Argobba people

According to scholars, the Kingdom of Aksum's army moved south beyond Angot, encountering a nomadic people named Gebal in eastern Shewa, who are supposedly the precursors to Argobba.[5] Gebal would develop into settlers of Shewa known as Argobba after their conversion to Islam and having significant ties to the Muslim world. It is believed that the Argobba share the same origins as the Christians of Shewa, however while the Christians remained loyal to their faith, the Argobba were violently converted to Islamism through the conquests of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. As a result, their population is relatively small, but they have maintained their distinct identity as a Muslim community in Ethiopia and their province named after conquering muslims extent of their releam.[6]

Modern Argobba claim they originate from the Arabian Peninsula through Zeila in what is now Somali and first settled in the west of the Harar plateau and Shewa in what would be modern day Ethiopia.[7] They were involved in launching the first Islamic state known in East Africa, the Sultanate of Shewa in Shewa, sometime in the ninth century.[8]The Arab immigrant communities, who were both merchants and devout Muslims, were successful in spreading their beliefs to local rulers and the general population. This idea is aslo supported by traditions found in a collection of works known as "the Chronological Index" that date back to the end of the 13th century AD. According to these traditions, this first Arab migration to Shewa was led by Wudd ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi during the Caliphate of 'Umar in the 7th century. Additionally, the Makhzumites, who were descendants of Wudd, had established the Sultanate of Shewa in 283 Hegira (896-897 AD) and had even come to rule over it. [9]

In the 13th century, Argobba people from Sultanate of Shewa under Makhzumi dynasty where at war Against neighboring muslim mountries , most specifically Walashma' of Ifât. [10] In July-August 1285, the Sultanate of Shewa, which was ruled by the Makhzumite Dynasty and governed Muslim Ethiopia, was annihilated by the Sultans of the Walasma' of Ifât, who succeeded them in the hegemony.[11] This lead to migration of Argobba to migrate to Harar, they were seen as a remnant of the former Muslim Kingdom that once had control over the Harar highland and is now represented in this group.[12]

The Argobba and the Harla people seem to have relied on each other in the Islamic period.[13]

In the late sixteenth century, Argobba were involved in several conflicts with the Oromo during the Oromo migrations, and due to the withdrawal of Adal from Ethiopia, came partially under Ethiopian Empire rule losing land rights.[14][15] Many Argobba were forcibly baptized in Shewa by Menelik II.[16]

In the nineteenth century, Emperor Yohannes IV ordered the forced displacement of Argobba for refusing to convert to Christianity.[17][18] Due to expansions from two dominant ethnic groups, many Argobba speak either Amharic or Oromo in Wollo Province; however, those who self-identify as originally Argobba are substantial in the region. The last remaining villages of a once larger Argobba-speaking territory are Šonke and Ṭollaḥa.[19]

Under the new government of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, ushered in the early 90s the Argobba obtained regional political power after launching Argoba Nationality Democratic Organization.[20]

Argobba communities can be found in the Afar, Harari, Amhara, and Oromia Regions, in and along the Great Rift Valley. They include Yimlawo, Gusa, Shonke, Berehet, Khayr Amba, Melka Jilo, Aliyu Amba, Metehara, Shewa Robit, and the surrounding rural villages.[21]

Argobba are exclusive adherents to the Muslim faith.[22] They are also widely believed to be the first to accept Islam collectively, in the Horn of Africa and vanguards for early Islamic expansion.[23] The Shonke Argobba reportedly forbid their children from attending school due to the possible unislamic influence it might have on them.[24]

The Argobba traditionally speak Argobba, an Ethiopian Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. According to Getahun Amare, Argobba is not a dialect of Amharic as previous linguists believed, but a separate language.[25] Argobba language evolved from proto Amharic and Argobba.[26] In other areas, the people have shifted to neighboring languages for economic reasons. At this time there are only a few areas left where the Argobba are not at least bilingual in Amharic, Oromo or Afar.[3]

• Argobba special woreda in the Afar Regon
• Argobba special woreda in the Amhara Regon
• Argoba Nationality Democratic Organization

• Aklilu Asfaw, "A short History of the Argobba", Annales d'Éthiopie, 16 (2000), pp. 173–183.

• Abebe Kifleyesus, Tradition and Transformation: The Argobba of Ethiopia. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006. ISBN 978-3-447-05341-9
• Richard Wilding, The Arla, the Argobba and Links between the Coast and the Highlands. A Preliminary Archeological Survey. Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Arts, 1975