Kambaata
Encyclopedia
Kambaata is the name of the people who speak the Kambaata language
. It was a province of Ethiopia beginning in the early 15th century and ending in the mid-17th century before Ethiopian rule was once again established under Emperor
Menelek II
. During this first period, Kambaata province was largely Christianized.
According to the 2007 Ethiopian national census, this ethnic group has 630,236 members, of whom 90.89% live in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region
. Almost one in five -- 18.5% -- live in urban areas.
Kambata tribe is one of the oldest tribes in Southern Ethiopia. They have many indigenous traditional foods, such as enset, and many kinds of tubers, spices and vegetables; some of these are not familiar in other parts of Ethiopia. An important landmark to the Kambaata people is Mount Ambarcho, where they sacrificed and celebrated in the past. The king and the god of Kambata lived there.
King Dagoye was one of the rulers of the Kambata. He was from Oyata clan. His rules were very unbearable for the people who lived at that time. He put the rules which favours Oyata. Any Oyata clan had guarantee of getting new house and fertile land. The Contomas were those who were not from the clan of Oyata. They suffered a lot and used to give what they had including their houses and wives too. If an Oyata young person wants to marry he had to marry Oyata lady. There was much more connection with the rule of Dagoye with the Oromo
. Dagoye instituted the Gadaa
system which has differences from the Gadaa system practiced by the Oromo.
Kambaata language
Kambaata is a Highland East Cushitic language, part of the larger Afro-Asiatic family and spoken by the Kambaata. Dialects are Donga, Kambaata and Tambaro. It is one of the official languages of Ethiopia. The language has a large number of verbal affixes. When these are affixed to verbal roots,...
. It was a province of Ethiopia beginning in the early 15th century and ending in the mid-17th century before Ethiopian rule was once again established under Emperor
Emperor of Ethiopia
The Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country...
Menelek II
Menelek II of Ethiopia
Emperor Menelik II GCB, GCMG, baptized as Sahle Maryam , was Negus of Shewa , then of Ethiopia from 1889 to his death. At the height of his internal power and external prestige, the process of territorial expansion and creation of the modern empire-state had been completed by 1898...
. During this first period, Kambaata province was largely Christianized.
According to the 2007 Ethiopian national census, this ethnic group has 630,236 members, of whom 90.89% live in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region
Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region
Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It was formed from the merger of the former Regions 7-11 following the 1994 elections...
. Almost one in five -- 18.5% -- live in urban areas.
Kambata tribe is one of the oldest tribes in Southern Ethiopia. They have many indigenous traditional foods, such as enset, and many kinds of tubers, spices and vegetables; some of these are not familiar in other parts of Ethiopia. An important landmark to the Kambaata people is Mount Ambarcho, where they sacrificed and celebrated in the past. The king and the god of Kambata lived there.
King Dagoye was one of the rulers of the Kambata. He was from Oyata clan. His rules were very unbearable for the people who lived at that time. He put the rules which favours Oyata. Any Oyata clan had guarantee of getting new house and fertile land. The Contomas were those who were not from the clan of Oyata. They suffered a lot and used to give what they had including their houses and wives too. If an Oyata young person wants to marry he had to marry Oyata lady. There was much more connection with the rule of Dagoye with the Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
. Dagoye instituted the Gadaa
Gadaa
Gadaa is the traditional social stratification system of Oromo males in Ethiopia and northern Kenya; it is also practiced by the Gedeo people of southern Ethiopia. Each class, or luba, consists of all of the sons of the men in another particular class...
system which has differences from the Gadaa system practiced by the Oromo.
Further reading
- Arsano, Yacob, "A traditional Institution of Kambata" (2002). In: Bahru Zewde and Siegfried Pausewang(eds.), Ethiopia. The Challenge of Democracy from below. Uppsala
- Braukämper, Ulrich. 1983. Die Kambata: Geschichte und Gesellschaft eines süd-äthiopischen Bauernvolkes. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner.
- Gebrewold-Tochalo, Belachew (2002), The Impact of the Socio-Cultural Structures of the Kambata/Ethiopia on their Economic Development. Vienna.
- Gebrewold, Belachew, "An introduction to the political and social philosophy of the Kambata" (Kambata Development Network website)
- Daniel Yoseph Baiso, Occupational Minorities in Kambata Ethnic Group, Nairobi, 2007