Institute of Ethiopian Studies

Oral Traditional and Chronicles on Guragé Immigration

Author(s): PHILLIP LEBEL
Source: Journal of Ethiopian Studies, Vol. 12, No. 2 (JULY 1974), pp. 95-106
Published by: Institute of Ethiopian Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41965869
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 Oral Traditional and Chronicles on
Guragé Immigration

by PHILLIP LEBEL

One of the more perplexing problems in Ethiopian history concerns

the dynamics of geographic demography. In the region known loosely
as Guragéland, the complexity of population movements over time has
made historical identification a difficult task. Frequent migrations,
caused by warfare, famine and other factors, have often resulted in
the identification of this area with only one group of inhabitants. As
the region has played an important role in Ethiopian history, this
article is devoted to a clarification of some of the issues involved in
identification. The approach taken relates historical chronicles, commen-
taries, and other written data to locally gathered information from
inhabitants of the area.1

The location of Guragéland points to its historical significance.

Situated between the western slopes of the Rift hills and the adjacent
plain to the west, the region includes most of southwestern Säwa
province. The strategic position of the area made it subject to periodic
conquests, finally stabilizing somewhat as a buffer area between the
southern Galla and northern Amhara.2

A useful starting point concerns the emergence of the Fuga, a

minority group currently living among the dominant Guragé population.
Some have speculated that the artisan Fuga have characteristics closely
related to the earliest inhabitants of the East African Horn, and were
thus in all likelihood the first inhabitants of Guragéland.3 in several
conversations with people of the area, the notion that the Fuga were
the first inhabitants of the region was quickly rejected. All said that
at least one group preceded the Guragé, though no group name was
ever identified consistently. However many did refer to Seíté, an area
to the southeast of the region under discussion, as the direction from
which pre-Fuga groups had come. The most frequently offered explana-
tion of the emergence of the Fuga was that they came with immigrant

1. The author was a resident in Emdeber from 1956 to 1968 during which time
most of this information was gathere on a piecemeal basis. Sources included
some fifty stuuents at the Emdeber secondary school who wrote up notes on
parts of the local traditions, as well as information presented by scores of
local inhabitants ranging from religious leaders to Fuga artisans. As such, the
local traditions risk all the inadequacies of oral history, but show remarkable
consistency.
2. Guragéland was one of several of these areas, which included at one time
Enarya, Jinjaro, and Kambatta. The name "Sidamo" was often used by the
Galla to characterize these areas belonging to the Christan northerners,
though this was by no means always true.
3. R. P. Azais et R. Chambard, Cinq années de recherches en Éthiopie (Paris,
1931), p. 312.

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groups such as the Boz, Sāga, and Mogämänä. Given their current
generally inferior status among the Guragé, it is likely that regardless of
their early possession of the land, the Fuga were undoubtedly sub-
jugated by invading groups. Their continued existence depended on the
highly intricate socio-economic relationships that evolved.4
Historical reference to the Fuga is limited. Political and economic
conflicts in earlier periods contributed to the isolation of many areas,
especially those in southern Ethiopia. Guragéland became subject to
various stereotyped images, thus ignoring the internal complexities
within the local population.5 By the nineteenth century, however, many
of these earlier geographic divisions were undergoing dissolution, either
forcibly, as in the consolidation of Menilek II's conquests, or through
the extension of commercial contacts. Although military expansion
subsequently facilitated the growth of commerce, regional trade was
developing even before political consolidation. This was largely a result
of the growth of Islam in the southern part of Ethiopia. The effect
of both these factors was to increase communications in areas formerly
isolated.

