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The Harari people, also called Geyusu ("People of the City"), are an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. Group members traditionally inhabit the city of Harar, situated in the Harari Region of eastern Ethiopia. They speak the Harari language, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic branch.

History

The Harari people trace their ancestry to Sheikh Abadir Umar Ar-Rida, also known as Fiqi Umar, who in turn traced his lineage to the first caliph, Abu Bakr (Sayid Abubakar Al-Sadiq). According to the explorer Richard F. Burton, Fiqi Umar crossed over from the Arabian Peninsula to the Horn of Africa ten generations prior to 1854, with his six sons: Umar the Greater, Umar the Lesser, the two Abdillahs, Ahmad and Siddik.

The initial settlers of Harar are said to have been connected with the ancient Harla people, a community credited by the present-day inhabitants of Hararghe with having constructed various historical sites found in the province. Although now mostly lying in ruins, these structures include stone necropoles, store pits, mosques and houses. According to the scholars Azais, Chambard and Huntingford, the builders of these monumental edifices were ancestral to the Somali ("proto-Somali"). Modern traditions similarly link the Harla with the Ismail Jabarti and the Darod ancestors of the Ogaden Somali, in addition to Somali language speakers living amongst the western Issa and in areas below Harar. Despite this, Ulrich Braukämper argues that the Harla may instead have belonged to another Afro-Asiatic community speaking a Semitic language, although he concedes that linguistic evidence supporting this theory is lacking.

The modern "Harari" ethnic identity is believed to have been created in the 16th century by Harar's then Emir, Nur ibn Mujahid. So as to protect the various Muslim peoples that inhabited the Ethiopian interior from raids by the Oromo, Emir Nur resettled many of them in the historic city. Friction between these newcomers and the earlier settlers of Harar then developed. In order to resolve the conflict, Emir Nur had his charges destroy the genealogies of the two groups of settlers, by default replacing these traditions with a new, singular "Harari" identity.

Language

The Harari people speak an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic branch referred to as Gey Sinan ("Language of the City"). It is closely related to the East Gurage languages and similar to the languages of Zay and Silt'e. With the Egyptian conquest of Harar, numerous loan words have also been borrowed from Arabic. Gey Sinan was originally written in Arabic and more recently converted into the Ge'ez alphabet. Most Harari people are bilingual in Amharic and Oromo.

Religion

The Harari people, like the Somali people, are distinctly known as an ethnic group of Ethiopia that is entirely affiliated with only one religion, Islam.

Diaspora

Composing just under 10% within their own city, Harari people have moved throughout Ethiopia, mainly Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa establishing families and businesses. The Harari people have also spread throughout North America as well mainly living in cities like Washington D.C., Atlanta, Toronto and Dallas. There is an estimate of about 25-30 thousand Harari peoples worldwide.

Notable Hararis

• Abdullah al-Harari, Leader of Ahbash Movement
• 'Abd Allah II ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur, Last Emir of Harar
• `Ali ibn Da`ud, Founder of Emirate of Harar
• Abadir Umar Ar-Rida, Muslim Cleric
• Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, Imam and General of the Adal Sultanate

References

1. Richard Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa, 1856; edited with an introduction and additional chapters by Gordon Waterfield (New York: Praeger, 1966), p. 165
2. Braukämper, Ulrich (2002). Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 17–18. ISBN 3825856712.
3. Georg Stauth, Joska Samuli Schielke (2008). Dimensions of Locality: Muslim Saints, Their Place and Space. Verlag. p. 156. ISBN 3899429680.

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