A Short History of the Hadiya People of
Southern Ethiopia:
From Their Origin to the Revolution of 1974
Compiled by Tesfaye
Habisso
“A nation without a past
is a lost nation. And a
people without a past is
a people without a soul.”
{Sir Seretse Khama, first
President of Botswana, 1966}
Foreword
From time immemorial, Ethiopia had been a museum of many peoples of
diverse origins. For me as well as for many Ethiopians a comprehensive history
of these peoples has always been a kind of romantic, unreachable dream. No
historian worthy of the name has yet attempted to tackle this challenging task.
Most of the hitherto written history of Ethiopia which begins in the
later Middle Ages from the pens of monks and court historians and whose main
purpose is the laudation of Abyssinian kings does not deal with the
comprehensive history of Ethiopia and the Ethiopians at large. It does not
particularly touch upon the history of the regions and peoples incorporated to
the Abyssinian empire-state by Emperor Menelik II towards the end of the 19th
century except the nature of the subjugation and oppression of these
‘colonized’ peoples and regions by the successive emperors of northern
Ethiopia.
These regions though they had their own independent kingdoms, sultanates
and other loosely confederated traditional polities had no written languages of
their own; they had no court historians and thus no written history. Hence, it
will be the duty of historians, particularly those from these regions, to write
the history of their peoples before the ‘living reference libraries of these
nations’—the numerous aged elders amongst the people possessing immense
information about the past of their respective peoples and clans—pass away,
leaving no reliable source material for the generations to come. Many outsiders
have attempted to write the history of Ethiopia and the Ethiopians based on
inadequate data and information, and sometimes relying on incorrect secondary
sources and hearsay. On this point the Ethiopians themselves, I believe,
would/should have quite a lot to say and say it clear and loud now.
This manuscript on the history of the Hadiya nation however is not a
pioneering historical document or research work produced by me; it is primarily
a compilation of scattered secondary or written records by missionaries,
historians and administrators as well as oral accounts by Hadiya elders from
different parts of the Hadiya area concerning this great nation which , I hope,
will help for writing a comprehensive history of the Hadiya nation. Be this as
it may, writing the history of a non-literate people based on oral traditions
is a very difficult and sensitive issue—a complex and complicated project
fraught with controversies and disagreements. There is no escape from such undesirable
consequences. “All written history is a compound of past and present. There are
no final analyses in history, no universally accepted conclusions. History can
be made to serve every conceivable theory and temperamental peculiarity.” (The
Universal World Reference Encyclopaedia, Consolidated Book Publishers, Chicago,
1964, vol. Vii, p.2477)
It is taking into considerations the above-mentioned precautions and
guidelines that this compiled historical account of the Hadiya nation must be
perused or utilized as a source material for further research. My modest
attempt to present a short history of the Hadiya people, as mentioned earlier,
is based on written historical records and oral accounts by a number of Hadiya
elders over a long period of time. The latter include, inter alia, Kegnazmach
Seyoum Annore, Haile Bubamo Arfichio, Gadore Dijjago, and Wachiso Bonkole from
Sorro Hadiya, Daemo Ababo, Orkatto Boltanno, Abegaz Eshete Haile and Buntesso
Bargode from Badawacho Hadiya, Alemu Woldehanna, Dagna Goiso Sirbamo, Fitamo
Qalbore, Imam Ermolo Handisso of the Lemo Hadiya. Some of these elders are
still alive but most of them are not. First of all, I should admit that I am
not an historian by profession. I however present this short history of the
Hadiya people not for personal fame, nor for riches, nor honours but for
choosing to be who I am and for the recognition and respect of my ethnic
identity and my cultural liberty, which no good man gives up except with his
soul.
I wish someone better qualified than myself had met this need, but
suggestions and persuasions in many directions have so far produced no
satisfactory results. Besides, I remember quite well the bitter memories of
Abebe Abura when he published a small booklet entitled, “ A Short History of
Kambata” (in Amharic) some three decades ago; he was mercilessly condemned and
vilified by many Hadiya and Kambata elites/scholars for writing, allegedly,
inaccurate and fictitious history of the Kambata and Hadiya peoples. No one
appreciated, at least, his maiden effort in writing the history of these
hitherto ‘forgotten’ peoples. Again, no one forwarded any constructive critique
on the book’s contents except hurling negative and destructive innuendos. Ever
since that time, no Hadiya or Kambata historian or any other scholar better
qualified for the task has attempted to write the history of these peoples. “A
burnt child dreads fire” sort of situation took root amongst the elites of
these nations, stifling any novel effort in this regard. This is a paradox no
one can decipher. After all, there is no history that has been/is or can be/
written once and for all even by so-called professional historians, and this is
true for any research work in the field of the social sciences in particular.
No one can claim to have the ultimate wisdom in any area of intellectual
pursuit; no one is omniscient or all knowing. The search for more and more
knowledge and wisdom is a continuous process. This naked truth should guide us
all when we endeavour to produce or peruse any historical document in
particular.
