On the Tradition of “Oda Bultum”

The Oromo of Harerghe
(Part Three)
On the Tradition of “Oda Bultum”

By Afendi Muteki

As it was the case in other parts of Oromiya, the Oromos of Harerghe had a traditional self administration system. The highest body of the administration was the “Caffee Gadaa” assembly which used to hold its congress at Oda Bultum every eight year. The center called “Oda Bultum” was located at a place called “Hora Baaduu” which is found at 15 Kms distance from Baddessa town. Since the Oda Bultum is surrounded by the Ittu Oromos, some people wrongly assume that it was serving the tribal assembly of Ittu Oromos only. But both oral and written records show that originally “Oda Bultum” was the common assembly of the three tribes of the Harar Oromo (Ittu, Afran Qallo and Anniya). It was only in the 18^th century that the three groups install their own local assemblies; however, Oda Bultum remained an important cultural and administrative center for all of the three groups and they regarded it “the well-spring of Oromo wisdom” (Mohammed Hassen:  cited from Encyclopedia Aethiopica, 2004, pp 244)

 The congress of “Caffee Gadaa” assembly, called “Kora Gadaa” or “Yaa’ii Gadaa”, which was held at Oda Bultum would be undertaken for eight consecutive days and it had been attended by delegates called “luba”. Each “luba” must had a minimum of 40 years age and he would be elected by a local assembly of sub-clan. Then all “lubas” would gather at Oda Bultum and they would elect the future leaders. The congress was hosted by a group of appointed deputies which was lead by “Abbaa Caffee”. The “lubas” would stay in eight huts made from hay. (The “number eight” indicates the eight years of one cycle of “Gadaa”).

Under the instruction of “Abba Caffee” the “lubas” would elect “Abba Gadaa” who would be the future ceremonial head of state. Under “Abbaa Gadaa”s moderation and the participation of every “luba”, the assembly would evaluate the pervious performance of the administration and issue new laws and make strategic decisions. At the end of the congress, the assembly would form a new administrative through democratic election. The election criteria were bravery, oratory skill, knowhow of the society’s norms and customs, good discipline, good health etc… (Handicapped people wouldn’t be elected). On the whole, all nominees must had passed through the five cycles of “Gadaa”; that is, they must be of 40 years of age but under 48 years.

The assembly would elect six people who would fill the administration. The six people would be lead by “Abbaa Bokkuu” (the president) who was the head of the government; the other five would be members of his cabinet and each of them had ministerial position. The five ministers were called “Abbaa Biyyaa” (which was roughly equal to Minister of Land and Administrative Affairs), “Abbaa Duulaa” (equal to Minister of War), “Abbaa Horii” (equal to Minister of Economy), “Abbaa Seeraa” (equal to Minister of Justice) and “Abbaa Diidaa” (equal to Minister of Transport and Foreign Affairs). Generally, the five ministers were called “Shanan Gadaa”. The office of the governor (president) was known as “Mana Bokkuu” (House of the President). It was these two houses that would run the day to day administrative affairs of the state in the forthcoming eight years.
In all of its activities, the administrative body was supported by a council called “Mana Hayyuu” which was filled by a group of skilled and scholarly people called “Hayyuu”. These “Hayyuus” were usually people who reached the age of “Gada Moojjii” (meaning “retired from Gadaa” or “retired from administrative age”). “Hayyuu” can be re-elected but “Abbaa Bokkoo” and the five ministers (“Shanan Gadaa”) serve only one term.

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The laws and rules issued at Oda Bultum would be ratified at “Garbii Darrabbaa”, a place located at two Kms north of Oda Bultum. There, a congress of lawyers would study the laws and strategies issued by “Caffee Gadaa” assembly on the constitutional basis; unconstitutional law would be called “Heer malee” and rejected, and the constitutional laws would be accepted as the working directive of the state. The member of “Garbii Darrabbaa” congress would be called “Abbaa Heeraa” and he was also elected by lower (local) assembly. A man who was elected as “Abbaa Heeraa” would be called by this title until the end of his life. (Note: “Abbaa Seeraa” is different from “Abbaa Heeraa”. The former was “Minister of Justice; the later was member of the law making congress. In modern term, we may call the latter one “congressman”).

