page_title: Garhajis
section_title: Descriptions of the Garhajis by European travellers in the 1800s
hierarchical_section_title: Garhajis / History / Descriptions of the Garhajis by European travellers in the 1800s
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Somali peninsula, 1840-1841
context_page_description: The Garhajis is a major sub-clan of the wider Isaaq clan. They are the traditional holders of the Isaaq Sultanate since the 18th century. Its members form a part of the Habar Magaadle confederation, and they contstitute the largest sub-clan of the Isaaq. The Garhajis are divided into two major sub-clans, the Habar Yunis and Eidagale. They are traditionally nomadic pastoralists, merchants and skilled poets. One of the earliest mentions of the Garhajis in Western literature was in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London in 1848, where they are described as a powerful and warlike clan with an abundance of livestock reserves.
context_section_description: Several early European travellers gave descriptions of the Garhajis clan during their travels through Somaliland in the 1800s and early 1900s. The Garhajis were described as being nomads who had a reputation of being fine warriors and who were very skilled equestrians, and were noted to be among the best horsemen and in possession of the best breed of Horses among the Somali.
  Description of the Garhajis by C.J Cruttenden in the 1840s:
  The Haber Gerhajis, the eldest branch of the three tribes of Ishaak, reside chiefly in the mountains to the south of berbera, whence they extend to the country of Ogahden. They are a powerful and warlike tribe, numbering many horses in addition to their flocks and herds.
  Edward Standford FRGS, 1885: 
  The Haber-Gerhajis tribe had formerly been under one Sultan [Hirsi Aman] and were very powerful, making frequent raids into Ogadayn, but on his death, two cousins, Awad and Nur, divided the country between them.
  Explorer Frank Linsly James, a guest of Sultan Awad (Cawad) Diiriye Sugulleh during his visit to Somaliland in 1884, described a performance he witnessed by Habr Yunis Horsemen at Burao's Togdheer River.
  During our stay at Burao, the Sultan collected a great many of his people together, and twice entertained us with some well-executed and characteristic evolutions on horseback. On the first occasion some forty mounted men were collected in the Tug before our zariba; but this did not satisfy the Sultan, and he arranged a second "fantasia," in which fully two hundred warriors were engaged. It was the best and most characteristic thing of the kind I had ever seen. A procession was first formed in the river's bed, and on a given signal all dashed off, brandishing their spears and shields. Dressed in tobes of many colours, and sitting loosely on their gaily-caparisoned horses, they engaged in mimic contest with spear and shield, reining their horses upon their haunches when at full gallop, and with wild shouts flinging their spears into the air. Each warrior carried a short-handled whip with a broad raw hide thong, and with it lashed his steed unmercifully. Some of the riders went through regular circus feats, leaping from their horses when at full gallop, picking up objects thrown on the ground, and then remounting. After this had continued for some time they would gallop close to our zariba, and reining up, shout "Mort, mort" ("Welcome, welcome"), to which we replied, "Kul liban" ("Thanks").
  D. G. Elliot commenting on the Garhajis during his visit to the Haud in 1896:
  The Haber Yunis tribe, one of the most powerful in this part of Africa, and which could place several thousand warriors in the field. Like all of the natives of Somaliland they are nomads, wandering from place to place in search of water and pasture for their flocks and herds...The Habr Yunis warriors commenced to give an exhibition of their horsemanship, riding away singly or in pairs advancing to the attack, thrusting with the spear and guarding with the shield on which the point of the spear was received. They had fine horses, much superior to our own, and in the best condition.
  According to military historian Roy Irons, Major J. G. Beresford of the 7th Hussars Cavalry regiment also attested to the skill of Habar Yunis horsemen.
  "Of the Somali tribal horse, Major J.G beresford reported that the Habr Yunis, Dolbahanta and Ba Idris were the best." Roy Irons, Churchill and the Mad Mullah.
  Richard Francis Burton the British explorer, gave a description of the Garhajis during his visit to Somaliland in 1855:
  The Habr Gerhajis, or eldest branch of the sons of Ishak, inhabit the Ghauts behind Berberah, whence they extend for several days' march to- wards Ogadayn, the southern region. This tribe is divided into a multitude of clans. The Ismail Arrah supply the Sultan, a nominal chief like the Eesa Ugaz ; they extend from Makhar to the south of Gulays, number about 15,000, shields and are subdivided into three septs. The Musa Arrah hold the land between Gulays and the seats of the Mijjarthayn and Warsangeli tribes on the windward c
caption: Map showing Garhajis territory in the Sanaag and Sool regions, circa 1840
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