Ajuran
Ajuuraan, أجران
Regions with significant populations
 Somalian/a
 Kenya182,276 [1]
 Ethiopian/a
Languages
Somali and Swahili
Religion
Islam (Sunni)
Related ethnic groups
Dir, other Samaale groups.

The Ajuran (Somali: Ajuuraan, Beesha Ajuuraan, Morshe, Arabic: أجران) is a Somali clan, part of the Jambelle clan which itself belongs to the largest Somali clan-family — the Hawiye. Ajuran members largely inhabit Kenya as well as southern east Ethiopia; considerable numbers are also found in southern Somalia.[2][3] Some Ajuran members settled in Mogadishu.

Overview

The Ajuran clan's origins are found in the Ajuran Sultanate, a Somali Muslim sultanate that ruled over large parts of the Horn of Africa in the Middle Ages.[4][5][6] Today they largely live in Kenya, the North Eastern Province and the Somali region of Ethiopia, but also in Somalia. The Ajuran primarily speak the Somali language.[7]

The Ajuran are said to be part of the Jambelle Hawiye[8][9][10] but became displaced from modern Hawiye territories in the late 17th to early 18th centuries due to historical conflict particularly in South Central Somalia.[11][12][13][14] Lee Cassanelli in his 1982 book "The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900" often refers to the Ajuran as former leaders of a Hawiye clan dynasty.[15]

History

Antiquity

Many traditions link the Ajuran with a people known to the Somalis as Madanle (Maantiiinle. Madinle, etc.) who were celebrated well-diggers in southern Somalia and northeastern Kenya.[16]

Ajuran Empire

The Ajuran clan established the Garen Dynasty that ruled both Mogadishu Sultanate and Ajuran Sultanate during the Middle Ages.

Early Modern Period

During the early modern period, the Garen Dynasty survived the collapse of the Ajuran Sultanate and in the 19th century under Sultan Olol Dinle he established and revived the Ajuran Sultanate once again. He had carved a new sultanate out of the upper reaches of the Webi Shabelle, centered at Kelafo, the traditional capital at the turn of the 20th century.

Language

The Ajuran in Somalia normally speak standard Somali while those in the riverside communities of Hirshabelle speak Maay Maay. For the Ajuran of Kenya, the linguistic case is more complex. The Wallemugge section are very often bilingual in Somali and Borana to an extent which makes it difficult to assess, without very elaborate investigation, which is their dominant language.[17][18] However most sources state that Somali is the overwhelmingly dominant language in the North Eastern Province, so Borana knowledge is more numerous among Ajuran who live in Moyale where the language is prevalent. Borana is mainly spoken by the wallemugge subclan which intermixed with the local Borana during the migration into North Eastern Kenya.

Clan Tree

This Clan Tree is based on "Identities on the Move: Clanship and Pastoralism in Northern Kenya" by Gunther Schlee.[19]

-Samaale

References

  1. ^ "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of Population by Socio-Economic Characteristics" (PDF). Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  2. ^ Mohamed Haji Mukhtar (25 February 2003). Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Scarecrow Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-8108-6604-1.
  3. ^ Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard). 1984-03-20.
  4. ^ Luling, Virginia (2002). Somali Sultanate: the Geledi city-state over 150 years. Transaction Publishers. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-874209-98-0.
  5. ^ Luc Cambrézy, Populations réfugiées: de l'exil au retour, p.316
  6. ^ Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji (1989). "The Emergence and Role of Political Parties in the Inter-River Region of Somalia from 1947–1960". Ufahamu. 17 (2): 98. doi:10.5070/F7172016882.
  7. ^ Schlee, Günther; Watson, Elizabeth E. (2009-01-01). Changing Identifications and Alliances in North-East Africa. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781845456030.
  8. ^ Abbink, Jon (1999). The Total Somali clan Geneaology. p. 1.
  9. ^ Geographica Italiana, Società (1892). Bollettino della Società geografica italiana.
  10. ^ Liiqliiqato, Maxamed (1986). Taariikhda Soomaaliya dalkii filka weynaa ee punt. p. 18.
  11. ^ Abbink, Jon (1999). The Total Somali clan Geneaology. p. 1.
  12. ^ Brelvi, Mahmud (1964). Islam in Africa. p. 189.
  13. ^ Nelson, Harold (1982). Somalia a country study. p. 11.
  14. ^ Foreign Affairs, Ministry of (1967). Somali Kenya relations in True Perspective. p. 15.
  15. ^ de recherche en afrique, institut francais (1993). IFRA Nairobi relations. p. 25.
  16. ^ Schlee, Günther (2018-09-03). Identities on the Move. doi:10.4324/9780429444050. ISBN 9780429444050. S2CID 128552150.
  17. ^ B.W, ANDRZEJEWSKI (1974). Note of the Linguistic Situation of the Somali and Galla in Kenya.
  18. ^ Islam and Ethnicity in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia, Pax Boranica G.H.Schlee
  19. ^ Schlee, Günther; Watson, Elizabeth E. (2009-01-01). Changing Identifications and Alliances in North-East Africa. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781845456030.

Sources

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