One of the earliest mentions of this Somali clan may be by the Jesuit Jerónimo Lobo, who attempted to enter Ethiopia by way of the Jubba River in 1624.
Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the Marehan were reported to have lived in an area that extended from Bender Ziyade on the Gulf of Aden to beyond Ras el-Khail on the Indian Ocean, or much of northern Somalia [REF].