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The Emergence and Consolidation of the Monarchies of Enarea and Jimma in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Mordechai Abir
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Extract

In most of Ethiopia the Galla preserved, to a great extent, their ‘democratic’ traditional social and political institutions until the twentieth century. However, in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, one hears of five Galla centralized despotic monarchies in southwestern Ethiopia. It seems that this was the culmination of a long process by which the authority of the traditional officeholders among the Macha Galla was gradually strengthened. As the Macha became more sedentary, they were greatly influenced by the Sidama among whom they lived and by Muslim merchants from north Ethiopia who settled in the area from the beginning of the nineteenth century. The most famous among the Macha monarchies were Limmu-Enarea and Jimma-Kakka. It is believed that Enarea was established by Bofo (Abba Gomol), the son of Boku, in the first or possibly in the second decade of the nineteenth century. Jimma-Kakka emerged in the 1830s, after a number of Jimma tribes were united by Abba Jifar-Sana.

One is led to believe that the monarchical system was adopted by the Macha tribes in order that they might be better able to take advantage of the revival of trade between southwestern Ethiopia and the coast. Enarea and Jimma clashed continuously, from the late 1830s, over the issue of the revenue from this trade. Finally, in the third quarter of the century Jimma emerged triumphant and Enarea sank again to obscurity.

It is intriguing to speculate on the possible crucial influence of commerce, aided by Sidama tradition and Islam, on the emergence of the Macha Galla monarchies.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , July 1965 , pp. 205 - 219
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1965

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References

1 Meaning in Galla, foreigners, non-Galla. Trimingham, J. S., Islam in Ethiopia (London, 1952), 179, footnote;Google ScholarBeckingham, C. F. and Huntingford, G. W. B., Some Records of Ethiopia 1593–1646 (London, 1954), I. While the term Sidama describes the people of the area, the form Sidamo is the name of a single tribe.Google Scholar

2 It is still debatable whether Kaffa could actually be called a Sidama kingdom.

3 Public Record Office, Foreign Office, Confidential print ‘Abyssinia Correspondence 1846–1868’. Enclosure in No. 12. Plowden, 20.8.1847; DrBeke, C. T., Letters on the Commerce and Politics of Abyssinia, etc. (London, 1852), 7;Google ScholarRuppell, Edward, Reise in Abyssinien (Frankfurt am Main, 1838), 1, 193–4;Google Scholar India Office, Bombay Secret Proceedings, Range Series, No. 388, LXI. No. 2709, 28.4.1841, Commander Nott report; Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, Mémoires et Documents Afrique, LXI. d'Hericourt, Rochet, Voyage to Abyssinia 1847–1849, 233; Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, Correspondance Commerciale et Consulaire (Massawa), I, Degoutin, 20.4.1841.Google Scholar

4 Trimingham, J. S., Islam in Ethiopia, 109; Beckingham, 150–1.Google Scholar

5 Taking office according to the Gada system.

6 d'Abbadie (Bibliothèque Nationale Paris, d'Abbadie Papers, Catalogue France Nouvelle Acquisition, No. 21300, 760) writes that the Abba Boku, the ‘carrier of the sceptre’ is the head of the legislative authority. The Boku, a wooden sceptre, is carried in the Abba Boku's belt. It passes into the hands of the son on the father's death and if the Abba Boku has no son, his wife holds the sceptre and legislates the laws. See also: Massaia, Guglielmo, I miei trentacinque anni di missione nell'a alta Ethiopia (Rome, 1925), III, 60.Google Scholar Bofo-Abba Gomol, who I think was the first king of Enarea, is said to be the son of Boku. See Sir Harris, William Cornwallis, The Highlands of Aethiopia (London, 1844), III, 54–5;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Bibliothèque Nationale Paris, d'Abbadie Papers, Catalogue France Nouvelle Acquisition, No. 21300, 569. One of d'Abbadie's informants (F.N.A., No. 21301, 129), calls Bofo ‘Abba Bokka’ while his son Abba Bagido is called ‘Sultan’.

7 Galla tribes are usually divided into five groups called Gada, each having special communal and political functions associated with it. After being initiated into the first Gada, promotion from one Gada to another is done collectively every eight years. Membership in the Gada is not according to age. A son is initiated into the first Gada only after his father completes a cycle of forty years, having passed through all the classes.

