Kingdom of Gomma
Kingdom of Gomma | |||||||
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c. 1780 – 1886 | |||||||
Capital | Agaro | ||||||
Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||
History | |||||||
• Established | 18th century | ||||||
• Annexed by Ethiopian Empire | 1886 | ||||||
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The Kingdom of Gomma was a kingdom in the Gibe region of Ethiopia that emerged in the 18th century. It was based in Agaro.
Location
Gomma shared its northern border with
This former kingdom was mostly located in an undulating valley, with a population estimated in 1880 of about 15,000-16,000; its extent is roughly the same as the modern
Also located in the kingdom of Gomma were two hills, Sinka and Bemba (the last was also called Kella Egdu Biya, or "Gate of the Watching of the Land"), which were sacred to the Oromo. They were inhabited by prophets who lived with large snakes; descendants of these snakes are offered beer and goats' blood by Oromos to allieve their illnesses.[3]
History
Mohammed Hassen notes that "the written information on the early history of Gomma is limited, and confused."[4] Beckingham and Huntingford trace the foundation of Gomma to a miracle-worker who was named Nur Husain or Wariko, said to have come from Mogadishu. Although they speculate that this semi-legendary figure might have been confused with the better-known Sheikh Husein, whose tomb is located near the Shebelle River, they note that Antonio Cecchi reports that Wariko's tomb is located on the banks of the Didessa River, and was an object of veneration.[5]
Hassen explains the tradition around Nur Husain as reflecting the fact that "Gomma was the first state in the Gibe region where Islam became the religion of the whole people."[4] Trimingham states that Gomma was the first of the Gibe kingdoms to convert to Islam, quoting Major G.W. Harris as writing that by 1841 "in Goma the Moslem faith is universal."[6]
Hassen states that the first King of Gomma was
In 1886, Gomma was conquered by Beshua Abue on behalf of Emperor
See also
- Ethiopian Empire
- List of Sunni Muslim dynasties
- Rulers of the Giba State of Goma
Notes
- ^ C.F. Beckingham and G.W.B. Huntingford, Some Records of Ethiopia, 1593-1646 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1954), p. lxxx
- ^ Mohammed Hassen, The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History 1570-1860 (Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1994), pp. 116
- ^ G.W.B. Huntingford, The Galla of Ethiopia; the Kingdoms of Kafa and Janjero (London: International African Institute, 1955), p. 82
- ^ a b Hassen, The Oromo, p. 109.
- ^ Beckingham and Huntingford, Some Records, p. lxxxix. Trimingham offers the date of 1780 for Nur Husain's departure from Mogadishu.
- ^ J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 200.
- ^ Hassen, The Oromo, p. 110.