One of the first written references to the Fuga appeared in the mid-
nineteenth century. Isenberg and Krapf commented that, "In Gurague
is a heathenish people called Fuga. They are a wandering people and
eat all that the Guragueans abhor."6 Subsequent references have dealt
with the socio-economic role that the Fuga play among the Guragé,
documenting the symbiotic relationship that exists between the groups.7
One clue to the historical position of the Fuga among the Guragé
lies in their social structure. At least in the western area of Guragé-
land there is a local chief to when the Fuga pay tribute. His residence
lies east of the town of Wälliso. How far his influence extends is
indeterminate but local Fuga have contended that it reaches Kafa Pr
vince, where Fuga are also known to reside.
A second clue to the historical position of the Fuga lies with
their language. Several studies on Guragé dialects have already b
published, and indicate the linguistic diversity in so small a geograp
area.9 Although Leslau has suggested that at least in the Gogot

4. This has been well documented in W. Shack, "Notes on occupational castes

among the Gurage of Southwest Ethiopia," Man (1964), p. 54. Local skepti-
cism on this point could reflect a reluctance to admit that a subjugated group
once controlled the area.
5. J. Bruce, Travels to discover the source of the Nile (London, 1813), VI, p. 89.
Bruce, writing in the late 18th century, continued the generalization made by
the Portuguese Alvarez in the 1520's when he wrote, "They are troglodytes,
and all robbers; their constant occupation is attending the Abyssinian camps
and stealing horses, mules or whatever they can get, which they do in a very
singular manner."
6. C. W. Isenberg and J. L. Krapf, Journals of the Reverend Messers Isertberg
and Krapf (London, 1843), p. 181.
7. W. Shack, The Gurage (Oxford, 1966). See also W. Leslau, Ethiopie Docu-
ments: Gurage (New York, 1950), pp. 59-62.
8. Based on personal conversation with Fuga living around the Emdeber area.
9. M. Cohen, Etudes ďéthiopien mèriodional (Paris, 1931). In addition, specific
linguistic studies on Guragé dialects include: W. Leslau, op, cit., "The influen-
ce of Sidamo on the Ethiopie languages of Gurage," Language (1952), p. 28;

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area of Guragéland the Fuga "language" is little more than an argot
with Gogot roots, apparently the Fuga dialect is as diverse as the
Guragé dialects themselves.10 It would be instructive if scholars had
a comprehensive analysis of the various Fuga dialects so that any
common elements distinct from Guragé could help establish an historical
basis for a once flourishing Fuga society, if indeed it did exist.
A third factor in understanding the hisiorical importance of the
Fuga lies in their geographic distribution. Some estimates have put
their total population at no more than 5,000.n However, because of
their complex social role among the Guragé, they do not comprise a
distinct geographic region in Guragéland. instead they are diffused
among th' villages of Guragéland, where they serve the special technical
and ritual needs of the Guragé population. Despite the several prohibi-
tions imposed upon them by the Guragé, such as landholding rights,
there are a few villages scattered in Guragéland that are known as
"Fuga villages."12 Whether these villages represent isolated reservations
set aside for the Fuga by their conauerers, or remnants of an earlier
Fuga society is still unclear. Superficially, their village structure is
little different from the rest of Guragé villages.13
Subsequent immigration into Guragéland involved two groups,
one of which is well known in the chronicles, and the other which
has remained relatively obscure. The first of these, the Hadiya, gained
the attention of both royal and foreign chroniclers because of their
economic and political power. The Hadiya were mostly Muslim, and
along with the petty states of Bali, Sharkha, Ifat, and Arbabni, they
took control of the areas bordering the declining Aksumite kingdom of
the highlands.14 Current references to the Hadiya among the Guragé
frequently note that they came from "Arab"15 Undoubtedly this
reference concerns the expansion of the Arabs along the coast of
Ethiopia following the decline of the Aksumite kingdom. The town of
Alaba, today located east of Guragéland, was once the name of a
larger region nearby, and may have derived from 4 'Arab", during the
period of the original Muslim expansion in the seventh ana eighth cen-
turies.

"The Arabic loanwords in Guragé,'' Arabica (1956), and others; R. Hetzron,

"Main Verb-Makers in Northern Guragé," Africa (1968), XXXVIII, 156
and H. J. Polotsky, "Etudes de grammaire gouragué," Bulletin de la Société
de Linguistique de Paris (1938), XXXIX, p. 137-75.
10. W. Leslau, "An Ethiopian argot of a Guragé secret society," Journal of Afri-
can languages, (1964), III. I checked a smaller word list that I had gathered
from a local Fuga with the Gogot argot and a high proportion of the words
appeared to be fundamentally different.
11. W. Shack, "Notes on occupational castes (1964), p. 54.
12. Local sources indicated that Muta in Eža, Sämäna in Eža, and Yämäräkwä
in Muhér were among the Fuga villages so designated.
13. Based on observation of the villages cited in the previous note and of other
traditional villages.
14. Much of this documented in W Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (London,
1952), p. 58-65.
15. This was the most consistent response given by students at the Emdeber secon-
dary school, some of whom were from Hadiya.

