Oromo

camps and many perished. After the

emergency many lived as peri-urban
paupers; a few managed to build up
new herds. The Gabra camel nomads
live in the arid lands from the Marsabit
mountain in Kenya northwards into
Ethiopia. They are divided into two
groups, Malbe and Miigo. The Gabra
Malbe, that includes the majority of
Gabra, lives in Kenya, while the small-
er group, Gabra Miigo, lives mainly
in Ethiopia and in northern Kenya’s
Wajir district (Torry 1973, 1978; Schlee
1989; Tablino 1999; Wood 1999).
Lit.: Abbas Haji Gnamo, Les Oromo-Arsi:
continuité et evolutions des institutions
d´une société éthiopienne, Ph.D. thesis, Uni-
versity of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne 1990; Fig. 2: Boorana house in Gayyoo, near Sodda, built at the famous Gumii
Abdullahi A. Shongolo, “The Gumi Gayyoo assembly place; photo 2005, courtesy of Wolbert Smidt
Gaayo Assembly of the Boran: a Traditional
Legislative Organ and its Relationship to the Ethiopian 1989; VSAe II, pl. 76.2 (ill.); John Colman Wood, When
State and a Modernising World”, Zeitschrift für Ethnologie Men are Women: Manhood among Gabra Nomads of East
119, 1994, 27–58; AsmGada; Ayalew Gebre, Pastoralism Africa, Madison, WI 1999.
under Pressure: Land Alienation and Pastoral Transforma- Jan Hultin
tions among the Karrayu of Eastern Ethiopia, 1941 to the
Present, Maastricht 2001; Marco Bassi, “Power’s Ambi- Oromo history
guity or the Political Significance of Gada“, in: BHTOrom
150–61; Id., Decisions in the Shade: Political and Juridical
In the first decades of the 16th cent., the O. be-
Processes among the Oromo-Borana, Trenton, NJ, 2005; gan to move in large numbers into the central and
Paul Trevor William Baxter, “The Present State of north-western highlands from their cradleland in
Oromo Studies: a Résumé”, Bulletin des études Africaines the plains and plateaux of what today is south-
de l’Inalco 6, 2, 1986, 53–82; Id. – Uri Almagor (eds.), ern Ethiopia. Prior to their movement, several O.
Age, Generation and Time: Some Features of East African
Age Organisations, London 1978; Hector Blackhurst, groups were organized into two moieties called
“Continuity and Change in the Shoa Galla Gada System”, boorana and ÷baarentuu who lived to the west
ibid., 245–67; Id., A Community of Shoa Galla Settlers in and east of the ÷Rift Valley, respectively. As ear-
Southern Ethiopia, Ph.D thesis, University of Manchester ly as the 12th and 13th cent., all aspects of O. life
1974; BHTOrom; BrHad; Ulrich Braukämper, “The
Islamization of the Arssi-Oromo”, in: PICES 8, vol. 1, were governed by the ÷gadaa system, a politico-
767–77; Johan Helland, “Social Organization and Water military and ritual system based on an egalitarian
Control among the Borana”, Development and Change ethos, age-grade social organization (÷Age group
13, 1982, 239–58; John T. Hinnant, The Gada System of systems), and highly structured institutions. The
the Guji of Southern Ethiopia, Ph.D. thesis, University of
Chicago 1977; Id., “The Guji: Gada as a Ritual System”, political system was supported by a complemen-
in: Paul Trevor William Baxter – Uri Almagor tary and equally complex religious organization.
(eds.), Age, Generation and Time: Some Features of East The position of the ritual leader, the ÷qaalluu
African Age Organisations, London 1978, 207–43; Grov- served at the centre of the O. religion.
