A History of Hadiya People, 1886 to 1991
| dc.contributor.advisor | Tesema Ta’a (Prof) | |
| dc.contributor.author | Asrat Ermolo | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-12-25T06:21:37Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-12-25T06:21:37Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-05-01 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Many authors are seen considering the period of Hadiya history that started from the 13th century and disappeared in the late 16th century, and made an attempt to disconnect the medieval Hadiya from todays Hadiya people. The researcher argues that, before the 13th century, the Hadiya had travelled a long historical trajectory that ultimately helped them to undertake state formation. The long process of the formation of Hadiya state was completed in the 10th century, but reached its climax of power in the 14th century. During their heydays, the Hadiya had spent times of friendships and animosity with the Christian kingdom and the neighboring states. They gave their daughter to King Zara Yacob and through her, the researcher argues that, they protected the Christian religion and state from complete annihilation by the coordinated forces of the neighboring Muslim states and Ottoman Turkey. Through her, the Hadiya had also contributed for the beginning and development of Ethiopia’s international diplomacy. Since the end of the 16th century, however, the Hadiya began to experience the period of agony and complete disintegration. The dissertation examines the history of Menilek’s expansion to southern Ethiopia, particularly the Hadiya area. It talks about the stiff resistances of the Hadiya people against the northerners in the years between 1886 and 1894. It deals with the use of modern guns by Menilek’s army against spears and arrows that the Hadiya people had employed during the war of conquest. It argues that the invasion of the partially assimilated Hadiya (Ķäbena and Maräķo) was a decisive one for Menilek to invade the other part of Hadiya easily. Lack of unity on the part of the Hadiya clans had helped the northern forces to attack one Hadiya group after the other. Mainly because of their pastoralist economy and rebellious behavior, the consecutive Ethiopian governments, since the times of incorporation, antagonized the Hadiya people and brought the neighboring ethnic groups like the Kämbata to their side. The incorporation had resulted in negative consequences on the identity of the Hadiya people. The government reorganized the Hadiya and Kämbata people into two sub-provinces. These were: ‘Lemo and Shashogo’ and ‘Kämbata’. After Ras Abata Buayalew came to the Awraja administration in 1897, the two divisions were brought to a single administration and renamed as ‘Lemo and Kämbata’. Such reorganization stayed in force till the late 1930s. During their five years stay in Ethiopia, the Italians renamed the sub-province as ‘Kämbata’, excluding the Hadiya or Lemo name. From the outset, the Hadiya were struggling to recover the identity that they lost to the Kämbata and other neighboring groups. The struggle became strong after the withdrawal of the Italians from Ethiopia. The expansion of education, following the restoration of the Ethiopian government, contributed a lot for the increment of socio-economic and political consciousness of Hadiya people. Particularly, the establishment of Wachämo highschool in Hossana in the 1960s could be considered as a turning point for the advancement of the awareness of the Hadiya people. Students began to raise the issue of land, identity and development. In the 1960s and 70s, particularly because of the identity question, there had been conflicts between the Hadiya and Kämbata students both in Hossana and Addis Abäba. It is said that the government in the Awraja (sub-province) and also the provincial level were against the identity question of the Hadiya people. It was after the coming to power of the Därg government that such questions were responded, at least partially. Following the conquest, the formerly independent people were brought to the hitherto unknown Gäbbar system. The Gäbbar system had resulted in the violation of not only the economic freedom but also the social, cultural and psychological makeup of the people. The highly intensified oppressions and exploitations of the Gäbbar system were believed to have brought the majority of the Hadiya people to tenancy. After the restoration of the Haila-Salassie government, new laws were passed on tenancy that ultimately reduced a tenant to sub-human level. Moreover, at this period, the government using different mechanisms converted the majority of the Hadiya Gäbbars to tenancy. Since the incorporation till the fall of the Haila Selassie government, tenancy dominated the livelihood of Hadiya people. Consequently, the researcher preferred to use the term Ċhisägna system (system of tenancy) for the ups and downs that the Hadiya had experienced for about a century. Following such brutal undertakings on the part of the central government, considerable number of Hadiya people left their land to large scale agricultural schemes and big towns for labor work. Some sections of the Hadiya went to the extent that they took up arms against the regime like the one done by the Jarso peasants in Badäwacho. After the late 1960s, the Hadiya students and peasants began to work together against the old regime. In 1974, the Hadiya peasants and students accepted the new government with great enthusiasm and joy. Following the intrusion of the EPRP and other civilian based parties in the area, however, the relation between the military and the Hadiya students and peasants began to take different directions. It was after the completion of the Red Terror in other parts of the country that Petros Gäbre, the then administrator, brought it to the Awraja. The terror took the lives of many promising individuals who would have been able to contribute to the development of the Awraja in particular and the country in general. This dissertation is a comprehensive study of the history of Hadiya people from 1886 to 1991. The work ruptures the centric way of looking at the Hadiya socio-economic, political and cultural history during the ‘feudo-military’ system in Ethiopia from the perspective of the north. Mainly because of lack of archival sources, the researcher relied mostly but not exclusively on oral informants. Crosschecking of one source against the other and systemic scrutiny of information are made to validate the work. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/3975 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | |
| dc.subject | gäbbar | |
| dc.subject | Ċhisägna | |
| dc.subject | incorporation | |
| dc.subject | feudalism | |
| dc.subject | tributes | |
| dc.subject | revolution | |
| dc.subject | military | |
| dc.subject | red terror | |
| dc.subject | identity | |
| dc.subject | land | |
| dc.subject | education | |
| dc.subject | struggle | |
| dc.title | A History of Hadiya People, 1886 to 1991 | |
| dc.type | Thesis |