Shifta is a term used in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

meaning '' rebel'', ''

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

'', or ''

bandit Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...

''. The

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

word was loaned from the

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Soma ...

shufta during the Shifta War, which is in turn derived from Amharic ሽፍታ (šəfta). Historically, the shifta served as a local militia in particularly remote, rural and often lawless parts of the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

. The word shifta can be translated as "bandit" or "outlaw", but can include anyone who rebels against an authority or an institution that is seen as illegitimate, like the

Arbegnoch The Arbegnoch () were Ethiopian resistance fighters in Italian East Africa from 1936 until 1941. They were known to the Italians as shifta. Organisation The Patriot movement was mostly based in the rural Shewa, Gondar and Gojjam provinces, ...

guerillas during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia.

Concept

The term shifta has positive and negative connotations, that of a common bandit and that of a revolutionary; both concepts being distinct, but not necessarily mutually exclusive. They are often considered as highly respected, politically minded outlaws struggling for social order or a political cause. When applied in this context, ''shiftinnet'' (being a shifta) in its diverse forms has a social function as a form of

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abou ...

. In Eritrea, during the British administration, military units were used to police the lawless areas and stop common shifta activity. Ethiopian warriors (c

In Ethiopia, individuals who started as shifta have risen to the level of warlord or Emperor thus legitimizing the concept of shifta itself. Two nineteenth-century shiftas, Kassa Hailu of

Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder ( Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on ...

and

Kassa Mercha Kassa may refer to: Places * Kassa (Bithynia), a place in ancient Bithynia, Anatolia * Kassa, Mali, a commune * Kassa Dam, in Japan * Kassa Island, in the group of Îles de Los near Guinea * Košice ( hu, Kassa, links=no), a city in Slovakia ...

of Tigray, became Emperor Tewodros and Emperor Yohannes respectively in the late 19th century. Thus the shiftas formed the military elite and became the core of the resistance, using their military skills against the Italians. Conventionally however, a shifta whose acts trespassed social norms would be called ''t'era-shifta'' and would be regarded as a thief or bandit. The Italians labelled all shiftas as t'era-shiftas, of the criminal type. Nevertheless, to be described as a shifta, especially during the Italian occupation, was an honour for an Ethiopian and this was how resistance started and spread. In recent times, both prime ministers

Isaias Afewerki Isaias Afwerki ( ti, ኢሳይያስ ኣፍወርቂ, ; born 2 February 1946) is an Eritrean politician and partisan who has been the president of Eritrea since shortly after he led the Eritrean People's Liberation Front The Eritrean Peopl ...

of Eritrea and

Meles Zenawi Meles Zenawi Asres ( Tigrinya and ; , born Legesse Zenawi Asres; 9 May 1955 – 20 August 2012) was an Ethiopian soldier and politician who served as President of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and then Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 1995 until h ...

of Ethiopia were called shifta when they served, respectively, as rebel leaders of the EPLF and TPLF, along with members of the Amhara

ethnic nationalist Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politic ...

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popul ...

References and notes

{{Reflist, 2 Horn of Africa Outlaws Rebels

Concept

See also

References and notes