er Hudson, “Foreword”, in: Gene B. Gragg, Oromo In the early 16th cent., an O. population move-
Dictionary, East Lansing, MI 1982 (Monograph 12), v–vi;
Jan Hultin, The Long Journey: Essays on History, De- ment (÷Population history: migrations) began,
scent and Land among the Macha Oromo, Ph.D. thesis, which took them eastward to the territories of
Department of Cultural Anthropology, Uppsala Univer- the medieval Muslim sultanates (÷Šäwa, ÷Ifat,
sity 1987; HusIslam; Karl Eric Knutsson, Authority ÷ŸAdal, ÷Fätägar, ÷Bale, ÷Däwaro, ÷Arabäbni,
and Change: a Study of the Kallu Institution among the
Macha Galla of Ethiopia, Göteborg 1967 (Etnologiska ÷Dära), northward to the Christian kingdom,
Studier 29); LewJimm; Andrea Nicolas, “Governance, and westward to the ÷Sidaama and ÷Omotic
Ritual and Law: Tulama-Oromo Gadaa Assemblies”, kingdoms. At the initial stage of the O. expansion,
in: PICES 15, 168–76; Günther Schlee, Identities on only the pastoralist O. moved to other areas. The
the Move: Clanship and Pastoralism in Northern Kenya,
Manchester 1989; Paul Tablino, The Gabra: Camel No-
settled agriculturalists stayed in their cradle land
mads of Northern Kenya, Limuru 1999; Joseph Van de and in the territories then ruled by the sultan-
Loo, Guji Oromo Culture in Southern Ethiopia, Berlin ates of Däwaro, Ifat, ÷Wäg, and Bale and within

61
Oromo
the medieval Christian kingdom. In the early 16th
cent., the baarentuu branch moved in the eastern
and north-eastern direction, eventually settling
into today’s ÷Arsi, Bale, ÷Harär, ÷Goggam and
÷Wällo regions. The boorana trekked in north-
west, west and south-west directions to the re-
gions of Šäwa, ÷Wälläga, ÷Illubabor, Goggam,
and ÷Gondär. As a result, the O. today are one
of the largest and most widely spread ethnic
groups in Africa.
In explaining this dramatic expansion, some
scholars readily refer to historical coincidence.
They suggest that the military campaigns of imam
÷Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Ëazi and of the Sultanate
of ÷ŸAdal against the Christian kingdom created
a political and military vacuum that allowed the
O. to move relatively unhindered into the ter-
ritories of both. Others cite military factors that,
during their expansion, the O. learned the use of
cavalry and body-length shields, which allowed
them to fight more effectively and break the re-
sistance of their opponents. Still others identify
cultural factors as contributing to O. successes.
The O. institution of moggaasa (÷Moassa,
i.e. adoption), which facilitated the quick and
smooth assimilation of non-O., opened the way
for the O. to consolidate their control over their
enemies and augment their numbers against fu-
ture opponents. One contemporary observer
62
offers a sociological explanation:
÷Bahréy argues that it was because
all O. men were trained as warriors,
while among Ethiopian Christians
only the warriors fought, leaving
a large section of the population,
including monks, priests, artisans,
farmers, traders, and servants, un-
involved in the defense of their
country.
The early 17th cent. witnessed the
continued expansion of the O. into
the area west of the Abbay River
and the steady absorption of O. into
the Ethiopian state. After decades
of conflict and interaction, follow-
ing their arrival in this region, some
O. groups were gradually inte-
grated into the existing political es-
tablishment and became defenders
of the Christian kingdom. Of the
contemporary Ethiopian emperors,
ase ÷Susényos, who came to power
with O. support, did much to make
them part of the Christian Ethiopian political es-
tablishment. Having grown up among the O., he
spoke their language and knew their way of life. He
employed O. fighters, military tactics, and combat
formations against his rivals for the throne. Once
in power, he filled high-level offices with his O.
supporters and settled various O. groups in both
Goggam and ÷Bägemdér to defend his empire
from attacks by other O. groups. Many of these
O. converted first to Orthodox Christianity and
then later to the Catholic faith (÷Catholicism).
They became assimilated into highland Ethiopian
society, and, in the process, became permanently
separated from their fellow O.
Under Susényos’s successors, several O. war-
riors rose to positions of prominence in impe-
rial service, specifically during the reigns of
ase ÷Bäkaffa and his successors. In fact, ase
÷Iyasu II married an O. from the ÷Yäggu fam-
ily in Wällo and was succeeded by his “half-O.”
son, ase ÷Iyoýas I. By the late 18th cent., the O.
had become such a dominant political force in
Gondär that ÷Oromiffaa was the main language
spoken at the imperial court.
The increasing influence of the O. did not sit
well with the powerful regional lords. In 1769,
÷Mikaýel Séhul of ÷Tégray, determined to re-
store Ethiopian Christian control, removed the
influence of the Yäggu O. from the imperial

court, killed the reigning monarch, and inaugu-
rated the era of political turmoil known in Ethio-
pian history as the ÷Zämänä mäsafént.
Political disorder did not disrupt the economic
unity of the region. The provinces, including the
territories south of the Abbay, remained con-
nected to the seaports and to the inland com-
merce with the Sudan. ÷Trade routes and mer-
chants looking for export commodities linked
with Christian Ethiopia the O. who had settled
in the territories south of the Abbay River in the
late 17th cent. The O. who settled in this region
saw their lives transformed in a completely dif-
ferent direction than those who settled in the re-
gions north of the river.