Call it nationalism or anything, I want to see the written history of
the Hadiya people by Hadiya historians themselves. I believe every individual
must be proud of his/her people and his/her ethnic identity; so also, his/her
civic nationalism. And because the history of the Hadiya people has not yet
been dealt with at length by any Hadiya historian so far, I earnestly seek to
provide any available information on the Hadiya, oral or written, that might
help to fill this vacuum. There is no people without history; large or small
every people has its past, its present and its future history. We need to
reminisce our past in order to shape a better today and tomorrow for ourselves
and our children. This is what the southern Ethiopians in general and the
Hadiya in particular must be fully aware of; they must also be aware of the
fact that they are no less, no better Ethiopian than the rest of their
countrymen and women. Thy must write their histories and cherish and nourish it
in order to avoid an identity crisis for themselves and their children. If the
present trend of rapid assimilation into the dominant Amhara culture continues
unabated and so long as we allow the dominant Amharic language drive out the
various minority languages in our multi-lingual Ethiopian State, I am afraid,
there will be no Hadiya or Kambata or any other southern nations to talk about
after a century or two. Before we disappear into nothingness, let us, at least,
write our history and show to the world that there once was a nation called
Hadiya, Kambata, Wolayta, Gurage, Sidama, Gedeo, etc. in this part of the
country. It is in this spirit that I sought to compile and present this brief
history of the Hadiya people to the general public.
A Glimpse At the History of the Hadiya
People
Writing the history of an illiterate people from its genesis to
the present can only be realized when adequate information sources exist. In
the case of the Hadiya, references in written records (medieval Ethiopian
chronicles and Arabic reports) date back as far as the 13th century
and sporadically continue up to the 17th century. Most of the
materials for this monograph, however, are derived from written historical
records by foreigners as well as oral accounts/ traditions collected from
Hadiya elders over a long period of time. For the 19th and 20th
centuries, there are written reports by European travellers, missionaries and
colonialists who refer to the Hadiya. The total fund of information
sources—written records, oral traditions, and to some extent ethnographic
data—enables us to reconstruct a holistic view of the past of this Southern
Ethiopian people.
From the 13th to the 16th centuries the Hadiya
constituted one of the most important political entities of Northeast Africa.
Their coherent territorial block was then shattered by outside forces and its
inhabitants were absorbed by peoples of heterogeneous ethnic stock. At present,
descendants of the old Hadiya can be identified in five different linguistic clusters:
The first
political entity of Hadiya was probably situated on the Harar plateau. From
there it steadily moved westward in the direction of the Lakes region and
established in the westernmost of Islamic states which were combined in the
federation of Zayla. In a written document the name Hadiya was first mentioned
in the Kebra Nagast (“Glory of Kings”), an Ethiopian chronicle dating back to
the 13th century. The people to whom it referred seemed to have been
the hereditary enemies of the Christian empire. When Amda-Tsion I (1314-44)
ruled Ethiopia, the Hadiya were conquered and became tributary to the empire,
but still maintained a certain degree of political independence. Culturally, as
described by Arabic historiographers, they must have been at a relatively high
level, with remarkable agricultural production, one of the biggest armies in
the region, and a well-established trading system. The healing of castrated
slaves and their exportation to the markets of the Islamic world was
particularly noted. According to topographical data collected mainly by
Abul-Fida, the region of Gadab west of the Bale mountains could be identified
as the centre of Hadiya territory in the 14th century. Amda-Tsion’s
successors Dawit I (1382-1413) and Yeshaq (1414-29) were engaged in permanent
wars with their Islamic neighbours which involved heavy losses. After
Zara-Yaqob (1434-68) mounted to the throne, the Christian Ethiopian Empire
reached the climax of its power and extended its political and cultural
influence over large parts of today’s South Ethiopia. Zara-Yaqob married the
Hadiya princess Eleni, one of the most outstanding female personalities in
Ethiopian history, who until her death in 1522 played an active part in
politics and cultural affairs. The chronicle dedicated to Zara-Yaqob reported
extensively the relations between the Christian empire and the Hadiya, whose
sub-tribes were listed there, thus enabling us to verify the historical
continuity of contemporary ethnic groups like the Qabena, Alaba, Ganz, Gadabicho,
and Gudela up to the 15th century.
The evidence from the Abyssynian
chronicles may be summarized as follows. In the reign of Amda tsion (1312-42)
the ruler of Hadya, with title of Amno, was tributary to the king of Abyssinia,
but Sabr ad din, king of Zayla, gained support in his revolt against Abyssinia,
and Hadiya was therefore ravaged by Amda Tsion. In the next century the ruler
of Hadiya was still tributary. ( Ernesta Cerulli, Peoples of South-West
Ethiopia and Its Borderland, London, 1956, p.85). But Mahiqo, the son of the
garad (chief) Mehmad [Bimaddo], refused to pay tribute, organized a conspiracy
against the Ethiopian overlord and attempted to secure the alliance of the
Muslim leading power Adal. The allies of Mahiko were the garad or sub-kings of
the tribes or districts called Gudola, Diho, Hadabo, Haybo, Gonazo, Saga, Gab,
Qaben, Gogala, and Halab. (Ibid, p.86). However, another Hadiya leader, called gadayto
garad, revealed the conspirator’s plans to the emperor and advised him to
entrust the command in the Hadiya country to garad Bamo [Boyamo],
Mehmad’s brother, who had proved to be loyal. Bamo was ordered to Zara-Yaqob’s
residence in Debre Berhan and following a consultation was sent back to his
people with rich gifts and accompanied by troops from the Damot province. After
the surrender of most of the rebellious Hadiya, Mahiqo tried to escape to Adal
with the rest of his partisans, but they were pursued and killed by Bamo’s
warriors. A military colony of the Ethiopian regiment called Bashar Shotal was
established in Hadiya and the troops from Damot who had contributed
considerably to the victory were settled as chawa (men-at-arms, i.e.
military colonists) in the territory of the defeated rebels (Ibid, p.86).
