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UNIT ONE
INTRODUCTION  The study involves the discovery, collection, organization, and
1.1. The Nature and Uses of History presentation of information about past event.
A. Nature of History the major concern of history is the study of human society and
its interaction with the natural environment
 The term history derived from the Greek word Istoria, which is also the subject of study by many other disciplines.
means “inquiry” or an account of one’s inquiries. What differentiates history from other disciplines is that while
 The first use of the term is attributed to one of the
ancient Greek historians, Herodotus (c. 484–425
B.C), who is often held to be the “father of history.”
In ordinary usage, history means all the things that have
happened in the human past.
Academically, history can be defined as an organized and
systematic study of the past.

Cont… Cont…
 others disciplines study the interaction between humans and
 B. Uses of History
their environment in the present state,
 history studies the interaction between the two in the past  History Helps Better Understand of the Present
within the framework of the continuous process of change People need to produce some sort of account of their past because it
taking place in time. is difficult to understand problems that face humanity and society
today without tracing their origins in the past
 history is conventionally divided into ancient, medieval
 History Provides a Sense of Identity
and modern history. This is what we call periodization in An individual without memory finds great difficulty in relating to
history; one of the key characteristics of the discipline. others and in taking intelligent decisions. A society without history
 All aspects of human life that is, social, cultural, economic, would be in similar condition. It is only through sense of history
that communities define their identity, orient them, and understand
and political in the past have been changing from time to time;
their relationships with the past and with other societies.
and none of them were practiced in exactly the same way in  History Provides the Basic Background for Other Disciplines
the lifetime of our ancestors. Nevertheless, some things stay Historical knowledge is extremely valuable in the pursuit of
more or less the same for long periods, since few things ever other disciplines such as literature, art, philosophy, religion,
change completely. sociology, political science, anthropology, economics, etc.

Cont… Cont…
 History Teaches Critical Skills through history we can understand what elements of a
Studying history helps students to develop key research skills. society persist despite change.
These include how to find and evaluate sources; how to make
1.2. Sources and Methods of Historical Study
coherent arguments based on various kinds of evidence and
present clearly in writing. Historical sources are broadly classified into two types:
 History Helps Develop Tolerance and Open-Mindedness  Primary sources
By studying the past, students of history acquire broad  are surviving traces of the past available to us in the present
perspectives that give them the range and flexibility required
in many life situations.  They are original or first hand in their proximity to the event
both in time and in space.
 History Supplies Endless Source of Fascination
Exploring the ways people in distant ages constructed their Examples of primary sources are manuscripts (handwritten
lives involves a sense of beauty and excitement, and materials), diaries, letters, minutes, court records and
ultimately another perspective on human life and society administrative files, travel documents, photographs, maps,
video and audiovisual materials, and artifacts such as coins,
To conclude, history should be studied because it is essential
to the individual and the society. Only through studying fossils, weapons, utensils, and buildings.
history we can grasp how and why things change.

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Cont… Cont.. oral history are oral testimonies or personal recollections of

 Secondary sources lived experience provided by the people.
 They are second-hand published accounts about past events. For the history of Ethiopia and the Horn, historians use a
combination of the sources described above.
 They are written long after the event has occurred, providing an
interpretation of what happened, why it happened, and how it  whatever the source of information-primary or
happened, often based on primary sources. secondary, written or oral- the data should be subjected to
Examples of secondary sources are articles, books, textbooks, critical evaluation before used as evidence.
biographies, and published stories or movies about historical events 1.3. Historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn
Oral data are an other sources of history.  Historiography defined as the history of historical writing
 They are word of mouth especially valuable to study and  studying how knowledge of the past, either recent or
document the history of non-literate societies.
distant, is obtained and transmitted
 They can also be used to fill missing gaps and corroborate
written word
 The organized study and narration of the past was
introduced by ancient Greek historians notably Herodotus
oral traditions. A type of oral data in which people transmit and Thucydides (c.455-400 B.C.E.)
information from one generation to another, for example,
through folk songs and folk sayings.  The other major tradition of thinking and writing about the
past is the Chinese

Cont…
Cont…
 The most important early figure in Chinese historical  Another document describing Aksum’s trade and the then
thought and writing was the Han dynasty figure Sima Qian
(145–86 B.C.E.) Aksumite king’s campaigns on both sides of the sea is the
Christian Topography composed by Cosmas
 history emerged as an academic discipline in the second
half of the nineteenth century first in Europe and Indicopleustes, a Greek sailor, in the sixth century A.D.
subsequently in other parts of the world including the US. Inscriptions aside, the earliest written Ethiopian material
 The German historian, Leopold Von Ranke (1795–1886), dates from the seventh century A.D.
and his colleagues established history as an independent
discipline in Berlin.  The document was found in Abba Gerima monastery in
 for his great contribution Ranke considered as the “father Yeha.
of modern historiography.”  followed by a manuscript discovered in Haiq Istifanos
 Historiography of Ethiopia and the horn has changed monastery of present day Wollo in the thirteenth century
enormously during the past hundred years. A.D.
 The earliest known reference that we have on history of
Ethiopia and the Horn is the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, The value of manuscripts is essentially religious.
written in the first century A.D by an anonymous author n.  the manuscript cited above contains the list of medieval
kings and their history in brief.

