Amharaአማራ (Amharic)

Regions with significantpopulations

Ethiopia 19,867,817 [1]

UnitedStates

195,260 [2]

Israel over 144,000 [3]

Canada 18,020 [4][5][6]

UnitedKingdom

8,620 [7]

Germany 5,600 [8]

Australia 4,515 [9]

Finland 1,515 (Amharicspeakers)[10]

Languages

Amharic

Religion

Majority (80-85%): OrientalOrthodox Christianity (Ethiopian

Orthodox) Minorities (15-20%): Islam (Sunni),

Judaism

Related ethnic groups

Agaw · Tigrayans · Afar · Beja · BetaIsrael · Gurage · Harari · Oromo ·Saho · Somali · Tigre · and other

Ethiosemitic and Cushitic peoples[11]

Cushitic peoples

Amhara peopleAmharas (Amharic: አማራ, Āmara;[12] Ge'ez: አምሐራ, ʾÄməḥära)[13] Amharas arean ethnic group traditionally inhabiting parts of the northern and central highlands ofEthiopia, particularly in Addis Ababa and the Amhara Region. According to the2007 national census, Amharas numbered 19,867,817 individuals, comprising26.9% of Ethiopia's population and they are mostly Orthodox Christians members ofEthiopian Orthodox church.[1] They are also found within the Ethiopian expatriatecommunity, particularly in North America.[2][14] They speak Amharic, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic branch, a member of the Ethiosemitic group, whichserves as the official language of Ethiopia.

Some scholars have classified the Amhara and the Tigrayans as Abyssinians properunder the Ultra-Conservative theory (while this theory is controversial).[15][16]:

Etymology

HistorySlaverySocial stratification

Language

Religion

CultureArtAgricultureKinship and marriageCuisine

Notable Amharas

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

The present name for the Amharic language and its speakers comes from the medieval province of Amhara. The latter enclave waslocated around Lake Tana at the headwaters of the Blue Nile, and included a slightly larger area than Ethiopia's present-day AmharaRegion.

The further derivation of the name is debated. Some trace it to amari ("pleasing; beautiful; gracious") or mehare ("gracious"). TheEthiopian historian Getachew Mekonnen Hasen traces it to an ethnic name related to the Himyarites of ancient Yemen.[17] Still otherssay that it derives from Ge'ez ዓም (ʿam, "people") and ሓራ (h.ara, "free" or "soldier") in Hebrew עם הר; am עם; hare הר (አም=ህዝብ) ሀር= ተራራማ) (am = people, Hare = mountain) although this has been dismissed by scholars such as Donald Levine as a folketymology.[18]

Contents

Etymology

The Amharas have historicallyinhabited the north, central andwestern parts of Ethiopia, and havebeen the politically dominant ethnicgroup of this region.[19] Theirorigins are thought to have beenlocated near modern day (Amhara)Sayint, Wollo, a place that wasknown as Bete Amhara in thepast.[20] The Amhara are currentlyone of the two largest ethnic groupsin Ethiopia, along with theOromo.[19][20] They are sometimesreferred to as "Abyssinians" byWestern sources.[19][21][22]

Historically, the province of "Amhara" was historically located in the modernprovince of Wollo (Bete Amhara) , in the modern sense however the region nowknown as Amhara in the feudal era was composed of several provinces with greater

or less autonomy, which included Gondar, Gojjam, Wollo, Lasta, Shewa, Semien, Angot, and Fetegar.[23] The traditional homelandof the Amharas is the central highland plateau of Ethiopia. For over two thousand years they have inhabited this region. Walled byhigh mountains and cleaved by great gorges, the ancient realm of Abyssinia has been relatively isolated from the influences of therest of the world.

Christian Axumite (Axum) presence in the Amhara region dates back to at least the 8th century, with the establishment of theIstifanos monastery in Lake Hayq.[24] Several other sites and monuments indicate similar Axumite presences in area such as the GetaLion statues, located 10 km south of Kombolcha is thought to date as old the 3rd century or even further to pre-Axumite times.[25] In1998, pieces of pottery were found around tombs in Atatiya in Southern Wollo in Habru to the south-east of Hayq and to the north-east of Ancharo (Chiqa Beret). The decorations and symbols on the pottery are reliable archaeological evidence that Aksumitecivilization had extended to Southern Amhara beyond Angot.[26] Many more ancient sites had probably been plentiful but were likelyalmost all destroyed by the vengeful reign of Gudit and especially the Muslim invasions led by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi,where Amhara and Angot were particularly ravaged. The first specific mention of the Amhara dates to the early 12th century in themiddle of the Zagwe Dynasty , when the Amhara were recorded of being in conflict with the Werjih in 1129.[27] The Werjih arelocated to have inhabited the eastern lowlands of Shewa as pastorlists. This indicates that the Amhara not only were existent as adistinct ethnic group, but had already made a presence as far as the southern plateau since at least the 12th century, disproving acommon proposition put forward by scholars like Mesfin Woldemariam and Takele Tadesse who suggested that the Amhara did notexist as an ethnic group. Following the end of the ruling Agaw Zagwe dynasty, the Solomonic dynasty governed the EthiopianEmpire for many centuries from the 1270 AD onwards with the ascension of Yekuno Amlak , whose political and support base heiledfrom Shewa and Amhara. From then up until the deposing of Haile Selassie in 1974, (with the exception of the Tigray Yohannes IV)the Amhara continuously ruled and formed the political core of the Ethiopian Empire, greatly expanding its borders, wealth andinternational prestige as well as establishing several medieval royal sites and capitals such as Tegulet, Debre Berhan, Barara (locatedin Entoto, in modern day Addis Ababa),[28] Gonder, and Magdela, the former three of which were located in Shewa