Hadiya continued to be governed in a kind of indirect rule by local garad
who were supervised by the Ethiopian crown, although it hardly differed in
status from a province of the Christian empire.
The facts reported by the chronicle are closely supported by the oral traditions. From the whole fund of information sources it can be concluded that the name Hadiya mainly existed as a political term. A common leadership was lacking, and the population of the state seemed to have been rather heterogeneous, both culturally and linguistically. Parts of the population were Muslim, others apparently were not. In the north an agricultural Semitic (“Adare”)-speaking element seems to have predominated, in the south a more pastoral Cushitic-speaking one. These two ethnic components also constituted the population of the neighbouring states Dawaro, Sharha, Bale, and Ganz.
Under Zara-Yaqob’s successors, Baeda
Maryam (1468-78), Eskinder (1478-94) and Naod (1494-1508) the position of the
Christian empire in its southern dependencies became more and more precarious.
A people from the east, the Maya, distantly related to the Hadiya, overwhelmed
the Ethiopian province of Wag (Woj). Emperor Lebna Dengel (1508-40) interfered
with a civil war of the Hadiya and—for a short period—managed to consolidate the
power of his state in the borderlands. This is documented by European
travellers, who from now onward started to enter the historical scene.
The 16th century began with an
increasing escalation of the Muslim-Christian struggle for domination in
Northeast Africa, which culminated in the long-lasting “holy war” (jihad)
waged by the Muslims of Adal under the leadership of Ahmad b. Ibrahim
(nicknamed Gragn or the left-handed) against the Ethiopian empire. The Hadiya
more or less voluntarily joined the Adalites in 1531, established marriage
relations with their leaders and fought the Christians fiercely until the final
collapse of the Muslim offensive in the battle of Woina Dega by the allied
Ethiopian and Portuguese forces in 1543. There is hardly any other personality
in Ethiopian history with whom so many legends and fantastic folk-tales are
associated as with Ahmad Gragn. One of his generals, Abd an-Nasir, survived in
the memory of the Hadiya, with whom he had been in close cooperation. Warriors
of the Gudela (Weto-gira or Agarosso) sub-tribe gave him considerable support
in occupying the province of Kambata and have continued to settle in that area
up to the present.
After Ahmad Gragn’s death, the
Ethiopian Christians under their emperor Galawdewos (1540-59) initiated a
campaign to re-conquer the lost territories in the south, such as Hadiya and
Dawaro. However, their success remained limited because the people of Adal
proclaimed amir Nur b. Mujahid as leader of a new jihad and again
invaded the Christian state after 1551. The Hadiya apparently played an
important role in the Muslim armies and provoked far-reaching changes in the
ethnic situation. Segments of the Qabena and Alaba migrated southward to what
is now Sidamaland, while other groups crossed the lowlands of the Lakes region
and occupied a territory east of Kambata. The Silti, Ulbarag and related
groups, which originated in the Chercher mountains, after a series of fierce
battles settled in Gurageland and assimilated a considerable part of the
natives from whom they adopted the cultivation of Ensete ventricosum.
The long-lasting military action of the
“holy war”, which did not come to an end before the death of amir Nur in
1568, deeply affected the demographic and cultural situation in Northeast
Africa. Among the territories which had been devastated to the utmost degree
was that of the Hadiya, and in the course of the military campaigns many of its
inhabitants had moved westward to Kambata, Gurage and Woj (Wag), thus leaving a
vacuum in certain areas east of the Rift Valley. These conditions proved to be
favourable to the Oromo people who—as neighbours to the Hadiya—occupied a
highland area south of the upper Ganale. We can only speculate about reasons
why they began to expand so violently beyond the boundaries of their original
country. They first invaded the region of Dallo, where the Hadiya were
completely assimilated but managed to assert a leading position within the
continually enlarging ethnic body of the Oromo. From 1537 onward, they began to
overwhelm the Ethiopian province of Bale, partly inhabited by Christian
settlers and partly by people of Hadiya/Sidama stock. Since both groups were
decimated by the Adalite wars, it was easy for the Oromo to take over political
control and to absorb the autochthons within a short period. A certain dualism,
however, continued to exist, opposing the clans of the “true Oromo” to those of
the mogasa (assimilated), generally called Hadiya. In the second half of
the 16th century the conquering nation crossed the Wabi Shebeli, and
the “Galla[Oromo] storms” pushed as far as Harar and the borderland of Shewa.
The Hadiya were confronted with the alternatives either of submitting to the
Oromo leaders or of being expelled. Thus, Hadiya groups who maintained their
ethnic identity were forced to move westward to the lowlands of the Lakes
region. Having been semi-nomads before, they often gave up agriculture in their
new habitat in favour of a purely pastoral way of life.
During the turbulent decades of the
Oromo expansion, the ancestors of the Sidama people also left their original
domiciles in two different areas—the Maldea group came from Dawaro north of the
Wabi Shebeli bend, the Buche group abandoned their territory Dawa west of the
upper Ganale—and settled in present Sidamaland. Mixing with the native Hofa
they began to constitute a new ethnos, called Sidama, after 1600.
