Rahanweyn

Map of the Somali area with the different clans; the Rahanweyn areas in red, Digil areas in brown

The Rahanweyn ( Maay : Reewin ) or Digil-Mirifle are one of the five major clan families of Somaliland . They live mainly in southwest Somalia in the relatively fertile area between the Jubba and Shabeelle rivers , in the Bay and Bakool administrative regions . The city of Baidoa is considered its center .

They differ from the rest of Somali in several ways. Most of them do not live as nomads, but as settled farmers. Their political structures are more hierarchical than those of the nomadic Somali. They speak the Maay variant of the Somali language , which Somali is the classic counterpart to Maha or Maxaa , which forms the basis of standard Somali; the Digil speak a number of heterogeneous dialects, the unity of which is questionable. In addition, the Rahanweyn have accepted members of other clans and non-Somali into their clan to a greater extent. For these reasons, they are regarded as "fake Somali" or Sab compared to the "real Somali" or Samaal clans of the Hawiye , Darod , Isaaq and Dir .

Clan structure

Subclans of the Rahanweyn are the Mirifle and Digil. Mythologically they are traced back to the two forefathers Mirifle and Digil , who were sons of Mad (Mahamad) Reewin .

The Mirifle themselves are divided into the two subclans Sagaal ("nine") and Siyeed ("eight"); the Sagaal comprise nine clans (including the Hadame) and the Siyeed sixteen (including Harin, Haraw, Eemid, Leysan and Elay). Seven clans belong to the Digil (including Geledi, Tunni, Jiiddu , Garre and Dabarre) Mohamed Haji Mukhtar: The Plight of the Agro-Pastoral Society of Somalia , in: Review of African Political Economy , 1996 The Rahaweyn have to a much greater extent than the nomadic Somali members of other clans as well as non-Somali were taken in by assimilating and / or formally "adopting" them. In many Rahanweyn clans, the "original" clan members are only a small minority. This fact contributes to the fact that the nomadic clans - who attach great importance to their "pure" mythological lineages, which they trace back to Arab forefathers - face each other view the Rahanweyn as superior.

Way of life

The Rahanweyn in Bay live mostly in villages with 100 to 1000 inhabitants, which are dug pools of water as a source. Larger villages have numerous pools as well as Koran schools, mosques and other facilities. Their livelihood is dry cultivation, the most important crop is sorghum . In addition, most Rahanweyn farmers also keep cattle ( agropastoralism ), according to a study by the FAO from 1977 on average five camels, three cattle and four sheep or goats. The Garre, who belong to the Digil, and the Gaalje'el, who belong to the Hawiye, migrate through the region as nomads.

language

The language of the Rahanweyn is the Af-Maay variant of Somali , which differs from the standard northern Somali language (Af-Maxaa).

The spelling "Rahanweyn" goes back to the standard Somali; today it is increasingly being replaced by the spelling "Reewin", which corresponds more closely to its own pronunciation. The name was previously based on the standard Somali on weyn ("large") and rahan ("millstone") as a reference to their agricultural activity, alternatively rahan was also interpreted as "crowd", which indicates the mixing with other Somali Intended to suggest clans and non-Somali. A more recent theory based on the Maay says that ree comes from reer for "family" and that win / wiin / weyn means "old".

history

The forerunners of the Somali immigrated from the southern Ethiopian highlands to their present area. According to certain ethno-linguistic evidence, the Rahanweyn may have been the earliest Somali group, from which the other groups later separated.

During the colonial era, the Hizbia Dighil Mirifle (HDM, Digil Mirifle Party) was founded in 1947 as a political organization of the Rahanweyn. It was later renamed Hizbia Dastur Mustaqil al-Sumal (HDMS, Somali Independent Constitutional Party). Their main demands were a census to show the real numerical strength of the clans, the introduction of a constitution and a decentralized political system. This was to prevent the Rahanweyn from being dominated by the other clans after Somalia's approaching independence. The Somali Youth League as the main party did not respond to these demands. Another reason why a census by clan was never carried out was that it might have come to the conclusion that the Rahanweyn and not the Darod were the largest clan. After Somalia gained independence in 1960, the Rahanweyn felt increasingly marginalized.

In the Somali civil war from 1991 the Habar-Gedir- Hawiye under Mohammed Farah Aidid , the Somali Patriotic Movement of the Ogadeni-Darod and the Marehan-Darod under Siad Hersi Morgan fought for the territory of the Rahanweyn and in particular for control over their land. Along with the Somali Bantu , the Rahanweyn have been hardest hit by looting, violent land expropriation and evictions by other clans. This led to famine in their area from 1991-1993 , in which up to 500,000 people died. Baidoa became known as the "City of Death" during this time. Relief supplies for the hungry were also looted by members of other clans.

This traumatic experience led to a stronger political unification among the Rahanweyn. From 1995, with the support of neighboring Ethiopia, they were able to improve their military situation and found the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA). The RRA tried to establish its own state in Southwest Somalia in 2004 , but this failed because numerous different clans and warring factions are present in the region. Various warring factions are active in the area to this day.

Well-known Rahanweyn are the RRA leader Mohammed Nur Shatigadud , the Islamist Mukhtar Robow and the professors and authors Mohamed Haji Mukhtar and Abdi Kusow .

literature

Mohamed Haji Mukhtar : The Plight of the Agro-Pastoral Society of Somalia. In: Review of African Political Economy. 1996
Mohamed Haji Mukhtar: Historical Dictionary of Somalia (New Edition). Scarecrow Press 2003, ISBN 978-0-8108-4344-8
Abdi Kusow: The Somali Origin: Myth or Reality. In: Ali Jimale Ahmed (Ed.): The Invention of Somalia. Red Sea Press 1995, ISBN 0-932415-99-7

Individual evidence

↑ Ioan M. Lewis: Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History and Society , 2008, ISBN 978-1-85065-898-6 (p. 4)
↑ Ioan M. Lewis: Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History and Society , 2008, ISBN 978-1-85065-898-6 (pp. 59–62)
^ ^A ^b Mohamed Haji Mukhtar: The Plight of the Agro-Pastoral Society of Somalia. In: Review of African Political Economy , 1996
↑ Land dispossession is the main driving force behind conflict in Somalia (2004). Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), archived from the original on September 27, 2007 ; accessed on March 9, 2019 (English).
↑ Ken Menkhaus: Bantu ethnic identities in Somalia. In: Annales d'Ethiopie, No. 19. 2003, pp. 323–339 , accessed on March 9, 2019 (English).

[1] Ioan M. Lewis: Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History and Society , 2008, ISBN 978-1-85065-898-6 (p. 4)

[2] Ioan M. Lewis: Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History and Society , 2008, ISBN 978-1-85065-898-6 (pp. 59–62)

[Plight-3] A ^b Mohamed Haji Mukhtar: The Plight of the Agro-Pastoral Society of Somalia. In: Review of African Political Economy , 1996

[4] Land dispossession is the main driving force behind conflict in Somalia (2004). Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), archived from the original on September 27, 2007 ; accessed on March 9, 2019 (English).

[MENKHAUS-5] Ken Menkhaus: Bantu ethnic identities in Somalia. In: Annales d'Ethiopie, No. 19. 2003, pp. 323–339 , accessed on March 9, 2019 (English).