Garad ( Harari: ገራድ, , , Oromo: ''Garaada'') is a term used to refer to a clan leader or regional administrator. It was used primarily by Muslims in the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

that were associated with Islamic states, most notably the

Adal Sultanate The Adal Sultanate, or the Adal Empire or the ʿAdal or the Bar Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate, ''Adal ''Sultanate'') () was a medieval Sunni Muslim Empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din ...

Etymology

The origin of the term ''Garad'' is uncertain. According to

Enrico Cerulli Enrico Cerulli (15 February 1898 - 19 September 1988) was an Italian scholar of Somali and Ethiopian studies, a governor and a diplomat. Biography Cerulli was born in Naples, Italy in 1898. He wrote his doctoral thesis at the University of Napl ...

, Garad originates from the era of the

Adal Adal may refer to: *A short form for Germanic names in ''aþala-'' (Old High German ''adal-''), "nobility, pedigree"; see Othalan **Adál Maldonado (1948-2020), Puerto Rican artist **Adal Ramones (born 1969), Mexican television show host **Adal He ...

emirate. Garad denotes a headman within a ''"Gaar"'' (clan). In the Somali language ''Garad'' roughly translates to "chief" or "wise man", as well as "wisdom". Garad also denotes a ''"chief"'' in Harari and Silt'e languages respectively.

History

Several Muslim states and dominions including

Hadiya Sultanate The Hadiya Sultanate (r. ~13th century – 15th century) was a medieval kingdom located in southwestern Ethiopia, south of the Abbay River and west of Shewa. It was ruled by the Hadiya people, who spoke the Cushitic Hadiyya language. The histori ...

Sultanate of Darfur The Sultanate of Darfur was a pre-colonial state in present-day Sudan. It existed from 1603 to October 24, 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr and again from 1898 to 1916, when it was conquered by the British and integr ...

Ganz province Ganz province ( Amharic: ገንዝ), also known as Ganazo or Ganzo was a region surrounding what is now the capital region and city of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Islamic state Originally an Islamic state ruled by a Garad,Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: D-H ...

Harla The Harla, also known as Harala, or Arla, are an extinct ethnic group that once inhabited Djibouti, Ethiopia and northern Somalia. They spoke the now-extinct Harla language, which belonged to either the Cushitic or Semitic branches of the Afroas ...

and Somali Sultanate leaders were known as Garads. Within Somali clans the use of the traditional hereditary title ''"Garad"'' is most widespread among the

Dhulbahante The Dhulbahante ( so, Dhulbahante, ar, دلبةنتئ) is a Somali clan family, part of the Harti clan which itself belongs to the largest Somali clan-family — the Darod. They are the traditional inhabitants of the physiographic Nugaal in its ...

and

Karanle The Karanle is a major Somali, sub clan of Hawiye. The Karanle inhabit Galgaduud, Banadir, Mogadishu, Hiiraan, Shabeellaha Hoose, Lower Juba and Mudug regions in Somalia; the Somali Region of Ethiopia; the region of Oromia surrounding the city of ...

and was also used by the

Habr Awal The Habr Awal, also contemporarily known as the Subeer Awal, and alternately romanized as the Zubeyr Awal ( so, Habar Awal, ar, هبر أول, Full Name: '' Zubeyr ibn Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ash- Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad)'' is a major clan of ...

up until the 1940s. According to tradition the Somali Girhi's founding Garad ''"Aboker"'' lived five centuries ago in

Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...

. Tradition among the Somali

Geledi The Geledi are a Somali clan that live predominantly in the environs of Afgooye city. They are a sub-clan of the Rahanweyn and led the Geledi sultanate during the late 17th to early 20th century. They are divided into two main lineage groups: the ...

clan claim Aw Kalafow, a descendant of Abadir, was the first to use the title ''Garad''. Enrico Cerulli and others state that the Harari titles such as ''Garad'' were embraced by Somali chiefs. In the early seventeenth century

Emirate of Harar The Emirate of Harar was a Muslim kingdom founded in 1647 when the Harari people refused to accept Imām ʿUmardīn Ādan as their ruler and broke away from the Imamate of Aussa to form their own state under `Ali ibn Da`ud. Prior to its invasion ...

, Garad was the title given to tax collectors on behalf of the state. According to Richard Caulk, Garad was a bygone Harari title that was introduced to the Oromo of

Hararghe Hararghe ( am, ሐረርጌ ''Harärge''; Harari language, Harari: ሀረርጌይ ''Harärgeyi'', Oromo language, Oromo: Harargee, so, Xararge) was a provinces of Ethiopia, province of eastern Ethiopia with its capital in Harar. History Hararg ...

whom also began using it. Garads were also commanders of the army called the

Malassay A Malassay ( Harari: መለሳይ ''Mäläsay'') was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Adal Sultanate's household troops. According to Manfred Kropp, Malassay were the Harari armed forces. Etymology Malassay appears to refer t ...

in the Harar Emirate. An eighteen century Harari chronicle states the Harar region went through major upheavals in the late 1700s which led to the destruction of several villages administrated by Garads.

Somali Garad clans

There are many Somali clans suffixed with Garad, in particular subclans of the

, which include: *

Farah Garad The Farah Garad or the Garad Farah ( so, Faarax Garaad, ar, محمد جراد, Full Name:'' ’Farah Shirshore Habarwa Abdullah Muse Dhulbahante, Said Harti, Saleh Abdi Darod, Mohamed Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti'' ) is a Somali clan which i ...

Mohamoud Garad The Mohamoud Garad ( so, Maxamuud Garaad, ar, محمود جراد, Full Name:'' ’Mohamoud Shirshore Habarwa Abdullah Muse Said Saleh Abdi Mohamed Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti'' ) is a Somali clan. Its members form a part of the Dhulba ...

