Haramaya University

Course Title: History of Ethiopia and the

Horn

Course Number:- (Hist. 1012)

Credit Hour. (3); ETCTS (5)
Instructor:- sara B (MA)
Course management and evaluation
system :
 Lecture
 group dissection
 Mid Examination (25%)
 Group assignment (20%)
 Quiz (5%)
 Final examination 50%
 Course objectives:
By the end of the course the students will able
 To distinguish the nature and uses of history;
 To identify relevant sources for the history of the
peoples of Ethiopia and the Horn
 describe changes and continuities that unfolded
in Ethiopia and the Horn
 explain the causes, courses and consequences of
events that happened in the region
 explain the nature of the region’s external
contacts and their effects
 Appreciate peoples’ achievements, cultural
 Course Outline:-
UNIT ONE
1.1. The Nature And Uses Of History
1.2. Sources And Methods Of Historical Study
1.3. Historiography Of Ethiopia And The Horn
1.4. The Geographical Context
Unit Two
Peoples And Cultures In Ethiopia And The Horn
2.1. Human Evolution
2.2. Neolithic Revolution
2.3. The Peopling Of The Region
2.4. Religion And Religious Processes
 UNIT THREE
Politics, Economy And Society In Ethiopia And The Horn To The
End Of The 13th Century
3.1. Emergence Of States
3.2. Ancient States
3.3. External Contacts
3.4. Economic Formations
3.5. Socio-cultural Achievements
UNIT FOUR
Politics, Economy And Society From The Late 13th To The Beginning
Of The 16th Centuries
4.1. The “Restoration” Of The “Solomonic’’ Dynasty
4.2. Internal Political Conflict
4.3. Power Consolidation and Spatial Extension
4.4. Administration and Military Organization of the Ethiopian Christian
Kingdom
4.5. Economic Bases of the Kingdom
4.6 Cooperation, Competition and Conflict between Christian and
Muslim Rival Powers
4.7. Interaction and Integration of Peoples and Cultures
4.8. External Relations
UNIT FIVE
Politics, Economy And Social Processes From The Early 16th To The
End Of The 18th Centuries
5.1. Conflict Between The Christian Kingdom And The Sultanate Of
Adal And After
5.2. Foreign Intervention And Religious Controversies
5.3. Population Movements
5.4. Interaction Across Ethnic And Religious Diversities
5.5. Peoples & States In Eastern, Central, Southern & Western Regions
5.6. The Gondarine Period And Zemene-mesafint
UNIT SIX
Internal Developments And External Relations Of Ethiopia And
The Horn, 1800-1941
6.1. The Nature Of Interactions Among Peoples And States Of Ethiopia
And The Horn
6.2. The Making Of Modern Ethiopian State
6.3. Modernization Attempts
6.4. Socio-economic Developments
6.5. External Relations

UNIT SEVEN
INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS,
1941–1995
7.1. Post-1941 Imperial Period
7.2. The Derg Regime (1974-1991)
7.3. Transitional Government
 UNIT ONE
1.1. The Nature and Uses of History
What do we mean by history?
What is the relevance of knowing about the past?
A. Nature of History
 The term history derived from the Greek word Istoria,
 meaning “inquiry” or “an account of one’s inquiries.”
 The first use of the term is attributed to one of the ancient
Greek historians, Herodotus (c. 484–425 B.C.E.),
 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.
 The past signifies events, which have taken place and the
facts of the past, which are kept in writing.
 This distinction highlights the difference between actual
historical events and the way those events are recorded
and interpreted by historians.
 Historians apply their expertise to surviving records and
write history in the form of accounts of the past.
 Academically, history can be defined as an organized and
systematic study of the past.
 The study involves the discovery, collection, organization,
and presentation of information about past events.
• what actually happened in the past is almost infinite.
• Historians select which topics and problems they wish to
study, as do natural scientists.
• the major concern of history is the study of human society
and its interaction with the natural env`t in past
• What differentiates history from other disciplines is that
while the latter study the interaction between humans and
their environment in the present state,
 Because of the longevity of that time, historians organize
and divide the human past into discrete periods
 after identifying significant developments in politics,
society, economy, culture, environment etc.
 through the hard study of documents and artifacts left by
people of other times and other places.
