Sanbur

Sanbur
Sanbuur ; صنبور
Regions with significant populations
Languages
	Somali, Arabic
Religion
	Islam (Sunni)
Related ethnic groups
	Habr Je'lo, Habr Awal, Arap, Garhajis, and other Isaaq groups

The Sanbur (Somali: Sanbuur, Arabic: صنبور, Full Name: Ibrāhīm ibn ash-Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad) is a major clan of the wider Isaaq clan family.^[1]^[2] Its members form part of the larger Habr Habusheed confederation along with the Habr Je'lo, Ibran and Tol Je'lo clans.^[3]^[4]^[5] Politically however, the Sanbur fall under the Habr Je'lo clan.^[6]^[7]^[8]

The clan primarily inhabits the Togdheer and Sanaag regions of Somaliland, especially the towns of Qallocan and Ruguuda.^[9]^[10]

History

Lineage

Sheikh Ishaaq ibn Ahmed was one of the Arabian scholars that crossed the sea from Arabia to the Horn of Africa to spread Islam around 12th to 13th century. He is said to have been descended from Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatimah. Hence the Sheikh belonged to the Ashraf or Sada, titles given to the descendants of the prophet. He married two local women in Somaliland that left him eight sons, one of them being Ibrahim (Sanbur). The descendants of those eight sons constitute the Isaaq clan-family.^[11]

Trading

The Sanbur have a long history of trading and are known as a wealthy clan by other Somalis. The Sanbur-inhabited port town of Ruguuda was a well known landmark to navigators and legendary Arab explorer Ahmad ibn Mājid wrote of Ruguda and a few other many notable landmarks and ports of the northern Somali coast, including Berbera, the Sa'ad ad-Din islands aka the Zeila Archipelago near Zeila, Siyara, Maydh, Alula, El-Sheikh, Heis and El-Darad.^[12]

John Hanning Speke, an English explorer who made an exploratory expedition to the area in an attempt to reach the Nugaal Valley, described the port town:^[13]

On the 21st October, 1854, Lieutenant Speke, from the effects of a stiff easterly wind and a heavy sea, made by mistake the harbour of Rakudah. This place has been occupied by the Rer Dud, descendants of Sambur, son of Ishak. It is said to consist of an small fort, and two or three huts of matting, lately re-erected. About two years ago the settlement was laid waste by the rightful owners of the soil, the Musa Abokr, a sub-family of the Habr Tal Jailah.
— Sir Richard Francis Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, Or, An Exploration of Harar

Distribution

The Sanbur primarily reside in Togdheer and Sanaag regions in Somaliland, especially the towns of Qalloocan and Ruguuda.^[9]^[10] They also have a large settlement in Kenya where they are known as a constituent segment of the Isahakia community.^[14]^[15]

Abdirashid Duale – a British-Somali entrepreneur and the CEO of Dahabshiil, an international funds transfer company

References

^ Department, India Foreign and Political (1892). A Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sanads Relating to India and Neighbouring Countries. Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India.
^ Somaliland, British (1906). Ordinances and Regulations. Wyman.
^ Haggenmacher, Gustav Adolf (1876). G. A. Haggenmacher's Reise Im Somali-lande, 1874: Mit Einer Originalkarte (in German). J. Perthes.
^ Abbink, J. (1999). The Total Somali Clan Genealogy: A Preliminary Sketch. African Studies Centre.
^ مجلة الصومال. The Society. 1954.
^ Ethnographic Survey of Africa. International African Institute. 1969.
^ Encyklopaedie der Naturwissenschaften (in German). E. Trewendt. 1900.
^ Renders, Marleen (2012-01-27). Consider Somaliland: State-Building with Traditional Leaders and Institutions. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-22254-0.
^ ^a ^b Hunt, John Anthony (1951). A General Survey of the Somaliland Protectorate 1944-1950: Final Report on "An Economic Survey and Reconnaissance of the British Somaliland Protectorate 1944-1950," Colonial Development and Welfare Scheme D. 484. To be purchased from the Chief Secretary.
^ ^a ^b Montclos, Marc-Antoine Pérouse de (2003). Diaspora et terrorisme (in French). Presses de Sciences Po. ISBN 978-2-7246-0897-7.
^ I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), pp. 31 & 42
^ "Ibn Majid". Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. 2005. ISBN 978-1-135-45932-1.
^ Burton, Richard F. (2019-09-25). First Footsteps in East Africa; or, an Exploration of Harar. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-7340-8950-3.
^ Waal, Alexander De (1993). "Violent deeds live on: landmines in Somalia and Somaliland, p. 63". |
^ Lewis, I. M. (3 February 2017). I.M Lewis : peoples of the Horn of Africa. ISBN 9781315308173.

[1] Department, India Foreign and Political (1892). A Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sanads Relating to India and Neighbouring Countries. Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India.

[2] Somaliland, British (1906). Ordinances and Regulations. Wyman.

[3] Haggenmacher, Gustav Adolf (1876). G. A. Haggenmacher's Reise Im Somali-lande, 1874: Mit Einer Originalkarte (in German). J. Perthes.

[4] Abbink, J. (1999). The Total Somali Clan Genealogy: A Preliminary Sketch. African Studies Centre.

[5] مجلة الصومال. The Society. 1954.

[6] Ethnographic Survey of Africa. International African Institute. 1969.

[7] Encyklopaedie der Naturwissenschaften (in German). E. Trewendt. 1900.

[8] Renders, Marleen (2012-01-27). Consider Somaliland: State-Building with Traditional Leaders and Institutions. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-22254-0.

[:0-9] Hunt, John Anthony (1951). A General Survey of the Somaliland Protectorate 1944-1950: Final Report on "An Economic Survey and Reconnaissance of the British Somaliland Protectorate 1944-1950," Colonial Development and Welfare Scheme D. 484. To be purchased from the Chief Secretary.

[:1-10] Montclos, Marc-Antoine Pérouse de (2003). Diaspora et terrorisme (in French). Presses de Sciences Po. ISBN 978-2-7246-0897-7.

[11] I.M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali, fourth edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2002), pp. 31 & 42

[12] "Ibn Majid". Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. 2005. ISBN 978-1-135-45932-1.

[13] Burton, Richard F. (2019-09-25). First Footsteps in East Africa; or, an Exploration of Harar. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-7340-8950-3.

[14] Waal, Alexander De (1993). "Violent deeds live on: landmines in Somalia and Somaliland, p. 63". |

[15] Lewis, I. M. (3 February 2017). I.M Lewis : peoples of the Horn of Africa. ISBN 9781315308173.

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