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29-483: Its canyon provided the former Kingdom of Kaffa an important defensive frontier, as described by Mohammed Hassan: The hot valley of the Gojeb, infested with both terrible mosquitos and tsetse flies , covered with tall grass and dense forest, made rapid cavalry attack and retreat virtually impossible. This natural protection ... was further strengthened by elaborate and highly complex man-made fortifications which protected all

58-411: A distinct language and culture and demanded a zone for themselves. In 1998, the regional government attempted to introduce an artificially constructed language, based on the various local North Omotic languages and dialects, as the new language of education and administration for Semien Omo Zone. This triggered violent protests by Welayta students, teachers and civil servants, which led to the withdrawal of

87-483: A monarchical administration. The earlier name of the kingdom was allegedly " Damot " - this was said to include the south, south-east, south-west and part of the central region of present Ethiopia. The ruler was King (Kawo) Motolomi who is mentioned in the religious book Gedle Teklehaimanot , as an invader of the north and the king to whom was surrendered the mother of the Ethiopian saint, Tekle Haymanot . Some assume that

116-489: A number of other kingdoms from the Gibe region to become Kaffa Province . In Kaffa, Maria Theresa thalers (MT) and salt blocks called amoleh were used as currency (as in the rest of Ethiopia) as late as 1905, which circulated at a rate of four or five amolehs to 1 MT. The economy was based on exports of gold , civet oil, and slaves . Crops grown included coffee and cotton . However, according to Richard Pankhurst ,

145-761: A result, the textbooks in Wegagoda were withdrawn and teachers returned to ones in Wolaytta. The Welayta people use many proverbs. A large collection of them was published in 1987 ( Ethiopian calendar ) by the Academy of Ethiopian Languages . Fikre Alemayehu's 2012 MA thesis from Addis Ababa University provides an analysis of Wolaytta proverbs and their functions. Welayta music plays a prominent role in national entertainment in Ethiopia. The unique and fast-paced Welayta tunes have influenced several styles and rhythm as it continues to shape

174-669: A system for writing it. The writing system was later revised by a team led by Dr. Bruce Adams. They finished the New Testament in 1981 and the entire Bible in 2002. It was one of the first languages the Derg selected for their literacy campaign (1979–1991). Welaytta pride in their written language led to a fiercely hostile response in 1998 when the Ethiopian government distributed textbooks written in Wegagoda – an artificial language based on amalgamating Wolaytta with several closely related languages. As

203-730: Is deep rooted cultural food by Welayta people. Little is known on the origin of raw meat eating habit. Minced raw beef called “Kitfo” by the Gurage people and Kurt are mostly served on special occasions such as holidays like "Finding of the True Cross" or "Meskel" holiday, celebrated annually on September 27 in Ethiopia. Moreover, Enset foods are traditionally incorporated into cultural events such as births, deaths, weddings, and rites of planting, harvesting and purification. Wolaita people used different type of currencies through their kingdoms for trade purpose. Among them Karetta Sinna and Shalluwa , both of

232-541: Is in the southern parts of the Ethiopian Highlands with stretches of forest. The mountainous land is very fertile, capable of three harvests a year. The Kingdom of Kaffa was founded c.1390 by Minjo, who according to oral tradition ousted the Mato dynasty of 32 kings. However, his informants told Amnon Orent, "no one remembers the name of a single one." The first capital Bonga was either founded or captured by Bon-noghe; it

261-569: Is one of the Omotic group of languages. Kaffa was divided into four sub-groups, who spoke a common language Kefficho , one of the Gonga/Kefoid group of Omotic languages ; a number of groups of foreigners, Ethiopian Muslim traders and members of the Ethiopian Church , also lived in the kingdom. There were a number of groups of people, "but with the status of submerged status ", who also lived in

290-493: Is spoken. The 'Ethnologue' identifies one smaller dialect region: Zala . Some hold that Melo , Oyda , and Gamo-Gofa-Dawro are also dialects, but most authorities, including Ethnologue and ISO 639-3 now list these as separate languages. The different communities of speakers also recognize them as separate languages. Welayta has existed in written form since the 1940s, when the Sudan Interior Mission first devised

319-629: Is the location of the Gojeb Dam , Ethiopia's first Independent Power Project. This 150-MW hydroelectric plant started commercial operation in 2004. The project was developed by Mohammed International Development Research Organization and Companies ( MIDROC ), which intends to sell the output to the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation . This article related to a river in Ethiopia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kingdom of Kaffa The Kingdom of Kaffa

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348-756: The Welayta came under their control in the reign of Tato Shagi Sherocho (1775–1795), who extended the boundaries of his kingdom as far as the Omo to the southeast and almost to the confluence of the Omo and the Denchya to the south. It was during the reign of King Hoti Gaocho (1798–1821), that the territory of the Kaffa kings reached its maximum. According to Orent, the traditions of the Kaffa people relate that he ruled far and wide, conquering wherever he went, even as far afield as Wolleta and Kambaata. "To this day, some people still talk about

377-492: The Abyssinian king grew weak, and Christianity more or less disappeared, although the church of St. George was used as a "male house of ritual of George" until late in the 19th century when Christian practices were reintroduced. Beginning with Gali Ginocho (1675–1710), the kings of Kaffa began to expand the borders of their kingdom, annexing the neighboring small Gimira states of She, Benesho and Majango. The neighboring state of

406-448: The Armies of Menelik II, emperor of Ethiopia , identifying a number of practices in common with the more familiar Amhara people . After the annexation into Ethiopia, the inhabitants suffered greatly due to the slave-raids organized by Abba Jifar II , and the region almost became uninhabited. During the reorganization of the provinces in 1942, the former kingdom was enlarged by the addition of

