The Bilen (also variously transcribed as Blin, and also formerly known as the Bogo, Bogos or North

Agaw The Agaw or Agew ( gez, አገው ''Agäw'', modern ''Agew'') are a pan-ethnic identity native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, which belong to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic la ...

) are a

Cushitic The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

in the

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopi ...

. They are primarily concentrated in central Eritrea, in and around the city of Keren and further south toward

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The c ...

, the nation's capital. They are split into three sub-tribes; Bet Tarqe, Bet Tawqe and Bab Jengeren which are split into further clans known as Hissat. The Tawke has six whereas the Tarke has five which each are divided into smaller kinship groups. SF Nadel. (1944
Races and tribes of Eritrea
/ref>

Origins

Tradition establishes an apparent connection between the Eritrean Bilen and the Ethiopian

which can be seen in linguistic similarities between Agaw and Bilen. The presence of many identical place names in the areas around Lasta and Bogos in central Eritrea further alludes to some historical connection between the two groups. According to local oral tradition, the Bilen lived to the Eritrean plateau from Lasta around the 6th or 7th century when Queen Ben Hammawiya invaded the Lasta province from the North. They then also partially subdued the prior Tigre population. A second wave of migration may have occurred according to historians during the fall of the

Zagwe dynasty The Zagwe dynasty ( Ge'ez: ዛጔ ሥርወ መንግሥት) was an Agaw medieval dynasty that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, after the historical name of the Lasta province. Centered at Lalibela, it ruled large parts of the t ...

in 1570. The Bilen first appear in historical records from the 6th century onwards. Some of The Bilen/Agaw ruled Eritrea and

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 ...

for 300 years.Niaz Murtaza, ''The Pillage of Sustainability in Eritrea, 1600s-1990s: Rural Communities and the Creeping Shadows of Hegemony'', (Greenwood Publishing Group: 1998), p.45

Religion

The Bilen practice both

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 ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

. Muslim adherents mainly inhabit rural areas and have intermingled with the adjacent Tigre, while

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Bilen tend to reside in urban areas and have intermingled with the Tigrinya People (Biher-Tigrinya).James Minahan, ''Miniature empires: a historical dictionary of the newly independent states'', (Greenwood Publishing Group: 1998), pp.77-78. Sunni Islam is followed by half of the Bilen, with the other half adhering to Christianity of various denominations. The religious diversity of the Bilen has aided the peaceful coexistence among them with little conflict arising due to religious differences. The Bilen were originally Coptic Christians. In the mid to late 19th century during the Egyptian invasion of the Keren highlands (1860-1876) the Bet Tawqe clan accepted Islam, adopting the faith of their new overlords. The Bet Tarqe clan of the Bilen adopted Catholicism at the hands of French missionaries who offered to protect them from

Beni-Amer The Beni-Amer, also known as Beni-Amir (, ) (sometimes simply as Amer or Nabtab), are a population inhabiting northeast Africa. They are considered by some to comprise a subgroup of the Beja people. They live in eastern Sudan and Eritrea. They are ...

raids in the area during the second half of the 19th century. There are a few mission-converted Protestants and few Bilen have retained their old Coptic Orthodox beliefs.

Economy

The traditional livelihood of most Bilen consisted of

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands ( pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The anim ...

. However, the recent migration of other groups into the area resulted in the Bilens taking up other occupations including farming. Most modern Bilen are animal herders and farmers.

Language

The Bilen speak the Bilen language as a mother tongue, which belongs to the

branch of the

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic s ...

language family. Many also speak other Afro-Asiatic languages such as Tigre and Tigrinya. In addition, younger Bilen often employ

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

words and expressions in their everyday speech.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilen People Ethnic groups in Eritrea Cushitic-speaking peoples