The Gibe region (
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
: ጊቤ) was a historic region in modern southwestern
Ethiopia, to the west of the
Gibe and
Omo Rivers, and north of the
Gojeb. It was the location of the former
Oromo and
Sidama kingdoms of
Gera,
Gomma,
Garo,
Gumma,
Jimma, and
Limmu-Ennarea.
To the north of the Gibe region lay the
Macha clan of the Oromo.
Until the mid 16th century, this region was part of the
Sidama kingdoms of
Ennarea,
Hadiya,
Janjero and
Kaffa, tributary states to the Ethiopian
Solomonic dynasty. 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 hedges, 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,
civet musk,
coffee, and
slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
s. 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. The kingdom of Jimma, through skillful diplomacy, managed to delay this fate until the death of its king
Abba Jifar II in 1932.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibe Region
Historical regions
History of Ethiopia
Subdivisions of Ethiopia