The Kingdom of Gomma was a
kingdom in the
Gibe region of
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 ...
that emerged in the 18th century. It was based in
Agaro
Agaro (or Haggaro) ( om, Aggaaroo) is a town and separate woreda in south-western Ethiopia. Located in the Jimma Zone of the Oromia Region, it sits at a latitude and longitude of , and an elevation of 1560 meters above sea level.
Overview
Th ...
.
Location
Gomma shared its northern border with
Limmu-Ennarea, its western border with
Gumma, its southern border with
Gera, and its eastern border with
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 ...
. Its capital was
Agaro
Agaro (or Haggaro) ( om, Aggaaroo) is a town and separate woreda in south-western Ethiopia. Located in the Jimma Zone of the Oromia Region, it sits at a latitude and longitude of , and an elevation of 1560 meters above sea level.
Overview
Th ...
.
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
woreda of
Gomma. Beckingham and Huntingford considered Gomma, along with Gumma, was the least economically developed of the Gibe kingdoms; however Mohammed Hassen writes that "the people of Gomma devoted themselves to farming, earning a reputation for a high degree of civilization.
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.
History
Mohammed Hassen notes that "the written information on the early history of Gomma is limited, and confused."
[Hassen, ''The Oromo'', p. 109.] 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
Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...
. 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.
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."
Trimingham
Trimingham is a coastal village and a civil parish in the North Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. The village is north of North Walsham, east of Cromer, north of the city and county town of Norwich, and is on the B1159 coastal road bet ...
states that Gomma was the first of the Gibe kingdoms to convert to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
, quoting Major G.W. Harris as writing that by 1841 "in Goma the Moslem faith is universal."
Hassen states that the first King of Gomma was
Abba Boke
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group' ...
, although Beckingham and Huntingford state his son,
Abba Manno, had this honor. Abba Boke had gained control over all of Gomma, between Yacci and Dogaye, except for a region named Qattu. Abba Manno was later able to annex Qattu during his reign (c. 1820 - 1840), and promoted Islam by patronizing Muslim religious teachers, as well as enhancing the activities of the
Qadiriya order.
[Hassen, ''The Oromo'', p. 110.]
In 1886, Gomma was conquered by Beshua Abue on behalf 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 ...
.
See also
*
Ethiopian Empire
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
*
List of Sunni Muslim dynasties
*
Rulers of the Giba State of Goma
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomma
History of Ethiopia
Oromo royal families