Argobba people

File:Harar, porta argoba 02.jpg of Harar named in honor of those who fled Ifat.]]

According to Girma Demeke, some time after the 9th century AD, the Argobba diverged from their closest relative, the Amharas, probably due to religious differences as the Argobba adopted Islam.{{Cite book |last=Demeke |first=Girma |title=The Origin of Amharic |publisher=The Red Sea Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-56902-379-2 |pages=33, 131–137 |language=English |oclc=824502290}}{{cite book |last1=Uhlig |first1=Siegbert |title=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C |date=2003 |pages=331}} Modern Argobba claim they originate from the Arabian Peninsula through Zeila in what is now Somaliland and before settling in Ifat.{{cite book |title=A short history on Argobba |page=174 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/ethio_0066-2127_2000_num_16_1_973 }} Argobba have historical links with Harari and Harla people.{{cite journal |last1=Tait |first1=Nicholas |title=Local Ceramics from the Islamic Trade Center of Harlaa, Eastern Ethiopia: Markers of Chronology and Contacts |journal=African Archaeological Review |date=2021 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=419–442 |publisher=Springer link |doi=10.1007/s10437-021-09435-9 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-021-09435-9|doi-access=free }} Argobba people consider the inhabitants of Doba their ancestors.{{cite book |last1=Asfaw |first1=Aklilu |title=A short History of the Argobba |publisher=Annales d'Éthiopie |page=179 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/ethio_0066-2127_2000_num_16_1_973}} Argobba settlements were typically located on hilltops and mountain retreats known as amba, where residences consist of stone-and-wood square houses or huts with earth and hay-thatched roofs. Each village has at least one mosque, a weaver’s workshop, a public square, a marketplace, and a zawiya for Qur'anic schooling.{{cite book |last1=Uhlig |first1=Siegbert |title=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C |date=2003 |pages=333}}

After the collapse of Aksum, the southward shift of the Christian Ethiopian state saw the rise of the political importance of Ifat. Ifat became an economic powerhouse as it sat on the trade routes between Zeila and the interior hinterlands, developing significant ties to the Muslim world. The Argobba are associated with the Walashma dynasty of Ifat, which would become the rulers of the Sultanate of Ifat and Adal Sultanate.{{cite book|last=Kifleyesus|first=Abbebe|author-link=Abbebe Kifleyesus|title=Tradition and Transformation: The Argobba of Ethiopia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=plclkFB9KZwC&pg=PA84|year=2006|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-05341-9|page=84}}{{cite book|last=Mohammed|first=Abdul Kader Saleh|title=The Saho of Eritrea: Ethnic Identity and National Consciousness|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwjX_yVT7AoC&pg=PA174|year=2013|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-643-90332-7|page=174}} The existence of ancient ruins of villages, mosques, cemeteries, and an Argobba Muslim population territorial continuum suggests that Argobba settlements were once far more widespread than they are today. Due to the historical connection between the Argobba and the Wälašma dynasty, as well as the fortunes of the Muslim sultanates that flourished in northeastern Shewa between 1270 and 1415, evidence indicates that the present-day Argobba communities in Shewa and Wollo are remnants of the Sultanate of Ifat. According to Harari tradition numerous Argobba had fled Ifat and settled around Harar in the Aw Abdal lowlands during their conflict with Abyssinia in the fifteenth century, a gate was thus named after them called the gate of Argobba.{{cite book |last1=Abubaker |first1=Abdulmalik |title=The Relevancy of Harari Values in Self Regulation and as a Mechanism of Behavioral Control: Historical Aspects |publisher=The University of Alabama |page=44 |url=https://everythingharar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/RelevanceofhararivaluesAbdumalik.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606064411/https://everythingharar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/RelevanceofhararivaluesAbdumalik.pdf |archive-date= Jun 6, 2023 }}

