ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERCITY
Colleague of architectural and civil engineering
HISTORY OF ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN
GROUP ASSIGNMENT

GROUP MEMEBERS
ID
BESUFKAD
YIRGU..............................................................................ETS0310/14
AFOMYA DEREJE……………………………………………..
…………………….…………ETS0129/14
BESUFKAD ENGDA………………………….
…………………………………..……….. ETS0311/14
BIRUK ASSEFA
……………………………………………………………..….
Peoples and States in Eastern, Central, Southern and
Western Regions
 Contents
 Learning objective
 Cushitic states
 Gedeo,Sidama,kembata,Hadiya,konso
 Semitic states
 Harar,shawa,gurage
learning objectives
 identify the political developments among the peoples and in Eastern, Central, Southern and Western Region
 identify the social and economical developments among the peoples and in Eastern, Central, Southern and
Western Region
 Identify origin, location and administrative conditions in Cushitic states
 Identify origin ,location and administrative conditions in Semitic states
 Peoples and States in Eastern, Central, Southern and Western Regions

1. Cushitic States
Gedeo
• The origin of the Gedeo is traced back to an aboriginal clan called Murgga-Gosallo
• Oromo traditional practice of mass adoption known as guddifacha, traces the origin of the Gedeo, to Daraso, who was
older brother of Gujo (Guji‟s ancestor) and Boro (Borana‟s ancestor).
• the seven Gedeo clans; Doobba‟a, Darashsha, Gorggorshsha, Hanuma, Bakarro, Henbba‟a and Logoda descended from
the seven sons of Daraso from two wives.
• The clans were grouped in 2 houses
 the first being the shoole baxxe (senior) house where the first four clans belonged including more than 25 sub-clans
 the second called sase baxee (junior) house where the last three belonged having 10 sub-clans.
 Each clan was assigned for particular duty such as ritual, traditional medicine or leadership.
• Gedeo had a culture called baalle, a traditional governance system that worked with age classes and ranking
• The baalle had 7 grades with a 10-year period each creating a 70-year cycle. Sasserogo was a federation of three
territories; Sobbho, Ributa and Rikuta sharing one Aba Gadaa who leaves office every 8 years to be replaced by a new
holder with the next age set at baalle ceremony.
• at this ceremony that all positions ranging from the top, Aba Gadaa down to Hayitcha were assumed. The Gedeo must
have shared this practice from Guji Oromo. Like the neighboring Sidama, with whom they shared a very close language.
• Their economy was based on the cultivation of enset. The Gedeo called the Supreme Being, Mageno
 Peoples and States in Eastern, Central, Southern and Western Regions
Sidama (ሲዳማ)
• The Sidama originally traced back to the Cushitic population
• Currently, the Sidama live in the southern parts of Ethiopia occupying lowlands of about 1500 m a.s.l in the Great East
Africa Rift Valley that cuts through Lakes Hawassa and Abaya up to 3000 m a.s.l .
• Enset (false banana)and coffee are Sidama's important food and cash crops respectively.
• The Sidama had a traditional system of governance led by the Mote (king). And the council of elders called Songo.
• there was no written constitution, rules were known by heart through generations and practiced accordingly.
• The cultural and ritual leader in Sidama society was the Woma, selected for his ability as a peacemaker, bodily perfection,
oratorical ability, wisdom ,caution and rituals such as circumcision and marriage. And considered as a man of peace.
• The Woma do not involve in war or cattle raiding
• Sidama society was divided into generation-sets called Luwa system had five grades each lasting for eight years. these are
• Darara, Fullassa, Hirbora, Wawassa and Mogissa.
• Candidates received a five-month military training and war songs like gerarsha under the leadership of the gaden with his
deputy called Ja’lawa.
• Seera was the social constitution of the Sidama people governing social life based on the Sidama moral code, halale (the
ultimate truth) to judge the right and wrong but there was no written besides defined with strict enforcement
mechanisms, people abide by the rules of halale to avoid curse or ostracization by the society.
Sidama (ሲዳማ)
•
Kambata(ከምባታ)
• Many contradictory statements exist regarding the formation of the state of Kambata, as represented by the Kambata
name-bearers today.
