Irir Samaale

Irir Samaale (var. Irir Samali) is the oldest common ancestor of several Somali clans and their respective sub-clans.

Etymology

Samaale is generally regarded as the source of the ethnonym Somali. The name "Somali" is, in turn, held to be derived from the words soo and maal, which together mean "go and milk" -- a reference to the ubiquitous pastoralism of the Somali people. Another plausible etymology proposes that the term Somali is derived from the Arabic for "wealthy" (dhawamaal), again referring to Somali riches in livestock.

Genealogy

According to traditions recorded in Shariif 'Aydaruus Shariif 'Ali's Bughyat al-amaal fii taariikh as-Soomaal (1955), the patriarch Samaale arrived in northern Somalia from Yemen during the 9th century and subsequently founded the eponymous Somali ethnic group.

Most Somalis trace their origins to Samaale:

The Darod have separate agnatic (paternal) traditions of descent through Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti (Sheikh Darod), who is said to have arrived at a later date from the Arabian peninsula, in the 10th or 11th centuries. Sheikh Darod is, in turn, asserted to have married a woman from the Dir, thus establishing matrilateral ties with the Samaale main stem.