The Argobba and the Harla people seem to have relied on each other in the Islamic period.{{cite journal |page=27 |jstor=42731359 |last1=Braukämper |first1=Ulrich |title=Islamic Principalities in Southeast Ethiopia Between the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (Part 1) |journal=Ethiopianist Notes |year=1977 |volume=1 |issue=1 }} A power struggle erupted between the Abadir dynasty of Harari and the Walashma dynasty of Argobba throughout the Islamic period until Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi took control of Adal Sultanate by executing the Walashma sultan Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad in the 16th century.{{cite book |last1=Begashaw |first1=Kassaye |title=The Archaeology of Islam in North East Shoa |publisher=Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies |page=14 |url=http://portal.svt.ntnu.no/sites/ices16/Proceedings/Volume%201/Kassaye%20Begashaw%20-%20The%20Archaeology%20of%20Islam.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214353/http://portal.svt.ntnu.no/sites/ices16/Proceedings/Volume%201/Kassaye%20Begashaw%20-%20The%20Archaeology%20of%20Islam.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-03 }}{{cite book |title=History of Harar and Hararis |publisher=Harar Tourism |page=48 |url=https://www.everythingharar.com/files/History_of_Harar_and_Harari-HNL.pdf}}{{cite book |last1=Hassen |first1=Mohammed |title=The Oromo of Ethiopia |publisher=University of London |page=27 |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29226/1/10731321.pdf}}{{cite book|last=Shack|first=William A.|author-link=William A. Shack|title=The Central Ethiopians, Amhara, Tigriňa and Related Peoples: North Eastern Africa Part IV|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=roIZDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT224|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-315-30769-5|page=224}}

Due to the wars between the Ifat Sultanate and Ethiopia, the region of Ifat was incorporated into Ethiopia having been an integral part of the empire for over a century since early medieval times.{{Cite book |last=Pankhurst |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpYBD3bzW1wC |title=The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century |date=1997 |publisher=The Red Sea Press |isbn=978-0-932415-19-6 |pages=39 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Pankhurst |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpYBD3bzW1wC |title=The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century |date=1997 |publisher=The Red Sea Press |isbn=978-0-932415-19-6 |pages=190 |language=en}} During this period of incorporation, large sections of the local Argobba population embraced Christianity.{{cite book |last1=Pankhurst |first1=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpYBD3bzW1wC |title=The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century |date=1997 |publisher=The Red Sea Press |isbn=978-0-932415-19-6 |page=115 |language=en |quote=large sections of the local Amhara, Argobba and Afar population embraced Christianity}} According to French explorer, Charles-Xavier Rochet d'Héricourt, who had visited the region of Ifat. He stated that in 1517, an invasion from a formidable force suddenly fell upon the eastern provinces of the Kingdom of Shewa. An army of Somalis and Hararis, led by a bold and fanatical chief named Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, entered the province of Ifat-Argobba and had already forced the inhabitants to embrace Islam again.{{Cite book |last=d'Héricourt |first=Charles E. Xavier Rochet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BIgOAAAAQAAJ&q=argobba |title=Voyage sur le côte orientale de la mer Rouge: dans le pays d'Adel et le royaume de Choa |date=1841 |publisher=A. Bertrand |pages=206–207 |language=fr}}

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.{{cite book |title=Vernacular Architecture of Argobba, Ethiopia |page=41 |url=http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/3225}}{{cite book |last1=Enyew |first1=Mehari |title=vernacular Architecture of Argobba, Ethiopia: The Case of Shonke Amba |publisher=Addis Ababa University |page=43 |url=http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/3225}}

The rise of the Kingdom of Shewa in the late 17th and 18th centuries paved the way for Amhara expansion into escarpment areas. Under Negus Sahle Selassie and his successors, Argobba homelands were incorporated into the growing Shewan kingdom in the 19th century. During this period, the erosion of Walashma authority and the Argobba regional economy was accelerated by state taxation and the gradual influx of Christian Amhara settlers from the highlands. The construction of the Djibouti–Addis Ababa railway in the early 20th century bypassed traditional trade routes through Argobba settlements, marginalizing and isolating these communities. The Argobba—who had long established commercial posts along these trade routes—faced further challenges as their escarpment slopes were increasingly threatened by the Afar who occasionally raided them. 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 Shonke and Ṭollaḥa.{{cite book |last1=Wetter |first1=Andreas |title=Two Argobba manuscripts from Wällo |publisher=Humboldt Universität zu Berlin |page=297 |url=https://www.academia.edu/38993949}}{{cite book |last1=Uhlig |first1=Siegbert |title=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C |date=2003 |pages=333}}

In 1902 upon visiting an Argobba inhabited town in the Harari region, German traveler Oscar Neumann describes the people:{{cite book |last1=NEUMANN |first1=OSCAR |title=FROM THE SOMALI COAST THROUGH SOUTHjERN ETHIOPIA TO THE SUDAN. |publisher=The Geographical Journal. |page=374 |url=http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/128/1285369556.pdf}}

