Marchuwa (

Geʽez Geez (; ' , and sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as Classical Ethiopic) is an ancient Ethiopian Semitic language. The language originates from what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. Today, Geez is used as the main liturgi ...

: ማርጯ, Wolaytta: Mariccuwaa) was a currency used by the

Kingdom of Wolaita Kingdom of Wolaita, also known as Wolaita Kingdom, was a Realm, kingdom dominated by Wolayta people in today's southern Ethiopia from 1251 until conquest of Ethiopian Empire in 1894. History Wolaita tradition refounds the kingdom being well ...

. Marchuwa was a bundle of thin metal strips one cubit long, used as trading currency. Marchuwa was equal to 18 Maria Theresa Thalers or 0.50

US dollars The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from Dollar, other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American ...

.Stigand, C. H. (Chauncey Hugh). (1910). To Abyssinia through an unknown land: an account of a journey through unexplored regions of British East Africa by Lake Rudolf to the kingdom of Menelek.

History

Chauncey Hugh Stigand Chauncey Hugh Stigand (1877–1919) was a British army officer, colonial administrator and big game hunter. He was killed in action while attempting to suppress a rebellion of Aliab Dinka. Biography Stigand was the son of William Stigand and Agne ...

states, the

Welayta people The Welayta, Wolayta or Wolaitta ( Ge'ez: ወላይታ ''Wolaytta'') are an ethnic group and its former kingdom, located in southern Ethiopia. According to the most recent estimate (2017), the people of Wolayta numbered 5.83 million in Welayta Zo ...

had developed the art of weaving and wearing cloths made up of cotton prior to any other

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

communities. The importance of cotton to the Welayta was more than clothing. Shalluwa, a kind of thread spun by women, and cotton products like Karretta Sinna, a black colored thread made of cotton, were used as a currency. When different parts of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

used the

barter system In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists distingu ...

(exchanging of goods), the state of Wolaita spread this form of currency throughout its region. As Remo Chiatti highlighed in 1903, one Marchuwa was equal to 18 Maria Theresa Thalers or 0.50 USA dollars.Vanderheym, J.-G. 1897. ''Une expédition avec le négous Ménélik: vingt mois en Abyssinie''. Paris: Librairie Hachette. Oral tradition claim that there was the storehouse of Marchuwa at Dalbo palace established by one of the kings of the Wolaita Tigre dynasty. Thus, the state of Wolaita had developed the banking system prior to other states 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 ...

. Sources proved that until the Menelik II's conquest of the south Hadiya, Kambatta,

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 sta ...

, Dawuro, Gamo, and Gofa had used this Marchuwa as currency. By the time

incorporate to the

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 historical ...

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 A ...

, Marchuwa was replaced by the

Maria Theresa thaler The Maria Theresa thaler (MTT) is a silver bullion coin and a type of Conventionsthaler that has been used in world trade continuously since it was first minted in 1741. It is named after Maria Theresa who ruled Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia fr ...

and blocks of salt called "Amole tchew", which are assumed to be the first currency of the

.PANKHURST, RICHARD, et al. "The Trade of Central Ethiopia in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries." ''Journal of Ethiopian Studies'', vol. 2, no. 2, 1964, pp. 41–91. ''JSTOR'', www.jstor.org/stable/41965712. Accessed 20 Oct. 2020.

References

{{Ethiopia topics , collapsed Medieval society Medieval currencies Currencies of Africa

History

See also

References