UNIT ONE

1.1. The Nature and Uses of History

A. Nature of History
The term history derived from the Greek word Istoria, means “inquiry” or “an account of one’s
inquiries.” The first use of the term is attributed to one of the ancient Greek historians, Herodotus (c. 484–
425 B.C), who is often held to be the “father of history.” In ordinary usage, history means all the things
that have happened in the human past. The past signifies events, which have taken place and the facts of
the past, which are kept in writing. More specifically, the distinction is between what actually happened
in the past or that part which exists independently of the historian and still a waits to be recorded and the
accounts of the past provided by historians, that is, ‘history’.
Historians apply their expertise to surviving records and write history in the form of accounts of the past.
Academically, history can be defined as an organized and systematic study of the past. The study involves
the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events.
Evidently, what actually happened in the past is almost infinite. Historians select which topics and
problems they wish to study, as do natural scientists. In this regard, the major concern of history is the
study of human society and its interaction with the natural environment, which is also the subject of study
by many other disciplines. What differentiates history from other disciplines is that while the latter study
the interaction between humans and their environment in the present state, history studies the interaction
between the two in the past within the framework of the continuous process of change taking place in
time. Because of the longevity of that time, historians organize and divide the human past into discrete
periods after identifying significant developments in politics, society, economy, culture, environment etc.
through the rigorous study of documents and artifacts left by people of other times and other places. Then
they give a label to each period to convey the key characteristics and developments of that era.

Accordingly, history is conventionally divided into ancient, medieval and modern history. This is what
we call periodization in history; one of the key characteristics of the discipline. When historians talk
about continuities or persisting patterns, they are not implying that a particular pattern applied to everyone
in the world or even in a particular country or region. Nor are they claiming that absolutely nothing
changed in the pattern they are describing. All aspects of human life that is, social, cultural, economic,
and political in the past have been changing from time to time; and none of them were practiced in
exactly the same way in the lifetime of our ancestors. Nevertheless, some things stay more or less the
same for long periods, since few things ever change completely.
For example, we continue to speak the languages of our ancestors; follow their beliefs and religious
practices; wear the costumes they were wearing; continue to practice their agricultural or pastoral ways of
life; maintain the fundamental components or structures of their social organization. In the same vein, the
basic fabric of society in Ethiopia and the Horn remains similar and continues to have special
characteristics.

B. Uses of History
Peoples live in the present and they plan for and worry about the future. History, however, is the study of
the past.

History Helps Better Understand the Present

History is the only significant storehouse of information available for the examination and analysis of
how people behaved and acted in the past. People need to produce some sort of account of their past
because it is difficult to understand problems that face humanity and society today without tracing their
origins in the past. Put differently, knowledge of relevant historical background is essential for a balanced
and in-depth understanding of many current world situations.

History Provides a Sense of Identity

Knowledge of history is indispensable to understand who we are and where we fit in the world. As
memory is to the individual, history is to the society. An individual without memory finds great difficulty
in relating to others and in taking intelligent decisions. A society without history would be in similar
condition. It is only through sense of history that communities define their identity, orient them, and
understand their relationships with the past and with other societies.
History Provides the Basic Background for Other Disciplines
Historical knowledge is extremely valuable in the pursuit of other disciplines such as literature, art,
philosophy, religion, sociology, political science, anthropology, economics, etc.

History Teaches Critical Skills

Studying history helps students to develop key research skills. These include how to find and evaluate
sources; how to make coherent arguments based on various kinds of evidence and present clearly in
writing. These analytical and communication skills are highly usable in other academic pursuits. Gaining
skills in sorting through diverse interpretations is also essential to make informed decisions in our day-to-
day life.
History Helps Develop Tolerance and Open-Mindedness
Most of us have a tendency to regard our own cultural practices, styles, and values as right and proper.
Studying different societies in the past is like going to a foreign country, which contributes to rid
ourselves of some of our inherent cultural provincialism. By studying the past, students of history acquire
broad perspectives that give them the range and flexibility required in many life situations.
History Supplies Endless Source of Fascination
Exploring the ways people in distant ages constructed their lives involves a sense of beauty and
excitement, and ultimately another perspective on human life and society.
To conclude, history should be studied because it is essential to the individual and the society. Only
through studying history we can grasp how and why things change; and only through history we can
understand what elements of a society persist despite change. Aesthetic and humanistic goals also inspire
people to study the past, far removed from present-day utility. Nevertheless, just as history can be useful,
it can also be abused. Such abuses come mainly from deliberate manipulation of the past to fit current
political agenda. In such cases, history is written backwards. That is, the past is described and interpreted
to justify the present. While personal biases are not always avoidable, a historian is different from a
propagandist in that the former takes care to document his judgment and assertions so that they can be
subjected to independent and external verification.

1.2. Sources and Methods of Historical Study

Historians are not creative writers like novelists. Therefore, the work of historians must be supported by
evidence arising from sources. Sources are instruments that bring to life what appear to have been dead.
Where there are no sources, there is no history. Sources are, therefore, key to the study and writing of
history.
Historical sources are broadly classified into two types: Primary and Secondary.

 . Primary sources are surviving traces of the past available to us in the present. They are original or
first hand in their proximity to the event both in time and in space. Examples of primary sources are
manuscripts (handwritten materials), diaries, letters, minutes, court records and administrative files,
travel documents, photographs, maps, video and audiovisual materials, and artifacts such as coins,
fossils, weapons, utensils, and buildings.
 Secondary sources, on the other hand, are second-hand published accounts about past events. They
are written long after the event has occurred, providing an interpretation of what happened, why it
happened, and how it happened, often based on primary sources. Examples of secondary sources are
articles, books, textbooks, biographies, and published stories or movies about historical events.
Secondary materials give us what appear to be finished accounts of certain historical periods and
phenomena. Nevertheless, no history work can be taken as final, as new sources keep coming to light.
New sources make possible new historical interpretations or entirely new historical reconstructions.
 Oral data constitute the other category of historical sources. Oral sources are especially valuable to
study and document the history of non-literate societies. They can also be used to fill missing gaps
and corroborate written words. In many societies, people transmit information from one generation
to another, for example, through folk songs and folk sayings. This type of oral data is called oral
tradition. People can also provide oral testimonies or personal recollections of lived experience.
Such source material is known as oral history.

For the history of Ethiopia and the Horn, historians use a combination of the sources described above.
However, whatever the source of information-primary or secondary, written or oral- the data should be
subjected to critical evaluation before used as evidence.