 Then they give a label to each period to convey the key
characteristics and developments of that era.
 Accordingly, history is conventionally divided into
ancient, medieval and modern history.
 This is what we call periodization in history; one of the
key characteristics of the discipline.
 When historians talk about continuities, they are not
implying that a particular pattern applied to everyone in the
world or even in a particular country or region.
 Nor are they claiming that absolutely nothing changed in
the pattern they are describing.
 All aspects of human life that is, social, cultural,
economic, and political in the past have been changing
from time to time;
Nevertheless, some things stay more or less the same for
long periods, since few things ever change completely.
For example, we continue to speak the languages of our
ancestors;
 follow their beliefs and religious practices;
 wear the costumes they were wearing; continue to
practice their agricultural or pastoral ways of life;
 maintain the fundamental components or structures of
their social organization.
B. Uses of History
 History Helps Better Understand the Present
• History is the only significant storehouse of information
available for the examination and analysis of how people
behaved and acted in the past.
• People need to produce some sort of account of their past
• because it is difficult to understand problems that face
humanity and society today without tracing their origins in
the past.
• knowledge of relevant historical background is essential
History Provides a Sense of Identity
 Knowledge of history is indispensable to understand who
we are and where we fit in the world.
 As memory is to the individual, history is to the society.
 An individual without memory finds great difficulty in
relating to others and making intelligent decisions.
 A society without history would be in similar condition.
 It is only through sense of history that communities define
their identity, orient themselves, and understand their
relationships with the past and with other societies.
History Provides the Basic Background for Other
Disciplines
• Historical knowledge is extremely valuable in the
pursuit of other disciplines
• such as literature, art, philosophy, religion, sociology,
political science, anthropology, economics, etc.
History Teaches Critical Skills
• Studying history helps students to develop key research
skills.
• These include how to find and evaluate sources;
• how to make coherent arguments based on various
kinds of evidence and present clearly in writing.
• These analytical and communication skills are highly
usable in other academic pursuits.
History Helps Develop Tolerance and Open-
Mindedness
• Most of us have a tendency to regard our own cultural
practices, styles, and values as right and proper.
• Studying different societies in the past is contributes to
free ourselves from some of our inherent cultural
provincialism.
• By studying the past, students of history acquire broad
perspectives that give them the range and flexibility
required in many life situations.
History Supplies Endless Source of Fascination
• Exploring the ways people in distant ages constructed their
lives offers a sense of beauty and excitement,
• and ultimately another perspective on human life and
society.
• To conclude, history should be studied because it is
essential to the individual and the society.
• Only through studying history can we grasp how and why
things change and
• we able understand what elements of a society continue
despite change.
 1.2. Sources and Methods of Historical Study
 Historians are not creative writers like novelists.
 the work of historians must be supported by evidence arising from
sources.
 where there are no sources, there is no history”.
 Sources are, key to the study and writing of history.
 Historical sources are broadly classified into two types: Primary
and Secondary.
 Primary sources are surviving traces of the past available to us in
the present.
 They are original or first hand in their proximity to the event both
in time and in space.
 Examples of primary sources are
 manuscripts (handwritten materials),
 diaries,
 letters,
 minutes,
 court records and administrative files,
 travel documents,
 photographs, maps,
 video and audiovisual materials, and
 artifacts such as coins, fossils, weapons, tools, and
buildings.
 Secondary sources, are second-hand published accounts
about past events.
 They are written long after the event has occurred,
providing an interpretation of
o what happened,
o why it happened, and
o how it happened, often based on primary sources .
Examples of secondary sources are articles, books,
textbooks, biographies, and published stories or movies
about historical events.
 Oral data also the other category of historical sources.
 Oral sources are especially valuable to study and
document the history of non-literate societies.
 They can also be used to fill missing gaps and support
written words.
 In many societies, people transmit information from one
generation to another, through folk songs and folk sayings
 This type of oral data is called oral tradition.