In the early 15th century, the Emperors sought to make diplomatic contact with European kingdoms for the first time since Aksumitetimes. A letter from King Henry IV of England to the Emperor of Abyssinia survives.[29] In 1428, the Emperor Yeshaq sent twoemissaries to Alfonso V of Aragon, who sent return emissaries who failed to complete the return trip.[30] The first continuousrelations with a European country began in 1508 with Portugal under Emperor Lebna Dengel, who had just inherited the throne fromhis father.[31] This proved to be an important development, for when the Empire was subjected to the attacks of the Adal Sultanate

Example of Ge'ez taken from a 15th-century Ethiopian Coptic prayerbook.

History

Menelik II, king of Shewa

General and Imam, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (called "Grañ", or "the Left-handed"), Portugal assisted the Ethiopian emperor bysending weapons and four hundred men, who helped his son Gelawdewos defeat Ahmad and re-establish his rule.[32] This Ethiopian–Adal War was also one of the first proxy wars in the region as the Ottoman Empire and Portugal took sides in the conflict.

The Amhara have contributed many rulers over the centuries, including Haile Selassie.[33]

Haile Selassie's mother was paternally of Oromo descent and maternally of Gurage heritage,while his father was paternally Oromo and maternally Amhara. He consequently would havebeen considered Oromo in a patrilineal society, and would have been viewed as Gurage in amatrilineal one. However, in the main, Haile Selassie was regarded as Amhara, his paternalgrandmother's royal lineage, through which he was able to ascend to the Imperial throne.[34]

According to Donald Levine, slavery was widespread in Greater Ethiopia until the 1930s.More powerful groups could consign to slavery weaker members of other communities oreven individuals from their own tribe. Since the Amhara and Tigreans were prohibited fromenslaving other Christians, they held slaves from many non-Christian groups.[35][note 1] Themedieval Adal Sultanate seized slaves during jihad expeditions in Christian outposts in the oldprovinces of Amhara, Shäwa, Fatagar,[39][40] and Dawaro.[41] Many of the slaves seized byAdal were assimilated, others exported or gifted to rulers of Arabia in exchange for military support.[39]

The Amhara, as the ruling people, enslaved other ethnic groups such as the Oromo people (historically referred to asGalla).[42][43][35] The Amhara were also occasionally enslaved by the Afar,[35] and sometimes Amhara boys and girls werekidnapped by slave raiders from northern Ethiopia and then sold.[44] The central Amhara provinces were a part of major Afar slavecaravan trade routes from the southern and southwestern regions to the northern and eastern Ethiopia.[45] According to Terence Walzand Kenneth M. Cuno, it is not uncommon to find references to Abyssinian slaves in Ottoman-era court records, but such mentionsbecome rare by the 19th century. They indicate that it is improbable that Amhara were enslaved during the rule of Ali Mubarakbecause they governed the Abyssinian highlands and also frequently raided for slaves in other areas.[46]

According to Gustav Arén, Ethiopian law did not prohibit slave-holding, but did forbid the enslavement of Christians.[47] As such,George Arthur Lipsky indicates that the Amhara resisted converting the non-Christian ethnic groups to Christianity, because theycould not thereafter be kept or sold as slaves.[48] John Ralph Willis states that, with few exceptions, slave merchants typicallyavoided purchasing Christian Amhara, Tigrean or Muslim slaves.[49]

Within traditional Amharic society and that of other local Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations, there were four basic strata. Accordingto the Ethiopianist Donald Levine, these consisted of high-ranking clans, low-ranking clans, caste groups (artisans), andslaves.[50][51] Slaves were at the bottom of the hierarchy, and were primarily drawn from the pagan Nilotic Shanqella groups. Alsoknown as the barya (meaning "slave" in Amharic), they were captured during slave raids in Ethiopia's southern hinterland. Warcaptives were another source of slaves, but the perception, treatment and duties of these prisoners was markedly different.[52]

According to Donald Levine, the widespread slavery in Greater Ethiopia formally ended in the 1930s, but former slaves, theiroffspring, and de facto slaves continued to hold similar positions in the social hierarchy.[35]

The separate, Amhara caste system, ranked higher than slaves, consisted of: (1) endogamy, (2) hierarchical status, (3) restraints oncommensality, (4) pollution concepts, (5) each caste has had a traditional occupation, and (6) inherited caste membership.[50][53]

Scholars accept that there has been a rigid, endogamous and occupationally closed social stratification among Amhara and otherAfro-Asiatic-speaking Ethiopian ethnic groups. However, some label it as an economically closed, endogamous class system or asoccupational minorities,[54][55] whereas others such as the historian David Todd assert that this system can be unequivocally labelledas caste-based.[56][57][58]

Emperor Tewodros II,nəgusä nägäst

Slavery

Social stratification

The Amhara speak Amharic (also known as Amarigna or Amarinya) as a mother tongue. It is spoken by 29.3% of the Ethiopianpopulation.[59] It belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family.[60]