Emperor Sarsa dengel (1563-97) tried in
vain to stop the advance of the Oromo, but he successfully fought the Hadiya
and established Ethiopian supremacy in their country. Apparently, the fate of
the Hadiya was that of being caught in the vice of two opposing
ethnic-political expansions; from the south they were over-run by the
steam-roller of the steadily enlarging Oromo nation, from the north the
Christian forces invaded their area in order to defend the empire from an
advanced position. This is also true for the time of Suseneyos (1607-32) and
Fassil (1632-67). In the middle of the 17th century, the Oromo
occupation of large parts of central Ethiopia finally cut off those areas
between the upper Awash and the Sidama country, where the Hadiya had preserved
their ethnic identity, from the Christian state.
This fact, as well as the expulsion of
the Portuguese by emperor Fassil (1633), resulted in the discontinuation of
written records concerning the peoples south of Shewa. For about two centuries
oral traditions remain the only information sources to reconstruct the past in
that area. During this period of ethnic disturbances and migratory dynamics the
formerly coherent block of the Hadiya split and dispersed to such extent that
the histories of their sub-groups have to be analysed individually. For unknown
reasons the Qabena and Alaba left their homes in Sidamaland about 1720, crossed
the Bilate and settled in the vicinity of the Tembaro. More than half a century
of close contact with this people made them abandon their Semitic (Adare)
language in favour of the Cushitic Kambata-Tembaro idiom. C. 1790 the Qabena
and Alaba proceeded to the region of Wachamo and Guna south of the Gurage
mountains. They were chased from there by the immigration of the Lemo Hadiya
sub-group about 1815, and the Qabena moved northward to Gurage. They crossed
Ennamor and Chaha and finally settled in Zenna-Banner c. 1860. During the 19th
century they underwent a strong Islamic revival and under their leaders Umar
Baksa and Hassan Enjamo they became the dominating political, military and
commercial power in Gurageland.
In their movements as far as the
region of Guna, the Qabena and Alaba had been together, but now their paths
separated. Whereas the former moved northward, the latter fled from the Lemo
invasion to the east, to the country of Ulbarag. After a short stay there, they
struck southward about 1825 and joined their kinsmen, the Ull’Alaba (derived
from ulla=earth; i.e. the homesteading people, in contrast to the roaming
segment called Hassan Alaba after an ancestor), who had occupied a territory
east of the Bilate since the second half of the 16th century.
Another part of the Alaba had mixed with Oromo groups in the area of Duro south
of Lake Langano and constituted a new ethnos named Alabdu. About 1800,
evidently pushed by the Arsi, they left for a region in present Gujjiland east
of Lake Abbaya and were fully Oromized.
Like the Ull’Alaba, the seven groups of
the East Gurage, the Silti, Ulbarag, Azernet, Berbere, Wuriro, Wolanne, and
Gadabano, occupied lands since the 16th century in the western part
of the Rift Valley. As sedentary peasants on the eastern segments of the Gurage
mountains they lived in permanent war with the nomadic Hadiya tribes, the Lemo,
Shashogo, and especially the Maraqo, who prevented them from expanding their
settlements from their narrow domiciles to the neighbouring plains. In the
second half of the 19th century, however, the demographic pressure
in the densely populated mountains had intensified to an extent that the East
Gurage spared no pains to conquer land from the warlike Maraqo. Their effort
was favoured by the establishment of supra-regional political federations
initiated by Islamic leaders.
The Maraqo, against whom the expansion of
the East Gurage was mainly directed, lived as nomads in the lowlands between
the upper Awash and Lake Shalla. During the 19th century they began
to face increasing pressure not only from the East Gurage but also from
advancing Arsi clans in the region of Lake Zway. Although they fiercely
defended their position, the dwelling areas of this pastoral people steadily
decreased.
For a time, the Maraqo had been neighbours
of the Lemo, a Hadiya group descended from the ancient Gudela. Probably during
the Gragn wars they had left their country Wera, which is said to have been
situated near Lake Abbaya, and migrated to the plateau of Albaso west of the
Katar river. About 1700 they left that area to the Arsi and moved down to the
Maraqo lowlands. After an agreement with this people had failed, they proceeded
westward to Ennaqor, chased the Qabena and Alaba and occupied their territory at
the beginning of the 19th century. The Weto-gira, who had been
defeated and dispersed in Kambata, joined the Lemo and strengthened their
force. The Lemo and their new allies (Badogo, Bergage, Haballo, Haysaba, Errera, etc.) began to fight the
Soro, pushed them back to the south and extended their territory up to the Omo
river. Close contact with the Endegagn, a neighbouring Gurage tribe, induced
the semi-nomadic Lemo to start the cultivation of ensete in the middle
of the last century.