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 It is also noteworthy to mention “Raabaa Dorii” which was the “Council of Defense”. This council runs the military affairs of the state and it was lead by “Abbaa Dulaa” (Minister of War).  Military campaigns and defense programs would be implemented only after they have got good support by the “Raabaa Dorii”. On the other hand, the budget of the army and mandatory military service programs would be decided by this military council.

The army was called “Raayyaa”. The most trained and best equipped section of “Rayyaa” was known as “Qeeyroo” or “Qeerroo” (to mean “fierce and fast as leopard”). According to the information obtained from different sources, the chain of command of the army looks like the following.

1.      The smallest unite of the army had nine personnel and it was called “Saglii” /Seylii. Each “Seylii” was commanded by “Abbaa Seylii”.

2.      Three “Seylii” form “Muraasa” which was lead by “Abbaa Muraasaa”.

3.      Three “Muraasaa” form “Buttaa” and it was lead by “Abbaa Buttaa”

4.      Three “Buttaa” form “Cibraa” (Cifraa) and this was commanded by “Abbaa Cibraa”

5.      Three “Cibraa” form “Gubbaa” and this was lead by “Abbaa Gubbaa”

6.      Three “Gubbaa” form “Hoomaa” and this was “lead” by “Bobbaasaa”

7.      Three “Hoomaa” form “Raayyaa” which was commanded by “Abbaa Duulaa”.

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In the latter half of 19^th century the power of “Mana Bokkuu” and “Shanan Gadaa” offices shrinked while the “Raabaa Dorii” became the most powerful body in the state. The “Abbaa Duulaa” started to exercise full authority over the state. On the other hand, wealth became the most important criteria to be elected as a leader. Skilled and wise people lost a chance to serve the society at any position. This had created a leadership crisis and the Oromos of Harerghe lost their common strength. Up on the arrival of foreign invaders, their ancient and democratic administrative system totally collapsed.

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Written by Afendi Muteki
January 15, 2013

Harar, East Ethiopia

“Haralla”- The Legendary People of Eastern Ethiopia

By Afendi Muteki

Whenever you travel in the countrysides of East Ethiopia, you would see ruins of ancient buildings. If you ask about these remnants, the local people would tell you that their builders were the “Haralla” people. In oral traditions of the peoples of East Ethiopia (Oromo, Harari, Somali and Afar), it is said that the “Haralla” were a tall and gigantic race.  The Ittu Oromos who occupied the western part of the Harar Pltaeu say that a “Haralla” farmer would till a plot of land located around Asebot town while his house was located further south around Belbelti town; so each day, he had to travel a distance of more than 200 kilometers on his two ways trip.

It is said that the “Haralla” were eradicated by disasters because of their disobeying God’s order. The Ittu oral tradition tells us that when a “Haralla” used to marry a woman, breads would be spread on the path that links the bridegroom’s house with the bride’s home. The people invited for the wedding ceremony would wash their hands with milk. These inhuman acts of unconditional extravagance have displeased God so that He sent his rage up on the corrupted “Haralla” people. Earth quake, volcanic eruptions and drought attacked their land. On that, the “Haralla”, the legendary race of extra ordinary length, ceased to exist on the surface of the earth.

One account of the eradication of “Haralla” people is associated with the volcanic eruption happened around Metehara town in ancient times. It said that the “Basaqaa” lake which is found closer to the Metehara town was created when a nearby volcano was erupted on a huge crowd of “Haralla” people who were holding an extravagant weeding ceremony on the spot.

Once, the “Haralla” legends and the gigantic race itself have never been considered a realistic case by the scholars.  But recent studies show that the legendary people of “Haralla” were the original inhabitants of the land that stretches from East Shoa to Jijjiga. The scholars add that even though the disaster stories were modified and composed to fairy tales, the annihilation of the “Haralla” by other neighboring population was a true phenomenon. For scholarly approach on the “Haralla” people and their legends, the book of Professor Ulrich Braukamper which is titled “Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia” (see photo) is an awesome reference. 