Within 60 years after their arrival, five O. states
(÷Limmu-Énnarya, ÷Gomma, ÷Guumaa,
÷Gimma, and ÷Geeraa) had emerged in the
÷Gibe region and two more in the ÷Wälläga re-
gion (Leeqaa ÷Naqamtee and Leeqaa ÷Qällém,
cp. ÷Leeqaa). In the formation of the political
institutions and symbols, the Gibe states may
have been influenced by pre-existing states of
÷Omotic-speakers and ÷Sidaama. However,
these states arose through internal processes of
evolution, particularly the transformation of the
mode of production from ÷pastoralism to mixed
÷agriculture and the relationship of ÷trade to
the political economy of the region. The fertile
and adequately watered land increased the im-
portance of agriculture and consequently led
to the emergence of a landowning class. The
rich natural environment produced commodi-
ties that were in high demand and facilitated the
rise of a strong merchant class. These changes
allowed former gadaa officials to acquire more
authority and gradually convert their elective of-
fices to permanent monarchical institutions (cp.
÷Mooti). Eventually, processes of intermarriage
and continued immigration of the O. into the
area led to the emergence of an O.-Sidaama state,
Limmu-Énnarya, and other states by the middle
of the 19th cent.
In the southern and eastern part of the country,
especially in Bale, ÷Arsi, Harär and ÷Boorana,
the O. continued a pastoral life into modern
times. After settling in the territories west of the
÷Wabi Šäbälle in the early 16th cent., the Arsi
O. began some agriculture for ritual purposes,
but they remained predominantly pastoralists.
Despite evidence of some differentiation, based
on cattle possession and instances of hereditary
gadaa offices prior to the mid-19th cent., the
Oromo
gadaa system remained the dominant socio-
political organization among the Arsi until their
conquest by Ménilék’s forces. Similarly, the O.
who settled in the ŸAdal sultanate remained pas-
toralist until the mid-19th cent. Only those who
settled in the immediate periphery of the city of
Harär adopted agriculture as their main occupa-
tion. This was likely the consequence of their
involvement in exchange relationship with the
inhabitants of the walled city that resorted to
trade after the emigrating O. expelled them from
their farmlands. The O. who inhabited the areas
beyond 30 miles of Harär remained pastoralist
and governed by their own gadaa “parliament”
known as the raaba-dori, until the late 19th cent.
The gadaa system has remained a practising in-
stitution among the pastoral Boorana, the south-
ernmost O. group in Ethiopia, to the present
day.
In the last third of the 19th cent., these O.
groups and kingdoms fell under the rule of néguí
Ménilék of Šäwa (÷Ménilék II). Beginning in
the 1870s, the Šäwan kingdom conquered and
annexed one O. territory after another with
unprecedented speed owing to the advantage
of military technology Ménilék acquired from
European powers and disunity among the vari-
ous O. groups with whom he engaged in bat-
tle. After defeating his main rival, ras Adal of
Goggam (later néguí ÷Täklä Haymanot), at the
battle of ÷Émbabo in 1882, Ménilék was able
to occupy the O. states of Leeqa Naqamtee and
Leeqa Qällém as well as the Gibe states within
four years (s. also ÷Nonno). His forces gained
control of ÷Arsi in 1886, after breaking a fierce
resistance put up by the Arsi O. The subjuga-
tion of Arsi opened the way for the conquest of
Harär, which was completed after Ménilék’s vic-
tory at the battle of ÷Cällänqo in 1887.
The manner in which the conquest was carried
out determined the form of administration that
was subsequently set up in the newly acquired
areas. In areas where the Šäwans encountered re-
sistance, such as in the countries of the Arsi and
Noolee (s. also ÷Qottu) clans, the conquering
generals were installed as governors and north-
ern soldier-settlers, or ÷näftäñña, were moved
in. Military garrisons known as ÷kätäma were
built throughout the conquered regions and later
became the administrative centres of Šäwan rule.
These officials and the soldier-settlers drew no
payment from the government; they lived off
the land and the labours of the local farmers, or
63
Oromo
÷gäbbar. In those areas where independent king-
doms existed and the indigenous rulers submitted
peacefully, the former kingdoms were made trib-
utaries to the crown with their rulers left in place,
subject to the acceptance of the Šäwan king’s
suzerainty and the payment of an annual trib-
ute. The Wälläga kingdoms and the Gibe states
avoided war and managed to remain autonomous
through the first quarter of the 20th cent.
