The Other Abyssinians: The Northern Oromo and the Creation of Modern Ethiopia, 1855-1913

248 Pages·2020·10.747 MB·English

by  Brian J. Yates

The Other Abyssinians
Rochester Studies in
African History and the Diaspora
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Th e Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities
and University Distinguished Teaching Professor
University of Texas at Austin
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The Other
Abyssinians
The Northern Oromo and the
Creation of Modern Ethiopia,
1855–1913
Brian J. Yates
Copyright © 2020 by Brian J. Yates
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation, no
part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
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First published 2020
University of Rochester Press
668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
www.urpress.com
and Boydell & Brewer Limited
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
www.boydellandbrewer.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-58046-980-7
ISSN: 1092-5228
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Yates, Brian J., 1980– author.
Title: The other Abyssinians : the northern Oromo and the creation of modern Ethiopia,
1855–1913 / Brian J. Yates.
Description: Rochester : University of Rochester Press, 2020. | Series: Rochester studies in
African history and the diaspora, 1092-5228 ; 85 | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019035409 | ISBN 9781580469807 (hardcover) | ISBN
9781787446533 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Oromo (African People)—Ethiopia—History. | Ethiopia—History.
Classification: LCC DT390.G2 Y37 2020 | DDC 963/.0049355009034—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019035409
This publication is printed on acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America.
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction: What about the Oromo Habäsha? Liberating
Northern Oromo Experience from Competing Nationalisms 1
1 Cultural Backgrounds and the Habäsha State 17
2 In but not of: The (Re)Integration of the Wällo Oromo
into the Habäsha Community 37
3 Menilek, Gobäna, and the Creation of Habäsha Shäwa, 1855–88 55
4 Recreating the Autonomy of Wällo: The Unions of Mikaél and
Menilek 81
5 From Personal Relationships to a Centralizing State:
Shäwan Ethiopia (1889–1913) 105
Conclusion: The Oromo Habäsha in Modern Ethiopia 133
Appendix A: Guide to the Transliteration of the Ethiopic Script
to the Latin Script 139
Appendix B: Glossary of Ethiopian Terms 141
Appendix C: Sample Interview Questions for Shäwa and Wällo 146
Notes 149
Bibliography 201
Index 231