By Afendi Muteki
November 20/2012

Harar, Ethiopia

“ከቢር” እና “አርዳ ዊጅ"

(አፈንዲ ሙተቂ: “ሀረር ጌይ- የአስገራሚዋ ከተማ የኢትኖግራፊ ወጎች”: ገጽ 12-16)

“ለዕድለኛ ሰው የህይወት ጥሪ ይደርሰዋል” ይባላል፡፡ እኔ ድሮ በዚህ አላምንም ነበር፡፡ ተኣምረኛዋ ከተማ ግን ተስፈንጣሪ አቋሜን ትቼ ከብዙሀኑ እምነት ጋር እንድታረቅ አስገድዳኛለች፡፡1 “እንዴት?” የምትሉኝ ከሆነ ነገሩን በጥቂቱ ላጫውታችሁ፡፡

የዚህችን ከተማ ስመ-ገናናነት ቀድሞውንም ቢሆን እመሰክራለሁ። በኢትዮጵያም ሆነ በአፍሪቃ በጥንታዊነታቸው ከሚጠቀሱ ጥቂት ማዕከላት መካከል እንደምትመደብም ተጠራጥሬ አላውቅም፡፡ እርሷን በአካል ካወቅኳት በኋላ ግን በመጠነ ሰፊ ተአምራት የተሞላች ባለትንግርት (mystique) መዲና መሆኗ አነቃቃኝና በትንግርቶቿ ላይ አሰሳ ማድረግ ጀመርኩ፡፡

በዚሁ መሰረት በንባብ (reading)፣ በምልከታ (observation)፣ በመጠይቅ (interrogation)፣ በፍተሻ (survey) እና በውይይት (discussion/ dialogue) የማገኘውን ሁሉ ከማስታወሻ ደብተሬ ላይ ማስፈሩን ተያያዝኩት፡፡ አንዳንድ መረጃዎችን ደግሞ እንደኔው ለከተማዋ አዲስ ለሆኑ ወገኖች ማስተላለፍ ጀመርኩ። ይህንን ሁሉ ሳደርግ ታዲያ “ራሴን ላረጋጋበት” 2 ከማለት ያለፈ ሐሳብ መጥቶብኝ አያውቅም፡፡

ጥቂት እንደሰነባበትኩ ግን ከአስገራሚ እውነታዎች ጋር መናበብ ግድ ሆነብኝ፡፡ ለምሳሌም ከተማዋ “የምስራቅ አፍሪቃ ቲምቡክቱ” 3 የተሰኘችበትን ወርቃማ ዘመን ማሳለፏ፣ ከ1750ዎቹ መጨረሻ እስከ 1850ዎቹ መጀመሪያ በዘለቀው ዘመን እርሷን ለማየት ከፍተኛ ጉጉት የነበራቸው የአውሮጳ ምሁራን ከተማዋ ያለበችን ቦታ ማወቅ ተስኗቸው መላውን የአፍሪቃ ምድር ሲያስሱት መክረማቸው ወዘተ... ድሮ የማላውቃቸው እውነታዎች ናቸው፡፡ 4

በዚህን ጊዜም ነበር “እኔ ተራ ሚኒባስ እየጋለብኩ የገባሁባት ከተማ ዓለምን እንዲህ ጉድ አሰኝታ ነበርን? እንደዚያ ከሆነ ምክንያቱ ምንድነው?” የሚል ሙግት በአዕምሮዬ የተከሰተው፡፡ የዚህን ጥያቄ ምላሸ ሳፈላልግም ዕድለኛ መሆኔ ታወቀኝና “ራሴን ላረጋጋ” ማለቱን ከነአካቴው ትቼ ይህንን ድርሳን ለመቀመር “ኒያ” (ልባዊ ውሳኔ) አደረግኩኝ፡፡

***** ***** *******

አዎን! ከታላቋ ከተማ ጋር የተዋወቅኩበት አጋጣሚ የህይወት ጥሪ ከደረሳቸው እድለኞች ጎራ አሰልፎኛል። በዕድለኛነቴም ስለርሷ ላወጋችሁ ነው:: ስለ ትንግርተኛዋ የጥበብ መንደር!

ሀረር! የዕውቀት ሰፈር!.......