Primary sources have to be verified for their originality and authenticity because sometimes primary
sources like letters may be forged. Secondary sources have to be examined for the reliability of their
reconstructions. Oral data may lose its originality and authenticity due to distortion through time.
Therefore, it should be crosschecked with other sources such as written documents to determine its
veracity or authenticity. In short, historians (unlike novelists) must find evidence about the past, ask
questions of that evidence, and come up with explanations that make sense of what the evidence says
about the people, events, places and time periods they study about.

1.3. Historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn

Historiography can be defined as the history of historical writing, studying how knowledge of the past,
either recent or distant, is obtained and transmitted. People have had some sense of the past perhaps since
the beginning of humanity. Yet historiography as an intentional attempt to understand and represent
descriptions of past events in writing has rather a briefer career throughout the world. The organized
study and narration of the past was introduced by ancient Greek historians notably Herodotus and
Thucydides (c.455-400 B.C.E.)
The other major tradition of thinking and writing about the past is the Chinese. The most important early
figure in Chinese historical thought and writing was the Han dynasty figure Sima Qian (145–86 B.C.E.).
Despite such early historiographical traditions, history emerged as an academic discipline in the second
half of the nineteenth century first in Europe and subsequently in other parts of the world including the
US. The German historian, Leopold Von Ranke (1795–1886), and his colleagues established history as an
independent discipline in Berlin with its own set of methods and concepts by which historians collect
evidence of past events, evaluate that evidence, and present a meaningful discussion of the subject.
Ranke’s greatest contribution to the scientific study of the past is such that he is considered as the “father
of modern historiography.”
Historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn has changed enormously during the past hundred years in ways
that merit fuller treatment than can be afforded here. This section is devoted to exploring significant
transformations in historical writing. In order to appreciate twentieth-century historiography of the region,
it is first necessary to examine earlier forms of historiography (historical writing). The earliest known
reference that we have on history of Ethiopia and the Horn is the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, written in
the first century A.D by an anonymous author.
Another document describing Aksum’s trade and the then Aksumite king’s campaigns on both sides of
the sea is the Christian Topography composed by Cosmas Indicopleustes, a Greek sailor, in the sixth
century A.D. Inscriptions aside, the earliest written Ethiopian material dates from the seventh century
A.D. The document was found in Abba Gerima monastery in Yeha. This was followed by a manuscript
discovered in Haiq Istifanos monastery of present day Wollo in the thirteenth century A.D. The value of
manuscripts is essentially religious. Yet, for historians, they have the benefit of providing insights into the
country’s past. For example, the manuscript cited above contains the list of medieval kings and their
history in brief.
The largest groups of sources available for medieval Ethiopian history are hagiographies originating from
Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Invariably written in Ge’ez, an important function of hagiographies is
enhancing the prestige of saints. Yet other related anecdotes are also introduced, and often discussed in
detail such as the development of the church and the state including territorial conquests by reigning
monarchs. A parallel hagiographical tradition existed among Muslim communities of the country. One
such account offers tremendous insight into the life of a Muslim saint, Shaykh Ja’far Bukko of Gattira, in
present day Wollo, in the late nineteenth century. Besides the saint’s life, the development of indigenous
Islam and contacts between the region’s Muslim community and the outside world are some of the issues
discussed in this document.
Ethiopia had also an indigenous tradition of history writing called chronicles. Chronicles in the ancient
Ethiopian Ge’ez tongue first appeared in the fourteenth century and continue (sometimes in Amharic) into
the early twentieth. Kings or their successors entrusted the writing of chronicles to court scribes or
clergymen of recognized clerical training and calligraphic skills. The earliest and the last of such
surviving documents are the Glorious Victories of Amde-Tsion and the Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and
Empress Zewditu respectively. Chronicles incorporate both legends and facts-past and contemporary
about the monarch’s genealogy, upbringing military exploits, piety and statesmanship.
Chronicles are known for their factual detail and strong chronological framework, even if it would require
considerable labor to convert their relative chronology to an absolute one. They are also averse to
quantification. Furthermore, chronicles explain historical events mainly in religious terms; they offer little
by way of social and economic developments even in the environs of the palace. However, in conjunction
with other varieties of written documents, such as hagiographies and travel accounts by foreign observers,
chronicles can provide us with a glimpse into the character and lives of kings, their preoccupations and
relations with subordinate officials and, though inadequately, the evolution of the Ethiopian state and
society.
Written accounts of Arabic-speaking visitors to the coast also provide useful information on various
aspects of the region’s history. For example, al-Masudi and Ibn Battuta described the culture, language
and import-export trade in the main central region of the east African coast in the tenth and in the
fourteenth centuries respectively. For the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries we have two documents
composed by Yemeni writers who were eyewitnesses to the events they described.
The first document titled Futuh al Habesha was composed by Shihab al-Din, who recorded the conflict
between the Christian kingdom and the Muslim principalities in the sixteenth century. Besides the
operation of the war including the conquest of northern and central Ethiopia by Imam Ahmed ibn Ibrahim
al-Ghazi, the document describes major towns and their inhabitants in the southeastern part of Ethiopia,
although the discussion abruptly ends in 1535.
The other first-hand account was left to us by Al-Haymi, who led a Yemeni delegation in 1647 to the
