Portrait of Woodage Asahel, Warra Sheik Oromo ruler of Gondar


The Yejju people, also known as the Warra Sheik (the descendant of Sheikh Omar) are a sub clan of the Barento branch of Oromo people. They are one of the northernmost communities of Oromo people residing in Ethiopia, along with the Raayyaa.[1]

Prior to the Oromo expansion, there was an ethnic group who resided where the Warra Sheik resided who also known as Yejju.[2]

The Warra Sheik who ruled the "House of Yejju" would rule most of Ethiopia during the Zemene Mesafint, or the "Ages of Judges", changing the language in the court of Gondar to the Oromo language.[1][3]

History

Shihab ad-Din, in his Futuḥ al-Ḥabasha, mentions the Yejju as allies of Imam Ahmad Gragn, who inhabited the region of "Kewet".[4] It is not known what religion they professed before this time, although Shihab ad-Din mentions that some had converted to Islam.[5] During the 16th century Oromo expansions, they were assimilated as a sub-clan of the Barento branch of Oromo people.[6] It has been argued that the Yejju are the results of various layers of people: the Amhara population of Angot, remnants of the forces of the Imam Ahmad Gragn, and the migrating Oromo.[7]

The Yejju were ruled by the "Warra Sheik," or descendant of Sheikh Omar. According to oral tradition Sheikh Omar had come from Arabia, settled in Ethiopia where he married several women and had numerous children.[6] His descendants (the Yejju dynasty) dominated Ethiopia during the Zemene Mesafint period.[8]

As early as 1890, under the reign of Menelik II, the homeland of the Yejju was organized into an Ethiopian province (awrajja) named after them. It was bordered by the Alewuha River to the north, separating it from Raya Qobbo awrajja, the Mille River to the south, separating it from Were Babu district, the Afar Depression to the east, and the highlands of Ambassel to the west. Woldiya served as its capital city. With the adoption of ethnic federalism in 1994 and the abolishment of the awrajja administrative structure, Yejju was divided between the districts of Habru, Weldiya town, and the mid-altitude portion of Guba Lafto. Due to the assimilation of Yejju Oromos into the dominant Habesha culture during the 20th century, the descendants of the Yejju, presently found in the Amhara Region, identify as Amharas.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Africa :: Ethiopia — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  2. ↑ Aregay, Merid (1971). Southern Ethiopia and the Christian kingdom 1508 - 1708, with special reference to the Galla migrations and their consequences. University of London. p. 138-139.
  3. ↑ Richard Pankhurst, The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles, (London: Oxford University Press, 1967), pp. 139–43.
  4. ↑ Shihab ad-Din, Futuḥ al-Ḥabasha: The Conquest of Abyssinia, translated by Paul Lester Stenhouse (Hollywood: Tsehai, 2003), p. 229 ISBN 0-9723172-5-2
  5. ↑ Shihab ad-Din, Futuḥ al-Ḥabasha, p. 291
  6. 1 2 Melaku, Misganaw Tadesse (2020). "Social and political history of Wollo Province in Ethiopia: 1769-1916". University of the Western Cape: 98–99.
  7. ↑ Melaku, Misganaw Tadesse (2020). "Social and political history of Wollo Province in Ethiopia: 1769-1916". University of the Western Cape: 99.
  8. ↑ Prouty, Chris (1986). Empress Taytu and Menilek II: Ethiopia, 1883-1910. Addis Ababa University. p. 28.
  9. ↑ Ethiopia Administrative Map as of 2013
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