Bimaal
The Bimaal or Bimal, () is a sub-clan of the major Dir clan family. This clan is widely known for leading a resistance against the colonials in southern Somalia for decades which can be compared to the war of the Sayyid in Somaliland. The Biimaal mainly lives in Southern Somalia, the Somali region of Ethiopia, which their Gaadsen sub-clan mainly inhabits and in the NEP region of Kenya. Overview. The Bimal are the dominant clan in Merca district of Lower Shabelle region and make up the majority in Jammaame district of Lower Jubba region. They also live in  the NEP region of Kenya and especially in large numbers inhabit the Somali region of Ethiopia. The Bimal are a war-like clan that was known for their struggle and long resistance against the Italians. The Bimal are a Dir clan that migrated to Lower Shabelle centuries ago and settled on the coast between Gelib-marka and Brava as sedentary farmers. The Bimal are divided into four subclans, the Saad, Ismin, Suleyman, and Daud . As a Dir sub-clan, the Bīmāli have immediate lineal ties with the Gadabuursi, Surre (Abdalle and Qubeys), the Issa, the Bajimal, the Bursuk, the Madigan , the Gurgura, the Garre (the Quranyow sub-clan to be precise as they claim descent from Dir), Gurre, Gariire, other Dir sub-clans and they have lineal ties with the Hawiye (Irir), Hawadle, Ajuraan, Degoodi, Gaalje'el clan groups, who share the same ancestor Samaale. History. Following the Ajuran state disintegration. A mysterious new group in the vincity of Merca, known as the El Amir believe to be from the Abgaal origin made its appearance in the late 17th century. According to an account collected by Guillain in 1847, a leader known as Amir formed a following which invaded the territory  of Merca and expelled the Ajuran clan. The El Amir then ruled for thirty-four years until the Biimaal expelled them and definitively occupied Merca. They quickly gained control of the city and trade of the region. Traditions of Bimal clan of Merka district reflect preoccupied agricultural production for at least the last 200 years. Besides the Biimal revolt against the Ajuran. Later, they had engaged in multiple wars and revolts with the Sultanate of the Geledi. The Biimaal clan had defeated the Geledi and killed their Sultan during their 30-year conflict in the latter half of the 19th  century. Ensuing Merca independence from Geledi's overrule The Biimaal sultanate maintained armies, courts, prisons, and were highly dynamic and out seeking eager to link with global trade. They invited experts from India and around the world, to train their people in skills such as weaving, textile industry, milling and agricultural production, and topographical surveys used to make irrigation canals. This massive development the Biimaal were undertaking with their sultanate was sabotaged by the Italians, which was one of the reasons why the Biimaal revolt began. The Bimaal also engage in pastoral-ism, settled farming and were also successful merchants  and traders in the 19th century. The Bimaal have proved in the past to be a bellicose clan, not only against their neighbours, but also against Italian colonial encroachment. The Italians undermined the Biimaal Sultanate, and changed the traditional structures in the South Central by re titling the elders "capo qabiil" and incorporating them into their administrative system. The Bimaal violently resisted the imposition of colonialism fought against the Italian colonialists in a twenty-year war known as the Bimaal revolt in which many of their warriors assassinated several Italian governors. The Bimal also formed their own organization during the  Somali Civil War, the Southern Somali National Movement (SSNM). Colonel Abdi Warsame in 1993, broke with General Aideed and took part of the SSNM with him when he aligned himself with Ali Mahdi. Bīmāl revolt. The Bimal Revolt or Bimal Resistance or Merca Revolt (Somali : "Dagaalkii Biimaal iyo Talyaaniga" ) is widely known resistance or war fought against the colonials in southern Somalia in and around the current Lower Shebelle, Banadir , Middle Shabelle (Somali: "Shabeela Hoose") for decades 1896 - 1926 which can be compared to the war of the Mad Mullah in northern Somalia. "For more about the Bimal resistance or  revolt visit the following:" Abdirahman Eremage( Geedsan). The name of Geedsan or gadsen is a nickname, which means "genuine" given by his Scholar called Sheikh Abdirahman Ulamadoobe. The Gaadsen or reer "Aw-Gaadsan" branch of the Bimaal. The Aw Gaadsen trace themselves from holymen and sheikhs living as pastoral nomads. Such religious lineages of sheikhs and holy-men are generally referred to as 'reer aw' or 'wadaaddo' . They are nominally "'men of God"' possessed of blessing by definition rather than learned. Although it doesn't necessary mean that all their lineages make religion their profession. Clan tree. The following list  is based on the "People of the Horn of Africa" and a paper published in March 2002 by Ambroso Guido Bimaal (Jamal) bin Mahamed