The
Gurgura,
Gorgorah or
Gurgure (
Somali:
Gurgura,
Arabic: غرغرة) people are a
Somali clan that is part of the large
Dir clan. They inhabit large portions of the
Oromia Region (Zone 4) of Ethiopia, also the
Somali Region and
Afar Region of that country.
Distribution[edit]
Uggas Buhe Gedid (
Somali: Ugaas Buux). The historical
ughaz (sultan) of the Gurgura clan of
Somalis. One of the most notable figures of
Dire Dawa.
The Gurgura are of the Madahwein Dir, making them directly related to the Gurre and Gariire and other Madahwein Dirs.
[1]They also have lineal ties with the
Issa,
Gadabursi,
Biimaal, Bajimal,
Quranyow-Garre,
Surre, Madigan,
Bursuuk and other Dir subclans.
[1][2]
History[edit]
Oromo political organizations sought to coerce the Gurgura, (who's identity was very contentious for the city of
Dire Dawa) who largely speak the
Oromo language (Oromiffa), to identify themselves as Oromo, though they belong to the
Dir clan family of the Somalis. Oromo political organizations claimed that "the Gurgura people who speak Oromiffa belong to the Oromo nation and they only started to identify themselves with the Somali after the 1974 change of the Haile Selassie regime".
[3] This is false since the Gurgura are mentioned in the
Futuh Al Habasha : Conquest of Abyssinia as source dating back as far as the 16th century, by author:
Shihabudin Ahmad bin Abd al-Qadir 'Arab Faqih or '
Arab Faqih. It is recorded that the Gurgura were Somalis who fought along side
Ahmed Gran or
Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi with knights, spear-men and foot-soldiers and their leader Garād 'Abd.
[4]
Many prominent Gurgura in
Dire Dawa, including traditional leaders, have identified as Somali, to the dislike of the Oromo.
[5]
This is just from the Wikipedia page.