{{quote|"It is remarkable that, in spite of their proximity to Harar, next to nothing was known of the interesting Argobba people and their old stone buildings. The remains of this probably once powerful nation dwell on the eastern slopes of the Hakim, a mountain ridge situated to the south of Harar. Their houses were built of stone, had high watchtowers in the centre, and were surrounded by strong walls; they are now mostly fallen into decay, and are only partly inhabited. The old ruins overlooking the Erer valley resemble medieval castles, and present a picturesque appearance. Scattered amongst them are the straw huts of the Ala Galla, who form the greater part of the population of today."}}

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.{{cite book|last1=Alemu|first1=Getnet|author-link1=Getnet Alemu|last2=Yoseph|first2=Getachew|author-link2=Getachew Yoseph|title=Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8_DsAAAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Ethiopian Economic Association|isbn=978-99944-54-03-7}}

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.[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=agj "Argobba: A language of Ethiopia"], Ethnologue website (accessed 25 May 2009)

Abyssinian religious persecutions forced numerous Argobba to flee Ifat region in the 1800s, and migrate to the Emirate of Harar however the townsman were unwilling to accommodate them leading to Argobba people settling outside the walled city of Harar.{{cite journal |last1=Hecht |first1=E.D. |title=HARAR AND LAMU — A COMPARISON OF TWO EAST AFRICAN MUSLIM SOCIETIES |journal=Transafrican Journal of History |date=1987 |volume=16 |publisher=Gideon Were Publications |page=18 |jstor=24328618 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24328618}} Argobba suffered from stigma in Harar. Harari children believe that the Argobba are were-hyenas and chant at Argobba women as they come to town, "Argobba, Argobba, night-time hyena, day-time human".{{Cite book |last=Weekes |first=Richard V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lZIAAAAMAAJ |title=Muslim Peoples: Acehnese |date=1984 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-24639-5 |pages=53 |language=en}} Urban legends regarding the Argobba exist among the Harari and Oromo in Harar region. It is said by them that the Argobba participate in cannibalism.{{Cite book |last=Neumann |first=Oscar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XTQ6AQAAMAAJ |title=From the Somali Coast Through Southern Ethiopia to the Sudan |date=1904 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=776 |language=en}}

Argobba are exclusive adherents to the Muslim faith.{{cite book |last1=Naim |first1=Abdullah |title=Islamic Family Law in A Changing World: A Global Resource Book |date=11 October 2002 |publisher=Zed Books |page=71 |isbn=9781842770931 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hg0zCFM0fwkC&q=argobba+muslim&pg=PA71}} They are also widely believed to be the first to accept Islam collectively, in the Horn of Africa and vanguards for early Islamic expansion.{{cite book |last1=Begashaw |first1=Kassaye |title=The Archaeology of Islam in North East Shoa |page=15 |url=http://portal.svt.ntnu.no/sites/ices16/Proceedings/Volume%201/Kassaye%20Begashaw%20-%20The%20Archaeology%20of%20Islam.pdf |access-date=2020-02-13 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214353/http://portal.svt.ntnu.no/sites/ices16/Proceedings/Volume%201/Kassaye%20Begashaw%20-%20The%20Archaeology%20of%20Islam.pdf |url-status=dead }} The Shonke Argobba reportedly forbid their children from attending school due to the possible unislamic influence it might have on them.{{cite book |title=Sociolinguistic Survey Report of the Argobba Language of Ethiopia |publisher=SIL International |pages=30–31 |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/10/81/77/108177637604072555094058302787980464885/SILESR2002_026.pdf}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Amare |first1=Getahun |date=2017 |title=Argobba and Amharic: Putting a Stop to a Quandary |publisher=Addis Ababa University |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320469840}} Argobba language evolved from proto Amharic and Argobba.{{cite book |last1=Hudson |first1=Grover |title=Reviewed Work: Ethiopic Documents: Argobba Grammar and Dictionary by Wolf Leslau |publisher=Trustees of Indiana University |page=406 |jstor=30028766 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30028766}} 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.{{dead link|date=October 2018}}

• Talha Jafar, nineteenth century rebel of Ifat

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

{{reflist}}

• Aklilu Asfaw, [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/ethio_0066-2127_2000_num_16_1_973 "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

{{Ethnic groups in Ethiopia|state=expanded}}

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Category:Ethnic groups in Ethiopia

Category:Semitic-speaking peoples

Category:Indigenous peoples of East Africa

Category:Muslim communities in Africa