The original country of the Soro was Gadab
on the upper Wabi Shebelli. They joined the troops of Ahmad Gragn on his
campaign against the Christian empire—as most of the Hadiya did—and reached as
far as Fatagar north of the Awash. Most probably dislodged by a counter-offensive
of the Ethiopians, they retreated and lived as nomads for about two hundred
years in the lowlands of the Bilate valley. In the second part of the 18th
century their dwelling-areas shifted westward and encompassed the Omo river,
separating the Masmas people from the rest of their Gurage kinsmen. About 1800
the Soro began to invade the country of the Kambata-speaking Dubammo and Donga,
while in the north they had to abandon parts of their land to the advancing
Lemo. The example of the neighbouring Kambata-speaking Dubammo and Donga, while
in the north they had to abandon establishment of a kingship, but the
egalitarian society of the people, which was typical for all Hadiya, made this
attempt abortive.
Genealogically the Soro are closely related
to the Shashogo, both groups claiming descent from Boyamo, famous leader of the
Gadab(icho) Hadiya in the 15th century. However, the original
domiciles of the Shashogo were in Seru, a more easterly region, from which they
moved to Gadab and to Woj (Wag) during the Gragn wars. From about 1600 to the
middle of the 17th century they inhabited the lowland zones south
and southeast of Lake Shalla. When Arsi groups pushed forward from the eastern
escarpment of the Rift Valley, the Shashogo were forced into a steady retreat.
In this situation they received a call for help from the Kambata, who were
severely oppressed by the Weto-gira. Together with their allies, the Urusso,
they crossed the Bilate and defeated the Weto-gira, who took refuge with the
Lemo. About 1770 the Shashogo reached their present dwelling-areas in the
swampy lowlands northeast of Kambata.
After their victory over the Weto-gira, the
Urusso had separated from their allies and turned in the opposite direction,
towards the shores of Lake Abbaya. After their migration from Gadab they had
roamed with their cattle in the Lakes region, where they tried in vain to
resist the advancing Arsi. In their new grazing-areas west of the Bilate, the
Urusso established a federation with another Hadiya group, the Badeoso. This
happened during the two decades of the 18th century. The Badeoso
came from Dallo; they had partly joined the campaigns of the Adalite Muslims up
to Shewa and were later mostly assimilated by the Oromo. Together with the
Urusso they constituted a new ethnos, which became known as Badawacho. At the
end of the 19th century they were joined by remnants of the
dispersed Weto-gira, especially by members of the clan Haballo. When the
Badawacho took possession of the land between Bilate and Omo, the dwelling-areas
of the Wolayta people were still
restricted to a small mountainous district in Kindo. However, by means of
diplomacy, marriage relations, treachery and war, the Wolayta succeeded in the
course of the 19th century in pushing the Badawacho steadily back to
the north and in occupying most of their land. Parts of the Hadiya population
were assimilated by the Wolayta.
The lowlands of the Lakes region and the
mountainous districts between Bilate and Omo became a refuge for all those
Hadiya groups who preserved their ethnic identity. A considerable part of the
Hadiya—as already mentioned—were absorbed by the expanding Oromo and became
actively engaged themselves in expelling their kinsmen who refused to submit to
the suzerainty of the Oromo leaders (abba gada). Among the Arsi in their
huge dwelling-areas extending from Lake Zway to the bend of the Wabi Shebelli
and from the upper Awash to the Ganale, a political and cultural dualism
developed. On the one hand there was a minority called “Oromo”, from whom the
leaders of the gada system were exclusively recruited, and on the other
hand there was a majority of “Hadiya” clans (amounting to about two thirds),
who showed a considerable Islamic influence. According to the traditional
patterns of Arsi culture they were regarded as on a lower level than the “true
Oromo” (sometimes called Borana), but the more Islam penetrated and the
sanctuary of Sheik Hussien in Bale emerged as the centre of pilgrimage for the
whole country, the more the original distinction within the ethnos diminished.
In the Lakes region the process of
Oromization at the expense of the Hadiya steadily continued during the last
century, and it seemed to have been a question of time until the process was
complete. The Maraqo for instance were just on the way to join the Arsi and
thus more or less automatically giving up their language and cultural
individuality. In this situation a new political factor appeared on the scene,
the Christian kingdom of Shewa, which actively initiated a southward expansion
of its territory from the 1870s. After king Menelik had become emperor of
Ethiopia in 1889, the imperialistic pressure on the southern peoples increased
and finally led to their subjugation. The Hadiya were among the first to be
struck by the military campaigns of the Christians from the north, generally
called Amhara after their dominant ethnic group.
The Qabena agreed to a status of tributary
allies and supported a Shewan campaign to loot the Gurage country in 1876. The
East Gurage accepted Menelik’s suzerainty three years later; the Maraqo,
however, resisted and were not defeated until 1882. The governor of the newly
established Ethiopian province of Soddo and Gurage, Dajjazmach Wolde Ashagre,
started the conquest of the Hadiya/Kambata area in 1886, but the enterprise was
interrupted by a rebellion of the Qabena, whose leader Hasan Enjamo proclaimed
a “holy war” against the Christians. It took the Amhara almost three years to
break the stubborn resistance of the jihad fighters. Whilst ras Gobana
Dache commanded the operations west of the Rift Valley, Menelik II himself led
a zamacha (campaign) against the Arsi in 1886/87. The Amhara conquered
and pillaged the land up to the Wabi Shebelli and finished the subjection of
this people with a campaign in Bale in 1890-92. Between 1889 and 1893 the
Hadiya tribes west of the Bilate, the Lemo, Shashogo and Soro, were defeated.
