Siddiqis in the Horn of Africa Siddiqis in Eastern Ethiopia are usually called Qallu. While some of them still speak Arabic, most of them speak the regional Oromo, Harari or Somali languages, tongues which, like Arabic, also belong to the Afro-Asiatic language family. In Somalia, Siddiqis are commonly known as Sheekhaal or Aw-Qutub. Notable Siddiqi families in the Horn region include: 1. Kurtu family (in Harar, Deder and Djibouti) 2. Aw Barre family 3. Aw Ismael family 4. Qallu-Diinii family 5. Khabir Hassan family (in Gelemso) 6. Aw Samirren family 7. Aw Khalaf family 8. Aw Umar Ziad family 9. Abogne/Abun (the Khalaf and Kurtu families;
Slavery in Somalia Slavery in Somalia Slavery in Somalia existed as a part of the Arab slave trade. To meet the demand for menial labor, Bantus from southeastern Africa captured by Somali slave traders were sold in cumulatively large numbers over the centuries to customers in Somalia and other areas in Northeast Africa and Asia. Between 2500–3000 years ago, speakers of the original proto-Bantu language group began a millennia-long series of migrations eastward from their original homeland in the general Nigeria and Cameroon area of West Africa. This Bantu expansion first introduced Bantu peoples to central, southern and southeastern Africa, regions where they