Ethiopian Gibe States History

Beni-Shangul Gumuz

• The Beni-Shangul Gumuz people inhabited a narrow lowland strip along the Ethio-Sudanese border.
• They belong to the Nilo-Saharan language family.
• The region was a gold-producing area since the time of Punt, also known as the Silent Commerce, likely due to language barriers between merchants.

Agriculture and Natural Resource Management

• The Gumuz people practiced shifting cultivation on a small scale in the pre-19th century.
• They used slash-and-burn agriculture, not only as a farming system but also as a natural resource management system.
• This method has a long history, dating back to the Neolithic period, and expanded into different parts of the world.
• Gumuz farmers identified soil fertility by observing soil color and drainage capacity.

Environment and Beliefs

• The Gumuz people had a positive attitude towards the forests in their surroundings.
• Their natural resource management was tied to their belief system, where natural resources are considered gifts of Yama, the supreme deity.
• They used fire as an essential tool for hunting, providing new vegetation growth for their herds, and diminishing the ravages of the tsetse fly.

Economy and Agriculture

• The economy was based on sorghum, millet, and cotton, with a cycle of cultivation and fallow periods.
• The Gumuz did not cultivate a single plot more than three times, allowing the forest to regenerate after the third round of cultivation.

Shinasha and Gonga People

• The Shinasha were one of the groups of Gonga people who established a powerful kingdom in southwestern Ethiopia before the 16th century.
• Demographic and political pressures, including the 16th-century Oromo expansion, weakened and divided the Gonga kingdom into different groups.

Gibe States

• The Gibe states, including Gumma, Gomma, and Gera, emerged in the 19th century.
• Gumma became an important state in 1820 under the strong ruler, Oncho Jilcha.
• Gomma was the earliest Gibe state to accept Islam.
• Gera became well-known during the strongest ruler, Tullu Gunji, who was a popular warrior king and good administrator.

Leqa States

• Besides the Gibe states, there were two main centers of monarchical power in Wallaga in the early 19th century: the states of Leqa Naqamte and Leqa Qellem.
• Leqa Naqamte was established by Bakare Godana and grew more powerful under Moroda and Kumsa Moroda.
• Leqa Qellem was founded by one of the Qellem chiefs, Tullu, and consolidated by his son and successor, Jote, in the 2nd half of the 19th century.
• The economy of Leqa States was based on agriculture and Ethio-Sudanese frontier trade.