Isaaq

The Isaaq is a major Somali clan. It is one of the largest Somali clan families in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory.
The Isaaq people claim in a traditional legend 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. 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.

Overview

Somali genealogical tradition places the origin of the Isaaq tribe in the 12th or 13th century with the alleged arrival of the Sheikh Ishaaq Bin Ahmed from Arabia. According to oral lore, 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. Despite these traditions, scholars have noted their clear Cushitic ethnic and linguistic origins.
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. 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.
Sheikh Ishaaq's tomb is in Maydh, and is the scene of frequent pilgrimages. Sheikh Ishaaq's mawlid is also celebrated every Thursday with a public reading of his manaaqib. His Siyaara or pilgrimage is performed annually both within Somaliland and in the diaspora particularly in the Middle East among Isaaq expatriates.
The dialect of the Somali language that the Isaaq speak has the highest prestige of any other Somali dialect.

Distribution

The Isaaq are estimated to number 3-4 million according to a 2015 estimate, and roughly comprise around 22% of all Somalis.
The Isaaq have a very wide and densely populated traditional territory and make up 80% of Somaliland's population, and live in all of its six regions. The Isaaq have large settlements in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, mainly on the eastern side of Somali Region also known as the Hawd and formerly Reserve Area which is mainly inhabited by the Isaaq residents. A subclan of the Habr Yunis, the Damal Muse, also inhabit the Mudug region of Somalia. The Habarnoosa, a clan of the Hadiya people in the Hadiya Zone claim descent from the Habr Yunis subclan of Isaaq. The Isaaqs also have large settlements in Naivasha, Kenya, where the Ishaakia make up a large percentage of the Kenyan population, and in Djibouti, where the Isaaq account for 20% of Djibouti's population.
The Isaaq tribe are the largest group in Somaliland. The populations of five largest cities in Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burao, Berbera, Erigavo and Gabiley – are all predominantly Isaaq and historically native to Zeila. They exclusively dominate the Marodi Jeh region, and the Togdheer region, and form a majority of the population inhabiting the western and central areas of Sanaag region, including the regional capital Erigavo. The Isaaq also have a large presence in the western and northern parts of Sool region as well, with Habr Je'lo sub-clan of Isaaq living in the Aynabo district whilst the Habr Yunis subclan of Garhajis lives in the eastern part of Xudun district and the very western part of Las Anod district. They also live in the northeast of the Awdal region, with Saad Muse sub-clan being centered around Lughaya and its environs. The Arap live Somalia Bakool Rabdhure District the live also Fafan Zone and Baligubadle.
The Isaaq also has a sizable diaspora around the world, mainly residing in Western Europe, the Middle East, North America, and several other African countries. The Isaaq were among the first Somalis to arrive in the United Kingdom in the 1880s, and have since then formed large communities across the country, especially in Cardiff, Sheffield, Bristol and eastern London boroughs like Tower Hamlets and Newham. In Canada the Isaaq form large communities in the North York and Scarborough districts of Toronto.

History

Medieval

As the Isaaq grew in size and numbers during the 12th century, the clan-family migrated and spread from their core area in Mait and the wider Sanaag region in a southwestward expansion over a wide portion of present-day Somaliland by the 15th and 16th centuries. By the 1300s the Isaaq clans united to defend their inhabited territories and resources during clan conflicts against migrating clans.
The Isaaq played a prominent role in the Ethiopian-Adal War in the army of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, The Habr Magadle division of the Isaaq were mentioned in chronicles of that war written by Shihab Al-Din Ahmad Al-Gizany known as Futuh al-Habasha.
File:Isaaq Chiefs Hargeisa.jpg|left|thumb|Habr Awal and Habr Garhajis chiefs photographed in Hargeisa, Somaliland
I. M. Lewis states:

The Marrehan and the Habr Magadle 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

