The Bimaal or Bimal, official name: Jamal, is one of the sub-clans 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 Lower Shabelle and make up the majority as well as in Lower Jubba mainly in Jammaame and nearby districts, but 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. As Dir sub-clan, the Bīmāli have immediate lineal ties with the Gadabuursi, Surre, the Issa, the Bajimal, the Bursuk, the Madigan, the Gurgura, the Garre, Gurre, Gariire, other Dir sub-clans and they have lineal ties with the Hawiye, Hawadle, Ajuraan, Degoodi, Gaalje'el clan groups, who share the same ancestor Samaale.
History
was established in the 7th century by the Bimaal clan. Lineages of the Biimaal of the Dir clan arrived in present-day Lower Shabelle in the 6th century and began to establish a Sultanate. They quickly gained control of the city and trade of the region. The Biimal also revolted, and defeated the Sultan of Ajuran, during that time. Later, they had engaged in multiple wars with the Sultanate of the Geledi. The Biimaal Sultanate had defeated the Geledi and killed their Sultan during their 30-year conflict in the latter half of the 19th century. 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 the reasons the Biimaal began their revolt. The Bimaal also engage in pastoral-ism, 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. 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 ' is widely known resistance or war fought against the colonials in southern Somalia in and around the current Lower Shebelle, Banadir, Middle Shabelle 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 bin Mahamed
