The Gibe region ( Amharic: ጊቤ) was a historic region in modern southwestern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, to the west of the Gibe and

Omo River The Omo River (also called Omo-Bottego) in southern Ethiopia is the largest Ethiopian river outside the Nile, Nile Basin. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia, and it empties into Lake Turkana on the border with Keny ...

s, and north of the Gojeb. It was the location of the former Oromo and

Sidama The Sidama ( am, ሲዳማ) are an ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the Sidama Region, formerly part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. On 23 November 2019, the Sidama Zone became the 10th regional st ...

kingdoms of

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

, Gomma,

Garo Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the Ga ...

, Gumma,

Jimma Jimma () is the largest city in southwestern Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded by Jimma Zone. It has a latitude and longitude of . Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administrativ ...

, and

Limmu-Ennarea The Kingdom of Limmu-Ennarea was one of the kingdoms in the Gibe region of Ethiopia that emerged in the 19th century. It shared its eastern border with the Kingdom of Jimma, its southern border with the Kingdom of Gomma and its western border wi ...

. To the north of the Gibe region lay the

Macha Macha () was a sovereignty goddess of ancient Ireland associated with the province of Ulster, particularly the sites of Navan Fort (''Eamhain Mhacha'') and Armagh (''Ard Mhacha''), which are named after her.Koch, John T. ''Celtic Culture: A H ...

clan of the Oromo. Until the mid 16th century, this region was part of the

kingdoms of

Ennarea Ennarea, also known as E(n)narya or In(n)arya ( Gonga: Hinnario), was a kingdom in the Gibe region in what is now western Ethiopia. It became independent from the kingdom of Damot in the 14th century and would be the most powerful kingdom in th ...

, Hadiya, Janjero and Kaffa, tributary states to the Ethiopian

Solomonic dynasty The Solomonic dynasty, also known as the House of Solomon, was the ruling dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire formed in the thirteenth century. Its members claim lineal descent from the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Tradition asserts ...

. The area was separated however, when the Oromo migrated into the area, destroying Hadiya, isolating Janjero, and reduced the area of Enerea and Kaffa. In the Gibe region, the Oromo came under the cultural influence of the kingdom of Kaffa, from whom they borrowed the concept of hereditary kingship (called Moti in all of the kingdoms except Limmu-Enerea, where for historical reasons the king was known as the ''Supera''), and the practice of delimiting the boundaries or frontier of their states with a system of physical barriers. These barriers consisted of palisades or

dead hedge A dead hedge is a barrier constructed from cut branches, saplings, and foliage. The material can be gathered from activities such as pruning or clearing, and in traditional forms of woodland management, such as coppicing. Its ecological succession ...

s, which could extend for miles, separated from the barriers of the neighboring kingdom by a neutral strip (called ''moga''), which was left uncultivated and inhabited only by brigands and outlaws. Access into each kingdom was limited to guarded gates known as ''kella'', where tolls were levied These kingdoms had an economy based on exports of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

civet A civet () is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term civet applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species diversit ...

musk,

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

, and slaves. G.W.B. Huntingford explains that slaves were taken in raids on the Macha tribe to the north, and in raids on the Sidamo kingdoms of Kaffa and Janjero; he also cites evidence to show that 7,000 people a year were sold each year, some to people inside Ethiopia, and some outside that country.Huntingford, ''The Galla of Ethiopia'', p. 31 The Gibe region, with the rest of southwestern Ethiopia, was almost entirely annexed between 1886 and 1900 in a series of conquests by the generals of Emperor

Menelik II , spoken = ; ''djānhoi'', lit. ''"O steemedroyal"'' , alternative = ; ''getochu'', lit. ''"Our master"'' (pl.) Menelik II ( gez, ዳግማዊ ምኒልክ ; horse name Abba Dagnew ( Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 ...

. The kingdom of Jimma, through skillful diplomacy, managed to delay this fate until the death of its king

Abba Jifar II ''Moti'' Abba Jifar II ( om, Mootii Abbaa Jifaar; 1861 – 1932) was King of the Gibe Kingdom of Jimma (r. 1878–1932). Reign Abba Jifar II was king of Jimma, and the son of Abba Gomol and Queen Gumiti. He had several wives: Queen Limmiti ...

in 1932.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibe Region Historical regions History of Ethiopia Subdivisions of Ethiopia