court of Fasiledas (r. 1632-67). Other materials that appeared in the sixteenth century include Abba
Bahrey’s Geez script on the Oromowritten in 1593. Notwithstanding its limitations, the document
provides us with first-hand information about the Oromo population movement including the Gadaa
System.
The contribution of European missionaries and travelers to the development of Ethiopian historiography
is also significant. From the early sixteenth until the late nineteenth centuries, missionaries (Catholics and
Protestants) came to the country with the intention of staying, and who, nevertheless, maintained intimate
links with Europe. Thus, the missionaries’ sources provide us with valuable information covering a
considerable period. Some of the major topics covered by these sources include religious and political
developments within Ethiopia, and the country’s foreign relations. An example of such account is The
Prester John of the Indies, composed by a Portuguese priest, Francisco Alvarez who accompanied the
Portuguese mission to the court of Lebne-Dengel in 1520.
In addition to the missionary sources, travel documents had important contribution to the development of
Ethiopian historiography. One example of travel documents is James Bruce’s Travels to Discover the
Source of the Nile. Like other sources, however, both the missionaries and travelers’ materials can only be
used with considerable reservations and with care for they are socially and politically biased. Foreign
writers also developed interest in Ethiopian studies. One of these figures was a German, Hiob Ludolf
(1624-1704).
Ludolf was the founder of Ethiopian studies in Europe in the seventeenth century. He wrote Historia
Aethiopica (translated into English as A New History of Ethiopia). Ludolf never visited Ethiopia; he wrote
the country’s history largely based on information he collected from an Ethiopian priest named Abba
Gorgorios (Abba Gregory) who was in Europe at that time. In the nineteenth century, August Dillman
published two studies on ancient Ethiopian history. Compared to Ludolf, Dillman demonstrated all
markers of objectivity in his historical research endeavors.
Historical writing made some departures from the chronicle tradition in the early twentieth century. This
period saw the emergence of traditional Ethiopian writers who made conscious efforts to distance
themselves from chroniclers whom they criticized for adulatory tone when writing about monarchs. The
earliest group of these writers includeAleqa Taye Gebre-Mariam, Aleqa Asme Giorgis and Debtera
Fisseha-Giorgis Abyezgi. Later, Negadrases Afework Gebre-Iyesus and Gebre-Hiwot Baykedagn joined
them. Unlike chroniclers, these writers dealt with a range of topics from social justice, administrative
reform and economic analysis to history. Taye and Fisseha-Giorgis wrote books on the history of Ethiopia
while Asme produced a similar work on the Oromo people. Notwithstanding his other works, Afework
wrote the first Amharic novel, Tobiya, in Ethiopian history while Gebre-Hiwot has Atse Menilekna
Ityopia (Emperor Menilek and Ethiopia) and Mengistna Yehizb Astedader (Government and Public
Administration) to his name.
The most prolific writer of the early twentieth century Ethiopia was, however, Blatten Geta Hiruy Wolde-
Selassie. Hiruy published four major works namely Ethiopiana Metema (Ethiopia and Metema), Wazema
(Eve), Yehiwot Tarik (A Biographical Dictionary) and Yeityopia Tarik (A History of Ethiopia). In contrast
to their predecessors, Gebre-Hiwot and Hiruy exhibited relative objectivity and methodological
sophistication in their works. Unfortunately, the Italian occupation of Ethiopia interrupted the early
experiment in modern history writing and publications.
After liberation, Tekle-Tsadik Mekuria formed a bridge between writers in pre-1935 and Ethiopia
professional historians who came after him. Tekle-Tsadik has published about eight historical works.
Tekle-Tsadik made better evaluation of his sources than his predecessors. Another work of importance in
this period is Yilma Deressa’s Ye Ityopiya Tarik Be’asra Sidistegnaw Kifle Zemen(A History of Ethiopia
in the Sixteenth Century). The book addresses the Oromo population movement and the wars between the
Christian kingdom and the Muslim sultanates as its main subjects. Blatten Geta Mahteme-Selassie
Wolde-Meskel also contributed his share. Among others, he wrote Zikre Neger.Zikre Neger is a
comprehensive account of Ethiopia’s prewar land tenure systems and taxation. Another work dealing
specifically with aspects of land tenure is left to us by Gebre-Wold Engidawork. Another writer of the
same category was Dejazmach Kebede Tesema. Kebede wrote his memoir of the imperial period,
published as Yetarik Mastawesha in 1962 E.C.
The 1960s was a crucial decade in the development of Ethiopian historiography for it was in this period
that history emerged as an academic discipline. The pursuit of historical studies as a full-time occupation
began with the opening of the Department of History in 1963 at the then Haile Selassie I University
(HSIU). The production of BA theses began towards the end of the decade. The Department launched its
MA and PhD programs in 1979 and 1990 respectively. Since then researches by faculty (both Ethiopians
and expatriates) and students have been produced on various topics. Although entirely a research
organization, the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) is the other institutional home of professional
historiography of Ethiopia. The IES was founded in 1963. Since then the Institute housed a number of
historians of whom the late Richard Pankhurst, the first Director and founding member of the Institute is
worthy of note here. Pankhurst’s prolific publication record remains unmatched. He has authored or co-
authored twenty-two books and produced several hundred articles on Ethiopia. Since its foundation, the
IES has been publishing the Journal of Ethiopian Studies for the dissemination of historical research. The
Institute’s library contains literary works of diverse disciplines and has its fair share in the evolution of
professional historiography of Ethiopia.
The professionalization of history in other parts of the Horn is a post-colonial phenomenon. With the
establishment of independent nations, a deeper interest in exploring their own past quickly emerged
among African populations, perhaps stimulated by reactions to decades of education in an alien imperial
historiography. With this came an urgent need to recast the historical record and to recover evidence of
many lost pre-colonial civilizations. The decolonization of African historiography required new
methodological approach (tools of investigation) to the study of the past that involved a critical use of oral
data and tapping the percepts of ancillary disciplines like archeology, anthropology and linguistics.

