HISTORY OF ETHIOPIA AND THE

HORN
(HIST-102)
A Brief introduction about the course
 This history common course is given to Students
of Higher Learning Institutions all over Ethiopia
 The purpose is to help students understand a his-
tory of Ethiopia and the Horn from ancient times
to 1995 .
 The content of the course is organized themati-
cally and chronologically
 The course has seven units and at the end of each
units review questions will be given . 1
INTRODUCTION
Students,
this unit introduces you with the nature of history and his-
toriography, the diverse histories of Ethiopia and the
Horn and the extent to which interactions between so-
cieties throughout the
region have shaped human history.
History is a systematic study and organized knowledge of
the past. The purpose of historical study is not simply to
produce a mere list of chronological events about the
deeds of the dead but to find patterns and establish
meaning through the rigorous study and interpretation
of surviving records 2
UNIT ONE: INTRODUCTION
 Students,
 in this unit we are going to briefly discuss

 about nature and difference between history and histo-

riography
 the diverse histories of Ethiopia and the Horn and

 about the extent to which interactions between soci-

eties in the Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.
 As a starting point, let me ask you some questions

 What is history or how can you define history?

 History is all about human past.

3
1.1. NATURE AND USES OF HISTORY
A. NATURE OF HISTORY
 The term history derived from the Greek word Istoria, which means “inquiry”
or “an account of one’s inquiries.”
 the ancient Greek historians, Herodotus (c. 484–425 B.C), who is often held to
be the “father of history.” , is the first to use the term history
 In ordinary usage, history means all the things that have happened in the hu-
man past.
 The past signifies events, which have taken place and the facts of the past,
which are kept in writing.
 All what actually happened in the past or
 that part which exists independently of the historian and
 still awaits to be recorded and the accounts of the past provided by historians
is, ‘history’.
 Academically, history can be defined as an organized and systematic study of
the past.

4
 * HOW HISTORY STUDIED BY HISTORI-
ANS?
Historians apply their expertise to surviving records and
write history in the form of accounts of the past.
Studying history involves the discovery, collection, orga-
nization, and presentation of information about past
events.
Historians select which topics and problems they wish to
study, as do natural scientists.
the major concern of history is the study of human society
and its interaction with the natural environment.
So history is both an art and science
As art, historians use different styles and systems of ap-
proaching
As a science, like other social sciences, history has its own5
method and procedures of studying
 * WHAT MAKES HISTORY FROM OTHER
SOCIAL SCIENCE
• Most other social science such as political science and
psychology
•study the interaction between humans and its environment
focusing on the present state,
•Where as history studies the past human activities dividing
it in periods chronologically and
• by organizing events in thematic areas such as social his-
tory, economic history and in space /place like, History of
Africa, History of Ethiopia, history of Adama.
•Moreover, due to longitivity of the time span in the past
history is also divided in to pre history and history
•History covers the years after the art of writing began by
human 6

•Pre history covers the thousands of years before art of

writing began by man
 CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN HISTORY
Chronologically/periodically , history is divided into ancient,
medieval and modern history.
This is what we call periodization in history; one of the key
characteristics of the discipline.
In history there is change and continuities. All aspects of
human life ( social, cultural, economic, and political) in the past
have been changing from time to time
The patterns of continuities were not practiced in the same
way. 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
7
their religious practices; wear the costumes they were wearing;
maintain structures of their social organization.
 B. USES OF HISTORY
History is the study of the past. Why bother with the past
while living in the present and anticipating what is yet to
come? The following are the uses of history in the context
of the relationship between the past and the present.
(1) 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 hu-
manity and society today without tracing their origins in the
past. In other words,
 knowledge of relevant historical background is essential
for a balanced and in-depth understanding of many current 8
world situations.
 (2) HISTORY PROVIDES A SENSE OF IDENTITY
Knowledge of history is indispensable to understand who
we are, where we came from and where we fit in the world.
“ unless we understand where we came, we do not know
where to go”
As memory is to the individual, history is to the society.
An individual without memory finds great difficulty in relat-
ing 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.

9
 (3) HISTORY PROVIDES THE BASIC BACK-
GROUND FOR OTHER DISCIPLINES
oHistorical knowledge is extremely valuable in the pursuit of
other disciplines such as,
literature, art, philosophy, religion, sociology, social An-
thropology, political science, anthropology, economics, etc.
(4) 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
10
life.
 (5) 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.
(6) History Supplies Endless Source of Fascina-
tion
 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 11
society.
 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 evidence used for constructing and recon-
structing the human past
Where there is no sources, there is no history( with out
sources we can not write history).
Sources are, therefore, key to the study and writing of
history.
(A)Types of Sources of History
Historical sources are broadly classified into two types: Pri-
mary and Secondary.
(i)Primary sources are surviving traces of the past available12
to us in the present. They are original or firsthand in their
proximity to the event both in time and in space.
 TYPES
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.
(B) Secondary Sources; 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 hap-
pened, and how it happened, often based on primary
sources. Examples of secondary sources are articles, his-
tory books, textbooks, biographies, and etc. 13