• however, local traditions agree that Kambata was neither ethnically nor linguistically composed a homogeneous
blocs
• the stratification of the society goes, at the bottom, were potters, tanners and hunters. In the middle were
cultivators and at the top were nobles of whom some were Semitic-speaking military personnel from northern
Ethiopia.
• By about 1550-1570, four communities of separate origin combined to form the contemporary state of Kambata
which means “this is the place” (where we live).
• had its original homeland around Mount Hambericho in the heartland of Kambata territory. The other three namely
the Dubamo, Donga and Tembaro trace their homeland from Sidama highlands.
• The ethnogenesis of Kambata also benefitted from Omotic and Semitic peoples who moved into the region at
different times.
• Emperor Yeshak (r.1414-29) annexed Kambata proper and controlled the area between Omo and Bilate Rivers which
he incorporated into the Christian Ethiopian Empire.
• In 1532, the region was captured by Imam Ahmad's army which furthered the interaction of peoples.
• The people were enset farmers sharing similar culture and speaking the same language called Kambatissa which
belongs to the Highland East Cushitic family together with Kabena, Alaba, Hadiya, Sidama, Gedeo and Burji groups.
• had a traditional administrative institution called the Hambericho Council. The council had seven members each
representing the seven clans in the region. With a king at the top, the council ruled Kambata until the late 19c.
Kambata(ከምባታ)
•
Hadiya (ሃዲያ)
• The origins of Hadiya was mentioned in the Kebre-Negest (Glory of the Kings) and it referred to the
area west of the Islamic states in the federation of Zeila
• The people were heterogeneous both linguistically and culturally. Semitic-speaking agricultural
people dominated north of the state while the southern part was largely inhabited by Cushitic-
speaking pastoral communities
• By about 1332 Amde-Tsion, subjugated Hadiya after defeating its ruler, Amano who supported by a
Muslim “prophet” Bel‟am aligned with the then leader of Ifat, Sabraddin to confront the Christian
force.
• In 1445, Hadiya king called Mahilqo rebelled against Emperor Zare-Yaqob (r.1434-68) and was
consequently replaced by his uncle Bamo. To stabilize the situation, Zara-Yaqob made a political
marriage
• Accordingly, Princess Elleni, from Hadiya, married Emperor Zara-Yaqob and Another Hadiya leader,
Garad Aze refused to pay tribute to Emperor Sartsa-Dengel(r.1563-1598), but was suppressed in
1568/9.
• Abyssinian-Hadiya relation was interrupted following the wars between the Christan kingdom and
Adal and the Oromo population movement until Emperor Menelik's force conquered the region in
the late nineteenth century.
• Hadiya's population became even more diverse. However, descendants of the old Hadiya can be
traced from five different linguistic clusters: the East Gurage, the Oromo, the Sidama, the Kabena
and Alaba, and the Hadiya proper with its subgroups-the Mareko, Lemu/Badogo, Soro, Shashogo
and Badowacho. As with the Kambata and Sidama, the Hadiya language belongs to the Highland
East Cushitic family and their languages are intelligible to members of these ethnic groups
Konso /Xonso (ኮንሶ)
• The name Konso or Xonso is invariably used to refer one of the ancient peoples in Ethiopia and the Horn who spoke affa
Xonso (Konso language)
• The literal meaning of the term is a “heavily forested hill/ area”. A century ago the highlands of Konso, which was covered
by dense forest, had been the traditional home of Konso people while the low-lying environment along Sagan and Woyito
river valley served as hunting grounds.
• Agriculture was and remains to be the major economic activity of the Konso. Farmers practiced a fairly balanced and
integrated system of specialized agricultural technology
• Besides agriculture, Konso’s economy depended on bee-keeping and craftworks. All of these activities attest the ingenuity
of local adaptation strategies.
• Until the late nineteenth century, the Konso people lived in walled villages namely Karati Turo and Takati which were
further divided into wards (Kanta)
• Each village was ruled by a council of elders called hayyota who were selected through direct participation of male
members of the village. Membership to the council was not hereditary but rotated every eighteen years.