At the same time, European intellectuals’ own discomfort with the Euro-centrism of previous scholarship
provided for the intensive academic study of African history, an innovation that had spread to North
America by the 1960s. Foundational research was done at the School of Oriental and African Studies
(SOAS) in London and the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Francophone
scholars have been as influential as Anglophones. Yet African historiography has not been the sole
creation of interested Europeans. African universities have, despite the instabilities of politics and civil
war in many areas, trained their own scholars and sent many others overseas for training who eventually
published numerous works on different aspects of the region’s history.

1.4. The Geographical Context

The term “Ethiopia and the Horn” refers to that part of Northeast Africa, which now contains the
countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The region consists chiefly of mountains uplifted
through the formation of the Great Rift Valley. The Rift Valley is a fissure in the Earth’s crust running
down from Syria to Mozambique and marking the separation of the African and Arabian tectonic plates.
The major physiographic features of the region are a massive highland complex of mountains and
plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley and surrounded by lowlands, semi-desert, deserts and tropical
forests along the periphery.
The diversity of the terrain led to regional variations in climate, natural vegetation, soil composition, and
settlement patterns. As with the physical features, people across the region are remarkably diverse: they
speak a vast number of different languages, profess to many distinct religions, live in a variety types of
dwellings, and engage in a wide range of economic activities. At the same time, however, peoples of the
region were never isolated; they interacted throughout history from various locations. Thus, as much as
there are many things that make people of a certain area unique from the other, there are also many areas
in which peoples of Ethiopia and the Horn share common past.
The history of Ethiopia and the Horn has been shaped by contacts with others through commerce,
migrations, wars, slavery, colonialism, and the waxing and waning of state systems. Yet, the evolution of
human history owed much to geographical factors notably location, landforms, resource endowment,
climate and drainage systems which continue to impact, as incentives and deterrents, the movement of
people and goods in the region. In this section, we will study the impact that the region’s geography has
on the way people live and organize themselves into societies.
Spatial location in relationship to other spaces and locations in the world is one geographical factor that
has significant bearing on the ways in which history unfolds. Ethiopia and the Horn lies between the Red
Sea, Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean on the one hand, and the present-day eastern frontiers of Sudan and
Kenya on the other. Since early times, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden linked Northeast Africa to the
Eastern Mediterranean, the Near and Middle East, India, and the Far East. Likewise, the Indian Ocean has
linked East Africa to the Near and Middle East, India and the Far East.
Another element of geography factor that had profound impact on human history is drainage system.
Ethiopia and the Horn has five principal drainage systems. These are the Nile River, Gibe/Omo–Gojeb,
Genale/Jubba-Shebele, the Awash River,and the Ethiopian Rift Valley Lake systems. Flowing from
Uganda in the south to the Sudan in the north, the White Nile meets the Blue Nile (Abay in Ethiopia
thatstarts from the environs of Tana Lake) in Khartoum and eventually, drains into the Mediterranean Sea
through Egypt. The Awash River System is an entirely Ethiopian system and links the cool rich highlands
of Central Ethiopia with the hot, dry lowlands of the Danakil Depression. The Ethiopian Rift Valley
Lakes System is a self-contained drainage basin, and includes a string of lakes stretching from Lake
Ziway in the north to Lake Turkana (formerly known as Rudolf) on the Ethio-Kenyan border. The Gibe
/Omo–Gojeb River System links southern Ethiopia to the semi-desert lowlands of northern Kenya. The
Shebele and Genale rivers originate in the Eastern highlands and flow southeast toward Somalia and the
Indian Ocean. Only the Genale (known as the Jubba in Somalia) makes it to the Indian Ocean; the
Shebele disappears in sand just inside the coastline.
Ethiopia and the Horn can be divided into three major distinct environmental zones. The vast Eastern
lowland covers the narrow coastal strip of northeastern Eritrea, widens gradually and descends
southwards to include much of lowland Eritrea, the Sahel, the Danakil Depression, the lower Awash
valley, and the arid terrain in northeast of the Republic of Djibouti. It then extends to the Ogaden, the
lower parts of Hararghe, Bale, Borana, Sidamo and the whole territory of the Republic of Somalia. There
is no much seasonal variation in climatic condition of this zone. Hot and dry conditions prevail year-
round along with periodic monsoon winds and irregular (little) rainfall except in limited areas along the
rivers Awash, Wabe-Shebele and Genale/Jubba that traverse the region and a few offshore islands in the
Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean that are inhabited by people closely related to those of
immediate mainland districts. Much of the lowland territories are covered by shrub and bush as its major
vegetation.
Immediately to the west of and opposite to the eastern lowland region forms the highland massif that
starts from northern Eritrea and continues all the way to southern Ethiopia. The eastern extension of the
highland massif consists the Arsi, Bale and Hararghe plateau. The major divide between the western and
eastern parts of this zone is the Rift Valley. The major physiographic features of the zone are complex of
mountains, deep valleys, and extensive plateaus.
Further to the west, along the western foothills or on the periphery of the plateau and on borderlands of
the Sudan, stretching from north to south, hot lowlands were characterized in earlier times by thick forests
chiefly on the banks of the Nile and its tributaries.
Despite the varied physical environments discussed above, the countries of the Horn of Africa are, for the
most part, linguistically and ethnically linked together as far back as recorded history goes. Population
movements had caused a continuous process of interaction, creating a very complex picture of settlement
patterns. The high degree of interaction and the long common history of much of the population had
weakened ethnic dividing lines in large parts of the region. Linguistic and cultural affinities are therefore
as important as ethnic origin in the grouping of the population.
UNIT TWO
PEOPLES AND CULTURES IN ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN
2.1. Human Evolution
Human evolution accounts only a fraction of history of the globe that had been formed through gradual
natural process since about 4. 5 billion years before present (B. P.) The earliest life came into being
between 3 and 1 billion years B. P. Blue green algae, small plants, fishes, birds and other small beings
emerged at c. 800 million years B. P. Primates branched of placental mammal stream as of 200-170
million years B. P. and then some primates developed into Pongidae (such as gorilla, chimpanzee,
orangutan, gibbon etc) while others evolved into Hominidae (human ancestors).
Archeological evidences suggest that East African Rift Valley is a cradle of humanity. Evidences related