According to Donald Levine, the Afro-Asiatic (Hamito-Semitic) language family likely arose in either the eastern Sahara orsouthwestern Ethiopia. Early Afro-Asiatic populations speaking proto-Semitic, proto-Cushitic and proto-Omotic languages wouldhave diverged by the fourth or fifth millennium BC. Shortly afterwards, the proto-Cushitic and proto-Omotic groups would havesettled in the Ethiopian highlands, with the proto-Semitic speakers crossing the Sinai Peninsula into Asia Minor. A later returnmovement of peoples from South Arabia would have introduced the Semitic languages to Ethiopia.[61] Based on archaeologicalevidence, the presence of Semitic speakers in the territory date to sometime before 500 BC.[20] Linguistic analysis suggests thepresence of Semitic languages in Ethiopia as early as 2000 BC. Levine indicates that by the end of that millennium, the coreinhabitants of Greater Ethiopia would have consisted of swarthy Caucasoid ("Afro-Mediterranean") agropastoralists speaking Afro-Asiatic languages of the Semitic, Cushitic and Omotic branches.[61]

According to Robert Fay, the ancient Semitic speakers from Yemen were Himyarites and they settled in the Aksum area in northernEthiopia. There, they intermarried with native speakers of Agaw and other Cushitic languages, and gradually spread southwards intothe modern Amhara homeland. Their descendants, the early predecessors of the Amhara, spoke Ge'ez, the official language of theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.[62] On the other hand, Ethiopian scholars specializing in Ethiopian Studies such as MessayKebede and Daniel E. Alemu generally disagree with this theory arguing that the migration was one of reciprocal exchange, if it evenoccurred at all, and that the Amharas and other Ethiosemistic-speaking ethnic groups should not be characterized as foreign invaders.

Kebede states the following;

This is not to say that events associated with conquest, conflict and resistance did not occur. No doubt, they must havebeen frequent. But the crucial difference lies in the propensity to present them, not as the process by which an alienmajority imposed its rule but as part of an ongoing struggle of native forces competing for supremacy in the region.The elimination of the alien ruler indigenize Ethiopian history in terms of local actors.

[63][64].

Amharic is the working language of the federal authorities of Ethiopia government. It was for some time also the language of primaryschool instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya. Nevertheless, Amharicis still widely used as the working language of Amhara Region, Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Gambela Region and Southern Nations,Nationalities, and Peoples' Region.[65] The Amharic language is transcribed using the Ethiopic or Ge'ez script (Fidäl), an abugida.The Amharic language is the official language of Ethiopia.

Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic.[3] Many in the popular Rastafari movement learnAmharic as a second language, as they consider it to be a sacred language.[66]

The predominant religion of the Amhara for centuries has been Christianity, with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church playing acentral role in the culture of the country. According to the 2007 census, 82.5% of the population of the Amhara Region wereEthiopian Orthodox; 17.2% were Muslim, and 0.2% were Protestant and 0.5 beta Israel .[67] The Ethiopian Orthodox Churchmaintains close links with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Easter and Epiphany are the most important celebrations,marked with services, feasting and dancing. There are also many feast days throughout the year, when only vegetables or fish may beeaten.

Language

Religion

Marriages are often arranged, with men marrying in their late teens or earlytwenties.[68] Traditionally, girls were married as young as 14, but in the 20thcentury, the minimum age was raised to 18, and this was enforced by the Imperialgovernment. After a church wedding, divorce is frowned upon.[68] Each familyhosts a separate wedding feast after the wedding.

Upon childbirth, a priest will visit the family to bless the infant. The mother andchild remain in the house for 40 days after birth for physical and emotional strength.The infant will be taken to the church for baptism at 40 days (for boys) or 80 days(for girls).[69]

Amhara art is typified by religious paintings. One of the notable features of these isthe large eyes of the subjects, who are usually biblical figures. It is usually oil oncanvas or hide, some surviving from the Middle Ages. The Amhara art includesweaved products embellished with embroidery. Works in gold and silver exist in theform of filigree jewelry and religious emblems.

About 90% of the Amhara are rural and make their living through farming, mostly inthe Ethiopian highlands. Prior to the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution, absentee landlordsmaintained strict control over sharecropping tenants, who often accumulatedcrippling debt. After 1974, the landlords were replaced by local governmentofficials, who play a similar role.

Barley, corn, millet, wheat, sorghum, and teff, along with beans, peppers, chickpeas, and other vegetables, are the most importantcrops. In the highlands one crop per year is normal, while in the lowlands two are possible. Cattle, sheep, and goats are also raised.