 People can also provide oral testimonies of lived
experience. Such source material is known as oral history
 For the history of Ethiopia and the Horn, historians use a
combination of the sources described above.
 whatever the source, the data should be critical evaluation
before it is used as evidence.
 Primary sources have to be verified for their originality and
authenticity
 because sometimes primary sources like letters may be
forged.
 Secondary sources have to be examined for the reliability
of their reconstructions.
 Oral data may lose its originality and authenticity due to
distortion through time.
 1.3. Historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn
 Historiography can be defined as the history of
historical writing,
 studying how knowledge of the past, either recent or
distant, is obtained and transmitted.
 The organized study and narration of the past was
introduced by ancient Greek historians notably Herodotus
(c. 484–425 B.C.E.) and Thucydides (c.455-400 B.C.E.)
 The other major tradition of thinking and writing about
the past is the Chinese.
 history emerged as an academic discipline in the second
half of the 19th c. first in Europe and subsequently in other
parts of the world including the US.
 The German historian, Leopold Von Ranke (1795–1886),
and his colleagues established history as an independent
discipline in Berlin.
Historians use specific methods and concepts to collect,
assess evidence, and discuss past events meaningfully.
Ranke’s greatest contribution to the scientific study of the past
is considered as the “father of modern historiography.”
Historiography of Ethiopia and the Horn has changed
enormously during the past hundred years
The earliest known reference that we have on history of
Ethiopia and the Horn is the Periplus of the Erythrean
Sea, written in the 1st C. A.D by an anonymous author.
Another document describing Aksum’s trade and the then
Aksumite king’s campaigns on Christian Topography
composed by Cosmas Indicopleustes, a Greek sailor, in the
sixth century A.D.
The value of manuscripts is essentially religious.
They contains the list of medieval kings and their history.
The largest groups of sources available for medieval
Ethiopian history are hagiographies originating from
Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
written in Ge’ez, an important function is enhancing the
prestige of saints.
Yet other related stories are also introduced, and often
discussed the development of the church and
the state including territorial conquests by reigning
monarchs.
hagiographical tradition existed among Muslim
communities of the country.
One such account offers tremendous insight into the life
of a Muslim saint, Shaykh Ja’far Bukko of Gattira, in
present day Wollo in the late 19th c.
the saint’s life, the development of indigenous Islam and
contacts between the region’s Muslim community and the
outside world are some of the issues discussed in this
document.
Ethiopia had also an indigenous tradition of history writing
called chronicles.
Chronicles in the ancient Ethiopian Ge’ez tongue first
appeared in the 14th c. and continue into the early 20 th c.
The earliest and the last survived documents are the
Glorious Victories of Amde-Tsion and the Chronicle of
Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu respectively.
Chronicles incorporate both legends and facts-past and
contemporary about the monarch’s genealogy,
background, military exploits, piety & statesmanship.
chronicles explain historical events mainly in religious
terms;
in combination with hagiographies and travel accounts by
foreign observers, chronicles can provide us the character
and lives of kings, their preoccupations and relations with
subordinate officials and the evolution of the Ethiopian
state and society.
Written accounts of Arabic-speaking visitors to the coast
also provide useful information on various aspects of the
region’s history.
For example, al-Masudi and Ibn Battuta described the
culture, language and import-export trade in the main
central region of the east African coast in the 10 th and in
the 14th c. respectively.
For the 16th and 17th c. two documents composed by
Yemeni writers
who were eyewitnesses to the events they described.
The first document titled Futuh al Habesha was composed
by Shihab ad-Din,
who recorded the conflict between the Christian kingdom
and the Muslim principalities in the 16th c.
the operation of the war, conquest of northern and central
Ethiopia by Imam Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi,
The other first-hand account was Al-Haymi, who led Yemeni
delegation in 1647 to the court of Fasiledes (1632-67)
Other materials that appeared in the 16th C. include Abba
Bahrey’s Geez script on the Oromo written in 1593.
With its limitation the document provides us information
about the Oromo population movement and Gadaa
System.
