Following the
Ajuran state disintegration, a mysterious new group in the vicinity of Merca, known as the El Amir believe to be from the
Abgaal origin made its appearance in the late 17th century. According to an account collected by Guillain in 1847, a leader known as Amir formed a following which invaded the territory of Merca and expelled the Ajuran clan. The El Amir then ruled for thirty-four years until the Biimaal expelled them and definitively occupied Merca. They quickly gained control of the city and trade of the region. Traditions of Bimal clan of Merka district reflect preoccupied agricultural production for at least the last 200 years. Besides the Biimal revolt against the Ajuran. Later, they had engaged in multiple wars and revolts with the
Sultanate of the Geledi. One of the most powerful sultanates to have emerged from southern Somalia called the
Geledi Sultanate centered in
Afgooye in the late 17th century. It incorporated the Merca territory into its kingdom until the Bimaal rebelled in the mid-1800s for independence. The Sultanate of Geledi tried to attack and destroy the Bimaal clan many times to try and re-capture the coastal city of Merca. But the Bimal of Merca managed to defeat the Geledi Sultanate 2 times. In 1843,
Yusuf Mahamud, Sultan of Geledi, vowed to destroy the Bimaal for once and for all and mobilizes the Geledi army. In 1848, the Sultan of the Geledi, Yusuf Mahamud was killed at Adaddey Suleyman, a village near Merca, in a battle between the Bimaal and Geledi Sultanate. His son Sultan
Ahmed Yusuf tried to see revenge but was also killed in 1878 at Agaaran, near Marka by the Bimal. Ensuing
Merca independence from
Geledi's overrule. The Bimaal also engage in pastoralism, settled farming 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. In the early 1930s, the Bimaal accepted the Italian rule in Merca and welcomed the Italian king in 1935. Some of them fought with the Italians in their conquest of Ethiopia in 1936. The Bimal also formed their own organization during the
Somali Civil War, the Southern Somali National Movement (SSNM). 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 (
Somali:
Dagaalkii Biimaal iyo Talyaaniga) is widely known resistance fought against the colonials in southern Somalia in and around the current
Lower Shebelle,
Banadir,
Middle Shabelle (Somali:
Shabeela Hoose) for decades (1896-1926), which can be -in a little way- compared to the war of the Mad Mullah in northern Somalia.
Abdirahman Eremage (Gaadsan) Isaaq or "Reer Sheikh Isxaaq" and The Gaadsan or reer
Aw-Gaadsan are siblings with the Bimaal 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. The name of Geedsan or Gaadsen is a nickname, which means "genuine" given by his scholar called Sheikh Abdirahman Ulamadoobe. Gaadsan are mainly found in Somali Galbeed (Somali region) and live in regions such as Afdher, in Jarrati and surrounding areas, Nusdasriq town in Qoraxay and Liban region. Gaadsan are also found in Somalia in Bakool, Geddo and the two jubas as well as Kenya (NFD). == Clan tree ==