Awbere
Encyclopedia


Āwberē, officially known as Teferi Ber is a town in eastern Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. Located in the Jijiga Zone
Jijiga Zone
Jijiga is one of nine zones of the Ethiopian Somali Region. This zone is named after its largest city, Jijiga. Other towns and cities in this zone include Qarbibayax, Dhurwaale Awbere, Derwonaji, tuli gulled and Hart Sheik...

 of the Somali Region
Somali Region
Somali Region ; is the eastern-most of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It is often called Somalia, though it is not to be confused with the independent country of the same name. The capital of Somali State is Jijiga...

, near the Somali border on the main trade route between Jijiga
Jijiga
Jijiga is a city in eastern Ethiopia and the capital of the Somali Region of that country. Located in the Jijiga Zone approximately 80 km east of Harar and 60 km west of the border with Somalia, this city has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1,609 meters above sea...

 and the sea. It is the administrative center of Awbere
Awbere (woreda)
Awbere , , is one of the 47 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Jijiga Zone, Awbere is bordered on the southwest by Jijiga, on the west and north by the Shinile Zone, on the east by Somalia, and on the southeast by Kebri Beyah...

 woreda
Woreda
Woreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...

. It was one of the biggest towns of the Adal Empire.
It is also known as The Gate of Fear hence the name Teferi Ber. According to Ethiopian Christian folklore, this town was the only gateway that has caused fear for the Ethiopian Christian Kingdom.

The main trade route between Jijiga
Jijiga
Jijiga is a city in eastern Ethiopia and the capital of the Somali Region of that country. Located in the Jijiga Zone approximately 80 km east of Harar and 60 km west of the border with Somalia, this city has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1,609 meters above sea...

 and the sea passes through Āwuberē; an ancient route to Zeila
Zeila
Zeila, also known as Zaila , is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast, situated in the northwestern Awdal region of Somalia.Located near the Djibouti border, the town sits on a sandy spit surrounded by the sea. It is known for its offshore islands, coral reef and mangroves. Landward, the terrain is...

 almost always went through Awubere. In 1962 it was described as a dry weather road. The Ethiopian News Agency
Ethiopian News Agency
The Ethiopian News Agency is the official news agency of the Government of Ethiopia. It is the oldest news organization in Ethiopia...

 reported in early 1998 that much khat
Khat
Khat, qat, gat or Waquish Spoken from true Yemeni, is a flowering plant native to tropical East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula....

 was illegally smuggled out of Ethiopia by this route.

When emperor Haile Selassie inspected the Ogaden
Ogaden
Ogaden is the name of a territory comprising the southeastern portion of the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia. The inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Somali and Muslim. The title "Somali Galbeed", which means "Western Somalia," is often preferred by Somali irredentists.The region, which is...

 in 1935 prior to the outbreak of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Haile Selassie made a secret two-day excursion to Āwuberē. The Italian Giuda described Āwuberē in 1938 as a Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...

 village with about 1,000 inhabitants, whose houses were partly built of masonry, and possessing a mosque; a little to the west of the village was the tomb of Shek Barek.

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency
Central Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)
The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...

 in 2005, Āwuberē of 35,977 inhabitants 18,978 are men and 16,999 are women. The 1997 census reported this town had a total population of 24,125 of whom 12,538 were men and 11,587 women. The two largest ethnic groups reported in this town were the Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...

 (64.72%), and foreigners from Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 (34.83%); all other ethnic groups made up the remaining 0.45% of the residents.

History

Awbere is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Ethiopia, officially known as Teferi Ber which in Amharic denotes the name of Ras Tafari Makonnen's (Ge'ez ) Gate of Fear, the only threat for the Abyssinian Christian Empire during the peak of power for the Muslim State of Adal.. Awbere was one of the biggest cities of the former Adal Empire. It is the final resting place of Sheikh Awbare whose tomb is located west of the town.
It was also the first town that was settled by Shiekh Abadir Omar Al-Rida ibn Muhammad ibn Shamsadin Al-Bakri Al-Siddiqi who is the common ancestor of all Siddiqi families of The Horn of Africa.
The tradition of the Siddiqis tells that it was this Shiekh who came from Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

 and settled at the town of Awbere, on the border of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 and Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

, and gave birth to his six sons whom the Siddiqis count as their fathers.

Who are the Siddiqis?

One of the geographic areas where Siddiqis are commonly found is Horn of Africa in the Countries of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 and Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...

. However, in these countries they are not called Siddiqi rather they are known by other local names. Siddiqis in East Ethiopia are usually called Qallu. Some of them speak Arabic still now. But most of them speak the local Oromo, Harari or Somali languages. The tradition here is that the Siddiqis made themselves part of the indigenous African ethnic group accepting the name given to them, but maintaining their own identity. So, in Ethiopia, they are Usually known as Qallu. And in Somalia, they are commonly known as Sheikhal or Aw-Qutub.

The Old Town of Awbere

Awbere is situated over 1,000 m above sea level. The old town contained over 200 houses, each built with stone walls and mason ranging from single room to multi-roomed courtyard houses. Niches were cut in the walls for storage, and they were roofed with brushwood laid over wooden rafters. The mosques were built much more ambitiously.
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