Cont… Cont…
 The largest groups of sources available for medieval  Ethiopia had also an indigenous tradition of history writing
Ethiopian history are hagiographies originating from called chronicles.
Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It‘s  It is in the ancient Ethiopian Ge’ez tongue
 Invariably written in Ge’ez.  first appeared in the fourteenth century and continue
(sometimes in Amharic) into the early twentieth century.
 Important function is enhancing the prestige of saints.
 Kings or their successors entrusted the writing of
 Yet other related anecdotes are also introduced. chronicles to court scribes or clergymen of recognized
often discussed in detail such as:- clerical training and calligraphic skills.
 The earliest and the last of such surviving documents are
 the development of the church and the state
 the Glorious Victories of Amde-Tsion
 territorial conquests by reigning monarchs.
 the Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and
 A parallel hagiographical tradition existed among Muslim
communities of the country, the document is discussed  Empress Zewditu respectively.
 Chronicles incorporate
 the life of a Muslim saint, Shaykh Ja’far Bukko of Gattira,
in present day Wollo, in the late nineteenth century.  both legends and facts-past
 the development of indigenous Islam and contacts between  contemporary about the monarch’s genealogy
the region’s Muslim community and the outside world  upbringing military exploits

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Cont… Cont…
 piety and statesmanship.  Written accounts of Arabic-speaking visitors to the coast
 Chronicles are known for:- also provide useful information on various aspects of the
 their factual detail and strong chronological framework region’s history. Examples:-
 They are also averse to quantification.  al-Masudi and Ibn Battuta
 explain historical events mainly in religious terms; they  They described the culture, language and import-export
offer little by way of social and economic developments trade in the main central region of the east African coast in
even in the environs of the palace. the tenth and in the fourteenth centuries respectively.
 However, in conjunction with other varieties of written  For the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries we have two
documents, such as hagiographies and travel accounts by documents composed by Yemeni writers
foreign observers, chronicles can provide us with a
glimpse into the  The first document titled Futuh al Habesha was composed
 character and lives of kings, by Shihab al-Din, who recorded the conflict between the
Christian kingdom and the Muslim principalities in the
 their preoccupations and relations with subordinate
sixteenth century.
officials
 the evolution of the Ethiopian state and society. • Also described the conquest of northern and central
Ethiopia by Imam Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi

Cont… Cont…
 describes major towns and their inhabitants in the  An example of such account is The Prester John of the Indies,
southeastern part of Ethiopia composed by a Portuguese priest, Francisco Alvarez who
accompanied the Portuguese mission to the court of Lebne-
 The other first-hand account was left to us by Al-Haymi, Dengel in 1520.
who led a Yemeni delegation in 1647 to the court of
 travel documents
Fasiledas (r. 1632-67).
 example of travel documents is James Bruce’s Travels to
 Other materials that appeared in the sixteenth century Discover the Source of the Nile.
include Abba Bahrey’s Geez script on the Oromo written  Like other sources, however, both the missionaries and
in 1593. travelers’ materials can only be used with considerable
 It‘s first-hand information about the Oromo population reservations and with care for they are socially and politically
biased.
movement including the Gadaa System.
 Foreign writers
 Catholics and Protestants Missionaries From the early
 German writer, Hiob Ludolf (1624-1704).
sixteenth until the late nineteenth centuries
 was the founder of Ethiopian studies in Europe in the
 include religious and political developments within seventeenth century.
Ethiopia  He wrote Historia Aethiopica (translated into English as A New
 the country’s foreign relations History of Ethiopia)

Cont… Cont…
 He never visited Ethiopia  The earliest group of these writers include
 He wrote the country’s history largely based on  Aleqa Taye Gebre-Mariam
information he collected from an Ethiopian priest named
Abba Gorgorios (Abba Gregory) who was in Europe at that  Aleqa Asme Giorgis and
time.  Debtera Fisseha-Giorgis Abyezgi
 August Dill man  Later, Negadrases Afework Gebre-Iyesus and Gebre-Hiwot
 published two studies on ancient Ethiopian history In the Baykedagn joined them.
nineteenth century
 Unlike chroniclers, these writers dealt with a range of
 Compared to Ludolf, Dillman demonstrated all markers of topics from:-
objectivity in his historical research endeavors.
 social justice
 The emergence of traditional Ethiopian writers
 Historical writing made some departures from the  administrative reform and
chronicle tradition in the early twentieth century.  economic analysis to history.
 This period saw the emergence of traditional Ethiopian  Taye and Fisseha-Giorgis wrote books on the history of
writers Ethiopia