Secondary materials give us what appear to be finished ac-

counts of certain historical periods and phenomena.
 SECONDARY SOURCES
Nevertheless, no historical 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 and traditions 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 informa-
tion from one generation to another, for example, through
words of mouth as folk songs and folk sayings. This type of
oral data is called oral tradition. People can also provide oral
14
testimonies or personal recollections of lived experience.
Such source material is known as oral history.
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 re-
cent 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 under-
stand and represent descriptions of past events in writing
has rather a briefer career throughout the world.
The first organized study and narration of the past was
introduced by ancient Greek historians notably Herodotus
and Thucydides (c.455-400 B.C.E(Eefore the curernt Era.)
Despite such early historiographical traditions, history
emerged as an academic discipline in the second half of
the 19th century first in Europe and subsequently in other 15
parts of the world including the US.
 HIST
The German historian, LeopoldVon Ranke (1795–1886), and
his colleagues,
 established history as an independent discipline in Berlin
with its own set of methods and concepts
Ranke also indicated how historians should
collect ,interpret and evaluate past 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.”

16
 HISTORIOGRAPHY OF ETHIOPIA &THE
HORN
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.
In order to elucidate the 20th century historiography of
the region, it is first necessary to examine earlier forms of
historiography (historical writing).
We can categorize and see the historiographical devel-
opment into periods as
(A) Early /Ancient /period
The earliest known reference that we have on history of
Ethiopia and the Horn is (1) the Periplus of the Erythrean
Sea, written in the 1st century A.D by unknown writer.
 Another document describing Aksum’s trade and the
then Aksumite king’s campaigns on both sides of the sea is 17
(2) the Christian Topography composed by Cosmas Indi-
copleustes, a Greek sailor, in the 6th century A.D
 HISORIOGRAPHY COUNT’D
(3) Inscriptions
An inscription is writing carved into something made of
stone or metal, such as gravestone or medal. Some of the
earliest inscriptions include:
Inscription written in Geez, and other languages that
dates from the 7th century A.D found in Abba Gerima
monastery in Yeha.
manuscript written in the 13th century A.D also discov-
ered in Haiq Istifanos monastery of present day Wollo. The
value of manuscripts is essentially religious.
(4) Hagiographies – are written by disciples of a saint
The largest groups of hagiographies originating from 18
Ethiopian Orthodox Church. written in Ge’ez, hagiographies
is focused on enhancing the prestige of saints.
 HAGIOGRAPHY
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 the
present day Wollo, (written in the late 19th century)
Besides narrating the saint’s life, the manuscript recounts
about the development of indigenous Islam and about con-
tacts between the region’s Muslim community and the out-
side world.
(5) Chronicles , constitute other sets of documents, serves
as sources. Chronicles are written by the king’s chronicler
and it deals with the day to day activities of the king.
19
Most of the Ethiopian chronicles, like hagiographies are
written in Geez.
 CHRONICLES
Chronicles are known for their factual detail and strong
chronological framework, even if it would require consider-
able labor to convert their relative chronology to an absolute
one.
From the earliest and later chronicles, we can mention the
Glorious Victories of Amde-Tsion, the Chronicle of Abeto
Iyasu and that of Empress Zewditu as examples
(6) Accounts by Arabic travelers, some Ethiopian monks and
other foreigners are also important sources
From Arabic-speaking visitors to the Indian ocean coast pro-
vide useful information on various aspects of the region’s his-
tory. For example, al-Masudi and Ibn Battuta described the 20
culture, language and import-export trade in the East African
coast in the 10th and in the 14th th centuries respectively.
ACCOUNTS
1. For the 16th and 17th centuries, two documents com-
posed by Yemeni writers, who were eyewitnesses to
the events they described are very important.
 In the first document titled Futuh al Habesha was
composed by Shihab al-Din,gives a vivid discription
anbout the conflict between the Christian kingdom
and the Muslim principalities of the 16th century.
 Besides recounting about 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. But the discussion abruptly ends in
1535. 21
 Al-Haymi, who led a Yemeni delegation in 1647 to the
court of Fasiledas (r. 1632-67), also left important
 ABBA BAHREY’S SCRIPT
Other materials that appeared in the sixteenth century in-
clude Abba Bahrey’s Geez script on the Oromo was written in
1593.
Regardless of its limitations, the document provides us
with first-hand information about the Oromo population-
movement including the Gadaa System.
contribution of European missionaries and travelers contri-
bution of European missionaries and travelers to the devel-
opment of Ethiopian historiography is also significant.
From the early 16th until the late 19th centuries,
missionaries (Catholics and Protestants) came to the country
with the intention of visiting, discovering and preaching,
and wrote about what they saw, heard and left importan 22
documents
ACCOUNTS OF EUROPEAN MISSIONAR-
IES AND TRAVELLERS
The accounts entitled “The Prester John of the Indies”,
composed by a Portuguese priest, Francisco Alvarez, is a
good example. He came to Ethiopia with the Portuguese
mission to the court of Lebne-Dengel in 1520.
From 17th century travellers, James Bruce’s, Travels to
Discover the Source of the Nile, is very useful .
Like other sources, however, both the missionaries and
travelers’ materials can only used with considerable reser-
vations and with care for they are socially and politically
biased.