ሀረር የተወለድኩባትን ከተማ ገለምሶን ትመስላለች፤ አዲስ አበባን ትመስላለች፤ ድሬ ዳዋን ትመስላለች፡፡ ጅማንና ደሴንም ትመስላለች፡፡ በስነ-ጽሁፍ ብቻ የማውቃቸውን ቃሂራን (ካይሮን)፣ ዲመሽቅን (ደማስቆን)፣ ሎንዶንን፣ሮማን፣ አቴናን፣ ፓሪስን፣ ኒውዮርክን ወዘተ…ትመስላለች። ከአሰላም ሆነ ከነቀምቴ፣ ከጎንደርም ሆነ ከመቀሌ የተገኘ ሰው በሀረር ላይ ሲከትም ተመችቶት የሚኖረው ከተማዋ እንዲህ ሁሉንም መምሰል የምትችልበት በመሆኑ ነው።

መምሰልና መሆን ግን ለየቅል ናቸው። ሀረር ሌሎችን ብትመስልም ራሷን ብቻ ነች፡፡ በሌሎች አካባቢዎች የምታውቋቸውን ነገሮች በሙሉ በሀረርም ለማየት አይቸግራችሁም፡፡ በሀረር የሚገጥማችሁን ተአምር ግን ወዴትም ብትሄዱ ላታገኙት ትችላላችሁ፡፡ በዚህም ምክንያት ነው ሀረርን የረገጠ ሰው ሁለመናው ወደ አዲስ ሰውነት የሚቀየረው፡፡

***** ***** *******

“ሁሉንም እየመሰሉ ራሳቸውን ብቻ ሆነው መገኘት የሚችሉ ከተሞችን ጥሩ!” ብትባሉ በቶሎ የሚታወሷችሁ እነማን ናቸው? የናንተን ምላሽ አላውቅም፡፡ እኔ ግን ሁለት ከተሞችን ልጠራላችሁ እችላለሁ፡፡ አንደኛዋ በጽሁፍ ብቻ የማውቃት በጝዳድ ናት፡፡ ሌላኛዋ ከተማ አሁን የምኖርባት ሀረር ናት፡፡ የሁለቱ መመሳሰል ደግሞ በእጅጉ ይደንቃል፡፡

አዎን! በጝዳድና ሀረር በጣም ይመሳሰላሉ፡፡ በዚህም የተነሳ እህትማማች ከተሞች መሆናቸው በሰፊው ይነገርላቸዋል።5 ይህንንም በጥቂት አብነቶች ላስረዳ፡፡

በጝዳድ የኸሊፋዎች መንበር ነበረች - ሃሩን አል-ረሺድን 6 ያስታውሱ፡፡ ሀረር ደግሞ የአሚሮች መንደር ነበረች - አሚር ኑርን ያስታውሱ። በሌላ በኩል ሁለቱም ከተሞች “የአባዲር ከተማ” በመባል ይታወቃሉ። የሼኽ አባዲር ስም በሁለቱም ከተሞች የተከበረ ነው።7

ሶስተኛው አብነት ደግሞ (ከተሞቹን የሚያመሳስላቸው) ከዓለም አቀፉ አሳሽና ደራሲ ከሰር ሪቻርድ በርተን ጋር ይያያዛል። በርተን በአፍላ የወጣትነት ዘመኑ ላይ ጀብድ የመስራት ስሜት ቢወጥረው ለ“አጭቤነት” ተዳረገና ከርሱ በፊት ያልተሞከሩ አደገኛ የ“ማጭበርበር” ድርጊቶችን ለመዳፈር ቆረጠ።

በቅድሚያም “አፍጋናዊ ሼኽ ነኝ” የሚል ካባ ደርቦ ወደ መካና መዲና በመግባት 8 እዚያ ያየውን ነገር ሁሉ ለዓለም ህዝብ አስነበበ፡፡ በዚያው እግሩ ወደ አፍሪቃ ምድርም ተሻገረ፡፡ “የመናዊ ሼኽ ነኝ” በሚል የማጭበርበሪያ ስልት ወደ ሀረርም ገባና ጓዳዋን መረመረ፡፡ የምርመራውንም ውጤት “First Footsteps in East Africa፡ or the Exploration of Harar” በሚል ርዕስ ስር ለአንባቢያን ላከ።

ሪቻርድ በርተን በሕይወቱ መጨረሻ ላይ በጝዳድንም ጎበኛትና ዝነኛውን “The Book of Thousand Nights and a Night” (ወይንም ደግሞ The Arabian Nights) ለዓለም ህዝብ አበረከተ፡፡ 9 ከዚያን ጊዜ ጀምሮ ሁለቱን መጽሀፍት የሚያነብ ሰው ሀረርና በጝዳድን በደንብ ያውቃቸዋል።

