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Processes of Ethnic Interaction and Integration in Ethiopian History: the Case of the Agaw1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Taddesse Tamrat
Taddesse Tamrat
Affiliation:
Addis Ababa University
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Extract

The earliest documents available on the Ethiopian region, in the form of Greek and Ge'ez inscriptions, give a general picture of considerable ethnic and linguistic diversity in a relatively small area of northern Ethiopia. One of the ethnic groups referred to then and subsequently, with remarkable continuity from pre-Aksumite times until the present day, is the Agaw. Different sections of the Agaw seem to have constituted an important part of the population occupying the highland interior of northern Ethiopia from ancient times. In the early days of the gradual formation and consolidation of the Aksumite state, they seem at first to have been peripheral to the process, which was clearly dominated by the Semitic-speaking inhabitants of the area. Later, however, they assumed an increasing importance, so much so that they eventually took over political leadership, establishing the great Zagwe dynasty. The dynasty lasted for about two hundred years, and transmitted the institutions as well as the cultural and historical traditions of Aksum, almost intact, to later generations.

The exact processes of this development cannot be reconstructed for those early days. Instead, this article is a preliminary attempt to understand the integration of the Agaw into the state and society of the Ethiopian empire over hundreds, even thousands of years, by considering a relatively recent period in the history of the Agaw in the northern and north-western parts of Gojjam. The considerable sense of history which the people of this area possess, going back to the time of its conquest and conversion in the seventeenth century, together with the existence of written materials for the period, provide an opportunity to study a particular example of the entry of the Agaw into the civilization of Christian Ethiopia which may throw light upon the more distant past of their ancestors.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 29 , Issue 1: Special Issue in Honour of ROLAND OLIVER , March 1988 , pp. 5 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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References

2 For instance, JE 1370 at the National Museum, Addis Ababa; and Deutsche Aksum-Expedition (hereafter cited as DAE) (Berlin, 1913), IVGoogle Scholar, inscription no. 11.

3 Drewes, A. J., Inscriptions de l'Ethiopie antique (Leiden, 1962), 98.Google Scholar

4 The antiquity of the existence of these two groups in northern Ethiopia is attested by, for example, DAE, IV, inscription no. 11, where the Barya are mentioned.

5 McCrindle, J. W., The Christian Topography of Cosmas (London, 1897), 57–66.Google Scholar

6 DAE, IV, inscriptions nos. 4, 6, 7, 10, 11.

7 Ullendorf, E., The Ethiopians, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1965), 39.Google Scholar

8 Sellassie, Sergew H., Ancient and Medieval History of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, 1972), 68.Google Scholar

9 Rossini, C. Conti, La langue des Kemants en Abyssinie (Vienna, 1912), 286Google Scholar; Cowley, R., ‘The Kunfäl people and their language’, Ethiopian Studies, IX, 2 (1971), 102.Google Scholar The Amharic wiha for ‘water’ is of the same origin.

10 Sergew reports the existence of a well to the north-east of Aksum, also called Mayshum (‘water-chief’). This term is completely Semitic, though with the same meaning as that proposed for Aksum, which is probably older. Ancient and Medieval History, 68.

11 For the considerable time-depth of Agaw history in this area, see Ehret's, Christopher seminal study, ‘Cushitic prehistory’, in the Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia, ed. Bender, L. M. (MSU, 1976), 85–96.Google Scholar

12 McCrindle, , Christian Topography, 61–2.Google Scholar Cf. also Rossini, C. Conti, ‘Appunti sulla lingua Khamta dell' Averghelle’, Giornale delta Società Asiatica Italiana, XVII, 2 (1905), 183, n. 1.Google Scholar

13 DAE, IV, inscription no. 11.

14 Ibid., lines 6–8.

15 McCrindle, , Christian Topography, 52–3Google Scholar

16 Tamrat, Taddesse, Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270–1527 (Oxford, 1972), 25–6.Google Scholar

17 Ibid., 53–4.

18 Tamrat, Taddesse, ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’, in Oliver, Roland (ed.), Cambridge History of Africa, III (Cambridge, 1977), 112–22.Google Scholar

19 This has consisted of visits to the area, conversing with Agaw elders, thus collecting relevant and accessible oral and written materials, as well as rechecking earlier published data.

20 Cf. Ehret's interesting suggestion of ancient Agaw occupancy even in the Danakil lowlands: ‘Cushitic prehistory’, 89–90, 93.

21 See my ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’, 125–8.

22 Rossini, Conti, ‘Appunti sulla lingua Khamta’, 183–242.Google Scholar I still maintain the reservations expressed in Church and State, 28, n. 3.

23 This apparently includes what Professor Tubiana once called Kaylagna in his ‘Note sur la distribution géographique de dialects Agaw’, in Albospeyre, et al. (eds.), Mer Rouge-Afrique Orientate (Paris, 1959), 304–5.Google Scholar It probably suggests a long and continuous interaction in the direction of Simen and Wogera between Agaw speakers living on the two sides of the river. Cf. the recent study by Appleyard, D., ‘A grammatical sketch of Khamtanga’, pt. I, Bull. S.O.A.S., L, 2 (1987), 241–66Google Scholar; pt. II, Ibid., 3 (1987), 470–507.

24 See Appleyard, D., ‘The Agaw languages: a comparative morphological perspective’, Eighth Int. Conf. Ethiopian Studies (Addis Ababa, 1984), 20–1.Google Scholar

25 Cowley, , ‘Kunfäl’, 99–106.Google Scholar

26 The Falasha were rejected for being skilled artisans and for their Judaism; the Qimant, for their renown as idolators; and the Kunfel, for living and intermarrying with the Shankilla. Both ‘Qimant’ and ‘Kunfel’ have pejorative connotations.

