The conflict drove some of the Issa to escape to Ethiopia in the late 1990s. A refugee camp was opened at Degago/Ayisha. A second wave of Issa refugees left the coastal town of Zeila in 1991 after fighting with the SNM of the Isaaq and Gadabuursi. The Issa organization United Somali Front had previously tried to connect Zeila to Djibouti. In the same year, the north-west of Somaliland, including Awdal under the leadership of the SNM as Somaliland, a country which has as of 2019 not been recognized by any country. In the lower house of the Somaliland Parliament (House of Representatives), six out of 82 were members of Issa in 2005. Since the 2005 elections, only one Issa (as a member of the government division UDUB ) has been represented. This decline is mainly explained by the fact that the Issa in Awdal instead of to Somaliland are increasingly oriented towards the neighboring Djibouti.

Distribution

The Issa primarily live in Ethiopia largely where they reach the Oromia and Afar regions and make a large chunk of the Chartered city of Dire Dawa. They also inhabit Djibouti, where they make up more than half of the population, thirdly they inhabit Awdal, Somaliland too. The Issa are the largest clan by population within the Djibouti. Also the Issa is the second largest sub-clan within the borders of the Somali Region of Ethiopia based on the Ethiopian population census 2008.

The immediate neighbor to the Issa to the west are the Afar (or Danakil)
with whom the Issa used to frequently fight. I. M. Lewis used to refer to it as "a of an almost
constant state of enmity between the 'Ise and the 'Afar" , To their east the 'Ise are in contact with the Somali Gadabursi
to whom they feel themselves akin and share same descent and culture. To the South the Gurgura, Hawiye and Oromo.

Lineage

The Issa traditionally traces its connexions through Dir, his actual grave lies between Rugay and Maydh in eastern Somaliland. Sheikh Issa tomb most likely pre-date the local arrival of Islam, which would mean their construction took place in the 13th century or earlier.

The traditional Ugaas (King) comes from the smallest Issa clan, Wardiiq and rules from his settlement Waruf located about 180 km south of Djibouti, west of the Harrar road. One of their Ugaas's was Ugaas Hassan Xirsi Ugaas.

The Issa belong to the T-M184 haplogroup and the TMRCA is estimated to be 2100–2200 years or 150 BCE.

Clan tree

There is no clear agreement on the clan and sub-clan structures and many lineages are omitted. The following listing is taken from the World Bank's ''Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics'' from 2005 and the United Kingdom's Home Office publication, ''Somalia Assessment 2001''.Worldbank,
Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics
', January 2005, Appendix 2, Lineage Charts, p.55 Figure A-1Country Information and Policy Unit, Home Office, Great Britain, Somalia Assessment 2001, Annex B: Somali Clan Structure
, p. 43

Based on the Notes on the social organisation of the 'Ise Somal. The Isse is divided into the following branches.

*Issa
**Ēlēye' (Musse & Mamasan)
** Hawlagadee(IDLE iyo YOUSSOUF
**Hōlle (Mahadle & Saaib)
**Hōrrōne (Habar Walaal iyo Geele walaal)
**Ūrweyne(Cabdelle iyo Siciid)
**Wardīq (Wakhtishiil iyo Rumawaaq)

Notable Issa people

* Mahmoud Harbi: Vice-president of the Government Council of French Somaliland.
* Hassan Gouled Aptidon: 1916–2006, first President of Djibouti from 1977 to 1999.
* Ismaïl Omar Guelleh: President of Djibouti as of 1999.
*Lula Ali Ismaïl: Djiboutian-Canadian film director
* Abdo Hamargod: Musician
*Daher Ahmed Farah: Djiboutian politician
*Abdourahman Waberi: Novelist
* Musa Shirwa, first representative of Lughaya for Garad Ali's USP party
* Ahmed-Idriss Moussa:Djiboutian politician
*Nima Djama: Musician
* Aicha Bogoreh: First lady of Djibouti
* Ahmed Boulaleh Barreh: Djiboutian politician
* Ahmed Salah: Djiboutian athlete
* Idriss Arnaoud Ali: Djiboutian politician
*Xabiiba Cabdilaahi: Musician
*Omar Farah Iltireh: Djiboutian politician
*Aden Robleh Awaleh: President of the National Democratic Party.
* Hawa Ahmed Youssouf: Djiboutian politician
*Mohamed Ali Fourchette: Musician
* Roble Olhaye: Permanent representative to the United Nations for the Republic of Djibouti.
* Kadra Ahmed Hassan: Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization for the Republic of Djibouti.
* Yacin Bouh: Djiboutian politician.
*Hussein Ahmed Salah: Djiboutian marathon runner.
* Moumin Bahdon: Djiboutian politician.
*Aïcha Mohamed Robleh">Moumin_Bahdon_Farah.html" ;"title="Ahmad ibn Ibrahim
*Moumin Bahdon Farah">Moumin Bahdon: Djiboutian politician.
*Aïcha Mohamed Robleh: Writer
*Jamal Abdi Dirieh: Athlete
*Fadumo Ahmed Dhimbiil: Musician
*Abdi Waiss Mouhyadin: Athlete
*Ahmed Daher: Football
*Aden Farah Samatar: Musician
*Youssouf Hiss Bachir: Athlete
*Mohamed Youssef (sailor), Mohamed Youssef: Sailor
*Ahmed Goumane-Roble: Politician
*Djama Robleh: Athlete
* Roda Ali Wais: Athlete
*Mohamed Ali Fourchette: Musician
*Mouna-Hodan Ahmed: Novelist
*Hoche Yaya Aden: Athlete
* Moumina Houssein Darar: Djiboutian Anti-Terrorism police investigator.
* Aden Farah: Speaker of House of Federation - Ethiopia
* Choukri Djibah: Politician and Women's equality activist.
Ahmed Bouh
Dire Dawa mayor from 2019 up to 2021.
* Ali kalageye: An issa famous warrior.

See also

*Issa (name)
* Dir
*Gadabuursi
* Surre
* Djibouti
* Zeila

Notes

References

*

{{Authority control

Somali clans
Somali clans in Ethiopia