Ciise (Issa, Dir clan)

Name and family tree

The Ciise are a clan of the Dir family. In English the name is usually written Issa, and also Ise, Esa or Aysa (Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup). They are a different group from the Ciise Muuse, a branch of the Habar Awal (Isaaq).

Wikipedia says the tomb of Sheikh Ciise lies in Sanaag, between Rugay and Maydh (same source). See the Somali clan tree.

Main branches

Abbink gives this line (Abbink 2009, p. 15):

• Hawla Gati: Mekahir, Idleh and Mahamud. Abbink adds "(Abgal?)" beside the name.
• Dalool?: Fourlaba (Holleh), with Mahadleh and Saheb, and Walal Doon (Haula Gati), with Mekahir, 'Idleh and Mahamud.
• Eliye: Mamasan (Omr, Hassan, Aur, Khaireh, Mohorre) and Musa (Sa'ad, Bideh, Yunis).

A question mark in Abbink means the name "could not be confirmed from more than one source". The groups he lists beside 'Isa include Horone (Habr Walal and Ohdagub), Wardikh and Urweina (Fiqi and Abdalla) (Abbink 2009, pp. 15–16).

Wikipedia gives six branches, citing Notes on the social organisation of the Issa Somal (Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup):

Every group here is also on the Somali clan tree.

Where they live

No census counts Somalis by clan. ACCORD notes that Somalis often claim more members than their groups have, "in order to demonstrate strength" (ACCORD 2009, p. 11).

Wikipedia explains the old names "White Issa" and "Black Issa" as geographic. The White Issa lived nearer the sea and the Black Issa beyond a range of hills west of the Djibouti to Harar road (same source). See Awdal.

History on record

Most of the history below comes from Wikipedia, a backup source (Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup).

• 1884. The Ciise and the Gadabuursi signed treaties with Britain in December. See colonial treaties.
• 1935 to 1936. Wikipedia says Issa fought on the Italian side in the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.
• 13 August 1960. Wikipedia records the killing of Issa men by Ethiopian troops at Aysha, in Ethiopia.
• 1960. Mahmoud Harbi, an Issa leader of the independence movement in French Somaliland, died in a plane crash.
• 1977. Djibouti became independent. Hassan Gouled Aptidon, an Issa, was its first president, from 1977 to 1999.
• 1987. Wikipedia says Ethiopia created the Dire Dawa administrative area in a new division of the country.
• 1991 to 1994. Wikipedia describes a civil war in Djibouti between the Issa-led government and the Afar rebels of the FRUD.
• 1991. Wikipedia says some Issa left Zeila after fighting with the SNM and the Gadabuursi. Others moved to a camp at Aysha in Ethiopia.
• 1999. Ismail Omar Guelleh, also an Issa, became president of Djibouti.

See the Ogaden War.

Elders and customary law

Senior Somali clan leaders carry titles such as suldaan, ugaas or issim. Their role is "mainly judicial and representative" (UK Home Office, CPIN 2019, quoting EASO 2014).

Wikipedia describes the Ciise customary law, Xeer Ciise, as told by Ciise elders (Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup):

• Forty-four elders met on Mount Sitti, in what is now Aysha district, at a place called Las Harad.
• Over time they set down 362 unwritten laws, called heer.
• By tradition the ugaas is always chosen from the Wardiiq sub-clan.
• Decisions are made by consensus. Every man of a lineage may speak at the gathering called shir.
• A court of 44 members, the Reer Gendi, acts as a court of appeal and meets in times of crisis.

See xeer, Somali customary law.

In recent conflict records

The EUAA conflict list for April 2023 to March 2025 does not name the Dir Ciise as a party (EUAA Country Focus 2025, section 1.5.1). It does name the "Ise" with the Gadabuursi among the clans on the Somaliland army side around Laascaanood in 2023 (EUAA 2025, Sool).

Wikipedia records conflict with the Gadabuursi in Awdal, and with the Afar to the west. It quotes I. M. Lewis on "an almost constant state of enmity between the 'Ise and the 'Afar" (Wikipedia, Issa clan, backup). See clan conflicts, district by district.

Where sources differ

• Where 'Isa sits. Abbink lists Horone, Wardikh and Urweina beside 'Isa under Madoobe. Wikipedia counts Horrone, Wardiiq and Urweyne as three of the six Ciise branches.
• Names with question marks. Abbink marks "Dalool?" and "Hawla Gati (Abgal?)" with question marks.
• Ciise Muuse. The EUAA lists "Issa Muse (Issa)" in a Togdheer dispute. Other sources place the Ciise Muuse under the Habar Awal (Isaaq), not the Dir Ciise.
• Size. Wikipedia calls the Ciise the largest clan in Djibouti. No census counts Somalis by clan, so no source can test this.

Read more

• Dir
• Gadabuursi
• The Somali clan tree: every clan and sub-clan
• Xeer, Somali customary law
• Xeer Ciise