ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY COLLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES HISTORY AND IDENTITY IN NORTHEAST ETHIOPIA WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO RAYA-AZӒBO, 1543-1974. BY: NEGGA MENASBO DECEMBER 2020 ADDIS ABABA 1 Addis Ababa University College of Social Sciences History and Identity in Northeast Ethiopia with particular Reference to Raya-Azabo, 1543-1974. By: Negga Menasbo December 2020 Addis Ababa 2 Addis Ababa University College of Social Sciences History and Identity in Northeast Ethiopia with particular Reference to Raya-Azabo, 1543-1974. By: Negga Menasbo Submitted to: The Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirments for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. Adviser: Dr. Adhana Haile December 2020 Addis Ababa 3 Addis Ababa University College of Social Sciences History and Identity in Northeast Ethiopia with particular Reference to Raya-Azabo, 1543-1974. By: Negga Menasbo College of Social Sciences Approved by Board of Examiners: Advisor Examiner Examiner Examiner 4 Submitted By Student‟s Name Signature Date Approved By 1. Advisor‟s Name Signature Date 2. Chairman, Dept‟s Signature Date 3. Chairman, Faculty‟s Signature Date Graduate Committee 4. Dean School of Signature Date Graduate Students Name 5 Table of Contents Transliteration .................................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi Preface........................................................................................................................................... vii Acronyms ....................................................................................................................................... ix Glossary of Terms ........................................................................................................................... x Maps .............................................................................................................................................. xii Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Physical Environment of the Study Area. ............................................................................ 1 1.2. Rationale of the Study ........................................................................................................ 15 1.3. Data Collection: Methods and Approaches ........................................................................ 19 Chapter Two: A History of the People of Tegray in Raya-Azäbo. ............................................... 27 2.1. Ramifications of the Wars of the Sixteenth Century. ......................................................... 28 2.2. The Resettlement of the Tegrean People in the Mountain Region .................................... 38 Chapter Three: A History of the Dobe‟a People in Raya-Azäbo. ................................................. 62 3.1. Origin and Early History. ................................................................................................... 62 3.2. The Advent of the Oromo to the Fertile Valley and their Consequences on the Dobe‟a. .. 80 3.3. The Interface between the Dobe‟a and the Tegreans. ...................................................... 101 Chapter Four: A History of the Oromo People in Raya- Azäbo. ................................................ 127 4.1. Popular and Scholarly Misconceptions about the History of the Oromo in Raya-Azäbo.127 4.2. Routes of Movement and History of Settlement of the Oromo in Raya-Azäbo. ............. 140 4.3. The Relationship between the Oromo and the highland Amhara-Tegrean Peoples. ....... 146 6 Chapter Five: The Genesis and Evolution of Raya Identity. ...................................................... 169 5.1. The Agrarian Conditions of the Peasantry in the Mountain Region since the early twentieth century. .................................................................................................................... 169 5.2. Factors that Hampered the Process of Interactions between the Oromo and their Neighbors. ............................................................................................................................... 177 5.3. The Economic and Social Interactions between the Oromo and their Neighbors. .......... 188 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 214 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 223 List of key Informants ................................................................................................................. 234 Appendices 7 Department of History Transliteration I. The seven sounds of the Ethiopic alphabet are represented as follows: 1st order በ Bä 2nd order ቡ Bu 3rd order ቢ Bi 4th order ባ Ba 5th order ቤ Bè 6th order ብ Be 7th order ቦ Bo II. Regarding the sixth form in the above list, the “è” will be suffixed to the letter only if the letter is vocalized or stressed. Otherwise it won‟t be required ate all. As a general rule also, the “e” is not required when the sixth form is the last letter of a word. Examples: ምግብ = Megeb ቅይጥ = Qeyeŝ i III. Palatalized Sounds are represented as follows: ሸ = Šä ቸ = Chä ኘ = Ñä ዠ = Zhä ጀ = Jä IV. Glottalized sounds are represented as follow ቀ/ቐ = Qä ጠ = Ṭä ጨ = Ċä ፀ = Śä ኸ = Khä V. Germination should always be indicated by doubling. Example: Dābbäbä Täsämma ii VI. General Examples: ጨርጨር = Ċärċär በዝባዥ = Bäzbazh ፀሐይ = Śähay ቁር = Qur ጅራፍ = Jeraf እዉቀት = Iwqät ሸከት = Šäkät መኾኒ = Mäkhonni ቑመት = Qumät iii Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to my adviser, Dr. Adhana Haile, for his follow up, guidance, supervision as well as for making critical comments on draft copies of the research papers. Despite the fact that he is always busy with his own responsibilities, my adviser has always given me back the draft papers in less than a week‟s time making critical comments on both substantive/technical parts of the work as well as correcting the mistakes committed in English. My deepest gratitude also goes to Professor Täkästä Nägaš, my former adviser, for his unreserved material support and continuous encouragement as well as for reading and forwarding critical, valuable and constructive comments on my work. I would also like to express my special thanks to members of the Department of History, Addis Ababa University, particularly Dr. Täkaleñ Woldä Mariam for the relentless efforts he made to get me in touch with my adviser Dr. Adhana Haile at a time when I found it be very difficult to find the right adviser by own device. This was a situation when I was not able to continue with my former adviser, Professor Täkästä, for reasons stated in the introductory section of this paper. Similarly, I would also like to thank the librarians working for the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) as well as those of the Ethiopian National Library (NALA) for making readily available to me relevant materials for this research work when they were asked to. Financial support from the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries (SAREC) obtained through Addis Ababa University, spent to finance the field research, also deserve to be gratefully acknowledged. I am indebted to my relatives priest Harägot Wälday, Priest Mäsala, Ato Kälali Abraha, Ato Berhanu Haftä, Mämeher Yerga Afära, for accompanying me to various parts of the study area iv when I was in the field work to gather oral data and other relevant materials utilized to produce this work. Moreover, I must also acknowledge all my informants for their warm reception, willingness and readiness to share their knowledge with me whenever they were asked to sit with me for an interview for more than once or twice depending on the type of the informant. I would also like to thank all members of my family- my wife Terhas Bahlebi, my sister-in-law, Hiwät Bahlebi as well as my sons Na‟od and Zä-Amanuel for motivating and encouraging me throughout the study period. Finally, I gladly acknowledge the assistance and cooperation I received from my friends and colleagues at Dilla University Dr. Tämäsgän Negus, Dr. Abdu Mohamed Ali and Ato Kibamo Addise- Head Department of History and Heritage Management. Throughout my study period three of them had always been on my side, who, besides to their valuable moral encouragement, they also helped me obtain financial support from several sources. By the same token I am deeply indebted to my friends Näga Gäbrä-Selassè and Täklè Hagos, staff members of the Department of Archeology and Heritage Management at Addis Ababa University, for all their material and financial help. I would also like to thank Dilla University for sponsoring the study and for granting financial support to cover the expenses of the field research. v Abstract This paper is an ethnographic study of the peoples of Raya-Azäbo sub-province situated in northeastern Ethiopia. It deals with why, how and when each section of the study area was settled/ resettled by about half a dozen peoples namely the Dobe‟a, the Tegreña,