8 Antoine d'Abbadie travelled extensively in Ethiopia between 1838 to 1846. He was the first European in modern times to reach Enarea. He also claimed that he reached the kingdom of Kaffa, where he spent a few days.

9 Moti, d'Abbadie writes (F.N.A., 21300, 759), is the executive authority which the Abyssinians call Negus, but the Galla Moti cannot legislate [laws] and his main duty was to lead the army in battle.

10 On this topic, see Huntingford, G. W. B., The Galla of Ethiopia (London, 1953), 55:Beckingham, I;Trimingham, 199.Google Scholar

11 Regarding the establishment of the monarchy in Enarea see below. Regarding Guma, see DrBeke, C. T., On the Countries South of Abyssinia (London, 1843), 6–7;Google Scholar d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 751–2; Cecchi, E., Da Zaila alle frontiere del Caffa (Rome, 1886–1887), II, 541–2.Google Scholar

12 Cecchi, E., Da Zaila alle frontiere del Caffa, II, 226, 266–7Google Scholar; Massaia, Guglielmo; In Abissinia e fra i Galla (Florence, 1895), 279;Google Scholar G. W. B. Huntingford, The Galla of Ethiopia, 20. Regarding Jimma, see below.

13 India Office, Bombay Secret Proceedings, Lantern Gallery 189, No. 2060 G. para 24, Harris, 5.1.1842; ibid., Report on trade, para. 6.

14 von Katte, A., Reise in Abyssinien im Jahre 1836 (Stuttgart, 1838), 130–1 (1836);Google Scholar Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, Mémoires et Documents Afrique, LXI, 404, Lejean, 15.5.1863; Pellegrino, Matteucci, In Abissinia, 1880, 270Google Scholar; Combeset, E.Tamisier, M., Voyage en Abyssinie (Paris, 1938), 1, 110–11.Google Scholar

15 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, 344, para 166, Oct. 1843; 300, para. 254; 281, para. 126; 271, para. 114; ibid., 23302, 329; Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, Mémoires et Documents Afrique, LXI, 42, Léon des Avanchers, 4.9.1856; Cecchi, 1,478; Guglielmo Massaia: I miei trentacinque anni di missione nell'a alta Ethiopia, II, chap. VIII–IX.

16 d'Abbadie gives confused information regarding their allegiance to the king of Kaffa. See Athenaeum, No. 1042 of 1847, No. 1105 of 1848.

17 Not counting one Faqi from Dar Sale who came to Sakka with a caravan from Gojam. d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21302, 274. See also M. & D., LXIII, 20–1 from 1838.

18 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 643; Guglielmo Massaia, In Abissinia, etc., 207; Cecchi, II, 357; Bieber, Friedrich J., Kaffa: Ein Altkuschitiches Votkstum Inner-Afrikas (Wien, 1923), I, 78–9; II, 508–10.Google Scholar

19 Cecchi, 11, 156.

20 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 569–72.

21 Galla chiefs were usually called after the names of their war horses. Thus Rebu might have been the name of his horse.

22 Dignitary, chief, leader.

23 Possibly the son of the Abba Boku of the Limu. The Abba Boku was in a way a spiritual leader of the tribe. See Trimingham, 192.

24 The Nonno Galla were the bitterest enemies of the Limu. They were semi-nomads and lived in the areas north-east of Enarea.

25 Thus he acquired the name Abba Gomol.

26 King of Enarea 1825–61. See below.

27 No man's land separating each Galla or Sidama territory from its neighbours. See below.

28 Massaia, I miei, IV, 144.

29 Cecchi, II, 557.

30 Massaia, In Abissinia, 165; d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 572.

31 It is claimed that Abba Bagibo was a descendant of Sapera, one of the two Portuguese who settled in Enarea in the sixteenth century, the other being Sigaro. (Massaia, I miei, IV, 144; Cecchi, II, 557; Bieber, Friedrich J., Kaffa: Ein Altkuschitisches Volkstum Inner Afrikas (Wien, 1923), 11, 511; Beckingham, lxi.)Google Scholar It is further claimed by Massaia that the final blow to the Sigaro clan in the competition between the houses of Sapera and Sigaro was given by Abba Gomol (Abba Bagibo's father) in the beginning of the century, and thus Abba Gomol and the Sapera clan were able to establish their authority in the area from Sakka to the south of Sappa. The northern and eastern provinces of Enarea were annexed in the time of Abba Bagibo (Massaia, I miei, IV, 144). It is of course possible that Bofo represented the Sapera clan while Abba Rebu was a Sigaro, and when Bofo emerged supreme, or even before, a political marriage was arranged between the two clans. To ensure the peace, Bofo abdicated and Abba Bagibo, who belonged to both clans, came to power.