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 fi£. X - PrUAiy XiM»ierati«B

Fiļ. II - Foft-Aximlt« Imn(£r&-ti»tt

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 fig* Hl - CouAt«rpoint«( 1300-1800)

Pig. IV - Consolidation

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 As long as the highland Christian Amhara remained weak, and
the Galla to the south stood relatively content with their own lands, the
Hadiya were able to organize their lands without interference. However,
frequent attempts to upset the distribution of power forced Hadiya
ana other smaller states to seek occasional alliances with their erstwhile
enemies. Thus it was not altogether unusual to find Hadiya paying
tribute to Ethiopian highland Christian monarchs, as indicated in the
chronicles of Amdä Seon (A. D. 1313-1344);16 Whether of their own
choice or because of their alliances with neighboring states, the rulers
of Hadiyä were often called ^garad", which in Amharic has come to
mean ''female servant". Governors within Hadiya also used the term
"garad'' and at one time included offices for the regions of Diho,
Hadabo, Ganazo, Gäb, Qab'én, Gogola, Halab, Gudella, and Sāga.17
Current references to the Gudella in personal conversations indicated
that the Gudella were the tax collectors of ihe Ethiopian kings.'*
This may have been the special role that they once performed when
Hadiyä was attached to the highland monarchy.
Within Guragéland, the Hadiya maintained two administrative
regions, Y'ost Hadiya and Y'omb Hadiya, or the south and north.19
For each of these two regions there were further subdivisions, based on
local teb, or extended families. While the area remained under
Hadiya central, all were under the Sāga governor, who, according to
local tradition, was not always well received when new taxes were
about to be imposed.20 By the nineteenth century, after the area had
forng lost its Hadiya overlbrds, the remaining fragment of northern
Hadiyä was located at Qabéna, which was the source of an ill-fated
Muslim uprising against Menilek's expanding military.21 And even that
affair was conducted by a rebel from the Câha-Guragé region.
A second, smaller group of immigrants into Guragéland were the
Boz. Reference to the Boz is practically nonexistent in the chronicles.
Local tradition records them as having come from Soddu country, to
the southeast of Guragéland, through Wâlané, and eventually settling
in Nadari (Abašgé), near the town of Wâlqitté.22 Although they have
since become identified with the Guragé, they were historically quite
distinct. They were neither identified with the Guragé nor the Hadiya.
Given the border area that they subsequently settled in, in all likelihood

16. Cr. W. B. Huntingford. The Glorious Victories of Amda Ts ion (Oxford, 1956)
p. 20.
17. J. Perruchon, Les Chroniques de Zâra Yâ'eqôb et de Baeda Maryam rois
ď Ethiopia de 1434 à 1478 (Paris, 1893), p. 17.
18. Related by Ato François Marqos, teacher at the Emdeber secondary school.
19. Related by Dula Abdu, student at Emdeber secondary school.
20. Related by Emdeber secondary student, Ambazeč Sekur, and others. Acc-
ording to local tradition Čābār, the eleventh king of the Säga, was defeated
by one of the leaders of the Guragé, Mogämän. The current leader of the
Säga in Guragé is A z mat Nida, of Guragé. Some of the prominent Hadiya
teb (extended families) still in Guragé include: YäCäha teb, Imoriyä, Mand-
idä Fätra, Inqeriya, OŠig, Täräsä, Imoharä, Yägäsiyä, and Sagéma. Hadi-
ya money include: näs , adad tet , fent , aliad , wãqét .
21. A. Cecchi, Da Zeila alle frontiere del Caffa (Roma, 1886), pp. $1-52.
22. Related by Emdeber secondary students Abdullahi Sani and Täklämaryam
Nädaw.