The Badawacho took refuge with the Wolayta, but could enjoy their independence
only up to 1894. At the end of this year a large military expedition, commanded
by the emperor himself, set out from Shewa to Wolayta to overcome the last
stronghold of resistance in that part of the country.
Menelik’s conquests were favoured to some
extent by natural catastrophes which apparently weakened the defensive power of
the South Ethiopian peoples. Between 1889 and 1891, rinderpest exterminated
almost all cattle in that area and deprived the pastoral Hadiya of their
essential means of livelihood. In order to survive the famine they had to adopt
agriculture, but nevertheless the loss of human life was immense. The
disastrous situation was aggravated by an outbreak of smallpox and cholera in
Northeast Africa, which reached a climax in the period between 1890 and 1892.
The simultaneous occurrence of famine, epidemics and war effected such a
demographic diminution that it took a long time for some populations to recover
from their losses.
After their conquest by the Christian
empire a new chapter in the history of the southern peoples began, bringing
unprecedented change in their socio-economic base. The annexation of the south
has mostly been glorified by historians as an act of unification of modern
Ethiopia, but from the viewpoint of the subjected ethnic groups it was
considered as an act of colonialist expansion, which in its degree of
oppression apparently surpassed European imperialism in Northeast Africa. In
general, the conquered peoples were degraded to a status of so-called gabbar,
i.e., serfs of the state, a system varying in certain details from province to
province. In the Hadiya-occupied areas a number of local families were attached
to the soldiers of Menelik’s army who were mostly of Amhara origin and whom
they had to supply with food and socage service. Thus, between five and ten gabbar
households had to serve a commoner and dozens or even hundreds the various
ranks of officers. These occupants were generally called naftagna
(gun-bearers). Only the traditional chiefs of the natives kept their positions
as independent land-owners (balabat), and –to maintain their
privileges—they were expected to act as agents for the new political authority.
The administration of the occupied areas
was thus established on a quasi-feudal foundation. For those regions inhabited
by Hadiya the division in the governmental districts dates back to the 1880s
when Menelik II initiated the creation of the province Soddo and Gurage. In the
decade before the turn of the century the territorial organization in the
middle parts of South Ethiopia was differentiated, and the Hadiya were
allocated to the provinces of Gurage, Kambata, Arussi (Arsi), Sidamo-Jemjem,
Koromoso, Bale and Ogaden. For purposes of civil administration and military
control, the Ethiopian government established urban centres, so-called katama
at strategically suitable places. Most of the naftagna population used to live and to receive the tribute from their gabbar
there. Townlike conglomerations had been unknown before, and this fact favoured
the development of the katama into
commercial centres. Although the Amhara occupation led to a general
impoverishment of the autochthons, it effected at the same time, at least in
certain respects, cultural innovations and approaches towards dynamic cultural
change. For example, the plough and new domesticated plants (teff, potatoes,
flax, etc.) were introduced, and the southern peoples became participants in a
larger socio-economic and political system.
Ethiopian colonial rule in the Hadiya
country almost collapsed for a short period, when, after the death of Menelik
II, a civil war greatly disturbed the whole empire. The party of the designated
ruler, Lij Eyasu, was defeated in 1916 by an alliance mainly recruited from the Amharic governors and troops from south
Ethiopia. To fight the decisive battle the garrisons had to march northward to
Sagale in Shewa, thus leaving a military vacuum in their provinces. The Hadiya,
the Kambata and the other neighbouring peoples used this occasion to rebel
against their naftagna masters and to
incite warlike conflicts with neighbouring ethnic groups. It was not until 1919
that the Ethiopian government regained full control in the Lakes region.
The period from the end of the civil war
to the invasion by troops of fascist Italy was characterized by a consolidation
of naftagna rule, which nevertheless continued to be opposed with
stubborn hostility by the Hadiya, by economic difficulties and by the beginning
of missionary activities—American Protestants were engaged as well as Roman
Catholics from Europe—in the provinces of Kambata, Wolayta, Sidamo, and Arsi. A
decree against the slave trade, which was widely practised in Hadiya country,
proved to rather ineffective.
The situation in the Hadiya areas
immediately became precarious for the Ethiopian government when the Italians
started to realize their dream of an East African colonial empire in October
1935. The Amharic garrisons were mobilized to fight the fascist invaders at the
fronts in Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. This time, the local balabat
(chief) had to join the armed forces as fighters, and additionally many natives
were recruited as porters and servants. As soon as the news of disastrous
defeats of the imperial armies on both fronts reached South Ethiopia in the
spring of 1936, the indigenous populations of Kambata, Arsi, Sidamo, and Bale
rose against those naftagna reserves, who kept the Ethiopian positions
in the katama of the southern provinces. Armed with modern weapons but
hopelessly outnumbered by the autochthonous peoples, many of the colonists,
women and children included, were killed. In general they managed, however, to
regain military control in the Hadiya country because simultaneously
inter-ethnic wars broke out, and the naftagna won the Gurage and Wolayta
as allies against the Kambata, Hadiya, Arsi and Sidama. The advance of Italian
troops in the Lakes region exterminated the last pockets of imperial Ethiopian
resistance in February 1937.
The short period of European colonial
occupation was quite important for socio-economic development in South
Ethiopia. The gabbar system was abolished and taxes were reduced by the
Italians in order to gain the confidence and support of those peoples who had
been traditionally hostile to the imperial government. For this purpose also
the propagation of Islam was stimulated, and a remarkable expansion of this
religion can indeed be noted in the Arsi areas. However, through their measures
to recruit people for the construction of their colonial roads and
transportation system, the European occupants created considerable opposition.