The Amhara culture recognizes kinship, but unlike other ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa region, it has a relatively lesser role.Household relationships are primary, and the major economic, political and cultural functions are not based on kin relationshipsamong the Amharas. Rather abilities of the individual matter. For example, states Donald Levine, the influence of clergy among theAmhara has been based on "ritual purity, doctrinal knowledge, ability to perform miracles and capacity to provide moralguidance".[70] The social relationships in the Amhara culture are predominantly based on hierarchical patterns and individualisticassociations.[71]

Family and kin relatives are often involved in arranging semanya (eighty bond marriage, also called kal kidan), which has been mostcommon and allows divorce.[72] Other forms of marriage include qurban, which is solemnized in church, where divorce is forbidden,and usually observed among the orthodox priests.[73] A third form of marriage in Amhara culture has been damoz, which isconsidered of low status. The damoz marriage is temporary, a man pays the woman to be a temporary wife, typically for a month ortwo, by an oral contract.[73][74] Patrilineal descent is the norm.[73] While the wife had no inheritance rights, in case a child wasconceived during the temporary damoz marriage, the child could make a claim a part of the father's property.[74][75]

Crowds gather at the Fasilides' Bathin Gondar to celebrate Timkat - theEpiphany for the Ethiopian OrthodoxTewahedo Church.

Culture

Art

Mural depicting Saint George in thechurch of Debre Berhan Selassie inGondar.

Agriculture

Kinship and marriage

Cuisine

The Amharas' cuisine consists of various vegetable or meat side dishes and entrées,usually a wat, or thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread made ofteff flour. Kitfo being originated from Gurage is one of the widely accepted andfavorite food in Amhara.

They do not eat pork or shellfish of any kind for religious reasons. It is also acommon cultural practice of Amhara to eat from the same dish in the center of thetable with a group of people.

Asrat Woldeyes, Surgeon and Haile Selassie's physicianAklilu Habte-Wold, Prime MinisterAfewerk Tekle, Honorable Laureate Maitre ArtisteHaddis Alemayehu, Foreign Minister and NovelistHaile Selassie, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire,Menelik II, Emperor of the Ethiopian EmpireSeifu Mikael, diplomat, governorTewodros II, Emperor of the Ethiopian EmpireYekuno Amlak, founder of solomonic dynastyDawit I, EmperorYagbe'u Seyon, EmperorWedem Arad, EmperorAmda Seyon I, EmperorNewaya Krestos, EmperorNewaya Maryam, EmperorTewodros I, EmperorYeshaq I, EmperorAndreyas, EmperorTakla Maryam, EmperorSarwe Iyasus, EmperorAmda Iyasus, EmperorZara Yaqob, EmperorBaeda Maryam I, EmperorEskender, EmperorAmda Seyon II,EmperorNa'od, EmperorDawit II, EmperorGelawdewos, EmperorMenas of Ethiopia, EmperorSarsa Dengel, EmperorYaqob, EmperorSusenyos I, EmperorFasilides, EmperorYohannes I, EmperorIyasu I, EmperorWolde Giorgis Wolde YohannesLij IyasuBelay ZelekeTaytu BetulZauditu

Typical Amhara cuisine: Injera(pancake-like bread) and severalkinds of wat (stew).

Notable Amharas

See also

Cushitic peoplesHabesha peopleHistory of EthiopiaSolomonic dynasty

1. Alternate terms have been in use for ethnic groups of Ethiopia. Amhara have been referred to as "Abyssinian",[36]

Oromo as "Galla",[37] Afar as "Adal, Udal, Udali, Danakil or Denakil.[38]

1. Central Statistical Agency, Ethiopia. "Table 2.2 Percentage Distribution of Major Ethnic Groups: 2007" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090325050115/http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf) (PDF). Summary and StatisticalReport of the 2007 Population and Housing Census Results. United Nations Population Fund. p. 16. Archived fromthe original (http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf) (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

2. United States Census Bureau 2009-2013, Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for thePopulation 5 Years and Over: 2009-2013, USCB, 30 November 2016,<https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/2009-2013-lang-tables.html>.

3. Amharic-speaking Jews component 85% from Beta Israel; Anbessa Tefera (2007). "Language". Jewish Communitiesin the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries - Ethiopia. Ben-Zvi Institute. p.73 (Hebrew)

4. Statistics Canada, 2011 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-314-XCB2011032

5. Anon, 2016. 2011 Census of Canada: Topic-based tabulations | Detailed Mother Tongue (232), Knowledge of OfficialLanguages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) for the Population Excluding Institutional Residents of Canada andForward Sortation Areas, 2011 Census. [online] Www12.statcan.gc.ca. Available at:<http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/tbt-tt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=103001&PRID=10&PTYPE=101955&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2011&THEME=90&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=[Accessed 2 Dec. 2016].

6. Immigrant languages in Canada. 2016. Immigrant languages in Canada. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011003_2-eng.cfm. [Accessed 13December 2016].

7. pp, 25 (2015) United Kingdom. Available at: https://www.ethnologue.com/country/GB (Accessed: 30 November2016).

8. Amharas are estimated to be the largest ethnic group of estimated 20.000 EthiopianGermans|https://www.giz.de/fachexpertise/downloads/gtz2009-en-ethiopian-diaspora.pdf

9. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2014, The People of Australia Statistics from the 2011 Census, Cat. no. 2901.0, ABS,30 November 2016, <https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/research/people-australia-2013-statistics.pdf>.

10. http://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/fi/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_031.px/?rxid=726cd24d-d0f1-416a-8eec-7ce9b82fd5a4

11. Joireman, Sandra F. (1997). Institutional Change in the Horn of Africa: The Allocation of Property Rights andImplications for Development (https://books.google.com/books?id=CyeaiaJ0ypAC). Universal-Publishers. p. 1.ISBN 1581120001. "The Horn of Africa encompasses the countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. Thesecountries share similar peoples, languages, and geographical endowments."