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they were forced to migrate to that area asa result of land pressures,
largely Galla, from the southern areas, as well as local resistance from
the dominant Hadiya population. Even though local tradition indicates
that they were in Guragéland as early as the Hadiya, their few numbers
undoubtedly had much to do in determining the minor role they were
able to play in the control of the area.
Hadiya control of Guragéland was frequently contested, even when
alliances with the highland Christian monarchs were supposed to prevent
such outbreaks. Part of this instability was due to the renaissance of
political authority in the Amhara highlands after the restoration of the
Solomonic dynasty in 1270 A.D. It was early in the fourteenth century
that the Saga Hadiya gave up for a while their claims to Guragéland
as Christian Amhara forces pushed their way to control over the region,
It was also during this period that Täklä Haymanot, later canonized, ,
spread Christianity into most parts of Guragéland.23
Local sources indicate that Zéna Marqos, one of Täklä Haymanoťs
followers, was responsible for most of the proselytizing in Guragéland.
According to priests at the monastery of Gädamä Yäsus in Muhér,
Guragéland, Zéna Marqos came from the region of Däbra Libanos in
Säwa. Accompanied by the forces of Amdä Seyon, Zéna Marqos stayed
in the area for a period of forty years, converting even the most
obstinate of local traditional leaders such as Awa Gyät, and established
kt157 churches throughout Guragéland."24 Of this total, 44 were found
in Muhér, which has remained until today the region within Guragéland
where the Ethiopian Church is the strongest.25
Military thrusts from the Christian Amhara highlands such as
those of Amdä Çeyon occurred on a sporadic basis. Success often de-
pended on who was the ruling monarch among the Christians and who
held sway in the petty border states. Local tradition, since recorded by
Aläqa Tayyä, states that Azmač Säbat, of the Tegrean town of Gur'a
in the province of Akälä Guzay, brought one of Amdä Seyon's armies
into Guragéland and settled in the district of Aymälläl. It is from the
name "GurV that the people and country of "Guragé" is said to be
derived. This interpretation appears more plausible than the two prin-
cipal alternative versions.
One version of the "Guragé" contends that it was only during the
rule of Emperor Susneyos (1607-1632) that Azmač Säbat's forces came

23. J. S. Trimingham, op. cit pp. 65-67 Also documented in manuscripts of

the monastery of Gadamé Yésus, in Muhér, Guragé.
24. Related by one of the priests at Gâdamé Yäsus, Muhér, Guragé.
25. As related by one of the Muhér elders: Abadämam Giyorgis, Abadämam Mar-
yam, Gädamä Yäsus, Gädamä Zéna Marqos, Yâmbolé Yäsus, Gädam Abo,
Gädam Maryam, Yâgésa 'Ammanuél, Dädägäbä Hawaryat, Désa Mâdhané
Alām, Désa Zéna Marqos, Kereker Mika'él, Yäwarä Gâbre'él, Yäwara Giyor-
gis, Agärä Maryam, Bal Egeziabhér, Kidané Meheret, Yäwanye Sellasé, Gärä-
fä Abo, Gwéba Giyorgis, Gwéba Mika'él, Yäsera Yäsus, Yäserä Kidané
Meherat, Yāčanā Gâbre'él, Yäcanä Selîasé, Yäwäzärä Maryam, Yäwäzä-
ärä Giyorgis, Yäwäzärä Sellasé, Yäbäbän Mâdhané Aläm, Yäbäbän Kidané
Meheret, Yäwudma Korä Maryam, Möghäräm, Mika'él, Yäbäret Zéna Marqos,
Yäbäret Rufa'él, Daba Gâbre'él, Daba Ragu'él, Yäserar Çerqos, Abedja Täklä-
Haymanot, Abedja Mika'él, Mäqorqor Mika'él, Yägärä Senyä Abo, Cärat Ma-
ryam, Yäsanka Abo, , YäSära Mika'él.

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down from Gur'a in response to a Guragéiand request for help. If
the etymology on "Guragé" is at all correct, this interpretation would
have to be discounted, since references to the Guragé date back to the
chronicles of Amdä Çeyon.26 The other version , that the Guragé came
from Harär, is, as likely as not, bound up in migration patterns of
the Hadiya, which have already been discussed.