to both biological and culturalevolution have been discovered in the Lower Omo and Middle Awash
River valleys both by Ethiopian and foreign scholars. A fossil named Chororapithecus dated 10 million
B. P. was unearthed in Anchar (in West Hararghe) in 2007. Ardipithicus ramiduskadabba (dated 5.8-5.2
million years BP) was discovered in Middle Awash. Ardipithicus ramidus (dated 4. 2 million B.P.) was
discovered at Aramis in Afar in 1994.Other Australopithecines were uncovered at Belohdelie (dated back
3.6 million years B. P.) in Middle Awash. A three years old child’s fossil termed as
Australopithecusafarensis, Selam, dated to 3.3 million years B.P was also discovered at Dikika, Mille,
Afar in 2000. Another Australopithecus afarnesis (Lucy/Dinkinesh, dated c. 3.18 million years B. P.)
with 40% complete body parts, weight 30kg, height 1.07 meters and pelvis looks like bipedal female was
discovered at Hadar in Afar in 1974 A. D. Fossil named Australopithecus anamensis was discovered
around Lake Turkana. An eco-fact named as Australopithecus garhi (means surprise in Afar language)
dated to 2.5 million years B.Pwas discovered at Bouri, Middle Awash, between 1996 and 1999.
The development of the human brain was to be the main feature of the next stage of human evolution,
which produced the genus Homo, believed to have emerged 2-2.5 million years B.P. Different evidences
of the genus homo have been recovered in different parts of Ethiopia and the Horn. A partial skull of a
fossil termed asHomo habilis, which is derived from Latin terms "Homo" (human being) and "Habilis"
(skillful use of hands), dated 1.9 million years B. P. has been found in the Lower Omo. A fossil named
Homo erectus (walking upright, dated 1. 6 million years B. P.) was discovered at Melka Kunture, Konso
Gardula and Gadeb with 900-1100 cc brain size. Homo erectus seems to have originated in Africa and
then spread out to the rest of the world. Skeleton of Archaic Homosapiens (knowledgeable human being,
dated 400, 000 years B.P.) named Bodo with brain size of 1300-1400cc was discovered in Middle Awash.
Fossils of Homo sapiens sapiens (100, 000 years B.P.) were discovered at Porc Epic near Dire Dawa, and
Kibish around Lower Omo (in 1967). In 2004, Kibish fossils were re-dated to 195, 000 B. P, the oldest
date in the world for modern Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens idaltu, found in Middle Awash in 1997, lived
about 160, 000 years B.P.
Cultural evolution is related to technological changes that brought socio-economic transformation on
human life. It can be conventionally grouped in to Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. Stone tools had
been the first technologies to be developed by human beings. By taking their features, ways and period of
production, stone tools can be grouped in to Mode I (Olduwan, which was named based on the first report
made at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania), Mode II (Acheulean, named after the first report at St. Acheul,
France) and Mode III (Sangoon). The Mode I stone tools are mainly characterized by crude and mono-
facial styles, and were produced by the direct percussion. Mode II stone tools were produced by indirect
percussion, by using hand-ax or hammer, and mainly characterized by bifacial, pointed and convex
features. Mode III stone tools are characterized by flexible and finest form of production by the use of
obsidian. Examples of the above types of stone tools have been found in Ethiopia and the Horn.
Fossilized animal bones (3. 4 million years B. P.) were found with stone-tool-inflicted marks on them (the
oldest evidence of stone tool in the world) at Dikika in 2010. Artifact findings suggest that Olduwan tools
made and used by Homo habilis were discovered near Gona (dated 2.52 million years B.P. in 1992) and
at Shungura in Afar.Homo erectus produced Acheulean tools dated back to 1.7.million years B.P,
invented fire and started burial practice. Acheulian tools (over a million years old) were found at Kella,
Middle Awash in 1963. Homosapiens produced Sangoon tools that trace back up to 300,000 years B. P.
Gademotta site in central Ethiopian Rift Valley has been dated back to 200, 000 B. P. Other vital sites
such as Gorgora, Ki’one and Yabello in Ethiopia and Midhidhishi and Gudgud in Somalia have offered
noteworthy information about Stone Age communities.
The period of usage of stone tools is divided into sub-periods. The first, the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age,
from 3.4 million to 11, 000 years B. P.) was the period when human being developed language with
shelter in cave using stone, bone, wood, furs, and skin materials to prepare food and clothing. There was
sex-age labor division with able-bodied males as hunters of fauna, and children and females as gatherers
of flora. Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age /11, 000-10,000 B. P.) was transition between Paleolithic and
Neolithic (New Stone Age /10, 000-6, 000 B.P).
2.2. Neolithic Revolution
During the Neolithic period human beings transformed from mobile to sedentary way of life. This was a
radical shift involving changes from hunting and gathering to the domestication of plants and animals.
Climatic change and increased hunter-gatherers’ population resulted in the declining number of animals
and availability of plants. As food gatherers were already aware of growing cycle of most of grass types,
they began to thickly grow those, which were most common and yielded seeds that are more edible. The
big animals, which depended on dense bushes for sustenance, were reduced by hunting and animals that
people were able to domesticate easily were smaller ones. The process of domestication took place
independently in the various parts of the world. In Ethiopia and the Horn chiefly in the more elevated and
wetter-parts, people cultivated plants including Teff (Eragrotis teff), dagussa (Eleusine coracana), nug
(Guzotia abyssinica), enset (Ensete ventricosum) etc. The domestication of enset plant (Enseteedule)
reduced shifting cultivation (continuous clearing of new plots), slowing down soil exhaustion.
The discovery of polished axes, ceramics, grinding stones, beads, stone figures and animal remains in
sites like Emba-Fakeda around Adigrat in Tigray as well as Aqordat and Barentu in Eritrea evinces the
existence of Neolithic material culture. The Gobodara rock shelter near Aksum has provided us
agricultural stone tools. Remains associated with domesticated cattle,chickpeas and vegetables have been
excavated from Lalibela Cave on the southeastern shore of Lake Tana. Stone tools used for cutting grass
and grass like plants as well as rock paintings of domesticated animals have been found at Laga Oda rock
shelter near Charchar. Evidence for domesticated cattle also comes from around Lake Basaqa near
Matahara. Playa Napata and Kado in the Sudan, Cyrenaica in Libya and Futajalon in West Africa were
among known places of domestication of animals like Nidamawa and Zebu (Bos indicus) cattle that in
due course expanded to Ethiopia and the Horn.
2.3. The Peopling of the Region
2.3.1. Languages and Linguistic Processes
Ethiopia and the Horn in general is marked by ethnic and linguistic diversity. There are about 90
languages with 200 dialects in Ethiopia and the Horn. Beneath this apparent diversity, there is some
degree of unity. Linguists classify languages of Ethiopia and the Horn into two major language super
families. These are Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan.
A. Afro-Asiatic: this super family is sub-divided into the following families:
Cushitic: linguists divided this language family into four branches:

Eritrea bordering the Sudan.

Eastern: this includes diversified linguistic groups like Afar, Ale, Arbore, Baiso, Burji, Darashe,
Dasanech, Gedeo, Hadiya, Halaba, Kambata, Konso, Libido, Mosiye, Oromo, Saho, Sidama, Somali,
Tambaro, Tsemai, etc.

Semitic: is divided into two:

 -Sudanese border); Tigre (spoken in Eritrean Lowland);
Tigrigna (spoken in highland Eritrea and Tigray).

Transverse: Amharic, Argoba, Harari, Silte, Wolane and Zay.

Outer: Gafat (extinct), Gurage and Mesmes (endangered).

Omotic: Anfillo, Ari, Bambasi, Banna, Basketo, Bench, Boro-Shinasha, Chara, Dawuro, Dime, Dizi,
Dorze, Gamo, Ganza, Gayil, Gofa, Hamer, Hozo, Kachama-Ganjule, Karo, Keficho, Konta, Korete, Male,
Melo, Nayi, Oyda, Sezo, Shekkacho, Sheko, Wolayta, Yem, Zayse etc. Among its groups, Ometo
includes Wolayta and Gamo while main Gonga is Keficho.

B. Nilo-Saharan: Anywa, Berta, Gumuz, Kacipo-Balesi, Komo, Kunama, Kwama, Kwegu,

Majang, Mi'en, Murle, Mursi, Nara, Nu’er, Nyangatom, Opo, Shabo, Suri and Uduk.
Language classification did not remain static. Factors like population movements, warfare, trade, religious
and territorial expansion, urbanization etc. have resulted in intense linguistic processes that forced
languages to be affected. In this process, some languages died out or have been in danger of extinction
while others thrived off the social phenomenon that is evidently observed.
2.3.2. Settlement Patterns
A settlement pattern, the distribution of peoples across the landscape, is the results of long historical
processes in northeast Africa. In some areas, settlement was dense and in other areas sparse. Some people
inhabited extensive highlands and others the lowlands. Based on historical linguistic and history of inter-
peoples relations, studies indicate that environmental, socio-economic, and political processes
significantly shaped and reshaped the spatial distribution of peoples in the region. Since early times,the
Cushitic and Semitic peoples had inhabited the area between the Red Sea in the east and Blue Nile in the
west from where they dispersed to different directions. In due course, the Cushites have evolved to be the
largest linguistic group in Ethiopia and the Horn and have also spread over wide areas from Sudan to
Tanzania. Similarly, the Semitic peoples spread over large area and eventually settled the northern, north
central, northeastern, south central and eastern parts of Ethiopia and the Horn. The Semites are the second
majority people next to the Cushites.
Except the Shinasha, who live in Benishangul-Gumuz and the South Mao in Wallagga, the majority of
Omotic peoples have inhabited southwestern Ethiopia along the Omo River basin. Yet, in the earlier
times, they had extended much further to the north.
In the west, the Nilotes are largely settled along the Ethiopia-Sudanese border although some of the
Chari-Nile family inhabited as far as southern Omo. The latter are identified as the Karamojo cluster
living around Turkana Lake along Ethio-Kenyan border.
2.3.3. Economic Formations
The domestication of plants and animals gave humanity two interdependent modes of life: agriculture and
pastoralism. While there may be pure pastoralists, it is very rare to think of a farmer without a head of
cattle or two. Likewise, in Ethiopia and the Horn, these two forms of livelihood have coexisted and quite
often interrelated. Yet, topographic features and climatic conditions largely influenced economic
activities in Ethiopia and the Horn.
A predominantly pastoral economy has characterized the eastern lowland region since early periods.
Pastoral economy namely the production of camel, goat, and cattle has been the most common economic
practice among the Afar, Saho and Somali as well as Karayu and Borana Oromo. While the Afar and
Karrayu have depended on the Awash River, the Somali have owed a great deal to Wabi Shebelle and
Genale (Jubba) Rivers.
The plateaus have sustained plough agriculture for thousands of years supporting sizable populations.
Majority of the populations were engaged in mixed farming. It is here that sedentary agriculture had been
started and advanced at least since 10, 000 years B. P. by the Cushites, Semites and Omotic groups. The
major economic activity of the Omotic has been mixed farming and trade in northern Omo while southern
Omo have predominantly practiced pastoralism and fishing. Many of the Omotic groups have also been
famous in metallurgy, weaving and other crafts.
In the sparsely populated western lowland region, the dominant economic formations were pastoralism,
shifting agriculture, fishing, apiculture and hunting. For instance, sorghum, millet, cotton and others have
been largely cultivated in the lowlands along Ethio-Sudanese border since antiquity. The Nilotes along
the Blue Nile and Baro-Akobo Rivers have been shifting cultivators where sorghum has been a staple
food. Among majority Nilotic communities, cattle have high economic and social values. Berta and other
Nilotes had trade and other social contacts with northern Sudan.
2.4. Religion and Religious Processes
2.4.1. Indigenous Religion
This includes a variety of religious beliefs and practices, which are native to the region and have been
followed by the local people since ancient times. A distinctive mark of indigenous religion is belief in one
Supreme Being, but special powers are attributed to natural phenomena, which are considered sacred.
Spiritual functionaries officiate over rituals, propitiate divinities, and are held in a lot of respect as
intermediaries between the society and spirits. Here under, some major indigenous religious groups that
still claim the allegiance of the region's population are discussed.
Waqeffanna of the Oromo is based on the existence of one Supreme Being called Waqa. Waqa's power is
manifested through thespirits called Ayyana. The major spirits include Abdar/Dache (soil fertility spirit),
Atete (women or human and animal fertility spirit), Awayi/Tiyyana (sanctity spirit), Balas (victory spirit),
Chato/Dora (wild animals defender), Gijare/ Nabi (father and mother’s sprit), Jaricha (peace spirit),
Qasa (anti-disease spirit) etc. There is also a belief that the dead exist in the form of a ghost called Ekera
in the surrounding of his/her abode before death, or his/her cemetery (Hujuba). In the autumn and spring
seasons every year at the edge of ever-flowing river and top of mountain respectively, there is thanks
giving festival called Irrecha besides New Year (Birbo) rite.Revered experts known as Qallu (male) and
Qallitti (female) have maintained link between the Ayyana and the believers. Qallu ritual house is called
Galma located on hilltop or in the grove of large trees. On Wednesday and Friday nights, there is
Dalaga/ecstasy at which Qallu or Qallitti is possessed by Ayyana so that s/he can interpret mysteries. The
Jila/Makkala (delegated messengers) used to make pilgrimage to get consecration of senior Qallu
(AbbaMuda or anointment father) until about 1900. Abba Muda had turban surrirufa of tri-colors: black
at top, red at center and white at bottom representing those in pre-active life, active (luba) and those in
post-active life respectively.
Among the Hadiya the Supreme Being is known as Waa, who is believed to exist before everything
(hundam issancho) or create world (qoccancho) and whose eyes are represented by elincho (sun) and
agana (moon). Spirits like Jara (male’s protector), Idota (female’s guard), Hausula, Qedane and Warriqa
attracted prayers and sacrifices at Shonkolla and Kallalamo mountains chosen by Anjanchoand
Jaramanjcho. One of Hadiya's clans, Worqimene, is believed to have the power to send rain in drought.
Fandanano (sing. Fandancho) practice is believed to be introduced by either spiritual leaders, Itto and