12. Following the BGN/PCGN romanization employed for Amharic geographic names in British and American English.

13. Zegeye, Abebe (15 October 1994). Ethiopia in Change (https://books.google.ca/books?id=caSwQZab5awC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=what+clapham+sees+as+an+amhara&source=bl&ots=iewO-Tn8iq&sig=tWaRIfNqS20OT2Iq2NyVgDx775Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjn5q3_0KHRAhVEwxQKHYXxDQEQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=what%20clapham%20sees%20as%20an%20amhara&f=false). British Academic Press. p. 13. Retrieved 1 January 2017.

Notes

References

14. Olson, James (1996). The Peoples of Africa (https://books.google.ca/books?id=MdaAdBC-_S4C&pg=PA27&dq=The+Amhara+(Abyssinians)+comprise&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj86sCtk97QAhUO-GMKHXgRDU4Q6AEIIzAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Amhara%20(Abyssinians)%20comprise&f=false). Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 27.Retrieved 5 December 2016.

15. Levine, Donald (May 2000). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society (https://books.google.com.et/books?id=TtmFQejWaaYC&pg=PA19#v=onepage&q=%22Abyssinians%20proper%2C%20the%22&f=false). Universityof Chicago Press. p. 18. ISBN 9780226475615. Retrieved 28 December 2016.

16. Yäafrika, Habesha Gaaffaa-Geeska (Summer–Fall 2018). Habesha Union [ሐበሻ] (ed.). "What do you mean byHabesha? — A look at the Habesha Identity (p.s./t: It's very Vague, Confusing, & Misunderstood)" (https://www.academia.edu/37510451). Department of Modern Culture. International Journal of Ethiopian Studies: 1–16.

17. Getachew Mekonnen Hasen. Wollo, Yager Dibab, p. 11. Nigd Matemiya Bet (Addis Ababa), 1992.

18. Uhlig, Siegbert, ed. "Amhara" in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, p. 230. Harrassowitz Verlag (Wiesbaden), 2003.

19. Amhara people (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amhara), Encyclopædia Britannica (2015)

20. Anthony Appiah; Henry Louis Gates (2010). Encyclopedia of Africa (https://books.google.com/books?id=A0XNvklcqbwC&pg=PA96). Oxford University Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9.

21. Asafa Jalata (2004). State Crises, Globalisation and National Movements in North-East Africa: The Horn's Dilemma(https://books.google.com/books?id=hv6244EfR_MC&pg=PA101). Routledge. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-134-27625-7.

22. Mohammed Ali (1996). Ethnicity, Politics, and Society in Northeast Africa: Conflict and Social Change (https://books.google.com/books?id=YP6vaIuPz60C&pg=PA65). University Press of America. pp. 64–66. ISBN 978-0-7618-0283-9.

23. E. A. Wallis Budge (2014). A History of Ethiopia: Volume I (Routledge Revivals): Nubia and Abyssinia (https://books.google.com/books?id=KWQtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA123). Routledge. pp. 123–124. ISBN 978-1-317-64915-1.

24. Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 36.

25. Briggs, P. and Wildman, K. (2014). Ethiopia. Chalfont St Peter: Bradt Travel Guides, p.357.

26. Aklilu Asfaw, Report to the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1997.

27. Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 81

28. Pankhurst, R. and Breternitz, H. (2009). Barara, the Royal City of 15th and Early 16th Century (Ethiopia). Medievaland Other Early Settlements Between Wechecha Range and Mt Yerer: Results from a Recent Survey. Annalesd'Ethiopie, 24(1), p.210.

29. Ian Mortimer, The Fears of Henry IV (2007), p.111 ISBN 1-84413-529-2

30. Beshah, pp. 13–4.

31. Beshah, p. 25.

32. Beshah, pp. 45–52.

33. Kjetil Tronvoll, Ethiopia, a new start?, (Minority Rights Group: 2000)

34. Peter Woodward, Conflict and peace in the Horn of Africa: federalism and its alternatives, (Dartmouth Pub. Co.:1994), p.29.

35. Donald N. Levine (2014). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society (https://www.google.com/books?id=NZHeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA56). University of Chicago Press. pp. 56 & 175. ISBN 978-0-226-22967-6. "Slavery waswidespread in Greater Ethiopia until the 1930s, and today ex-slaves, children of former slaves, and de facto slaves insome regions occupy social positions much like their predecessors... members of any ethnic group were liable to beconsigned to slavery by more powerful members of other tribes, if not their own tribe. (...) Afar made slaves ofAmhara (...) Amhara and Tigreans, while not supposed to enslave fellow Christians, had slaves from many non-Christian groups."

36. Amhara people; Alternative title: Abyssinian (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amhara), Encyclopædia Britannica(2015)

37. Mohammed Hassen (2015). The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: 1300-1700 (https://books.google.com/books?id=fg1zCgAAQBAJ). Boydell & Brewer (Originally: Cambridge University Press). pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1-84701-117-6.

38. Anthony Appiah; Henry Louis Gates (2010). Encyclopedia of Africa (https://books.google.com/books?id=A0XNvklcqbwC). Oxford University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9.