Absence of strong successors to Amdä Sion provided the border

states almost a century in which to re-organize their power. Hadiya
once again emerged as a cohesive unit, even though it formally retained
ties with the Christian Amhara. During the rule of Emperor Zär'a
Ya'eqob (1434-1468), Mahiko, the Hadiya ruler, sought unsuccessfully
to avoid paying royal tribute.27 Zär'a Ya'eqob then led an army into
Guragéiand, beheaded Mahiko, and restored the alliance. As with
Amdä Seyon's invasion, many of the Emperor's soldiers received land
in payment for services and joined the existing group of settlers. Local
evidence of Zär'a Ya'eqob' s passage through Guragéiand comes partly
from the wooded district in Géto called 4 'Zär'a". Tradition indicates
that it was so named after Zär'a Ya'eqob encamped there during his
campaign against the Hadiya.

Even Zär'a Ya'eqob's efforts were not sufficient to maintain stability

over Guragéiand. After a succession of weaker rulers, Emperor Lebnä
Dengel (1508-1540) faced an even stronger challenge to the Christian
highlands, the firearmed invasion of Ahmad Gran (1527-1541).
For some time the Muslims had held control over the coastal region
of Ethiopia. This power was reinforced with the consolidation of
smaller states under Ahmad Gran, with his capital at Harär. Soon
after the departure of a Portuguese diplomatic mission in 1526, Gran's
forces moved swiftly against the highland areas.29 Border regions such
as Guragéiand fell quickly in the jihad. Personal conversations with the
Abrét Sheikh, the current spiritual leader of the Muslim Guragé, indica-
ted that Muslim forces may well have come into the area before
the departure of the Portuguese force in 1526, which would su-
gest a period of gradual weakening of central highland control over
Guragéiand.30

Within Guragéiand the effect of the jihad was largely to weaken

the already fragile organization that successive waves of Christian
highland and Hadiya invasions had sought to stabilize. Once the initial
Muslim thrust dissipated, areas within Guragéiand reverted to more
decentralized forms of government, often relying on a few powerful
extended family rulers to maintain stability within a district. Apart
from certain similarities in social organization, house construction, and

26. A. Cecchi, Da Zeila (Roma, 1886), p. 89.

27. J. Perruchon, op. cit., p. xxvii.
28. It has since become an animist sacred forest in honor of Wak, the stargod.
29. Graft's travels were documented by the Arabic chronicler, Arab Fakih.
30. Conversations with Abrét Sheikh indicated that Gran's forces in Guragéiand
were led by Abdul-Qadir, who brought forces into the area several times
during the period of the Portuguese mission.

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the ubiquitous "Ahmad Grañ stone" markers, regions in Guragéland
evolved with great diversity.31
This diversity was manifest in the growing number of dialects
that were being spoken in Guragéland.32 Studies have shown the
similarities between the local dialects and Arabic, Tegreñña, and
Ge'ez, indicating the probable sources of immigrant groups. Many
of these linguistic features could undoubtedly provide a clue to im-
migration patterns, though absence of written forms over time probably
produced just enough homogeneity to make unequivocal distinctions
nearly impossible. At this stage, given the number of studies on
"Guragé" dialects, perhaps a stronger key may well lie with the Fuga
argots, as suggested earlier.
Another indication of this diversity lay in the resulting religious
organization in Guragéland. At the northern and southern extremities
stood surviving elements of Orthodox Christianity, the former mostly
concentrated in Muhér, and the latter in the tiny village of Éner. A
trip to Éner, located on the edge of the Omo valley, revealed that
when the area became isolated from Muhér, the local inhabitants dug
a circular trench and built seven wooden gates as the only ports of
entry. All but a few traces of the original wooden gates have disap-
peared, as the area has since resumed regular communications with the
surrounding areas. The priests in the village at the time of my visit
spoke of how their church was one of the many that had been origi-
nally established by Zéna Marqos in the fourteenth century. Unlike
some areas in Ethiopia, to my knowledge, no changes in religious prac-
tices resulted from Eneťs protracted isolation from Muhér.34
In other parts of Guragéland both Islam and Christianity dissolved
somewhat as traditional animism absorbed their remnants. States that once
held churches surrounded by thick zegba (Podoparpus gracillior) forests
became shrines for local deities such as Boža, Wak and Dämam-
wit.35 This conclusion was established repeatedly by visits to the Muhér