Albajafrom Bimado clan, or Boyamo, father of five Hadiya clans, and was largely followed by inhabitants
of Boshana, Misha etc.
The Kambata haveNegitaor Aricho Magano/Sky God and religious officials known as Magnancho. The
Gedeo called the Supreme Being, Magenoand had thanks giving ceremony called Deraro.The Konso
religion centered on worship of Waaq/Wakh. The Gojjam Agaw used to call the Supreme Being Diban
(Sky God). Among sections of the Gurage, there have been Waq/Goita (supreme deity), Bozha (thunder
God) and Damwamwit (health Goddess). The Gurage and the Yem had a common deity known as Abba at
Enar (Henar). The Yem worshipped Ha’o (Sky God). So’ala clan was considered as the top in religious
duties as it was in charge of Shashokam (the most vital deity). Religious functions were performed
through couriers in each village called Magos. The Konta’s spirit-cult was called Docho.
The Wolayta called God Tosaand spirit Ayyana including Tawa-Awa /Moytiliya (father’s spirit), Sawuna
(justice spirit), Wombo (rain spirit), Micho (goat spirit), Nago (sheep spirit), Kuchuruwa (emergency
spirit), Gomashera (war spirit), Talahiya (Beta Talaye or talheya, Omo spirit) etc. Dufuwa (grave) was
believed to be abode of Moytiliya. Annual worship of spirits was performed at a sacred place called Mitta
usually at the end of May and beginning of June to offer sacrifice of the first fruits called Teramo or
Pageta (Dubusha). People gathered around tree called Dongowa, which varied from clan to clan:
sycamore (Ficussur exasperate) for the Bubula, podocarpo for Zatuwa etc. The Qesiga called their
meeting place Kasha (Dabre). To protect people from eating crop before harvesting Zomboro clan used
Diqaysa practice by planting in their fields sour olive and nubica trees. The Wolayta also had the practice
of Chaganna (prohibited days to work) to protect produce from disaster. They also chose and kept dark
brown heifer called Beka (Beqabe) or Baqa Potilliya (Literally, ritual cattle) as birthday fate. If they made
error in respecting this custom, they would anoint their bodies with a leaf called Aydameta (ground red
pepper) as repentance. Religious practitioners known as Sharechuwa had Becha or Kera Eza Keta (ritual
house).
The Keficho called Supreme Being as Yero; spirit as Eqo and a person who hosts Eqo is known as Alamo
or eke-nayo. Father of all spirits is dochi or dehe-tateno and its host is called dochi-nayo or
Ibedechino/Ibede-gudeno (including Arito and Wudia Riti), with residence at Adio. Harvest spirit is called
Kollo and sacrifice to it is dejo. Earth and area spirits are known as Showe-kollo and Dude-baro
respectively. There are also local spirits like damochechi of Channa, yaferochi of Sharada and wogidochi
of Adio as well as gepetato or king of hill identified by Yetecho clan as landowner. Members of the Dugo
clan led spiritual services.
The Boro-Shinasha people believe in super natural power called Iqa, which created everything and
presides over the universe. The indigenous religion elements prescribe praying for the prevention of
drought, flooding, erosion, disease and starvation within the community and their surrounding
environment. Among various prayer rituals, the first is Gure Shuka for preservation of their locality
through slaughtering animals by calling the name of God being at the tip of the mountains. The second is
Shode De’na, praying and slaughtering when unexpected disease happens. The third is Marrowa Shuka;
slaughtering for children to grow without disease and to prevent children from evil spirits attack; for
rehabilitation of wealth; to promote harmonious way of life and productivities in the family. The rituals
are led by recognized elders, whose pray and bless are trusted to reach God among the three clans: Enoro,
Endiwo and Dowa. The Nuer believe in Kuoth Nhial (God in Heaven), but believe in the coming of God
through rain, lightning and thunder, and rainbow is necklace of God. Sun and moon as well as other
entities are also manifestation or sign of God. There are also spirits associated with clan-spears names
such as WiW (spirit of war) associated with thunder. The Nuer believe that when a person dies, flesh is
committed to earth while breath or life goes back to Kuoth and soul that signifies human personality
remains alive as a shadow or a reflection, and departs together with ox sacrificed to place of ghosts.
An interesting feature of indigenous religion is the way its practices and beliefs are fused with
Christianity and Islam. This phenomenon of mixing of religions is known as syncretism.
2.4.2. Judaism
Judaism is considered as the expression of the covenant that Yahweh/Jehovah (God) established with the
ancient Jewish (Hebrew). Sources indicate that Judaism has been followed in Ethiopia and the Horn by
peoples since early times. It began to be clearly noticed in the 4th century AD, when the Bete-Israel
(literally, house of Israel), one of the ancient peoples in the region, refused to be converted to Christianity.
The Bete-Israel practiced Haymanot (religious practices, which are generally recognized as Israelite
religion that differs from Rabbinic Judaism). Many of the Bete-Israel accounts of their own origins stress
that they stem from the very ancient migration of some portion of the Tribe of Dan to Ethiopia, led it is
said by sons of Moses, perhaps even at the time of the Exodus (1400-1200 B.C.). Alternative timelines
include perhaps the later crises in Judea, e.g., split of the northern Kingdom of Israel from the southern
Kingdom of Judah after the death of King Solomon or Babylonian Exile. Other Bete-Israel take as their
basis the account of return to Ethiopia of Menilek I, who is believed to be the son of King Solomon (r.
974-932 B.C.) of ancient Israel and Makeda, ancient Queen of Saba (Sheba), and considered to be the
first Solomonic Emperor of Ethiopia. Another group of Jews is said to have been arrived in Ethiopia led
by Azonos and Phinhas in 6th century A.D. Still others are said to have been Jewish immigrants
intermarried with the Agaws. Whatever the case, the Jews appear to have been isolated from mainstream
Jewish for at least a millennium. The Jewish developed and lived for centuries in northern and
northwestern Ethiopia.
2.4.3. Christianity
Christianity became state religion in 334 A.D. during the reign of King Ezana (r. 320-360), who dropped
pre-Christian gods like Ares (Hariman/Maharram/war god), Arwe (serpent-python god), Bahir (sea god)
and Midir (earth god), and embraced Christianity. Instrumental in conversion of the king were Syrian
brothers, Aedesius and Frementius (Fremnatos). When Fremnatos (Kasate Birhane or Abba Salama)
visited Alexandria, Patriarch Atnatewos (328-373) appointed him as the first Bishop of Ethiopian
Orthodox Church (EOC). Consecration of bishops from Coptic Church in Egypt continued until 1959,
when Abune Baslios became the first Ethiopian Patriarch.
Christianity was further expanded to the mass of the society in later part of fifth century, during the reign
of Ella Amida II (478-86) by the Nine Saints shown in the table below:
Table I: The Nine Origin Church/Monastery Location of the
Saints Name Church
Abuna Aregawwi Rome Debre Damo Eastern Tigray
(Abba Za Mika’el)
Abuna Isaq (Abba Rome Debre Gerima Medera (East of Adwa
Gerima) )
Abba Pentelwon Rome Debre Pentelwon Asbo (North East of
Aksum)
Abba Afse Ladocia Debre Afse Yeha (Northeast of
Aksum)
Abba Alef Qa’esare’a Debre Haleluya Biheza (Northeast of
Aksum)
Abba Gubba Cilicia Debre Gubba West of Medera
Abba Liqanos Constantinople Debre Qonasel North of Aksum
Abba Sehama Antioch Tsedania Southeast of Adwa
Abba Yima’ata Qosa’iti Debre Yima’ata Ger’alta