Preface
ልመልካም ልሞም ልኤሪካ
Figure P.1. English translation: “For Malkam, Mom, Erica.”
As we enter the second decade of the twenty-fi rst century, scholars and poli-
ticians are looking to the past to fi nd political aspects of current identities.
Ethiopia is no exception; politicians and scholars have manipulated identities
both within and outside of Ethiopia to advance a variety of political claims.
In 2018, when Abiy Ahmed became prime minister of Ethiopia, many saw
his Amhara, Oromo, Christian, and Muslim descent as a departure for
Ethiopian leadership. Th is work argues that his ascent is completely in line
with the nineteenth-century political culture of Ethiopia, where Oromo,
Muslims, Christians, and “Amharas” shared power, beds, and battlefi elds
and had been doing so for centuries. Th ese experiences are not prevalent in
the historiography of Ethiopia, especially in the twentieth and twenty-fi rst
centuries, but these are precisely the focus of this work. Writing this story
includes a reconfi guration of Ethiopian identities, shifting away from exclu-
sionary categories like race and ethnicity and toward categories like com-
munity, which are inclusionary and also more accurately describe the ways
in which people have identifi ed historically in Ethiopia. Th is framework also
has applications both beyond Ethiopia and the African continent.
Th is work is also deeply personal. My parents are both black but very dif-
ferent culturally. My mother came from a Cape Verdean background and my
father from a more traditional black American background, which proved
not only that acculturation occurs due to marriage, but also that things that
appear to be similar are sometimes, upon second look, vastly diff erent. For
Ethiopia, Abyssinians or Habäsha have been understood, especially by out-
siders, as light skinned, Semitic, Christian, and non-African; on second look,
however, this group also includes Muslims and Kushitic speakers like the
Oromo; skin color plays no role in any of these groups and populations that
are cognizant of their African identities. Th is approach has the potential to
viii ❧ preface
illuminate the nature of many pre-modern identities, as opposed to continu-
ing to employ outside frameworks like race and ethnicity.
Th is work is a product of so many people who have helped me in pro-
found ways. First, I would like to thank my mother, who was a constant
source for my inquisitive mind, from teaching me to read, assigning me
book reports, and doing what she could to protect me from American
educational institutions. Th ese eff orts partly resulted in a scholarship t o
Morehouse College, where my light began to burn brightly. Barry Hallen,
Daniel Klenbort, Augustine Konneh, and Dr. Larebo became models and
advisers as I navigated the transition from knowledge consumer to producer.
Morehouse showed me black excellence every day, and I never doubted my
abilities or my place in any room again. Th ese experiences shaped my ideolo-
gies greatly and set me up to work with two giants in Ethiopian studies.
Th is project commenced in East Lansing, Michigan, where I began gradu-
ate studies under the tutelage of Harold G. Marcus, Menilek II’s scholarly
biographer. Unfortunately, he passed away after my fi rst semester, and one
of the many negative consequences of his passing is that this work does not
benefi t from the direct infl uence of his wealth of expertise. Th e following
year, I transferred to the University of Illinois and benefi tted from one of the
best human beings, scholars, and models, Donald Crummey. I could literally
fi ll a library with what he taught me about Ethiopia, the writing of history,
and life. Even the dedication of this book emulates his dedication to his chil-
dren, written in Amharic, in the Ethiopic script, from his fi rst book. I hope
I can keep his memory alive in Ethiopian studies through the work of one
of his students. Another former student, Mohammed Hassen also played a
key role in this work. His continued contributions, legacies, and energies
have set the tone for Oromo studies. Over more than a decade Hassen has
added greatly to this work, and every meeting, conversation, and comment
has brought new insights and clarity on Ethiopia’s history and the Oromo
contribution to it.
As this project further developed, I spent several months at the Institute
of Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa. From Ethiopia, I would like to thank
Habtamu Mengistie Tegegne and Yohannes Assefa, without whose help I
really do not think I would have been able to complete my research or survive
in Ethiopia. I also would like to thank Ayele Tarekegn and Ahmed Hassen
Omer for their assistance, conversations, and help in fi nding the qualifi ed
and capable research colleagues Gashaw Mohammad and Melaku Abera. In
addition, I also appreciate the assistance of Hussein Ahmed and Shiferaw
Bekele, especially in the project’s initial stages. Lastly, I would like to thank
the staff at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) for all of their assistance.
preface ❧ ix
In addition, I am especially grateful to the faculty and students at Oberlin
College, where I was a Mellon Postdoctoral fellow, especially those from the
departments of Africana Studies and History. Th e students opened my eyes
to what is possible in terms of creation at such a young age, while the faculty
continue to off er sage advice to this day. As the project neared completion,
the Saint Joseph’s University Department of History and the interdisciplin-
ary Writing Group played instrumental roles in not only the content of this
project, but also the proposals and grants needed to execute it.
Over the years, various foundations have supported me. Th e Mellon
Foundation, which supported my research when I was a postdoctoral fel-
low at Oberlin. Saint Joseph’s University has also provided signifi cant sup-
port through summer grants, such as the one in 2016 that funded archival
research in the British Foreign Archives. Also, I thank the Offi ce of Dean
of Arts and Sciences at Saint Joseph’s University, specifi cally Dean Shaily
Menon and Lorraine Hannon, for a generous subvention for the publication
of the work. I would also like to thank Veronika Wanderer who prepared
many of the maps and line charts for this work and Mandy Altimus Stahl of
the Massillon Museum for permission to use the image on the cover of this
book. Also, the two anonymous readers of this text made a signifi cant con-
tribution to this work. Last, but certainly not least, I would to thank Toyin
Falola and Sonia Kane at the University of Rochester Press for all of their
support, interest, and infl uence in making this work the best it can be.