*Guuleed Garad *Ali Garad *Yasin Garad *Abdi Garad

Places

* Garad Wiil-Waal Airport, airport in

Jijiga Jijiga (, am, ጅጅጋ, ''Jijiga'') is the capital city of Somali Region, Ethiopia. It became the capital of the Somali Region in 1995 after it was moved from Gode. Located in the Fafan Zone with 70 km (37 mi) west of the border ...

, Ethiopia *Garado, city in

Wollo Province Wollo (Amharic: ወሎ) was a historical province of northern Ethiopia that overlayed part of the present day Amhara, Afar, and Tigray regions. During the Middle Ages this region was known as Bete Amhara and had Amhara kings. Bete Amhara had ...

Amhara Region The Amhara Region ( am, አማራ ክልል, Åmara Kilil), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Reg ...

derived from Garad. *Garad Erer, hill overlooking

Porc-Epic Cave Porc-Epic Cave (also Porc Epic Cave, Porc-Épic Cave) is an archaeological site located in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Dated back to the Middle Stone Age, the site contains extensive evidence of microlithic tools, bone, and faunal remains. The lithic asse ...

near

Dire Dawa Dire Dawa ( am, ድሬዳዋ, om, Dirree Dhawaa, 3=Place of Remedy; so, Diridhaba, meaning "where Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", ar, ديري داوا,) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Oromia and Somali Re ...

, Ethiopia *Garad, port city in

Puntland Puntland ( so, Puntland, ar, أرض البنط, it, Terra di Punt or ''Paese di Punt''), officially the Puntland State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Puntland ee Soomaaliya, ar, ولاية أرض البنط الصومالية), is a F ...

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 Constituti ...

Notable Garads

Mahfuz Mahfuz (or Mohammed) ( Harari: መሕፉዝ, ar, محفوظ; died July 1517) was a Harari Garad, Emir of Harar and Governor of Zeila in the Adal Sultanate. Life and reign Mahfuz led raids into the provinces of Abyssinia for a number of years. ...

of Adal Sultanate *Dhuh Barar, last leader of the Somali Tolje'lo

Isaaq The Isaaq (also Isaq, Ishaak, Isaac) ( so, Reer Sheekh Isxaaq, ar, بني إسحاق, Banī Isḥāq) is a Somali clan. It is one of the major Somali clans in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory. Per ...

dynasty *Deria Abdalla, 4th chief of the

clan as well as the father of the clan's first Sultan, Abdulrahman Deria *Mohammed of

, father of Empress

Eleni of Ethiopia Eleni ( Ge’ez: እሌኒ, "Helena"; died April 1522) also known as Queen of Zeila was Empress of Ethiopia by marriage to Zara Yaqob (r. 1434–1468), and served as regent between 1507 and 1516 during the minority of emperor Dawit II. She played ...

*Ibrahim, of

*Usman Oda of

, father of Oromo scholar

Bakri Sapalo Sheikh Bakri Sapalo (born Abubakar Garad Usman; November 1895 - 5 April 1980) was an Oromo scholar, poet and religious teacher. He is best known as the inventor of a writing system for the Oromo language. Life Bakri Sapalo was the son of Garad U ...

* Abun Adashe of Adal Sultanate * Dhidhin, first chief of the Somali

Warsangali The Warsangali ( so, Warsangeli, ar, قبيلة ورسنجلي) is a major Somali sub clan, part of the Harti clan which itself belongs to one of the largest Somali clan-families - the Darod. In the Somali language, the name Warsangali means ...

clan *

Abubaker Qecchin Abubaker "the Slim" (Qecchin) also known simply as Qecchin or Katchthcen was a general in the Adal Sultanate under Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. Abubaker's sobriquet ''"Qecchin"'' is derived from the Harari term for ''"thin"''. He was the Garad/emir ...

of Adal Sultanate *Sediso K’albo, last leader of the Gan- Silt'e dynasty *Side, forefather of

Halaba people The Halaba people (alternate spellings Alaba also called K’abeena are an ethnic group inhabiting the central Ethiopian highlands. The Halaba claim to originate from the Arab cleric, Abadir who settled in Harar. In the middle ages, Halaba were pa ...

*Aboker, first chief of Somali Girhi clan * Jama Ali, current chief of the Somali

clan *Hassan Injamo of

Kebena Kebena is a district, also called woreda, in Ethiopia. The district is named after the Kebena people and was part of the former Goro Woreda, which is a part of the Gurage Zone. Kebena is bordered to the south by the Wabe River, which separates thi ...

Aze AZE may refer to: * Alliance for Zero Extinction * AZE notation for isotopes: ^A_Z E where A is the mass number, Z the atomic number, and E the element's chemical symbol. * Azerbaijan using ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code * Azerbaijani language (I ...

of Hadiya *Ādan Ṣadiq of

Imamate of Aussa The Imamate of Aussa also spelled Imamate of Awsa was a medieval Harari people, Harari imamate in present-day eastern Ethiopia with its capital in Asaita. It was carved out of the Sultanate of Harar and the Adal Sultanate. History This polity was ...

, a Somali Issa chief *Abass, continued jihad in Ethiopian territory even after Imam Ahmed Gurey's death * Abdiqani Jama, grand chief of the

clan and one of the signatories of the

Somaliland declaration of independence The Somaliland Declaration of Independence (formally Republic of Somaliland) was proclaimed on 18 May 1991 by Somali Sultans from the Isaaq, Dhulbahante, Issa (clan), Issa, Gadabursi, Warsangali clans and the Somali National Movement.https://oxf ...

References

{{Reflist Horn of Africa Darfur Society of Somalia Adal Sultanate Royal titles