39. Richard Pankhurst (1997). The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End ofthe 18th Century (https://www.google.com/books?id=zpYBD3bzW1wC). The Red Sea Press. pp. 122–123, 158,243–249. ISBN 978-0-932415-19-6. "Quote: Later in the century Mahfuz, the amir of Zayla, no doubt takingadvantage of the wealth and power of the port, began a series of annual incursions, into Amhara, Shäwa andFatagar. He assumed the religious title of Imam, symbolizing the fact that he was engaged in a jihad, or Holy War.His expeditions were accompanied by extensive looting and seizure of slaves, many of whom were assimilated inAdal, while others were exported. Mahfuz sent not a few as gifts to the rulers of Arabia, who in return gave himconsiderable military support."

40. Richard Pankhurst (1997). The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End ofthe 18th Century (https://www.google.com/books?id=zpYBD3bzW1wC). The Red Sea Press. pp. 57–59. ISBN 978-0-932415-19-6. Quote:: "The victorious Adal troops then burnt the houses, and churches, of the Christians, andcarried off numerous women and children, besides much booty. (...) During his seven year reign, he [Jamal ad-Din]killed countless numbers of them, and took many more as slaves, who were then exported abroad. India, Arabia,Hormuz, Hejaz, Egypt, Syria, Greece, Iraq and Persia, as a result, became 'full of Abyssinian slaves'. He likewisecaptured many lands, 'increased the splendour' of Adal, and enriched himself with 'much booty', while 'a greatmultitude' of Amhara Christians at his exhortation embraced Islam."

41. Ulrich Braukämper (2002). Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays (https://www.google.com/books?id=HGnyk8Pg9NgC&pg=PA77). LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 30–32, 68–69, 76–78. ISBN 978-3-8258-5671-7."Harb Jaus, a general of the Adalite sultan Djamal al-Din (d. AD 1433), before he continued his campaigns againstthe Christians in Dawaro, also achieved a successful attack on Bale. Makrizi's document reports, 'So much booty fellinto his hands that every poor man was given three slaves; indeed by reason of the vast numbers of these the priceof slaves fell.'"

42. Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya; Jean-Pierre Angenot (2008). Uncovering the History of Africans in Asia (https://books.google.com/books?id=8tuwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA12). BRILL Academic. p. 12. ISBN 978-90-474-3171-8., Quote: "Theruling people of Ethiopia, the Amhara enslaved the Galla and other peoples in Ethiopia".

43. J. Abbink (1992), An Ethno-Historical Perspective on Me'en Territorial Organization (Southwest Ethiopia) (https://www.jstor.org/stable/40462649), Anthropos, Bd. 87, H. 4/6, pp. 351-364, Quote: "Amhara slave raids and enforcementof the gäbbar system (a kind of serf-tribute system) were relaxed during Italian control of the area (1937-1940)."

44. Ahmad, Abdussamad H. (1988). "Ethiopian Slave Exports at Matamma, Massawa and Tajura c. 1830 to 1885".Slavery & Abolition. Routledge. 9 (3): 93–102. doi:10.1080/01440398808574964 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F01440398808574964). "Occasionally, slave raiders from northern Ethiopia kidnapped Amhara boys and girls and sold them(...)"

45. Ehud R. Toledano (2014). The Ottoman Slave Trade and Its Suppression: 1840-1890 (https://books.google.com/books?id=gOH_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31). Princeton University Press. pp. 31–34. ISBN 978-1-4008-5723-4., Quote: "Thefirst section of this [slave] trade was in the hands of Ethiopian dealers who drove the slaves from the southern andsouthwestern Galla, Sidama and Gurage principalities to the central Amhara provinces. (...) the average Afarcaravan consisted of thirty to fifty merchants and about two hundred slaves."

46. Terence Walz; Kenneth M. Cuno (2010). Race and Slavery in the Middle East: Histories of Trans-Saharan Africans inNineteenth-century Egypt, Sudan, and the Ottoman Mediterranean (https://www.google.com/books?id=o_HnCwAAQBAJ). Oxford University Press. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-977-416-398-2. "Although references to non-Oromo Abyssinianslaves from other parts of the highlands or coastal areas were not uncommon in the Ottoman era court records, bythe nineteenth century such homelands are rarely mentioned. Many slaves called themselves Galla, a derogatoryterm used by northern Amhara for other Amhara who had intermarried with the slave-raided Oromo, no doubtadapting the name from slave-dealers.(...) ...in fact it was not likely that Amhara themselves were enslaved in his [AliMubarak's] day since they were the ruling ethnic (and mostly Christian) group in the Abyssinian highlands, whosewarlords were one of many groups that habitually raided elsewhere for slaves."

47. Arén, Gustav (1978). Evangelical Pioneers in Ethiopia: Origins of the Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (https://www.google.com/books?id=sYVCAQAAIAAJ). EFS-förl. p. 136. ISBN 9170803641. Retrieved 11 January 2017."Ethiopian law did not forbid the holding of slaves, only enslavement of Christians."

48. George Arthur Lipsky (1962). Ethiopia: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture, Volume 9 (https://www.google.com/books?id=_PRyAAAAMAAJ). Hraf Press. p. 37. "although the Orthodox Christian Amharas and Tigrais make up only a thirdof the population, more than this proportion are estimated to be Orthodox Christians. Traditionally, there has beenresistance to converting (or in the Amharic phrase, "raising") the non-Christian ethnic groups to Christianity, sincethey then could not be kept or sold as slaves."

