The Qabena and the Wolane

History of the Wolane by their = own oral=20 tradition

The Wolane are Muslims and believe that = they always=20 have been. They do not share any of the traditional practices = which are=20 common among the neighbouring S=E4bat Bet Gurage(12) in the south, nor are they Christian = like the=20 Muher who live not far from them in the south-west. There are = references=20 to Wolane as an established place for the Islamic faith in the = oral=20 histories of other surrounding peoples. Rahmato (1984), who dealt = with the=20 history of the Az=E4rn=E4t-B=E4rb=E4re, a Silt=92i group, = mentioned, that after the=20 Oromo movement, i.e. at the end of the 16th century, there was an=20 expansion of Islam in the neighbouring regions of Gurage. = =94This was=20 mainly because a lot of religious persons started to move towards = Islamic=20 regions to spread and strengthen Islam from Wellene=94 = (Rahmato 1984:=20 40). Also Worqu (1983 Eth.C.: 56f)(13) in=20 connection with the founding of Z=E4nab=E4n=E4r, as a later centre = for=20 propagating the Islam under Hassan Injamo, mentioned that the = Wolane=20 already were Muslims for a long period of time and supported = without any=20 request the building of the new town at their eastern border.

However, during the reign of Yekuno Amlak, Zena = Marqos=20 taught the Christian faith of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the = Gurage=20 region. It is believed that Zena Marqos stayed in Muher for 40 = years and=20 that he undertook different missionary trips to all parts of the = Gurage=20 region, where he tried to condemn traditional beliefs. Under his = command a=20 lot of churches were built. One of these churches in the name of = Mariyam=20 was situated in Wolane (Worqu 1983 Eth.C.: 41f). This church seems = still=20 to exist in Wolane-Jimma. However, today Christians are only found = amongst=20 a few descendants of the former N=E4ft=92=E4nnyas(14)=20 and some administration officials who have come to work in the = area. In=20 M=8Ahal Amba not a single Christian church is to be found. The = town is=20 dominated by a giant mosque, which was built very recently by a = rich=20 merchant from Saudi Arabia.

The early history of the Wolane is closely = connected with=20 other East Gurage and even Cushitic peoples in Ethiopia, who = follow the=20 Islamic faith (cf. Triminghan 1965 : 31). According to some Wolane = elders(15) their forefathers, 99 in = number,=20 came fromMecca. First, they left Mecca for =91Iraq=92 where they = stayed for=20 seven years. Then they entered probably via Yemen intoEthiopia. = When they=20 left Yemen they were 44 in number and their leader was Gazo, the = child of=20 S=E4yyid B=E4rk=E4lle. They went to Harar by way of Shirka = G=E4d=E4b. The 44 people=20 are said to be called =91Hadiyya=92 which should mean something = like =91the=20 people who came for the sake of Allah=92. This movement to Harar = is thought=20 to have taken 408 years after the Hejira. Afterwards they left = Harar too=20 and entered several regions in the horn of Africa; the town of = Hara was=20 then given to S=E4yyid Abadir. Twelve out the 44 people who = entered Harar=20 went to the place where the Wolane now live. Among them were = S=E4yyid K=E4bir=20 Hamid, Hajji Jaafaar and S=E4yyid Nasralla. While S=E4yyid = Nasralla settled at=20 a place called =91Binara=92, the remaining moved further on. = Together with=20 them came another person called Abecco (or Yim=E4r Abecco) who was = perhaps=20 the brother of father of S=E4yyid K=E4bir Hamid. S=E4yyid K=E4bir = Hamid and Hajji=20 Jaafaar are relatives of Hajji Had=E4n.

According to M=E4h=E4din Caalee(16) the Silt=92i, Adare and Wolane used to = live=20 together in Harar, where the Adare remained, when the two others = left the=20 town. The Silt=92i and Wolane went together to Alaba-Kullito where = they=20 separated. The leader of the Silt=92i:Wolane and later on of the = Silt=92i was=20 Hajji Aliye. S=E4yyid K=E4bir Hamid became the leader of the = Wolane and it was=20 the who led them to the place they now inhabit.

The connection of some East Gurage peoples with = Harar is=20 also mentioned in Worqu (1983 Eth. C.). He states that some of the = fighters of Ahmed Gragn=92s army stayed in the Gurage country at = the place=20 of the Wolane (Worqu 1983 Eth.C.: 12, 23).

