Kingdom of Jimma

Coordinates: 7°40′00″N 36°50′00″E / 7.6666°N 36.8333°E / 7.6666; 36.8333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kingdom of Jimma
1790–1932
Jiren (now called Jimma)
7°40′00″N 36°50′00″E / 7.6666°N 36.8333°E / 7.6666; 36.8333
Common languagesOromo
Religion
Sunni Islam
GovernmentMonarchy
King (Moti) 
• 1830–1855
Abba Jifar I
• 1932
Abba Jofir
History 
• Established
1790
• Renamed Jimma Abba Jifar
1830
• Vassal to
Kingdom of Shewa
1884
• Vassal to Ethiopian Empire
1889
• Annexed by Ethiopian Empire
1932
 Succeeded by
Ethiopian Empire

The Kingdom of Jimma (

Kingdom of Janjero, and was separated from the Kingdom of Kaffa to the south by the Gojeb River. Jimma was considered the most powerful militarily of the Gibe kingdoms
.

History

Establishment

According to legend, a number of Oromo groups (variously given from five to 10) were led to Jimma by a great sorceress and Queen named Makhore, who carried a boku (usually connected with the abba boku, or headman of the Oromo Gadaa system)[1] which when placed on the ground would cause the earth to tremble and men to fear. It is said that with this boku, she drove the Kaffa people living in the area across the Gojeb River. While this suggests that the Oromo invaders drove the original inhabitants from the area, Herbert S. Lewis notes that Oromo society was inclusionist, and the only ethnic differences they made are reflected in the history of various kinship groups.[2]

Eventually, the Oromo grew unhappy with Makhore's rule, and through a ruse, deprived her of her

virginity
, and destroyed her power. The various groups then pursued their own courses, loosely bound into a confederation that held councils at Hulle, where laws were passed under the abba boku; at this point, Jimma was commonly referred to as Jimma Kaka.

At first, the Badi of

Limmu-Ennarea, over the district of Badi-Folla. The area was important for control of the caravan route between the Kingdom of Kaffa on the one hand, and the provinces of Gojjam and Shewa on the other. While the two Kings negotiated a peace in 1841, and sealed the treaty with the marriage of Abba Jifar's daughter to Abba Bagido's son Abba Dula, the Jimma King eventually conquered Badi-Folla (1847) and secured control over this important caravan route.[6]

Under King Abba Gomol, the ancient Kingdom of Garo was conquered and annexed into Jimma. King Gomol settled wealthy men from his kingdom in the former state. He also brought important men from Garo to live at Jiren, thus integrating the two polities.[7]

It was shortly after his son Abba Jifar II assumed the throne that the power of the neguses of Shewa began to reach into the Gibe region for the first time in centuries. As Lewis notes, "Borrelli, Franzoj and other travellers accorded him little hope of retaining his kingdom for long."[8] However, heeding the wise advice of his mother Gumiti, he submitted to Menelik II, and agreed to pay tribute to the negus, and counseled his neighboring kings to do the same. Although Hadiya state initially surrendered to the Abyssinians, opposition grew quickly and a resistance movement formed under their new leader Hassan Enjamo, numerous nobles of the Jimma kingdom including the brother of king Abba Jifar joined the militia in Hadiya.[9][10]

King Abba Jifar instead found himself enthusiastically helping the Shewan king conquer his neighbors:

Walamo in 1894, and Kaffa in 1897. In 1928, the tribute of Jimma amounted to MTT87,000 and an additional MTT15,000 for the army.[11]

Following the death of Abba Jifar II, Emperor

Kaffa Province
.

Administration

The Kingdom of Jimma had its own administration, which was centered at the royal palace. An officer referred to as the azazi ("the orderer") served there as the head. His function at the court was essentially that of a majordomo, exclusively overseeing domestic palace affairs. The azazi maintained a number of treasuries, and dispensed funds to cover court-related expenses. The palace also housed professional soldiers, whom the azazi had the power to assign infrastructural maintenance chores to. Other officers oversaw other day-to-day activities at the palace, including artisanal labor and royal court guest hospitality.[13]

Like the other Gibe kingdoms, Jimma's ruler King Abba Jifar also owned many slaves. They served as officials in the royal palace, where they attended to the needs of the King's wives and supervised the abattoir and meal preparation, among other activities.[13][14] The slaves also acted as jailers, market judges, and stewards of the King's territories. Additionally, they sometimes served as governors of a province, though this position was usually given to wealthy nagadras (chief of trade and markets).[14]

At noon, the King, his retinue, court officials and guests dined together at the mana sank'a ("house of the table"). It consisted of a great hall with several large round wooden tables. The King and 20 to 30 other individuals sat around the main table, with the remaining tables ranked in importance according to how close they were positioned to the King. During the evening, the King typically dined alone with one of his wives, and often summoned instrumentalists or Arab merchants with a gramophone for musical accompaniment.[13]

Economy

In Jimma,

amoleh were used as currency until the reign of Emperor Menelik II
.

Coffee (Coffea arabica) became a major cash crop in Jimma only in the reign of King Abba Jifar II. Another source of income was the extraction of oil from civets, which was used to make perfume.[15]

See also

  • Rulers of the Gibe state of Jimma
  • List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

Notes

  1. ^ Lewis, Galla Monarchy, p. 65. He also notes that the Gadaa system was almost entirely forgotten in Jimma by 1960, and suggests that its use may have ended a generation or two earlier.
  2. ^ Lewis, Galla Monarchy, p. 38
  3. ^ Mohammed Hassen, The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History 1570-1860), (Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1994), p. 111
  4. ^ Lewis, Galla Monarchy, pp. 41f.
  5. ^ Herbert S. Lewis, A Galla Monarchy: Jimma Abba Jifar, Ethiopia (Madison, Wisconsin, 1965), p. 40
  6. ^ Mordechai Abir, The era of the princes: the challenge of Islam and the re-unification of the Christian empire, 1769-1855 (London: Longmans, 1968), p. 91ff.
  7. ^ Lewis, Galla Monarchy, p. 45
  8. ^ Lewis, Galla Monarchy, p. 43
  9. ^ Lindahl, Bernhard. Local History of Ethiopia (PDF). Nordic Africa Institute. pp. 4–5.
  10. ^ Northeast African Studies Volume 9. African Studies Center, Michigan State University. p. 69.
  11. ^ Huntingford, Galla of Ethiopia, p. 61.
  12. ^ a b Harold G. Marcus, The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913 (Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1995), p. 121
  13. ^ a b c Herbert S. Lewis, A Galla Monarchy: Jimma Abba Jifar (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1965), p. 71
  14. ^ a b Herbert S. Lewis, A Galla Monarchy: Jimma Abba Jifar (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1965), p. 86
  15. ^ G.W.B. Huntingford, The Galla of Ethiopia; the Kingdoms of Kafa and Janjero (London: International African Institute, 1955), p. 26

Further reading

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