49. Willis, John Ralph (2005). Slaves and Slavery in Africa: Volume Two: The Servile Estate (https://www.google.com/books?id=HVGRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA128#v=onepage&q&f=false). Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 1135780161. Retrieved9 January 2017. "Quote: With few exceptions, slavers were careful not to purchase Christian-Amhara or Tigreanslaves, nor did they purchase Muslim ones."

50. Donald N. Levine (2014). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society (https://books.google.com/books?id=NZHeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA56). University of Chicago Press. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-0-226-22967-6.

51. Allan Hoben (1970). "Social Stratification in Traditional Amhara Society". In Arthur Tuden and Leonard Plotnicov(ed.). Social stratification in Africa (https://books.google.com/books?id=KtwDAQAAIAAJ). New York: The Free Press.pp. 210–211, 187–221. ISBN 978-0029327807.

52. Abir, Mordechai (1968). Ethiopia: the era of the princes: the challenge of Islam and re-unification of the ChristianEmpire, 1769-1855 (https://www.google.com/books?id=qo1yAAAAMAAJ). Praeger. pp. 57–60. "There was a cleardistinction between 'red' and 'black' slaves, Hamitic and negroid respectively; the Shanqalla (negroids) were farcheaper as they were destined mostly for hard work around the house and in the field... While in the houses of thebrokers, the [red] slaves were on the whole well treated."

53. Eike Haberland (1979), Special Castes in Ethiopia, in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on EthiopianStudies, Editor: Robert Hess, University of Illinois Press, OCLC 7277897 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7277897),pp. 129-132 (also see pp. 134-135, 145-147); Amnon Orent (1979), From the Hoe to the Plow, in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on EthiopianStudies, Editor: Robert Hess, University of Illinois Press, OCLC 7277897 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7277897), p.188, Quote: "the Mano, who are potters and leather craftsmen and considered 'unclean' in the usual northern orAmhara understanding of caste distinction; and the Manjo, the traditional hunters and eaters of 'unclean' foods –hippopotamus, monkey and crocodile."

54. Teshale Tibebu (1995). The Making of Modern Ethiopia: 1896-1974 (https://books.google.com/books?id=DeD4gruvuNEC&pg=PA67). The Red Sea Press. pp. 67–70. ISBN 978-1-56902-001-2., Quote: "Interestingly enough, whileslaves and ex-slaves could 'integrate' into the larger society with relative ease, this was virtually impossible for theoccupational minorities ('castes') up until very recently, in a good many cases to this day."

55. Christopher R. Hallpike (2012, Original: 1968), The status of craftsmen among the Konso of south-west Ethiopia,Africa, Volume 38, Number 3, Cambridge University Press, pages 258, 259-267, Quote: "Weavers tend to be theleast and tanners the most frequently despised. In many cases such groups are said to have a different, morenegroid appearance than their superiors. There are some instances where these groups have a religious basis, aswith the Moslems and Falashas in Amhara areas. We frequently find that the despised classes are forbidden to ownland, or have anything to do with agricultural activities, or with cattle. Commensality and marriage with their superiorsseem also to be generally forbidden them."

56. Todd, David M. (1977). "Caste in Africa?". Africa. Cambridge University Press. 47 (04): 398–412.doi:10.2307/1158345 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1158345). Dave Todd (1978), "The origins of outcastes in Ethiopia: reflections on an evolutionary theory", Abbay, Volume 9,pages 145-158

57. Donald N. Levine (2014). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society (https://books.google.com/books?id=NZHeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA56). University of Chicago Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-226-22967-6., Quote: "As HerbertLewis has observed, if the term caste can be used for any social formation outside of the Indian context, it can beapplied as appropriately to those Ethiopian groups otherwise known as 'submerged classes', 'pariah groups' and'outcastes' as to any Indian case."; Lewis, Herbert S. (2006). "Historical problems in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa". Annals of the New York Academyof Sciences. Wiley-Blackwell. 96 (2): 504–511. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1962.tb50145.x (https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1749-6632.1962.tb50145.x)., Quote (p. 509): "In virtually every Cushitic group there are endogamous castes basedon occupational specialization (such caste groups are also found, to some extent, among the Ethiopian Semites).".

58. Niall Finneran (2013). The Archaeology of Ethiopia (https://books.google.com/books?id=MNGIzz1VJH0C&pg=PA14). Routledge. pp. 14–15. ISBN 1-136-75552-7., Quote: "Ethiopia has, until fairlyrecently, been a rigid feudal society with finely grained perceptions of class and caste".

59. Central Statistical Agency. 2010. Population and Housing Census 2007 Report, National. [ONLINE] Available at:http://catalog.ihsn.org/index.php/catalog/3583/download/50086. [Accessed 13 December 2016].

60. "Amharic language" (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=amh). Ethnologue. 19 February 1999.Retrieved 10 August 2013.