23
 FORIGNERS CONTRIBUTING FOR
ETHIOPIAN STUDIES
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 oninformation
he collected from an Ethiopian priest named Abba Gorgo-
rios (Abba Gregory) who was in Europe at that time.
In the 19th century, August Dillman published two stud-
ies on ancient Ethiopian history. Compared to Ludolf,
Dillman demonstrated all markers of objectivity in his his-
torical research endeavors. 24
HISORIOGRAPHY IN THE EARLY 20TH
CENTURY ETHIOPIA
Historical writing made some departures from the chron-
icle tradition in the early 20th century.
 This period saw the emergence of traditional Ethiopian
writers who made conscious efforts to distance them-
selves from chroniclers whom they criticized for adulatory
tone when writing about monarchs.
The earliest group of these writers include, Aleqa Taye
GebreMariam, 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 eco- 25
nomic analysis to history.
LIST OF CONTRIBUTION BY EARLY 20TH ETHIOPIANS WRIT-
ERS

NAME OF THE Contribution by the writer

WRITER

AFEWORK G/IYASUS THE FIRST AMHARIC NOVEL, TOBIYA, IN ETHIOPIAN HIS-

TORY

ATSE MENILEKNA ITYOPIA (EMPEROR MENILEK AND

ETHIOPIA) AND MENGISTNA YEHIZB ASTEDADER (GOV-
ERNMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION)

BLATTEN GETA HIRUY PUBLISHED FOUR MAJOR WORKS NAMELY ETHIOPIANA

WOLDE-SELASSIE METEMA (ETHIOPIA AND METEMA), WAZEMA(EVE),
YEHIWOT TARIK (A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY) AND
YEITYOPIA TARIK (A HISTORY OF ETHIOPIA).

26
AFTER LIBERATION, 1941-1974
Name of the author Major works/publications
Tekle-Tsadik Mekuria published about eight historical works

Yilma Deressa Ye Ityopiya Tarik Be’asraSidistegnaw Kifle

Zemen(A History of Ethiopia in the Sixteenth Cen-
tury). The book addresses the Oromo population
movement and the wars between the Christianking-
dom and the Muslim sultanates as its main subjects.

Blatten Geta Mahteme-Se- Zikre Neger, it is a history book with a comprehen-

lassie Wolde-Meskel sive account of Ethiopia’s prewar land tenure sys-
tems and taxation.
Gebre-Wold Engidawork Abook dealing with aspects of land tenure
Dejazmach Kebede Tesema memoir of the imperial period and five years patri-
otic war against fascist , published as Yetarik 27
Mastawesha in 1962 E.C.
BIRTH OF MODERN HISTORIOGRAPHY
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 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.

28
CONT’D
 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.
 Since its foundation, the IES has been publishing the
Journal of Ethiopian Studies for the dissemination of his-
torical research.

29
HISORIOGRAPHY FOR OTHER PARTS OF
THE HORN
 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 stimu-
lated by reactions to decades of
education in an alien imperial historiography.
30
HIS IN THE OTHER HORN CONT’D
 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.

31
 At the same time, European intellectuals’ own discom-
fort with the Euro-centrism of previous scholarship pro-
vided 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 Orien-
tal and African Studies (SOAS) in London and the De-
partment of History at the University ofWisconsin-Madi-
son.
 Francophone scholars have been as influential as Anglo-
phones.
32
 Yet African historiography has not been the sole creation
of interested Europeans.
 African universities have, despite the instabilities of pol-
itics and civil war in many areas, trained their own
scholars and sent many others overseas for training who
eventually published numerous works on different as-
pects of the region’s history.
Dear students, in the first unit we have seen about his-
tory, uses, methods and sources of history. Besides, we
discussed about history and historigraphy and about his-
toriographical developments in Ethiopia and the Horn.
Now you 33
REVIEW QUESTIONS
Test your self by doing the given questions below
1. What is history and historiography and discuss the major
difference between the two,
2. What are the major types of historical sources. What
type of sources, for example, can you use to study about
the epidemic , commonly known in Ethiopia, as yehidar
besheta(occurred in1918)
3. What difference, do you see in the development of his-
toriography of Ethiopia and the other parts of the horn.

34
35