32 In a letter to Cardinal Franzoni (F.N.A., 23851, 34), d'Abbadie wrote: ‘From Lofe we came to Enarea, a country which became a kingdom at the beginning of this century.’ In the 1840s, Bofo was still remembered as the Gofta (patron of Limu), and not as Moti or Sapera. d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 223. See also d'Abbadie, 21303, 344, para. 166 (from 1843); Cecchi, II, 156; Trimingham, 201.

33 Journals of the Rev. Messrs. Isenberg and Krapf (London, 1843), 54. See also, India Office, Bombay Secret Proceedings, Lantern Gallery 184. No. 1098, Harris, 7.1.1842.

34 Massaia (In Abissinia), 279, claims that the ruler of Jimma adopted Islam, because this religion favours the idea of an absolute monarchy,

35 ‘Gouma, Inarya et Djemma, ont été fondés à la suite de l'islamisme introduit par les marchands étrangers’, d'Abbadie, Nouvelles Annales de Voyages 1845, III, 99; according to Cecchi, II, 160, Islam in Enarea dates to the first years of the century.

36 Beke, Southern Abyssinia, 5; see also Sir Harris, William Cornwallis, The Highlands of Aethiopia (London, 1844), 111–5;CrossRefGoogle ScholarKrapf, Lewis, Travels and Missionary Labours in East Africa (London, 1860), 65.Google Scholar

37 Beke, Southern Abyssinia, 4; Beckingham, chap. 14, 149 (sixteenth-century Enarea).

38 Cecchi, II, chap. XXXV.

39 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 797. See footnote 6.

40 Massaia, In Abissinia, 282; Massaia, I miei, vi, 61.

41 Cecchi, II, 161, 165.

42 In a similar plague in Goma, two-thirds of the population of Goma died. Triniingham, 128; Massaia, I miei, IV, 144.

43 Massaia, In Abissinia, 284–5.

44 Massaia, In Abissinia, 166.

45 Cecchi, II, 255; Massaia, In Abissinia, 74.

46 Krapf, 64.

47 L.G., 184, No. 1098; Harris, 1.1.1842; Krapf, 64.

48 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 205.

49 According to d'Abbadie (Athenaeum, No. 1105 of 1848), when the caravans were gone most of Sakka huts disappeared. See also Athenaeum, No. 2042 of 5847; d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, 118, para. 55.

50 d'Abbadie, Athenaeum, No. 1041 of 1847; Antoine d'Abbadie, Géographie de l'Ethiopie. 40 (Preface); Cecchi, II, 262.

51 This was done in order to prevent unauthorized people from joining the merchants on departure. d'Abbadie, Géographie, 22 (Preface); d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21302, 389–90.

52 Cecchi, II, 228, footnote I; d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21302, 411–12, 389–90; d'Abbadie, Géographie, 22 (Preface); d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, 112–13. See also below.

53 Cecchi, II, 327. Compare the practice in Kaffa described by Soleillet, Paul, Voyages en Ethiopie, 1882–1884 (Rouen, 1886), 187.Google Scholar

54 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 569.

55 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 569.

56 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 797–800, April 1848; d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, 393–4, para. 219; Krapt, 65; Beke, Southern Abyssinia, 5.

57 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 166; Cecchi, II, 172.

58 Cecchi, II, 151, 270.

59 Cecchi, 11, 270; Massaia, I miei, IV, 146.

60 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21305, d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 188–9. Abba Dula had his own massera.

61 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, 218, para. 55; ibid., 21300, 569; Massaia, I miei, IV, 146.

62 Krapf, 64; Harris, 111, 54.

63 Cecchi, II, 256, 259, 527, 412–13.

64 d'Abaddie, F.N.A., 21302, 411–12; d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21305, 112–13; Cecchi, II, 228; Soleillet, Paul, Voyages en Ethiopie, 1882–1884 (Rouen, 1886), 228. See above.Google Scholar

65 Massaia, In Abissinia, 160; d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, 323–4.

66 Cecchi, II, 232.

67 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, 323, para. 319; 378, para. 201; d'Abbadie, Géographie, 211. Abba Bagibo had a secretary for Arabic as well. Massaia, I miei, III, 49.

