The Dhulbahante (, ) 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 topographic sense, and its pre-independence administrative sense, which included Doollo. The clan's progenitor is buried at Badweyn.
The Ali Gheri clan were the first tribe to adopt the Dervish (Daraawiish) identity. Colonial administrator Douglas Jardine, stated the following about Dervish demographics:
The supreme Garad of the Dhulbahante is currently Garad Jama Garad Ali.
Overview
The extended formal name of Dhulbahante, the clan's forefather was Said Saleh Abdi Mohamed Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti whose resting place is Badweyn. According to Somali tradition, his mother hailed from the Arap clan of the Isaaq clan-family. This maternal connection has enticed a mutual affinity between the two clans.
The primary homeland of the clan straddles the Haud region and the Nugaal Valley, hence segments of the clan who settle in either plateau are colloquially referred to as the Reer Hawd and Reer Nugaaled. Currently, the clan has 13 active Garads. The most senior Garaad of these traditional leaders is Garad Jama Garad Ali who succeeded his uncle Garad Abdiqani Garad Jama. The use of the traditional hereditary title of Garad (which is most widespread among the Dhulbahante), was first inaugurated by the great ancestor Garad Shirshore who previously served as a Ugaas.
The clan boasts a history of anti-colonial resistance. In a bloody war against the British Empire the Dhulbahante along with several other clans propelled the Dervish movement to defeat the empire in a series of military expeditions. The rebellion caused the death of one-third (or 200,000) of the population of the Somaliland protectorate, most severely effecting the Dhulbahante clan with whom there was no treaty of protection. John Drysdale and Ioan M. Lewis, who had conducted research in British Somaliland in the 1950s, noted that there was not that much of an attachment of the clan to Dervish history at that time. Nevertheless, to honor the Dervish freedom fighters, the name Daraawiish is now given to almost all regional paramilitaries in Somalia.
Distribution
In Somaliland, the Dhulbahante almost exclusively inhabit the Sool region. Michael Walls on the Dhulbahante and Sool says: "The residents of Sool overwhelmingly hail from a single clan grouping in the form of the Dhulbahante [...]. Sool boasts a degree of kinship homogeneity that is rare even in the Somali Horn".
The clan inhabits Taleh, most of Hudun and most of Las Anod districts, in Sool, Sanaag Toghdeer regions. In a survey conducted in 2011 of Las Anod District 92.5% of the respondents identified as Dhulbahante whilst 2.5%, 1.5% and 1.3% identified as Hawiye, Bantu and Isaaq respectively. In the Sanaag region the clan is only present in the Erigavo district along with the Habr Yonis and Habr Je'lo clans, whilst well represented in the regional capital of Erigavo. Similarly in Togdheer, the clan solely lives in the district of Buuhoodle. The district of Buuhoodle was made a region by the state of Puntland and its name was changed to Cayn in 2004. Hence, the popular abbreviation SSC which denotes the traditional Dhulbahante territories within Somaliland.
In Somalia, they inhabit the Jubaland state, where there is a long settled Dhulbahante trading community in the port city of Kismayo and its surrounding district, in southern Somalia.
In Ethiopia, the Dhulbahante clan settle in the Somali Regional State. They are present in the Dollo Zone, specifically in the woredas of Boh, Danot and Werder, in Ciid.in Ciid In Kenya, there is a small but notable Dhulbahante community in the North Eastern Province. During the Darawiish era, the Bah Udgoon, a Qayaad division had a garesa (dervish fortification) at Qollad near modern Galmudug. During arid soil conditions, contemporary pastoral Dhulbahante nomads likewise divagate halfway towards the Puntland coast.
The Dhulbahante exclusively settle in the northern Somali cities of Las Anod and Buuhoodle. Moreover, they are well represented in the cities of Erigavo and Garowe. The Baho Nugaaled, particularly the Ugaasyo Dhulbahante, are the most geographically dispersed, with towns such as Yoocada in Las Anod district and Bandar Salam in Middle Juba. According to Roy Irons, Dhulbahante were the largest subclan of the northern clans during the onset of colonialism.