European missionaries and travelers provide us with
valuable information from 16th c until 19th c.
topics covered by these sources include religious and
political developments within Ethiopia, and the
country’s foreign relations.
travel documents had important contribution to the
development of Ethiopian historiography.
One example of travel documents is James Bruce’s Travels
to Discover the Source of the Nile.
Foreign writers also developed interest in Ethiopian studies.
German, Hiob Ludolf (1624-1704). Who was the founder
of Ethiopian studies in Europe in the 17th C.
He wrote Historia Aethiopica (translated into English
as A New History of Ethiopia).
Ludolf never visited Ethiopia; he wrote the country’s
history based on information he collected from an
Ethiopian priest named Abba Gorgorios (Abba
Gregory) who was in Europe at that time.
In the 19th C., August Dillman published two studies
on ancient Ethiopian history.
Compared to Ludolf, Dillman demonstrated all markers
of objectivity in his historical research endeavors.
The early 20th c saw the emergence of traditional
Ethiopian writers
these writers include Aleqa Taye Gebre- Mariam, Aleqa
Asme Giorgis and Debtera Fisseha-Giorgis Abyezgi.
Later, Negadrases Afework Gebre-Iyesus and Gebre-
Hiwot Baykedagn joined them.
Unlike chroniclers, these writers dealt with a range of
topics from social justice, administrative reform and
economic analysis to history.
Taye and Fisseha-Giorgis wrote books on the history of
Ethiopia while Asme produced a similar work on the
Oromo people.
Afework wrote the first Amharic novel, Tobiya,
Gebre-Hiwot has Atse Menilekna Ityopia (Emperor
Menilek and Ethiopia) and Mengistna Yehizb Astedader
(Government and Public Administration) to his name.
The most prolific writer of the early 20th c. was, Blatten
Geta Hiruy Wolde-Selassie.
Hiruy published four major works namely
 Ethiopiana Metema (Ethiopia and Metema),
Wazema (Eve),
Yehiwot Tarik (A Biographical Dictionary) and
Yeityopia Tarik (A History of Ethiopia).
 Unfortunately, the Italian occupation of Ethiopia
interrupted the early modern history writing and
publications.
 After liberation, Tekle-Tsadik Mekuria formed a
bridge between writers in pre-1935 and Ethiopia
professional historians who came after him.
Tekle-Tsadik has published about eight historical works.
He made better evaluation of his sources than his
predecessors.
Another work of importance in this period is Yilma
Deressa’s Ye Ityopiya Tarik Be’asra Sidistegnaw Kifle
Zemen(A History of Ethiopia in the Sixteenth Century).
The 1960s was a crucial decade in the development of
Ethiopian historiography
in this period history emerged as an academic discipline.
with the opening of the Department of History in 1963
The Department launched its MA and PhD programs in 1979
and 1990
a research organization, the Institute of Ethiopian Studies
(IES) is the other institutional home of professional
historiography of Ethiopia.
The IES was founded in 1963.
Institute housed a number of historians of including late
Richard Pankhurst, the first Director and founding member
of the Institute
He has authored twenty-two books and produced several
hundred articles on Ethiopia.
The professionalization of history in other parts of the Horn
is a post-colonial phenomenon.
With urgent need to recast the historical record and to
recover evidence of many lost pre-colonial civilizations.
The decolonization of African historiography required new
methodological approach use of oral data
Foundational research was done at the School of Oriental
and African Studies (SOAS) in London
African universities have, trained their own scholars and sent
overseas for training who published numerous works on
different aspects of the region’s history
 1.4. The Geographical Context
 The term “Ethiopia and the Horn” refers to that part of
Northeast Africa,
 which now contains the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, and Somalia.
 The region consists mostly mountains uplifted through
the formation of the Great Rift Valley.
 The Rift Valley is a crack in the Earth’s crust running
down from Syria to Mozambique and
 marking the separation of the African and Arabian
tectonic plates.
 Political Map of Ethiopia and the Horn

Source:https://yourfreetemplates.com
 The major physical features of the region are highland
complex of mountains and plateaus divided by the Great
Rift Valley and
 surrounded by lowlands, semi-desert, deserts and
tropical forests along the periphery.