Fascist occupation in East Africa rapidly
collapsed after Italy entered World War II in 1940. In May/June of the
following year British troops, supported by Ethiopian patriots, pushed the
Italians out of the Lakes region and pushed them in the direction of Jimma.
With the exception of auxiliaries who fought on both sides (i.e. for the
Italians as well as for the British), the Hadiya stayed neutral during these
combat operations. Tribal conflicts, however, especially between Arsi and
Sidama, Badawacho and Wolayta, again troubled the whole area, and peace in
South Ethiopia was not definitely concluded before 1943.
Haile Sellassie I, re-established in his
position as emperor after the victory, strove to restore the authority of the
state and to reorganize its governmental system. Collaborators with the
Italians were punished—from the Hadiya for instance a certain portion of cattle
was confiscated—whereas the patriots and other people who had been loyal to the
crown during the time of foreign occupation received munificent gifts of land
in the southern provinces. In this way a new type of large landed property was
introduced, creating a cleavage between landlords who possessed the land as
their private holdings (called riste-gult in Shewa and other areas) on
the one hand and landless autochthons (Hadiya and others) who had to earn their
livelihood as tenants on the other hand. The gabbar system with its
socage duties was officially abolished. The new situation, however, did not at
all conduce to a solution of social problems, but rather perpetuated injustice
and poverty. In the areas of Kambata and Arsi the proportion of rented land and
absentee landlords was one of the highest in the whole empire. The Orthodox
Ethiopian church not only maintained the huge grants awarded to it for purpose
of usufruct (gult rights called samon in this special case) after
the conquest, but even extended its territories and benefited additionally from
freedom from taxes. During the 1960s some initiatives were stimulated in
favour of the tenants and in order to induce more justice into the system of
taxation. But all attempts in this direction failed because of the powerful
lobby of landlords.
Meanwhile, the population, especially in
the areas of ensete cultivation of the sub-province Kambata, increased to such
an extent that the scarcity of arable land became more and more serious. The
density of population occasionally passed 300 per sq. km.; the uprooting of the
original vegetation incessantly intensified the process of soil erosion, and
the situation of food production tended to become more and more precarious.
Because of the extension of cultivated land the pastoral areas and the number
of cattle diminished, thus leading to an increasing lack of animal products. At
the same time, measures for the modernization of agriculture potentially gave
rise to destructive consequences of the rural population. Especially in Arsi
and Alaba, the introduction of tractors and other agricultural machines often
resulted in the expulsion of tenant families by the land-lords. In those areas
the profit from mechanized farming proved to be higher than by renting the land
to people working with primitive methods. In 1973, when the harvest of crops
and coffee was bad, when ensete was harmed by frost and sicknesses, and when
the animals in the lowland areas suffered from drought, tensions and acts of
violence between the local Hadiya and naftagna landlords reached an
alarming stage. Revolution was in the air in those regions before it openly
broke out in the capital Addis Ababa in February of the following year. The
programme of land reform, proclaimed by the new military government in 1975,
was enthusiastically accepted by the Hadiya and the other neighbouring peoples
in the beginning. However, disputes about its realization soon provoked violent
conflicts with the political authorities. The chronicle of events after the
revolution is beyond the scope of this analysis.
Appendix I
List of Hadiya Sub-Groups and Clans
According to
the Hadiya elders mentioned in the ‘foreword’ section of this manuscript, the
ten renowned great ancestors of the Hadiya nation are the following:
Boyamo, Lemmo,
Badogo, Haballo, Bergage, Hojje, Wayyabo, Badawacho, Hayiba and Bimado
(Maraqo).
