Argobba people

The Argobba (also Argoba, Arg ʷ abba ) are an ethnic group in Ethiopia. They are Muslims and live on the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands and in the vicinity of the city of Harar.

Areas

Your settlement areas except Harar undergo the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands along and formerly belonged to the provinces of Shewa and Wollo. They are surrounded by Amhara, Oromo and Afar. According to Encyclopaedia Aethiopica the number of Argobba lies in these ancestral lands around 30,000. In the census of 2007, approximately 140,000 people were counted as Argobba, of which almost 70,000, in the Amhara region, some 31,000 in Oromia, 21,600 in the Afar region, 6,500 in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, 5000 in Addis Ababa 3,200 and 2,300 in Harar in Somaliland.

The Argobba in Harar live southeast of the city of Harar in Bisidimo, Fedis and Hundana. The pointing in this direction gate of Harar is named Argob bari, " Gate of Argobba ".

Language

Their original language, Argobba, is that Ethio - Semitic language, which is related to the Amharic next. A majority of ethnic Argobba has, however, this language abandoned in favor of Amharic, the Oromo, the Afar and Harar in part of the Harari. 1994 were counted, while the number of ethnic Argobba at 62 831 was 10,900 spokesman for the Argobba.

Society and Culture

Argobba villages usually comprise at least one mosque, a weaving, a central square and market place and a Koran school. They are usually on top of hills or raised spots ( called amba ). Houses are built either rectangular wooden or stone or huts with roofs made ​​of earth and hay. Livelihoods of Argobba are agriculture, weaving and trade. The agriculture they operate using ox- plows and in marginal areas, where they abgewinnen with adapted farming techniques such as terracing highest possible yield. Main crops are sorghum, maize, peas, beans, lentils and Kat, also hold some also sheep and goats. Legumes, cereals, milk and occasionally meat are staple.

Blacksmiths and potters are in the company of Argobba, as with other Ethiopian ethnic groups, outsiders. Cousin marriages are considered particularly desirable. Marriages with members of other ethnic groups ( exogamy ) are culturally rejected because the Argobba are anxious to preserve their cultural features. In Harar marry Argobba Men Oromo women, marriages of Argobba women with Oromo, however, hardly come before. Apart from a few wealthy people who practice polygamy, Argobba monogamous. Argobba women can own property and to inherit the lineage but is intended solely patrilineal.

Amharic -speaking Argobba in previous Shewa set themselves apart by their Islamic faith of the Christian Amhara, while compared to other Muslim groups, the language is the main distinguishing feature. Traditionally, wearing the typical dress as Argobba Turban (ma ʿ ammamiya ), tunic ( ǧallabiya, see djellaba ) and shawl ( šərrəṭ ) to emphasize their ethnic and religious identity and differentiate themselves from other ethnic groups. Has been available for machine-made clothing and silver - and gold-colored jewelry that Argobba are no longer completely dependent on hand-spun and woven - clothing. In Harar they have taken clothes and hairstyles of the Oromo.

History

The Argobba believe that they are descended from Arab immigrants from the tribe of the Prophet Mohammed, who brought Islam to Ethiopia. Your name it accordingly lead back to gabba Arab ( " Arabs came "). Similar word origin can be found in a number of Muslim ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa, and are not assignable in the rule. Indeed, there are indications, however, that Arabs first settled on the coast in what is now Eritrea and walked from there to the edge of the highlands along south to Wollo and Shewa. In the areas in Shewa, which are known as Yifat today, therefore they took a Amharic dialect. Stone houses and the terracing of fields are common on the Arabian peninsula, Ethiopia, however, a clear differentiator between Argobba and their neighbors. First major migration to the East are said to have taken place at the time of the Christian Empire of Ethiopia expanded to the south and stopped the Sultanate of Shewa to exist. So Argobba reached from the west coming in 1200 Harar, where Islam had been introduced earlier by Zeila on the northern Somali coast.

The multi-ethnic Sultanate of Adal included Afar, Argobba, Aderi and Somali.

Finds of villages, mosques and cemeteries indicate that the Argobba or their precursors previously occupied a larger area. Your current location surrounded by Amhara and Oromo at the edges of the former Ifat / Adal goes to the wars between Ethiopia and the Sultanate of Adal under Ahmed Grann and the subsequent expansion of the Oromo in 16-17. Century. The northern Arsi Oromo in the region of Arba Gugu mentioned in traditions that before them Orgobba lived in the area. The neighboring Karayu and Ittu - Oromo sometimes write the ruins of terraces along the middle course of the Awash River to the Argobba; Here, however, the traditions do not distinguish clearly between the Argobba and Ḥaräla, a group that is mentioned in the Ethiopian and Arabic sources and which then returns to some ruins in the northern Harerge the Ittu. The ethnic allocation of Ḥaräla is unclear, and it is possible that there were connections between them and the Argobba.

With the rise of the Kingdom of Shewa in 17-18. Century began the advance of Amhara in the eastern outskirts of the highlands. Under Sahle Selassie and his successors, these areas were incorporated in the 19th century in Shewa. Taxation and the influx of settlers Amharic contributed to the decline of the economy in the Argobba, also lost after the opening of the railway line from Addis Ababa to Djibouti, the ancient trade routes that ran through Argobba areas, important. Since the 1950s Argobba be harassed by Afar pastoralists from the lowlands, which penetrate in search of grazing to higher altitudes. Some Argobba moved to Debre Birhan cities like, Dese, Adama and Manda. Your economy has evolved from agriculture increased to trading and weaving verlagert.Während the famine mid-1980s survived Argobba also through the sale of hand- spun wool and textiles made ​​from it.

Policy

The party coalition EPRDF, Ethiopia has ruled since the fall of the Derg regime in 1991, has the Argobba Party Argoba National Democratic Organization ANDO founded, whose stated goal is to " ensure the rights of Argobba which deprived under the former regime of their identity and language were ". Meanwhile, an authority independent of the EPRDF Argoba People's Democratic Movement ( APDM ) has emerged.

Swell

• Ethnic group in Ethiopia
• Ethnicity in Africa