Video Lesson

Learning Competencies: After learning this lesson, you will be able to:

• identify the peoples and states in the southern, south western and central parts of
  the Ethiopian region;
• explain the indigenous form of religion of these states;
• appreciate the contribution of indigenous form of government;
• sketch out the location of these states on a map.

Brainstorming Questions

• Can you tell us an indigenous form of religion which is being practiced still today
  around your locality? What type of stories do you know about it?
• Can you tell us about a medieval historical heritage from your locality or near by?

Key terms and concepts

The Kingdom of Gojjam

The kingdom of Gojjam existed in the region to the south of Lake Tana. There is no clear evidence concerning the time when the Kingdom of Gojjam emerged. The kingdom was inhabited by the Agew ethnic group. In about 1323/24, King Amde Tsiyon (r. 1314-44) campaigned against Gojjam and reduced it to tributary status. Monks from the Lake Tana Island monasteries and medieval Amhara gradually preached Christianity in Gojjam. Zhan
Kimir was the king of Gojjam during the reign of Amde Tsiyon. He and a local Agaw ruler of the Lake Tana area named Zhan Chuhay apparently resisted the expansion of Christianity in Gojjam. Me`at Gone was another king of Gojjam during the reign of King Dawit (r.
1380-1412). In the 15th century, Gojjam was one of the important provinces where royal governors were appointed as rulers. In the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, the eastern parts of Gojjam were inhabited by the Amhara of Shewa and the medieval province of Amhara. Much of Gojjam, especially its eastern territories, were fiefs of the famous Queen Elleni, who is said to have rebuilt the monastery of Mertole Mariyam.

 Polities of Bizamo, Wajj and Ganz

The state of Bizamo existed on the southern bend of the Abay River just opposite the present district of Wemberma in southern Gojjam. We do not have evidence about the time in which the state of Bizamo emerged. It was inhabited by Omotic language speakers like the Shinasha. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, Bizamo was a tributary to the Christian highland Kingdom. On the arrival of the Macha Oromo towards the end of the 16th century, part of the population of Bizamo fled across the Abay River into Gojjam. Part of the population remained behind and retreated further west to the lowlands, while the remaining part was assimilated by the Macha Oromo. On the other hand, the polity of Wajj was situated around Lake Ziway, in the area west of Fatagar and east of Hadya. We do not have evidence about the ethnic identity and the emergence of Wajj as a state. Like other states around it, Wajj was reduced to tributary status first by King Amde Tsiyon. In the 15th century, the rulers of Wajj used the title of Qats, which was a Muslim title. Wajj was an important center of military activity by the kings of the Christian highland kingdom during the post-Imam Ahmad period. The region was occupied
by the Oromo in the last quarter of the 16th century.

Finally, Ganz was probably situated in the Rift Valley area between Wajj to the east, Kambata to the west and Hadya to the south. The ethnic identity of its early inhabitants and the time of its emergence as an entity are not clearly known. Ganz was among the polities and
kingdoms that were reduced to tributary status by King Amde Tsiyon. Its local rulers used the title of Garad. Islam further expanded in Ganz in the 1530s during the time of Imam Ahmad.
The Kingdom of Ennarya

The medieval kingdom of Ennarya was situated immediately to the north of the Gojeb River and west of the upper course of the Gibe River. Very little evidence is available about Ennarya`s early history. It was under the influence of the Christian highland state beginning in about the middle of the 13th century. Eventually, Ennarya was reduced to tributary status by King Amde Tsiyon. Ennarya was the main source of trade items for the region`s long distance trade up to the 16th century. Among others, pure gold from Ennarya was exported to countries as far as Egypt, Greece and Rome. Beginning from the end of the 16th century, Ennarya strongly resisted the Macha Oromo for over a century. Finally, it was defeated by the Limmu Oromo, who was one of the sub groups of the Macha Oromo confederacy. Since then, the name of the kingdom was changed to Limmu–Ennarya.

The Gonga People

The Gonga people were speakers of the Kafi Noonoo, Shekki Noonoo, Anfillo, Shinasha Ennarya and Bosha languages. These languages belong to the Omotic language family. Some 400 years ago, they lived in the same geographical environment between the Abay and Omo Rivers and had more or less similar socioeconomic and political systems. However, with the arrival of the Macha Oromo to the region south of the Abay River in the late 16th century, many of them were forced to settle in new areas. The Shekka and Anfillo were pushed further west to their present environment in southwestern Ethiopia. Besides, when the kingdom of Bizamo was overrun by the Macha Oromo, the Shinasha moved across the Abay and settled in southern Gojjam and Metekel.

Most of the Gonga peoples established elaborate state systems of their own. The best examples were the kingdoms of Ennarya, Anfillo, Bizamo, Kafa, and Shekka. The kings of the last two kingdoms used the royal title called Tato. All known Gonga states had the tradition of building trenches, stone fortifications and enclosures in the 16th and 17th century for the purpose of defending themselves from the enemy. As will be discussed in unit eight, the other Omotic states, to which the Gonga belonged, had a similar tradition of building defensive fortifications.