61. Donald N. Levine (2014). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society (https://www.google.com/books?id=NZHeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=false). University of Chicago Press. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-0-226-22967-6. "The analysis of linguistic distributions suggests that the proto-Ethiopians of the third millennium B.C.spoke languages derived from a single stock, that known as Hamito-Semitic or Afro-Asiatic. This ancestral languageprobably originated in the eastern Sahara, before the desiccation of that region... the homeland of Afro-Asiatic mayhave been in southwest Ethiopia. Wherever the origins of Afro-Asiatic, it seems clear that peoples speaking proto-Cushitic and proto-Omotic separated as groups with distinct languages by the fifth or fourth millennium BC andbegan peopling the Ethiopian plateaus not long after. Proto-Semitic separated at about the same time or somewhatearlier and passed over into Asia Minor... it seems reasonable to follow I. M. Diakonoff in assuming that the Semitic-speakers moved from the Sahara across the Nile Delta over Sinai, so that the presence of Semitic-speakingpopulations in Ethiopia must be attributed to a return movement of Semitic-speakers into Africa from South Arabia...As a base line for reconstructing the history of Greater Ethiopia, then, we may consider it plausible that by the end ofthe third millenium B.C. its main inhabitants were dark-skinned Caucasoid or "Afro-Mediterranean" peoplespracticing rudimentary forms of agriculture and animal husbandry and speaking three branches of Afro-Asiatic --Semitic, Cushitic and Omotic."

62. Anthony Appiah; Henry Louis Gates (2010). Encyclopedia of Africa (https://www.google.com/books?id=A0XNvklcqbwC&pg=PA96). Oxford University Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9. "The origins and early history of theAmhara remain the subject of some speculation. Archaeological evidence suggests that sometime before 500 B.C.E.a Semitic-speaking people, from whom the Amhara are descended, migrated from present-day Yemen to the area ofnorthern Ethiopia that would become Aksum. These Himyarites, as they have come to be called, intermarried withindigenous speakers of Cushitic languages, such as Agaw, and gradually spread south into the present-dayhomeland of the Amhara. Their descendants spoke Ge'ez, and ancient Semitic tongue that is no longer spoken butremains the official language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church."

63. Kebede, Messay (2003). "Eurocentrism and Ethiopian Historiography: Deconstructing Semitization". University ofDayton-Department of Philosophy. International Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Tsehai Publishers. 1: 1–19 – viaJSTOR.

64. Alemu, Daniel E. (2007). "Re-imagining the Horn". African Renaissance. 4.1: 56–64 – via Ingenta.

65. Danver, Steven Laurence. Native Peoples Of The World. 1st ed. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, an imprint of M.E.Sharpe, Inc., 2013. Print.

66. Bernard Collins (The Abyssinians) Interview (http://www.reggae.be/en/magazine/interviews/The_Abyssinians_Bernard_Collins_Abyssinians_music_is_creeping_music_and_we_were_a_creeping_band_) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140201121031/http://www.reggae.be/en/magazine/interviews/The_Abyssinians_Bernard_Collins_Abyssinians_music_is_creeping_music_and_we_were_a_creeping_band_) 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine.Published 4 November 2011 by Jah Rebel. Retrieved 4 May 2013.

67. "FDRE States: Basic Information – Amhara" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110524213939/http://www.ethiopar.net/type/English/basinfo/infoamra.htm). Population. Archived from the original (http://www.ethiopar.net/type/English/basinfo/infoamra.htm) on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2006.

68. "African Marriage ritual" (http://www.africanmarriage.info/). Retrieved 9 February 2011.

69. The World and Its Peoples: Africa, North and East, Part 2, Volume 23 (https://www.google.com/books?id=lb5BAAAAIAAJ). Greystone Press. 1967. p. 300. Retrieved 17 February 2017.

70. Donald N. Levine (2000). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society (https://books.google.com/books?id=TtmFQejWaaYC&pg=PA120). University of Chicago Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-226-47561-5.

71. Donald N. Levine (2000). Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society (https://books.google.com/books?id=TtmFQejWaaYC&pg=PA123). University of Chicago Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-226-47561-5.

72. W. A. Shack (1974). Ethnographic Survey of Africa (https://books.google.com/books?id=IDSBAAAAMAAJ).International African Institute. pp. 33–35. ISBN 978-0-85302-040-0.

73. Amhara people (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amhara) Encyclopædia Britannica (2015)

74. David Levinson (1995). Encyclopedia of World Cultures: Africa and the Middle East (https://books.google.com/books?id=d88ZAQAAIAAJ). G.K. Hall. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-8161-1815-1., Quote: "Temporary marriage (damoz) obliges thehusband to pay housekeeper's wages for a period stated in advance. (...) The contract, although oral, was beforewitnesses and was therefore enforceable by court order. The wife had no right of inheritance, but if children wereconceived during the contract period, they could make a claim for part of the father's property, should he die."

75. Weissleder, W. (2008). "Amhara Marriage: The Stability of Divorce". Canadian Review of Sociology. Wiley-Blackwell.11 (1): 67–85. doi:10.1111/j.1755-618x.1974.tb00004.x (https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1755-618x.1974.tb00004.x).

Wolf Leslau and Thomas L. Kane (collected and edited), Amharic Cultural Reader. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2001.ISBN 3-447-04496-9.Donald N. Levine, Wax & Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture (Chicago: University Press, 1972)ISBN 0-226-45763-X

Lemma, Marcos (MD, PhD). "Who ruled Ethiopia? The myth of 'Amara domination' ". Ethiomedia.com. Archived fromthe original on 28 March 2005. Retrieved 28 February 2005.People of Africa, Amhara Culture and History

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