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Cont… Cont…
 Asme produced a similar work on the Oromo people  In contrast to their predecessors, Gebre-Hiwot and Hiruy
 Afework wrote the first Amharic novel, Tobiya, exhibited relative objectivity and methodological
 Gebre-Hiwot has wrote Atse Menilekna Ityopia (Emperor sophistication in their works.
Menilek and Ethiopia) and  Unfortunately, the Italian occupation of Ethiopia
MengistnaYehizbAstedader(Government and Public interrupted the early experiment in modern history writing
Administration) to his name. and publications.
 The most prolific writer of the early twentieth century
 After liberation,
Ethiopia was, however, Blatten Geta Hiruy Wolde-
Selassie.  Tekle-Tsadik Mekuria formed a bridge between writers in
 He published four major works namely:- pre-1935 and Ethiopia professional historians who came
after him.
 Ethiopiana Metema (Ethiopia and Metema),
 He has published about eight historical works.
 Wazema (Eve)
 Yehiwot Tarik (A Biographical Dictionary) and  He made better evaluation of his sources than his
predecessors.
 Yeityopia Tarik (A History of Ethiopia).

Cont… Cont…
 Another work of importance in this period is  The 1960s was a crucial decade in the development of
Ethiopian historiography
 Yilma Deressa’s Ye Ityopiya Tarik Be’asra Sidistegnaw
Kifle Zemen (A History of Ethiopia in the Sixteenth  It was a period that history emerged as an academic
Century). discipline
 The book addresses the Oromo population movement and  The pursuit of historical studies as a full-time occupation
the wars between the Christian kingdom and the Muslim began with the opening of the Department of History in
sultanates as its main subjects. 1963 at the then Haile Selassie I University (HSIU)
 Blatten Geta Mahteme-Selassie Wolde-Meskel  The production of BA theses began towards the end of the
decade.
 He wrote Zikre Neger. a comprehensive account of
Ethiopia’s prewar land tenure systems and taxation.  The Department launched its MA and PhD programs in
1979 and 1990 respectively.
 Gebre-Wold Engidawork
 the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) is the other
 work dealing specifically with aspects of land tenure institutional home of professional historiography of
 Dejazmach Kebede Tesema. Ethiopia.
 wrote his memoir of the imperial period, published as  It was founded in 1963
Yetarik Mastawesha in 1962 E.C.

Cont… Cont…
 Since then the Institute housed a number of historians of  The professionalization of history in other parts of the Horn is
whom the late Richard Pankhurst, the first Director and a post-colonial phenomenon.
founding member of the Institute  a deeper interest in exploring their own past quickly emerged
 Pankhurst’s prolific publication record remains among African populations
unmatched.  At the same time, European intellectuals’ own discomfort with
• He has authored or co-authored twenty-two books and the Euro-centrism of previous scholarship provided for the
produced several hundred articles on Ethiopia. intensive academic study of African history, an innovation that
had spread to North America by the 1960s.
 Since its foundation, the IES has been publishing the
Journal of Ethiopian Studies for the dissemination of  Foundational research was done at the School of Oriental and
historical research. African Studies (SOAS) in London and the Department of
History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
 The Institute’s library contains literary works of diverse
disciplines and has its fair share in the evolution of  Francophone scholars have been as influential as Anglophones.
professional historiography of Ethiopia.  African historiography has not been the sole creation of
interested Europeans.

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Cont… Cont…  The major physiographic features of the region are

 African universities have, despite the instabilities of politics  a massive highland complex of mountains and plateaus
and civil war in many areas, trained their own scholars and
sent many others overseas for training who eventually divided by the Great Rift Valley and surrounded by
published numerous works on different aspects of the lowlands, semi-desert, deserts and tropical forests along
region’s history. the periphery.
1.4. The Geographical Context  The diversity of the terrain led to regional variations in
 The term “Ethiopia and the Horn” refers to that part of climate, natural vegetation, soil composition, and
Northeast Africa, which now contains the countries of settlement patterns.
Djibouti Ethiopia and  As with the physical features, people across the region are
Eritrea Somali remarkably diverse:
 The region consists chiefly of mountains uplifted through • they speak a vast number of different languages,
the formation of the Great Rift Valley. • profess to many distinct religions
 The Rift Valley is a fissure in the Earth’s crust running down • live in a variety types of dwellings and
from Syria to Mozambique and marking the separation of
the African and Arabian tectonic plates. • engage in a wide range of economic activities. however,
peoples of the region were never isolated