27 Menghistu, Taddesse, ‘The noun phrase in Awgni’ (M.A. Thesis, Addis Ababa, 1984), 3.Google Scholar Aleqa Taye has recorded this tradition in his The History of the Ethiopian People (Asmara, 1921)Google Scholar, in Amharic. It seems that many of our informants had access, direct or indirect, to this work. It is here, and in conversation with Agaw elders, that their first ancestor is called Adil, son of Yitrham and grandson of King David of Israel. He accompanied his cousin, Menelik I, on his way back from Jerusalem, and was assigned to settle in and rule over Lasta. It is from there, they say, that all the Agaw dispersed, in various directions.

28 Most informants say that these names have been somewhat deformed by Amharic speakers, and attempt to give slightly different versions. They also give folk etymologies for most of these names, and suggest that the meanings indicate developments in Agaw history.

29 This is almost certainly derived from Gedle Lalibela (Life of Lalibela), which does not, however, talk of Harbe's migration to Gojjam! Cf. also my Church and State, 61.

30 See my ‘A short note on the traditions of pagan resistance to the Ethiopian Church’, Ethiopian Studies, x, 1 (1972), 141–5.Google Scholar Chuhay is nowadays canonized as a Christian martyr who died for the faith, in the traditions of the Christian Agaw. One informant actually reported the existence of a Gedle Chuhay (Life of Chuhay), which we are still trying to locate!

31 Guidi, I., ‘Le canzoni Ge'ez-Amarina in onore di re abissini’, Rendiconti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, ser. 4, IV (1889), 55.Google Scholar

32 Cerulli, E., Gli atti di Tekle Alfa, ed. and trans, in Annali, II (1943), 37.Google Scholar

33 Bruce, James, Travels to Discover the Sources of the Nile (Edinburgh, 1790), 111, 375.Google Scholar

34 Rossini, C. Conti, ed. and trans., Historia Regis Sarsa Dengel (Paris, 1907), 113–5.Google Scholar

35 Ibid., 116–7.

36 Pereira, F. M. E., Chronica de Susenios (Lisbon, 1892–1900), 102, 107–8.Google Scholar

37 The Itinerario of Jeronimo Lobo, ed. and trans. Lockhardt, D. M., Costa, M. G. Da and Beckingham, C. F. (London, 1984), 227.Google Scholar

38 Basset, R., Etudes sur l'histoire d'Ethiopie (Paris, 1882), 29–33.Google Scholar

39 Ibid., 32.

40 Ibid., 33.

41 Guidi, I., Annates Iohannis I, Iyasu I et Bakaffa (Paris, 1903), 11–16, 17, 37.Google Scholar

42 Ibid., 12. Almost all these are still used as place names in the area, and are easily identifiable.

43 Ibid., 15.

44 ‘Gedle (acts of) Tetemqe Medhin’, f 49r. This is an unpublished MS discovered recently in Metekkel. Written in 1680 by a contemporary of the saint, it is of considerable importance to the history of the period. We hope to publish a preliminary note on the work in Annates d'Ethiopie.

45 Guidi, , Annates Iohannes I, 17.Google Scholar

46 Idem, Annates…Iyasu I, 156–7.

47 See n. 42 above.

48 This story was narrated to us during the long and useful interviews we had with Qegnegeta (Master of the Right) Tessema Jembere, a 79-year-old official of the local church who had also served as a schoolteacher for many years. The church title ‘master of the right’ is essentially derived from the organization of the mediaeval royal court, divided between numerous officials of the right and of the left: cf. my Church and State, 269–74.

49 Guidi, , Annates Johannes I, 12.Google Scholar

50 Ibid., 66, 106, 206, 222.

51 Ibid., 104, 218; Basset, , Etudes, 52, 53.Google Scholar Local Agaw traditions also give particular prominence to the Kwakwra, whose very name literally means ‘ Kill and die!’, and is the epitome of courage and military valour. Elders said that Kwakwra was the Fitawrari of the Agaw.

52 See n. 30 above.

53 Guidi, , Annates Iohannes I, 46.Google Scholar

54 Guidi, , Annates…Iyasu I, 142.Google Scholar

55 Ibid., 171–4, 177–8.

56 Ibid., 220.

57 Ibid., 177–8, 225, 226.

58 ‘Gedle Tetemqe Medhin’; see n. 44 above.

59 Basset, , Etudes, 61–2.Google Scholar

60 Ibid., 62–3.

61 The importance of this general area for its gold has been noted since the days of the sixth-century traveller Cosmas: McCrindle, , Christian Topography, 52–3.Google Scholar However, the problem of the identification of the specific region meant by Cosmas has not been fully resolved; and opinions have been weighted more in favour of the widely known territory of Fazogli in the modern Republic of the Sudan. Nevertheless, the contiguous Ethiopian provinces of western Wollega and western Gojjam, on either side of the Blue Nile, have always been an important source of gold: cf. Triulzi, Alessandro, Salt, Gold and Legitimacy (Naples, 1981), 58–62.Google Scholar The chronicles of the kings of Gondar have many references to this; and in the case of the Gumuz areas of western Gojjam, the local administrative archives clearly show that the people there paid their taxes in gold until 1942.

62 Bruce, , Travels, 11, 662.Google Scholar