Source: Sergew Hable Sellassie, Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to1270 (Addis Ababa:
Haile-Selassie I University Press, 1972), pp.115-9.
The saints also translated Bible and other religious books into Geez.
Then expansion of Christianity continued in Zagwe period (1150-1270) and chiefly gained fresh
momentum during the early Medieval Period (1270-1527), when many churches and monasteries were
constructed. These include Rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, Debra-Bizan of Hamasen in Eritrea; Debra-
Hayiq in Wollo, Debre-Dima and Debre-Werq in Gojjam; Debra-Libanos in Shewa, Birbir Mariam in
Gamo and Debre-Asabot on the way to Harar. These churches and monasteries are not merely religious
centers, but served through the ages as repositories of ancient manuscripts and precious objects of art.
From mid-sixteenthtothe early seventeenth centuries, Jesuits tried to convert Monophysite EOC to
Dyophysite Catholic. Yet, this led to bloody conflicts that in turn led to expulsion of the Jesuits. However,
the Jesuits intervention triggered religious controversies within EOC that is discussed in subsequent units.
As of 1804, missionaries’ religious expansion was one of the dominant themes of treaties concluded
between European diplomats and Ethiopian authorities. The Catholic Giuseppe Sapeto (Lazarist mission
founder), Giustino De Jacobis (Capuchin order founder), Cardinal Massaja, Antoine and Arnauld
d'Abbadie were active. Anglican Church Missionary Society (ACMS), Church Missionary Society of
London (CMSL) and Wesleyan Methodist Society led Protestant missionaries and their major leaders
were Samuel Gobat, C.W. Isenberg and J. L. Krapf. Systematic approach of trained Protestants enabled
them to win confidence of local people. They translated spiritual books into vernaculars. They adopted
old names for Supreme Being like Waqayyo, Tosa etc and used them in new versions as equivalent to
God. Village schools were established as centers of preaching the faith. These schools were open to all
children of chiefs and farmers. They also provided medical facilities. All these attracted a large number of
followers. Eventually, continuous and systematic indoctrinations seem to have resulted in grafting of new
teaching on indigenous religion.
2.4.4. Islam
When Prophet Mohammed startedthe teaching of Islam in Mecca in 610 AD, he faced opposition from
the Quraysh rulers. Under this circumstance, the Prophet sent some of his early followers including his
daughter Rukiya and her husband Uthman as well as the Prophet's future wives Umm Habiba and Umm
Salma to Aksum.The first group of refuges was led by Jafar Abu Talib. In his advice to his followers, the
Prophet said of Ethiopia, "…a king under whom none arepersecuted. It is a land of righteousness, where
God will give relief from what you are suffering." The then Aksumite king, Armah Ella Seham (Ashama
b. Abjar or Ahmed al-Nejash in Arabic sources), gave them asylum from 615-28. Leaders of the Quraysh
askedArmah to repatriate the refugees, but the king did not comply.Armah is said to have replied, "If you
were to offer me a mountain of gold I would not give up these people who have taken refuge with me.”
Subsequently, Islam spread to the Horn of Africa not through Jihad, but through peaceful ways including
trade. Islam was well established in Dahlak (Alalay) Islands on the Red Sea by the beginning of eighth
century. In the earlytenth century, the Muslim community on the islands developed a sultanate. In due
course, Muslims settled other places on the Red Sea coast. It was from these coastal areas that Islam
gradually spread among the predominantly pastoral communities of the interior, largely through the
agency of preachers and merchants.
Notwithstanding the debates, the Dahlak routeplayed a minor role in introduction of Islam into the interior
as Christianity was strongly entrenched as a state religion in Aksum and later states of northern Ethiopia
and open proselytization of Islam was prohibited. Thus, the port of Zeila on western coast of Gulf of
Aden served as an important gateway for the introduction of Islam mainly intothe present day Shewa,
Wollo and Hararghe. Islam firmly established itself in the coastal areas by the eighth and ninth centuries.
From there, it radiated to central, southern, and eastern Ethiopia through the role of Muslim clerics who
followed in the footsteps of traders. In this regard, it should be noted that Sheikh Hussein of Bale, a
Muslim saint of medieval period, played very important role in the expansion of Islam into Bale, Arsi and
other southeastern parts of Ethiopia and the Horn. Another Islamic center in this region is Sof Umar
shrine.
Islam was introduced into Somali territories in 8th century A. D. through Benadir coasts of Moqadishu,
Brava and Merca. Abu Bakr Ibn Fukura al Din Sahil set up Moqadishu Minirate c.1269. Islam was further
expanded by mystical orders (turuq, singulartariqa). Among these, the Qadiriyya (named after Hanbali
jurist Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, 1077-1166) emphasized collective devotion (hadra). Ahmadiyya, which had
been set up by Ahmad Ibn Idris al Fasi of Fez in Morocco (1760-1837) stressed austerity, turban and veil.
It had contacts with Tijaniyya (named after Abu l-Abbas Ahmad b. Muhammad b. al-Mukhtar al Tijani,
1737-1815) and Summaniyya (named after Muhammad b. Abd al-Karim al Sammāni, 1718-75). The
sheiks of these orders expanded Islam as far as the Gibe region.
The mosques, Islamic learning and pilgrimage centers have been the depositories of cultures, traditions
and literature of local Muslims.