31. On social organization see W. Shack, The Gurage For house construction
P. LeBel, "On Guragé architecture/' Journal of Ethiopian Studies (1969)
For "Aķmad Grañ stones", see R. P. Azäis et R. Chambard, Cinq années
de recherches. Personat investigations into the origins of the stones indi-
cated that they were probably standing in Guragéland villages long before
the invasion of Ahmäd Gran's forces. Their distribution may well mark off
the earlier limits of Hadiya, or other groups that once controlled the region
down through Selté.
32. A. N. Tucker, and M. A. Bryan, "A linguistic no-man's land," Africa (1945)
XV. Their survey lists 14 distinctive dialects.
33. W. Leslau "The Arabic loanwords in Gurage," Arabica (1956), and other
studies.
34. This stands in contrast to the experience of other parts of Guragéland, as
well as to that of other parts of Ethiopia. See Antoine ď Abbadie, Géograp-
hie de VÉthiopie (Paris, 1860), I. D* Abbadie observed inhabitants of the Non-
no, Enarya region who had been living in isolation from other Christan
areas, who told him that they had been converted to Christainaty by Serse
Dengel (ca. 1 570' s).
35 . Tärräfä Wäldä Çadeq has argued this position in the Journal of Ethiopian Studies
(v. VI.) His discussion focuses on the Damamwit cult, but personal investiga-
tions led me to believe that this applied as well to the two other major
cults. C. Ipcar gives an indication of the geographical distribution of hese cults

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churches and the Čaha sacred forests of the deities, and through conver-
sations with representatives of both the Christian church and traditional
religious leaders, such as Gwétakwiyâ, of the Boža cult. Undoubtedly
what Christianity did for animism in Guragéland was to enable cults to
develop a formalism in times of political weakness that helped attract a
strong body of followers. Even occasional flashes of Christian highland
power, as in the dispatch of forces to the Lake Zwai region by Empe-
ror Susenyos did little to halt the religious transformation.36
Occasionally a reverse pattern would emerge, with one of the
more universal religions absorbing the animist practice. This certainly
occurred during the early conversion of animist areas to Christianity,
and to Islam. An example of the latter may be seen at Abrét.37 There
th~ Sheikh represents the fourth generation of the leading family of the
Boža cult that earlier converted to Islam, leaving the cult with a
divided following. Although it still maintains its structure, the Boža
cult has been increasingly losing adherents to the Abrét Sheikh, as
seen by the number of people who attend respective festivals. That this
process has been occurring so recently testifies to the dynamic quality
of social forces in the area.

Politically the fate of Guragéland was not unlike that of the

{ Christian Amhara. Both were undergoing a process of decentralization
However, in contrast to the Amhara the acephalous political structure
of the Guragé region exhibited remarkable endurance. Various attempts
centralization among the Guragé, such as the formation of the "Fi
Houses" (later "Seven Houses") borders of Guragéland, and the creation
of the Yajoka, a tribal court of arbitration, were often resisted by th
local population.38 Folk songs among the Guragé often relate how
petty alliances between groups of the ''Seven houses" were as ephem-
eral as they were indecisive. The closest any one of them came to
centralization was Čāha, with its strategic geographic location, and th
fact that it was the location of the three predominant traditional re-
ligions, Waq, Boža, and Dämamwit.39
One development that could have forced more centralization among
the people of Guragéland was the northward migration of the Gall
After the 1540's, when the Christian Amhara were consolidating thei
narrow victory over Ahmad Gran's jihad, the Galla accelerated an
already begun northward expansion in Ethiopia. Yet, if they did
take any control over Guragéland there are is no solid evidence
that they were long successful. Local tradition contends that the Galla
never took any control of Guragé, largely because of the widespread
use of ensete , or false banana, äs the staple crop, which the Galla
disliked. In any case, the principal areas of settlement of the Galla

in his unpublished M. A. thesis, "The Gurage cultural landscape: a systems

interpretation," Michigan State University (1970).
36. Cecchi, op. cit., p. 79.
37. Shack, The Gurage , p. 20.
38. On specific functions, see N. Singer, "Modernization of law in Ethiopia: a
study in process and personal values," The Harvard International law
journal (1970), II.
39. C. ipcar, "The Gurage cultural landscape," p. 80.