When the Wolane came to their homeland, they = had to fight=20 with people already living there. The original inhabitants of this = place=20 are called =91Ge=92 meaning =94land, living place =94. The = =91Ge=92 consisted of 12=20 tribes(17): Andirman, Al=E4babo, = T=E4nno, Dar=E4got,=20 Sh=E4ndo, K=E4nf=E4bin, Kurban, Ijaj, Adabo, Abjahil, Kamcac=E4lle = and Somonnye.=20 Seven of the original peoples became part of the Wolane, they are = Dar=E4got,=20 K=E4nf=E4bin, Kurban, Ijaj, Adabo and Somonnye. The elders could = not remember=20 the seventh group, but they are sure that they were seven in = number. One=20 person mentioned that among the original peoples there were also = Oromo.=20 However, this statement was refuted by most of the other = elders(18).

Asking about the more recent forefathers of the = Wolane,=20 we were told about Hajji Aliye and his sons Dil Abba, Nur=E4ddin,=20 Z=E4m=E4rr=E4din, Al=E4quero, Abecco, Bogom=E4nnyi, Sult=92an and = Siddi(19). The grave of Hajji Aliye is now at = Inneqor. The=20 son called Bogom=E4nnyi became the forefather of the Chaba, Abecco = was the=20 founder of the Wolane and the rest are the founders of the = Silt=92i. The=20 name Silt=92i itself derived from the name of Sult=92an.

The Wolane group consists of 12 tribes, which = are called=20 according to their =91father=92: Abecco, S=E4yyid K=E4bir Hamid, = Im=E4r, Sheykh=20 B=E4rk=E4li, Ciro, K=E4ntwat (or Jaa=92aaf=E4r), Tofik, Addamo, = Zebad, Umwaj,=20 (Aybist) T=E4nadi and Asfadin(20). = Nowadays there=20 are 67 different =91houses=92 (descendant lines) among the = Wolane.

The origin of the name =91Wolane=92 goes back = to times of=20 Z=E4r=92a Ya=92qob(21) who conquered = the Gurage=20 region. His objectives included the widening of Christian = influence in the=20 aera. Among the S=E4bat Bet Gurage the Muher, who are still = Christian today,=20 co-operated with him. The Muslim Qabena and other groups inside = the S=E4bat=20 Bet Gurage, however, fought against the king and his new religion. = At that=20 time the Wolane people could not decide whether to join the forces = of the=20 king or the S=E4bat Bet Gurage/Qabena fighting against him. In = this=20 situation the king Z=E4r=92a Ya=92qob to have said: is claimed = "W=E4y l=E4ne=20 (bittihon)" which means =94if you would be for me=94. = This phrase=20 is said to be the origin of the name =91Wolane=92.

After the J=E4bdu war, Gurage territory and = other southern=20 parts of today=92s Ethiopia were successfully occupied by Menelik = II and=20 Amhara rule was imposed upon the Wolane. The headquarters of this = new=20 administration was in Wolane-Jimma. Representatives of =91the = kings of the=20 kings=92 in the Wolane area were, in chronological order, Basha = Woshiso,=20 Negatu, Fitawrari Wolde, Gulz=E4reb=E4r, Fitawrari R=E4ddi, = Dejjazmacc Birru,=20 Dejjazmacc Ayy=E4le Birru, Fitawrari Sahl=E4 Giyorgis, Fitawrari = Wolde for the=20 second time, Azzazh Wos=E4ne, Fitawrari B=E4yy=E4ne, the Italians, = Imamu Z=E4mil,=20 Fitawrari Safo, Qennyazmacc Amerga and Wolde Kere. With the new = order new=20 taxes were introduced which had to be paid in kind =96 crops, = maize,=20 millwork and ploughing. Because of these high taxes some Wolane = fled to a=20 place called Agamja in the lowlands. After Wolde Kere the DERG = came to=20 power and the former system of governance was changed.