Some descendants of the Habr Yunis knights who participated in the conquest still inhabit west of Harar near Hirna. Ulrich Braukämper in A History of the Hadiyya in Southern ''Ethiopia'' states :
The troops that were recruited from the eastern Horn of Africa for the conquest such as Somali soldiers, sometimes remained in the newly conquered western territories, like Hadiya, Sharkha, and Bale. The legacy of these people from the Ogaden remained in Arsi territory, identifiable by their ethnic origins, such as the Habr Yonis and Garjeeda clans. The Habr Yonis, originated from Hirna in the Chercher region, migrated westward during Nur's reign and settled east of Lake Zway, in areas suitable for livestock breeding whilst the Gajeeda clan spread among the Ittuu and Arsi. The Habarnosa claim descent from the Habr Yonis. Another troop of Nur's army reached the Gurage Mountains, where the descendants of these troops retained the name Barbare, believed to be derived from the Somali port of Berbera. This information was affirmed by the Barbare people from the Gurage Zone.
Berbera, along with Zeila, were the two most important ports situated inside the Adal Sultanate, and they provided vital political and commercial links with the wider Islamic World:

To Adea belongs a very good Port, call’d Barraboa, whoſe chief City is Arat, obeys a King, who is an enemy to the Abiſſines. Barraboa and Zeila are places of great Trade, by reaſon of the conveniency of their Ports, towards the entry into the Red-Sea.

To Adel belongs a very good port, called Barbara, whose chief city is Harar, obeys a King, who is an enemy to the Abyssinians. Barbara and Zeila are places of great trade, by reason of the conveniency of their ports, towards the entry into the Red Sea.

Early modern

Long after the collapse of the Adal Sultanate, the Isaaq established successor states, the Isaaq Sultanate and the Habr Yunis Sultanate. These two Sultanates possessed some of the organs and trappings of a traditional integrated state: a functioning bureaucracy, regular taxation in the form of livestock, as well as an army. These sultanates also maintained written records of their activities, which still exist. The Isaaq Sultanate ruled parts of the Horn of Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries and spanned the territories of the Isaaq clan in modern-day Somaliland and the Haud region in Somali Galbeed. The sultanate was governed by the Rer Guled branch of the Eidagale clan and is considered the pre-colonial predecessor to the modern Republic of Somaliland.
The modern Guled Dynasty of the Isaaq Sultanate was established in the middle of the 18th century by Sultan Guled of the Eidagale line of the Garhajis clan. His coronation took place after the victorious battle of Lafaruug in which his father, a religious mullah Abdi Eisa successfully led the Isaaq in battle and defeated the Absame tribes near Berbera where a century earlier the Isaaq clan expanded into. After witnessing his leadership and courage, the Isaaq chiefs recognized his father Abdi who refused the position instead relegating the title to his underage son Guled while the father acted as the regent till the son come of age. Guled was crowned the as the first Sultan of the Isaaq clan in July 1750. Sultan Guled thus ruled the Isaaq up until his death in 1839, where he was succeeded by his eldest son Farah full brother of Yuusuf and Du'ale, all from Guled's fourth wife Ambaro Me'ad Gadid.

Anglo-Ishaaq conflicts

From 1825 to 1884, the Isaaq and British Empire had numerous conflicts, battles, and skirmishes, known as the Anglo-Isaaq conflicts. The first of these conflicts occurred in 1825, when a British ship named the Mary Anne was attacked, sacked, and plundered by Isaaq forces in the port city of Berbera. The attack led to a British blockade of the city and subsequent negotiations with the Sultanate. Further incidents occurred in the 1850s, notably with the attack on British exploring expeditions and the Blockade of Berbera
These dangers and the costs put off new British expeditions in the region for a while.
By the early 1880s, the Isaaq Sultanate had been reduced to the Ciidangale confederation with only the Eidagale, and Ishaaq Arreh subclan of the Habr Yunis remaining. In 1884–1886 the British signed treaties with the coastal sub-clans and had not yet penetrated the interior in any significant way. Sultan Deria Hassan remained de facto master of Hargeisa and its environs.