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lay on the sides of Guragéland. Apparently even their northward
migration was never threatening enough to produce changes within the
Guragéland political and social structure, perhaps in no small part
due to the ensete plant.
During the nineteenth century, Guragéland experienced another
demographic upheaval that made the area still weaker. Growing
coastal trade in ivory and slaves kept the Guragé in a constant state
of ferment. On the one hand, the region served as part of the trade
routes in slaves that were increasingly being marketed from the south-
ern Sudan. Frequently, slaves were brought into Guragéland via the
village of Wéra, in Ennamor, along the Omo valley, or through Qabéna,
near Wâlqitté. From there they were transported to the principal market
in Guragéland, Čāha Gäbäya. Now no longer thriving, it was once the
largest market in the region, its origins dating back to the period
when the area was under Hadiya control.40
On the other hand, the frequent conflicts among the Guragé
themselves often resulted in a certain percentage of their own population
being sold olì. Although this trade was never substantial the recurring
border disputes that even the tribal court of arbitration failed to contain
were enough to keep the region almost at the point of anarchy. Slaves,
whether marketed through Cäha Gäbäya or not, were subsequently
traded through Butaj ira, Harär, and points along the Red Sea coast.
The weak state of affairs among the Guragé in the nineteenth
century made it possible for the Šāwan King Sahlä Sellasé (1813-1847)
to claim to be "king of the Guragé", though this assertion was
somewhat tenuous.41

This claim was obviously not accepted by the Guragé as evi-

denced by the resistance offered to his successor Menilek. Menilek's
forces eventually confronted and defeated a Guragéland force in 1875,
and sent down colonial governors after 1889.42
As Menilek's forces defeated successively the small kingdoms in
the southern part of Ethiopia, they were followed by military settle-
ments. Following an earlier pattern, victorious soldiers were given lands
in exchange for their service to the Emperor. The pattern was rather
specific in Guragéland, with at least eight villages established as
Amhara military outposts. They included: Dakuna, Jämboro, Doro
Gäbäya, Sar Zegba, Šam, Ešehara, Yägondär Zär'a, and Idibir Zär'a.43

40. Related by Az mat Da mäna, of Yetänaka. Currently Čāha market serves as

an informal shrine for the principal teb leaders within Čāha, Carved sticks,
called gina , stand at the highest part of the former market. Information
about Čāha market and other historical markets was obtained from area re-
sidents, as well as checking with erosion patterns that once marked the trails
leading to the principal trading centers.
41. W. Shack, The Gurage , p. 18.
42. M. Cohen, Études , p. 245. Cohen quotes an 1875 letter by Menilek, indicating
capture of areas of Qabéna, Wâlâné Gädabono, Afro and Mohér. Remain-
ing areas were captured in 1889.
43. See C. Ipcar (1970) on the geographic distribution of these villages and their
distinctions from Guragé villages.

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Together they functioned as the nucleus of Menilek's embryonic rural
administration, collecting, until it was abolished, the despised gäbbar
tax imposed upon the Guragé for having resisted Menilek's expansion.44
These colonial outposts spread the use of Amharic, fostered the use
of teff grain where feasible, and through the rigid tax system, accelera-
ted the seasonal migration of workers that has continued down to
the present day.
Given the historical evolution of Guragéland, it is sometimes
surprising to outsiders to observe the highly complex political and
social structure that has emerged. Certainly no small part of this
complexity was been due to the various groups who have controlled
the region. Over time, each immigrant group modified the existing
social fabric in varying degrees to produce the "Guragé". Unlike the
evolution of certain areas in Ethiopia, the diversity of these forces
operating within Guragéland contrasts strongly with the once firmly
held static images associated with its inhabitants.

44. W. Shack, The Gurage, p. 18.

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