Bibliography

Gutt, E.A. 1997. The Silt=92i group = (East=20 Gurage). Hetzron , Robert (ed) The Semitic Languages. = London:=20 Routledge, 509-534.
Hetzron, R. 1972. Ethiopian = Semitic:=20 Studies in Classification. (Journal of Semitic Studies = monograph 2).=20 Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Hudson, = Grover. 1976.=20 Highland East Cushitic. In: Bender, M. Lionel (ed). The = Non-Semitic=20 Languages of Ethiopia. East Lansing, = 232-277.
Korhonen,=20 Elsa, Mirja Saksa und Ronald James Sim. 1986a. A Dialect Study of=20 Kambaata-Hadiyya (Ethiopia). In: Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere = 5:=20 5-41.
Korhonen, Elsa, Mirja Saksa und Ronald James Sim. = 1986b. A=20 Dialect Study of Kambaata-Hadiyya (Ethiopia). In: = Afrikanistische=20 Arbeitspapiere 6: 71-121.
Nurye Melaku. 2000. = Welene=20 Phonology. B.A. thesis, AAU.
Plazikowsky-Brauner, = Herma.=20 1962. Grammatik der Alaba-Sprache. Rassegna di Studi = Ethiopici 18:=20 83-96.
Rahmeto Hussein. 1984.The History of = Azernet-Berbere=20 until the expansion of Shoa during Menelik II. B.A. Thesis, = Addis=20 Ababa University.
Trimingham, J.S. 1965. Islam in=20 Ethiopia. London: Frank Cass Company Ltd.
Worqu = Nida. 1983=20 Eth.C. J=E4bdu - Y=E4gurage Bahilinna Tarik. Addis Ababa: = Bole Mat=E4miya=20 Bet.

12 For different descriptions = regarding the=20 Gurage groups belonging to the S=E4bat Bet Gurage see Worqu (1983 = Eth.C.:=20 19ff). In accordance with Worqu (1983 Eth.C.: 26) we subsume under = this=20 name: Chaha (with a subdivision of Gum=E4r), Ezha, Muher (with the = subdivision of Aklil), Innemor (with the subdivisions of M=E4g=E4r = and En=E4r),=20 Geto, M=E4rqorqor and Indegeny. The first five formed the initial = federation=20 of the Ammist-Bet-Gurage which was subsequently joined by the = other=20 two.
13 The Ethiopian calender = (Eth.C.)=20 differs from the Gregorian calender in dating back seven or eight = years.=20 As the new year in Ethiopia begins on the 11th of September (10th = of=20 September in a leap-year) the difference up to that date is eight = years=20 and after that date seven years.
14The=20 commonly used term for persons belonging to the king of the = kings=92 army or=20 people who paid tribute to him and then remained in the = countryside to=20 assure his rule.
15 We held two = interviews=20 in Wolane-Jimma on December 9 and 11, 2000. Between 20 and 30 = elders from=20 a region near Wolane-Jimma participated and several questions = regarding=20 their history were discussed. When no other sources are indicated = in the=20 text we make reference to the information passed to us = verbally.
16 M=E4h=E4din Caalee, 65 years old, is a = Wolane merchant=20 at Merkato who has lived in Addis Ababa for many years. He was = born and=20 grew up in Wolane-Jimma. The interview took place at Merkato on = the 30th=20 of November 2000.
17 Some elders = mentioned=20 other names: Y=E4guratey, D=E4br=E4rit, Faris and = Ind=E4bit.
18 There may be some confusion regarding = the term=20 Soddo. There is a Gurage group called Kistane (formerly called = Aym=E4l=E4l or=20 Soddo). There was also an Oromo group living in the same place = which was=20 called =91Saddeen Soddo=92 meaning =91the three Soddo=92. Perhaps = this group had=20 early contacts with the Wolane in the G=E4d=E4bano region. The = Qabena elder=20 Hajji Ahmad Alhadi mentioned the Soddo as a neighbour of Qabena = adjacent=20 to the Wolane.
19 According to = another=20 version Hajji Aliye had the following children: Sult=92an, Abecco, = S=E4m=E4rr=E4ddin, Al=E4qero , Narino (=3DNur=E4ddin?), S=E4buti, = T=E4fal=E4t=92 and a=20 daughter called W=E4lga. The last three children are different in = name from=20 the first version, there is even a girl among them. They could not = come to=20 an agreement regarding these differences. Rahmato (1984:6), who = described=20 the history of the Az=E4rn=E4t-B=E4rb=E4re, cites only five sons: = Semerdin,=20 Abecho, Aleqero, Delapa (=3D Dil Abba?) and Sultan = (Silt=92i).
20 Sometimes instead of Sheykh B=E4rk=E4lle = a person=20 Ayg=E4nny was named. Y=E4-Ayg=E4nny qaya is another name of = Z=E4nab=E4 n=E4r or Qabena=20 market.
21 This was also mentioned = by Hajji=20 Ahmad Alhadi.