The Hadiya sub-groups and clans as told by the Hadiya elders are the
follwing:
A) Qabena
Abbakirro,
Abosarri, Abrimo, Adoshe, Amfota, Annashako, Azzobada, Bammade, Buko, Dameta,
Damo, Darimu, Dula, Ganz, Ganz-Ajammo, Gasora, Jawara, Gulchata, Hojjicho,
Qabena-Ajamo, Kanasa, Katbare, Konnaza, Magarra, Majjinna, Maimota, Midda,
Milmilla, Nibbo, Saffato, Taram, Torroda, Torobora, Wollate, Zobechi-Miken
B) Alaba
Abbakirro, Bukanna, Darimu, Kitabo, Kolminne, Nagada,
Shammanna,
Saffato, Side,
Torombora, Wosherminne, Wushirra
C) East-Gurage
1. Azernet-Berbere
Abecho, Abossari, Allakiro, Arado,
Ganderera, Kachane, Kaisha,
Kalisha, Koroffta, Mulanye, Samardino,
Shandar, Sillasse, Toko,
Abbake, Abbe, Abbio, Adangazzo, Azobada,
Dao, Farraze,
Gammasho, Gololcha, Karge, Koroffta,
Laglajjo, Sabute, Subbo,
Wosherminne, Yobo’o, Zebadda
2. Maraqo
Abache, Ajjanne, Aggabelo, Allimanna, Allo,
Aisammo, Bamo,
Chumanna, Futo, Garore, Giranno, Gubrano, Habalcho,
Hallibo,
Hondorabba, Horosho,
Immarro, Maiyo, Nasro, Occha, Shammana,
Sadde, Usme, Waremanna, Wogarro
D) Lemo
Abdacho (Adbejo), Ade’e, Aikoanna, Arriyanna, Awudo, Badaro, Chaware,
Degagmanna, Daneore, Dicho, Jammo, Gindo, Gitore, Hagenanna, Hetero,
Kataro, Likewo, Magaro, Marredo, Mayiraro, Mochoso, Odro, Oso’anna,
Shake, Saworre, Warre, Were, Witto, Yabe’e, Lqqibo,
Hadumo, Mochoso,
Gammo, Yabb’e, Oche, Hayiba, Bergage, Mura’e
E) Soro
Ajjaranna, Allabo, Amacho, Baleanna,
Dabiyaga, Dilleanna, Efo, Gasore, Shakanmanna, Bunaye, Bosha, Wayabo, Habaloso,
Sommicho, Mariboso, Debbo, Lattaboso, Meshera, Salleoso, Arriyanna, Hayiba,
Dabiyaga, Hegananna, Burriymanna, Wesheshmanna, Wittamoso, Mande, Tulamo,
Tibeoso, Libo-oso, Aggeoso, Qereoso, Hantache, Wabetoso, Achilanna, Witto,
Allagicho, Yarabo, Baramo, Amaneya, Wonoanna, Bureoso, Daggisoso, Erera,
Addeanna, Jawaro, Godicho, Gutticho,
Haddeanna, Harboiye, Libisho, Losho, Mirrore,Moche, Morebanna, Orde, Shabe,
Shabucho, Sarrore, Usmano, Wogianna, Wonoanna
F) Weto-Girra (Aggar-Osso)
1. Badogo
Abbayo,
Baiso, Basmanna, Eriyamo(Mere), Holbatmanna, Lamore,
Mayo (Maya), Tarbebo
2. Haballo
Ankatmanna,
Bochoso, Dadagge, Damote, Hawiso, Ichachira, Samano
G) Shashogo
Annosicho, Danniye, Shokmole, Taracho, Wushiro
H) Badawacho
Burr’e( Aburre), Annimanna, Baboso, Ene, Bohalmanna, Burre, Essukanoso, Gonno, Ankate, Damote, Hawise,
Ichachira, Samano, Bachoso, Dadage, Bergage, Hayiba, Haysaba, Erera, Masawa,
Badoge, Dadache, Hitteoso, Wicha, Admanna, Laaroso, Mayoso, Bohalmanna, Essuke,
Herogara, Ansome, Weto’o, Dawe, Abboye, Abbamanna, Wogo
Handero, Herogara, Iddiymanna, Iggomanna, Laroso, Maiyoso,
Maranchoso, Meshera, Moche, Nugg’e, Oiye’e, Wogarro, Ansomoso,
Bibichmanna, Bosha, Daggeoso, Dawe, Effoanna, Hattirmanna, Hoggo-
anna, Mande, Mirore, Olicho, Salludoso, Tabe, Tarachmanna, Wagesh
-manna, Waiyo, Wicha, Woggo, Woralloso, Gabarra, Haballo, Hojje,
Shammanna (Allujanna)
I)Oromized
Hadiya Clans in Arsi and Ittu-Barentu
Abanna, Abbaymanna, Abosha, Abosara,
Abrone, Aburre, Adamogne,
Adare, Adarsho, Addaymanna, Ajjamo,
Akiya, Alli, Amandala, Amina,
Anjeda, aria, Asalla, Ashmura, Ataba,
Awlijjanna (Allujanna, Shamana),
Aymarra, Badosa, Bahamuda, Basmanna,
Berbere, Bidika, Choffira,
Chatimanna, Dai, Daiyu, Doda, Ego,
Faracho, Farajji, Farsanna,
Funamura, Galamma, Gasalla, Jawara,
Jawi, Jidda, Jilinsha, Gofingra,
Gomora, Habarnosa, Haballo(sa),
Hangeda, Harrimanna, Hawattu,
Hela, Hetosa, Holbatmanna, Huduga,
Hunte, Illani, Insemanna,
Kajjawa, Kalala, Kanchakocha, Keta,
Kolminne, Raywamanna,
Sabirro, Sade, Shafila, Shakmarra,
Salimanna, Shashogoso, Sawadde,
Koma, Korabdo, Lattamanna, Lemu, Lode, Madada, Madarsho,
Meshera, Ngoiye, Oddomanna,
Rahitu, Saymanna, Shedamma, Shella,
Siltanna, Sinanna, Sire, Sole, Soro,
Sudde, Shune, Tammana, Tawajja,
Tijjo, Ub’manosa(Hubmanosa), Wachamanna,
Wagidmanna, Wege,
Werara, Wolashe, Wombanye,
Wonamanna(Wonamtu), Woshermine,
Wonshabira(Woyisibira), Wotisanna,
Yabsanna, Yakumma,
Assalmanna, Doyomanna, Horassumanna,
Tokamanna
H) Hadiya
Clans Assimilated and Living Among the Wolayta
Ansomoso, Bohalmanna, Dawe,
Dodichmanna, Jawaro, Haballoso, Laroso, Maiyoso, Meshera, Moche, Wageshmanna
Some
References