Warjih
Location of Warjih region near the Awash River in the middle ages
Total population
20,536 (1994 census)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Ethiopia
Languages
Amharic, Oromo
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Jebertis, Gurage, Harari, Silte, Afar, Argobba

The Warjih (Arabic: ورجي, Amharic: ወርጂ, Somali: Warjeex [wɔrdʒi]), also known as Wargar[2] or Tigri-Warjih, are an ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. The prefix for their traditional name, Tigri, comes from the word Tijaari, which is an adjective in the Arabic language that literally translates to "merchant." Their tribal name Warjih is eponymous with the name of their ancestral homeland. Thus, Tigri-Warjih essentially means "merchant of Warjih."[3]

History

According to the Warjih, their forefathers have two separate origins, one ancestor emerging from Tigray region while the other arrived from Hararghe. The Warjih more commonly state they originate from Harar.[2] Warjih are credited for transmitting Semitic influences into Shewa from their departure point in the Harari plateau.[4] The Warjih were among the first people in the Horn of Africa to become Muslim, having accepted Islam by the eighth century. Alongside another ancient Muslim group to their west, the Gebel, who would eventually procreate the Argobba people. Warjih were under the Sultanate of Shewa in the ninth century.[5] The Warjih in the following centuries participated in many battles against Christian Abyssinia. They sided with the Ifat in the Middle Ages, and Adal Sultanate during the Ethiopian-Adal War.[6] It was this time of military conflict that opened the door for the northern expansion of Oromos, and thus began the assimilation of conquered populations, such as the Warjih. Many Warjih people still keep their ethnic identity even after the expansions in their hometown of Daleti in Shewa

Demographics

The Warjih historically populated an area in south-eastern Ethiopia within what is now Oromia Region. Today, they are found primarily in their modern hometown of Daleti and in numerous pastoral communities scattered throughout the regions of Shewa and Wollo. Some have settled in major cities within these former provinces, most prominently in Addis Ababa and Kemise. Due to their longstanding livelihoods as merchants, members of the Warjih community can be found transiently in cities all across Ethiopia

According to the 2007 Ethiopian census carried out by the Central Statistical Agency, the Warjih population numbered 13,232 individuals.[1]

Language

The Warjih today primarily speak Amharic or Oromo as their mother tongue, although this order of primacy may be vice versa depending on where a person lives.

Politics

Prior to the 2010 Ethiopian general election, the current Ethiopian regime approved the creation of the Tigri Worgi Nationality Democratic Organization, which represents a minority of the tribe.

See also

  • Wargar, clan once inhabiting Adal

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Census 2007", Hudson, Table 3.
  2. 1 2 Warjih. Encyclopedia Aethiopica.
  3. ↑ "The Tigri Warjih 'Jeberti' People", Chapter 1 pg. 1.
  4. ↑ Mordechai, Abir (2013-10-28). Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim European Rivalry in the Region. Routledge. p. xvii-xviii. ISBN 9781136280900.
  5. ↑ Ayenachew, Deresse (3 November 2016). "A historical overview of the Wärğəḥ Muslim community in the Christian highland of Šäwa". Afriques. Débats, Méthodes et Terrains d'Histoire. doi:10.4000/afriques.1944. S2CID 131898465.
  6. ↑ Hassan, Mohammed. Oromo of Ethiopia 1500 (PDF). University of London. p. 21.

References

  • Grover Hudson, "Linguistic Analysis of the 1994 Ethiopian Census", Northeast African Studies, Volume 6, Number 3, 1999 (New Series), pp. 89 – 107.
  • Pankhurst, Richard K.P. The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles. Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1967
  • Pankhurst, Borderlands, p. 79.
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