• The Konso were divided into nine exogamous clans namely Toqmaleta, Elayta, Saudata, Pasanta, Kertita, Ishalayta,
Mahaleta, Tikisayta and Argamyta. Meanwhile, male members of each Konso village were divided into generation sets
called xhelta.
• The xhelta had fixed cycle of years starting from birth, although they varied across villages- eighteen in Karat, nine in
Takati and five in Turo. The major function of the generation set was informing the responsibilities expected of each age
group.
Konso
• /Xonso (ኮንሶ)
Semitic states
The Emirate of Harar
• one of the earliest Muslim centers in the region of Ethiopia and the Horn.
• In the sixteenth century, Harar became the capital of Walasma of Adal replacing Dakkar until 1577 when it was shifted to
Awsa due to the pressure from the Oromo.
• Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim used Harar as a center from where he launched his campaigns into the Christian kingdom in
1527.
• The Oromo had begun to occupy Harar plateau and the famous Harar wall was built to defend the city. Harar became a
walled city where the sultanate of the Harari developed.
• In the mid seventeenth century, Emir Ali ibn Da‟ud (r. 1647-1662,) in cooperation with the Oromo established a dynasty
which was to rule for nearly two centuries and a half. It was strengthened by Amir's like Abdul Shakur (1783-94)
• Its economic power grew as it controlled trade routes from the Gulf of Aden ports of Zeila and Berbera.
• Its authority was established over the surrounding Oromo and Somali through trade, inter-marriage and expansion of
Islamic teachings
• Egyptians were attracted by such a prominence that they sent an expeditionary force in 1875 and controlled the emirate
for nearly a century. Although it was later restored, Menelik's expansion to the region shortly followed in 1887
Shawan Christian Kingdom
• Medieval Christian state centered in Shawa before it moved to the north during the wars between the Christian kingdom
and Muslim sultanates and the Oromo expansion of the sixteenth century
• The new northern state center maintained links with the Shawan region for some time
• Local powers started emerging in areas like Merhabete and Bulga and later Menz got prominence controlling not only
Amhara but also Oromo to the south and southwest.
• “Solomonic” dynasty of Shawa Amhara was formed by the Menz ruler Warada Qal Negasi Kristos (r.1696-1703) and
eventually controlled districts like Asandabo, Debdabo, Makfud and Yifat
• The second king was Merid Azmatch Sebestie/Sebastyanos (1703-1718). Abuye/ Abiyye (1718-45) made Haramba, his
capital and tried to subjugate surrounding Oromo before he was killed by Karrayu Oromo
• In addition to his unsuccessful attempts to control Afars and Abitchu Oromo, Amaha Iyesus/ Amayyes (r.1745-75) declared
authority over Bulga, Efrata, Menz and Tegulet with his capital at Doqaqit which later shifted to Ankober.
• Asfa Wosen (r.1775-1808) conquered Antsokia, Asbo, Gedam, Gishe, Merhabete, Morat and Shawa Meda
• The dynasty became very strong under negus Sahle-Sellasie (r.1813-47), the grandfather of Emperor Menilek II. In his reign
many travelers visited Shawa and he even signed “treaty of friendship and commerce” with the British in 1841.
• Shawa’s economy was mainly based on agriculture supplemented by trade and craft. Near the capital, Ankobar, there was
an important trade center in Aleyu Amba administered by the Shawan court
Gurage
• The Gurage live in southwestern Ethiopia, surrounded by the Awash and Gilgel Gibe Rivers(a tributary of the Omo River)
on the north and southwest respectively, and Lake Ziway on the east
• According to local traditions, the groups that are subsumed under the term Gurage originated in northern Ethiopia as the
descendants of military conquerors.
• The main Gurage clans and their sub-divisions are the following;
• Inor group (Inor, Enner, Endegegna, Gyeto and Mesemes),
• Chaha group (Chaha, Muher, Ezha, Gumer and Gura)
• Kistane group (Aymallal, Dobbi, Gordana, Gogat and Galila)
• Additional groups included: Gadabano, Masqan and Nurana.
• The staple crop in Gurage land is enset
• The Gurage had traditional system of governance developed over the centuries.
• Gurage's notable customary modes of governance include the Yajoka Qicha and the Gordanna Sera.
Gurage
•
Thank you