435-557: The amount of coffee exported was never large: he cites an estimate for its production in the 1880s at 50,000 to 60,000 kilograms a year. Livestock was raised, and honeybees kept in barrels (called gendo ) which were hung in trees. 7°16′00″N 36°14′00″E  /  7.2667°N 36.2333°E  / 7.2667; 36.2333 Welayta people The Welayta , or Wolaitans ( Ge'ez : ወላይታ Wolayta ) are an ethnic group located in Southwestern Ethiopia . According to

464-486: The bloodiest campaigns of the whole period of expansion", and Wolayta oral tradition holds that 118,000 Welayta and 90,000 Shewan troops died in the fighting. Kawo (King) Kawo Tona Gaga , the last king of Welayta, was defeated and Welayta conquered in 1896. Welayta was then incorporated into the Ethiopian Empire . However, Welayta had a form of self-administrative status and was ruled by Governors directly accountable to

493-616: The centre of Region 9. Later, Welayta was included in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR, consisting of the former regions 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11) as part of the Semien Omo Zone . The regional government claimed that the Welayta were so closely related to the other Omotic-speaking peoples of that zone that there was no justification for a separate Welayta zone . Welayta leaders, however, stressed that their people had

522-406: The combined armies of Welde Giyorgis Aboye , Ras Damisse, and King Abba Jifar II of Jimma , until he was captured 11 September 1897, and was first sent to Ankober , then to Addis Ababa . Kaffa was then held as a fief by Wolde Giyogis until 1914. During his visit to Kaffa in 1897, Alexander Bulatovich had the opportunity to study the culture of the inhabitants, describing them in his book With

551-457: The entrances to that country. Because of its location between the two kingdoms, Alexander Bulatovich , who crossed the river in January 1897, reported its valley was uninhabited, yet "abounds in wild goats and antelopes. Leopards and lions are encountered here. Larger animals, such as elephants and rhinoceroses, stay lower on the river's course, near to where the Gojeb flows into the Omo." The Gojeb

580-405: The identity of Ethiopian musical diversity. Various famous Ethiopian artists from other ethnic groups have incorporated Welayta musical style into their songs, including vocalists Tibebu Workeye, Teddy afro and Tsehaye Yohannes. Just as influential are Welayta traditional dance forms that are often adopted by musicians and widely visible in Ethiopian music videos. Raw beef, commonly known as “Kurt”

609-466: The king until the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. The Derg afterwards restructured the country and included Welayta as a part of the province of Sidamo . The Welayta were previously known as "Wolamo" , although this term is now considered derogatory. In 1991 the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) restructured the country into ethnically-based Regions , and Welayta became

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638-593: The kingdom; these included the Manjo , or hunters; the Manne , or leatherworkers; and the Qemmo , or blacksmiths. The Manjo even had their own king, appointed by the King of Kaffa, and were given the duties of guarding the royal compounds and the gates of the kingdom. The kingdom was overrun and conquered in 1897, and was eventually annexed by Ethiopia. The land where this former kingdom lay

667-609: The most recent estimate (2017), the people of Wolayta numbered 5.83 million in Welayta Zone . The language of the Wolayta people, similarly called Wolaytta , belongs to the Omotic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Despite their small population, Wolayta people have widely influenced national music, dance, and cuisine in Ethiopia. The people of Wolayta had their own kingdom for hundreds of years with kings (called "Kawo") and

696-521: The new language. In November 2000, the Welayta Zone was established. Wolaytta is an Omotic language spoken in the Wolaita Zone and some parts of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia. The number of speakers of this language is estimated at 1,800,000 (1991 UBS); it is the native language of the Welayta people. There are conflicting claims about how widely Welayta

725-522: The products of cotton, are the priors. But next to this currencies Wolaita people achieved one of the most important civilizations in the sphere of currency and created a currency made from metal pieces, which is called Marchuwa . Marchuwa is equal to 18 Maria Theresa Thalers or 0.50 US dollars . The Wolayta are of multi-social origin, meaning they are historically, culturally, and ethnically, products of continuous (im)migration from numerous ethnic groups, making them heterogeneous. Due to this continuity,

754-473: The saint was the son of this king. After the defeat which overcame the northern part of its territory the kingdom was reduced to its present size and the name became the Kingdom of Wolayta. It remained thus an independent kingdom for hundreds of years until the expansion of Emperor Menelik II into the regions south of Shewa during the early 1890s. The war of conquest has been described by Bahru Zewde as "one of

783-606: The time that their ancestors defeated all their enemies and sat at the foot of a famous tree in Wolliso and decided not to go farther into Shewa province." concludes Orent. Around the 18th century the kingdom was invaded by the Mecha Oromos. But due to its difficult terrain, Kaffa was able to repel the invasion. However all territories north of the Gojeb river was lost to the Oromos. The last Kaffa king, Gaki Sherocho , resisted for months

812-671: Was a kingdom located in what is now Ethiopia from 1390 to 1897, with its first capital at Bonga . The Gojeb River formed its northern border, beyond which lay the Gibe kingdoms; to the east the territory of the Konta and Kullo peoples lay between Kaffa and the Omo River ; to the south numerous subgroups of the Gimira people, and to the west lay the Majangir people. The native language, also known as Kaffa ,

841-456: Was later replaced by Anderaccha , but Bonga retained its importance. During the 16th century, the Emperor of Abyssinia Sarsa Dengel convinced the kingdom to officially accept Christianity as its state religion. As a result, the church of St. George was dedicated at Baha ; the building preserved a tabot bearing the name of Emperor Sarsa Dengel. Over the following centuries the influence of

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