 The diversity of the topography led to regional variations
in climate, natural vegetation, soil composition, and
settlement patterns.
 people across the region are remarkably diverse:
 they speak a vast number of different languages, profess
to many distinct religions, live in various types of
dwellings, and engage in a wide range of economic
activities.
 At the same time, peoples of the region were never
isolated;
 they interacted throughout history from various locations.
 there are also many areas in which peoples of Ethiopia and
the Horn share common past.
 The history of Ethiopia and the Horn has been shaped by
contacts with others
 through commerce, migrations, wars, slavery,
colonialism, and the growing and declining of state systems.
 Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa are situated between the
Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean,
 with Sudan and Kenya marking the eastern boundaries.
 Historically, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden served as vital
links connecting Northeast Africa to the Eastern
Mediterranean, the Near East, Middle East, India, and
the Far East.
• the Indian Ocean has linked East Africa to the Near and
Middle East, India and the Far East.
• Another element of geographical factor that had profound
impact on human history is drainage system.
• Ethiopia and the Horn has five principal drainage systems.
• These are :-
 the Nile River,
 Gibe/Omo–Gojeb,
 Genale/Jubba-Shebele,
 the Awash River, and
 the Ethiopian Rift Valley Lake systems.
• The White Nile flows from Uganda to Sudan, joins the Blue
Nile in Khartoum, and drains into the Mediterranean Sea
through Egypt.
• The Awash River System, entirely within Ethiopia, connects
the cool highlands of Central Ethiopia to the hot, dry lowlands
of the Danakil Depression.
• The Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes System is a self-contained
drainage basin, and
• includes a string of lakes stretching from Lake Ziway in the
north to Lake Turkana (formerly known as Rudolf) on the
EthioKenyan border
 The Gibe /Omo–Gojeb River System links southern
Ethiopia to the semidesert lowlands of northern Kenya.
 The Shebele and Genale rivers originate in the Eastern
highlands and flow southeast toward Somalia and the
Indian Ocean.
 Only the Genale (known as the Jubba in Somalia) makes it
to the Indian Ocean;
 the Shebele disappears in sand just inside the coastline.
 The above watersheds are very important in the life and
history of the peoples inhabiting the region.
 Besides providing people with the source of their
livelihood,
 the drainage systems facilitated the movement of peoples
and goods across diverse environments,
 resulting in the exchange of ideas, technology, knowledge,
cultural expressions, and beliefs.
 Ethiopia and the Horn can be divided into three major
distinct environmental zones.
 the highlands, the lowlands, and the semi-arid or arid
areas.
 The Eastern lowland stretches from the coastal strip of
northeastern Eritrea, down southward to cover lowland
Eritrea, the Sahel, Danakil Depression, lower Awash
Valley, and arid areas in northeast Djibouti.
 It then extends to the Ogaden, the lower parts of
Hararghe, Bale, Borana, Sidamo and the whole territory of
the Republic of Somalia.
 There is no much seasonal variation in climatic condition
in this zone.
• The region experiences hot and dry weather throughout
the year, with occasional rainy season winds and minimal,
irregular rainfall.
• Shrubs and bushes dominate the lowland areas as the
primary vegetation.
• To the west of and opposite to the eastern lowland region
forms the highland massif that starts from northern
Eritrea and continues all the way to southern Ethiopia.
 The eastern extension of the highland massif consists the
Arsi, Bale and Hararghe plateau.
 The major divide between the western and eastern parts
of this zone is the Rift Valley.
 The major physical features of the zone are complex of
mountains, deep valleys, and extensive plateaus.
 To the west, along Sudan's borderlands, are hot lowlands
once covered by thick forests,
 mainly along the Nile and its tributaries.
 Despite diverse environments, the countries of the Horn of
Africa are largely connected by linguistic and ethnic ties.
 Population movements had caused a continuous process of
interaction and creating a very complex settlement patterns.
 Extensive interaction and shared history have blurred ethnic
divisions in much of the region,
 with linguistic and cultural ties playing a key role in uniting
the population.
Thank you for Your
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