68 d'Abbadic, Géographie, 83, 90; d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, 323–4, 372–3; Massaia, In Abissinia, 57.

69 Beke, Southern Abyssinia, 6; d'Abbadie, Athenaeum, No. 1042 of 1847; Massaia, In miei, IV, 146. Massera means enclosure. When it comes without the name of the owner it usually means a royal enclosure.

70 While carrying on the war against the Agalo Abba Bigibo moved to the massera of Tinnige on the Agalo border. The massera was actually part of the defences against the Agalo. d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 798–9.

71 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, 218, para. 55; Massaia, In Abissinia, 165; ibid., I miei, IV, 154–5; Beke, Southern Abyssinia, 4.

72 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21302, 420, 425; Massaia, I miei, IV, 145.

73 Thus when Cecchi was given a pack of old and corroded amolehs (salt money), he was told that they were probably put in the treasury in the time of Abba Bagibo's father. Cecchi, II, 182.

74 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 569–72; ibid., 21303, 231, para. 81.

75 L. G., 184, No. 1098, Harris, 1.1.1842.

76 Although according to tradition Bofo abdicated to ensure the heritage of his son, it seems more likely that Bofo was deposed by his immediate family. See Journals of the Rev. Messrs. Isenberg and Krapf (London, 1843). When Abba Bagibo became king he was helped by a council made of his uncles, nephews and sons, d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 199, Nov. 1843.

77 See above.

78 Ferret, P. V. A. et Galinier, J. G., Voyage en Abyssinie (Paris, 1847), 11, 423;Google Scholar d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, 344, para. 166; ibid., 21302, 66; ibid., 21300, 797–8; Massaia, I miei, IV, 144.

79 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 197–8, 751–2.

80 Massaia, In Abissinia, 279.

81 Bieber, 11, 104.

82 It included Habatti, Hadia, Jada, Hirmata, Jimrna-Badi and Sadero. In 1847–8 Badi-Folla was annexed as well. Cecchi, II, 540; d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 797, April 1848; Antoine d'Abbadie, Géographie de L'Ethiopie (Paris, 1890), 79–80.

83 Massaia, I miei, IV, 3–4. To strengthen his position and to further the unity among his people, Abba Jifar adopted Islam and took the title of Moti-king. Massaia, , In Abissinia, 279Google Scholar; Soleillet, Paul, Voyages en Ethiopie, 1882–1884 (Rouen, 1886), 180. Abba Jifar died about 1855. d'Abbadie, 23851, 34.Google Scholar

84 Ferret, P. V. A. et Galinier, J. G., Voyage en Abyssinie (Paris, 1847), 423; Isenberg, 13–14.Google Scholar

85 d'Abbadie, 21300, 185–7; L.G., 184, No. 1098. Harris, 1.1.1842; Krapf, Lewis, Travels and Missionary Labours in East Africa (London, 1860), 65.Google Scholar

86 See below.

87 Massaia, I miei, IV, 144; d'Hericourt, Rochet, Voyage sur la Côte Orientale de la MerRouge, Dans le pays d'Adel et le royaume de Choa (Paris, 1841), 223–4;Google Scholar d'Abbadie, Athenaeum, No. 1042 of 1847, 2078; d'Abaddie, F.N.A., 25303, 218.

88 Sahle Sellassie ruled, 1813–46.

89 Harris, III, Krapf, 64–5.

90 d'Abaddie, Athenaeum, No. 1042 of 1847; Beke, Southern Abyssinia, 7.

91 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 364, pars. 202; ibid., 29303, 112–13, para. 162.

92 Beke, Southern Abyssinia, 5–6.

93 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 714; ibid., 23851, 588–9.

94 Antoine d'Abbadie, Géographie de l'Ethiopie (Paris, 1890), 79–80.

95 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21303, para. 173, Oct. 1843; ibid., 112, para. 161; 365, para. 184; ibid., 21302, 141, para. 174.

96 d'Abbadie, Athenaeum, No. 1105 of 1848; d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 797; d'Abbadie Géographie, 79–80.

97 d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 797, April 1848.

98 Red cloth was freed from monopoly but gold continued to be an exclusive of the royal family. See d'Abbadie, F.N.A., 21300, 797–8, April 1848.