Tag: DIR

The Dir (Somali: Dir, Arabic: در‎), or Theyr bin Abdalla as mentioned in the book “Futuh ul-Habasha”, is a Somali clan. Its members mostly live in northwestern, central and southern of Somalia and Djibouti, in addition to the Somali Region of Ethiopia and the North Eastern Province in Kenya.
The main sub-clans of the Dir are the Issa of Djibouti and Ethiopia, as well as the Gadabuursi, Akisho (Akishe), Biamal (Biyomaal), Surre and Gurgura. Although often recognized as a Dir sub-clan, the Isaaq clan claims paternal descent from one Shaykh Ishaq ibn Ahmad al-Hashimi (Sheikh Isaaq).
According to an official military survey conducted during the colonial period, Dir clan members are by tradition believed to be descended from a forefather named Dir. Dir is held to be the great grand-son of Ram Nag, an Arab migrant who landed in Zeila on the northwestern Somali coast. However, other accounts maintain that Ram Nag was of Indian, or of Abyssinian extraction.
Dir is also reputed to be the uncle…