Cont…  Since early times, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden linked
Cont… Northeast Africa to the Eastern Mediterranean, the Near and
 Thus, as much as there are many things that make people of
Middle East, India, and the Far East. Likewise, the Indian Ocean
a certain area unique from the other, there are also many
has linked East Africa to the Near and Middle East, India and the
areas in which peoples of Ethiopia and the Horn share Far East.
common past.  Another element of geography factor that had profound impact on
 The history of Ethiopia and the Horn has been shaped by human history is drainage system.
contacts with others through commerce, migrations, wars,  Ethiopia and the Horn has five principal drainage systems
slavery, colonialism and the waxing and waning of state  the Nile River Flowing from Uganda in the south to the
systems. Sudan in the north, the White Nile meets the Blue Nile
 Spatial location in relationship to other spaces and (Abay in Ethiopia that starts from the environs of Tana
locations in the world is one geographical factor that has Lake) in Khartoum and eventually, drains into the
Mediterranean Sea through Egypt.
significant bearing on the ways in which history unfolds.
 Gibe/Omo–Gojeb links southern Ethiopia to the semidesert
 Ethiopia and the Horn lies between:- lowlands of northern Kenya. The Shebele and Genale rivers
The Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean on the one hand originate in the Eastern highlands and flow southeast toward
Somalia and the Indian Ocean. Only the Genale (known as
and the present-day eastern frontiers of Sudan and Kenya on the Jubba in Somalia) makes it to the Indian Ocean; the
the other. Shebele disappears in sand just inside the coastline.

Cont… Cont…
 Genale/Jubba-Shebele The Shebele and Genale rivers  the drainage systems facilitated the movement of peoples
originate in the Eastern highlands and flow southeast toward and goods across diverse environments, resulting in the
Somalia and the Indian Ocean. Only the Genale (known as exchange of ideas, technology, knowledge, cultural
expressions, and beliefs
the Jubba in Somalia) makes it to the Indian Ocean; the
Shebele disappears in sand just inside the coastline.  Ethiopia and the Horn can be divided into three major
distinct environmental zones.
 The Awash River is an entirely Ethiopian system and links
the cool rich highlands of Central Ethiopia with the hot, dry  The vast Eastern lowland
lowlands of the Danakil Depression. • covers the narrow coastal strip of northeastern Eritrea
 The Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes System is a self-contained • descends southwards to include much of lowland Eritrea,
drainage basin, and includes a string of lakes stretching from the Sahel, the Danakil Depression, the lower Awash valley,
and the arid terrain in northeast of the Republic of Djibouti.
Lake Ziway in the north to Lake Turkana (formerly known as
Rudolf) on the Ethio-Kenyan border. • It then extends to the Ogaden, the lower parts of Hararghe,
Bale, Borana, Sidamo and the whole territory of the
 The Gibe /Omo–Gojeb River System links southern Republic of Somalia.
Ethiopia to the semi-desert lowlands of northern Kenya.
• There is no much seasonal variation in climatic condition
of this zone.

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Cont… Cont…
• Hot and dry conditions prevail year-round along with • The major physiographic features of the zone are complex of
periodic monsoon winds and irregular (little) rainfall except mountains, deep valleys, and extensive plateaus.
in limited areas along the rivers Awash, Wabe-Shebele and
Genale/Jubba that traverse the region and a few offshore  hot lowlands
islands in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean that • Further to the west
are inhabited by people closely related to those of immediate
mainland districts. • along the western foothills or on the periphery of the plateau
and on borderlands of the Sudan
• Much of the lowland territories are covered by shrub and
bush as its major vegetation. • stretching from north to south
 the highland massif • characterized in earlier times by thick forests chiefly on the
• starts from northern Eritrea and continues all the way to banks of the Nile and its tributaries.
southern Ethiopia.  the countries of the Horn of Africa are, for the most part,
• The eastern extension of the highland massif consists the linguistically and ethnically linked together as far back as
Arsi, Bale and Hararghe plateau. recorded history goes.
• The major divide between the western and eastern parts of • Population movements had caused a continuous process of
this zone is the Rift Valley. interaction,

Cont… • creating a very complex picture of settlement patterns

• The high degree of interaction and the long common
history of much of the population had weakened ethnic
dividing lines in large parts of the region.
• Linguistic and cultural affinities are therefore as important
as ethnic origin in the grouping of the population

THE END OF UNIT

ONE