During ÷Òaylä Íéllase I’s rule the O. lost even
the autonomous status Ménilék had been willing
to grant to some O. regions. Finding his predeces-
sor’s administrative system incongruent with his
vision of an empire ruled from the centre by an
all-powerful sovereign, Òaylä Íéllase abolished
the semi-independent status of such O. regions as
Wälläga and Gimma, and appointed only Šäwans
to rule the subordinate regions. He sought
to secure the fidelity of the O. by co-opting
the thoroughly assimilated or Amharized O.
notables. The vast majority of O. farmers became
tenants of feudal lords. Pastoralists were evicted
to make room for mechanized farming. The few
members of the educated O. élite were prevented
from holding positions congruent with their edu-
cation. Despite the great contribution of the O.
region to the country’s agricultural economy, O.
areas were left out of the modernization projects
of the state. The discontent emanating from polit-
ical marginalization, economic exploitation, and
cultural domination of the O. fuelled sporadic
revolts throughout the period of Òaylä Íéllase’s
rule, the ÷Rayya ŸAzäbo (Azeboo) revolt of
1928–30, the ÷Western Galla Confederation of
1936, and the Bale uprising of 1964–70. The fail-
ure of Òaylä Íéllase’s approach to ruling the O.
through political co-optation became evident in
1963 when an organization known as the ÷Mäcca
and Tuulama Association was established, osten-
sibly for organizing O. self-help, but in fact to
promote O. identity (÷Ethnicity). The declared
objective of the organization was to struggle for
the equitable allocation of the country’s resources
and an end to the second-class treatment of O.
The Mäcca and Tuulama Association was quickly
disbanded, but its impact was far-reaching. The
movement raised the consciousness of the O. re-
garding the significance of their own culture and
historical unity and their status as a people within
the Ethiopian state. It is in this condition that the
popular ÷revolution of 1974 erupted.
Src.: BeckHuntAlm 109–29; Anna Trudnos, Oromo Docu-
mentation. Bibliography and Maps, Warsaw 1984 (Lit.).
64
Lit.: HuntGal; Lemmu Baissa, “The Oromo Gada Sys-
tem of Government: an Indigenous African Democracy”,
in: Asafa Jalata (ed.), State Crisis Globalization and
National Movements in North-East Africa, New York
2004, 125–52; Servir B. Chernetsov, “The History of
the Galla and the Death of Za Dengel, King of Ethio-
pia (1603–1604)”, in: PICES 4, 803–08; Eloi Ficquet,
“La fabrique des origines oromo”, AE 18, 2002, 55–71;
MHasOr; Mohammed Hassen, “The Oromo in Medieval
Muslim States of Southern Ethiopia”, Journal of Oromo
Studies 15, 1, 2008, 203–14; PankBord 279–323.
Ezekiel Gebissa
Oromo religion
O. traditional ÷religion cannot be considered
as uniform or monolithic. The wide distribu-
tion and cultural variation of the different O.
groups as well as interethnic and interreligious
exchange of ideas (÷Syncretism) with ÷Islam
and ÷Christianity along with processes of his-
torical transformation produced a diversified
religious landscape. Furthermore, as it is the
case with other autochthonous folk-religions,
in traditional O. society religion was inextrica-
bly interwoven with other social institutions,
such as ÷aadaa, ÷seera and the ÷gadaa system.
One of the uniting concepts of the holistic socio-
religious system of the O. was the principle of
÷safuu.
The pantheon of O. religion was dominated by
a duality of the male divinity of the sky ÷Waaqa
and Lafa, the female chthonic divinity; the sig-
nificance of the latter being diminished in time.
The old Oromo religion was characterized by
the idea that most, if not all, things have a sacred
aspect, personified by an individual ayyaana
÷spirit or spiritual force. According to expla-
nations given to Bartels, people, animals, plants
as well as mountains or rivers have their own
ayyaana, which is thought of as a manifestation
of Waaqa’s creative power. The ayyaana protects
the person with whom it is linked. Thus, the
killer of a man has to appease the ayyaana of his
victim. The term ayyaana is also employed for
various types of possession spirits (÷Possession
cults). Harmful ayyaana are called seetana (‘de-
mons’; BartOrom 112, 159, 221; cp. Knutsson
1967: 53ff.; VSAe II).
According to traditional O. belief, various sets
of rituals have to be carried out in order to main-
tain human well-being, fertility and rain (÷Rain-
making) and to prevent disease and misfortune.
÷Sacrifices play an important role in this respect
(cp. also ÷Buttaa, ÷Dibaayyuu). According to
social position, defined by gender, gadaa class