***** ***** *******

ሀረር በነዚህና በሌሎችም ትንግርቶች የተመላች ናት፡፡ እኔም ላለፉት ሶስት ዓመታት “ዚሸርቂ ኢፍሪቂያ ታዕሊም መርከዝ” 10 ከምትባለው ከዚህች የታሪክና የስልጣኔ አምባ ጋር የ“ከቢር” እና የ“አርዳ ዊጅ” ጥምረት መስርቼ አስገራሚ “ዒልሚ” ስሸምት ከርሜአለሁ፡፡ 11

ሀረር የምታስተምረውን “ማድዲ” ሙሉ በሙሉ ከማጠናቅቅበት ደረጃ ላይ ገና ላይ አልደረስኩም። ስለዚህ “አርዳ ዊጅ” ሆኜ መሰንበት ግድ ይለኛል። ለአሁኑ “ጢት ከቢር” እንድሆን በተፈቀደልኝ መሰረት “ከቢር” ካስተማረችኝ “ዒልሚ” በጥቂቱ እየቆነጠርኩ ላቀብላችሁ ተዘጋጅቻለሁ፡፡ “ቀለም መስበር” ደረጃ ላይ ስደርስ የሚሆነውን ደግሞ በጊዜው አጫውታችኋለሁ። ዕድሜና ጤና ይስጠንና!

አፈንዲ ሙተቂ

ሀረር ጌይ

ጥር 2012

የግርጌ ማስታወሻዎች

1. ከርሷ ጋር የተዋወቅኩበት አጋጣሚ ራሱ ያስደንቀኛል፡፡ እርሱን ግን አሁን አላወጋችሁም። በህይወቴ የማልረሳው ትልቅ ምዕራፍ ነው ብዬ ማለፉን እመርጣለሁ::

2. “ራሴን ላረጋጋ” ስል አንዳንድ ጊዜ የሚነሳብኝን የጽሁፍ “ሐራራ” ላስታግስበት ማለቴ ነው፡፡

3. Richard F. Burton፡ First Foot Steps in East Africa, 1856, pp 1

4. ለምሳሌ በ19ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን መጀመሪያ ላይ የታላቋ ብሪታኒያ ምሁራንን ለአዳዲስ አሰሳዎች ሲያሰማራ የነበረው The Royal Geographical Society ሀረር የምትገኝበትን ትክክለኛ ቦታ ለማወቅ የተደረጉ ጥናቶችን በማጠቃለል Extract Report on the Probable Location of Harar በሚል ርዕስ አንድ ጽሁፍ አሳትሞ ነበር:: (The Journal of Royal Geographical Society, Volume 12, 1842) ከላይ በጠቀስኩት የሪቻርድ በርተን መጽሀፍ ውስጥም በሰር ዊሊያም ባርከር የተመራ የብሪታኒያ አገር አሳሾች ቡድን ከአንኮበር ወደ ሀረር ለመድረስ ያደረገው ትግል በባርከር አንደበት ተተርኳል። (Richard F. Burton: ibid፡ pp. 597)

5. አቶ ሑሴን አብዱሰታር፣ ህዳር 2009፣ ሀረር አቶ አብዱሰመድ ኢድሪስ፣ ታህሳስ 2009፣ ሀረር አቶ ኢድ ባሻ፣ ጥር 2009፣ ሀረር

6. ኸሊፋ ሃሩን አል-ረሺድን ከናንተ ጋር ለማስተዋወቅ አልቃጣም፡፡ በርሱና በሀረር አሚሮች መካከል የነበረውን መመሳሰል የሚያስረዳ አንድ አብነት ግን ይኸውላችሁ፡፡

ሃሩን አል-ረሺድ ህዝቡ በአስተዳደሩ ላይ ያለውን አስተያየት ለመስማት ሲፈልግ ምሽት ላይ እንደ በደዊ (የባላገር ዐረብ) ይለባብስና በጝዳድን ከዳር እስከ ዳር ያስሳታል:: የሀረር አሚሮችም እንደ ሃሩን አል-ረሺድ ማንነታቸውን በመደበቅ በከተማዋ ጎዳናዎች ላይ በምሽት የመዘዋወር ልማድ ነበራቸው፡፡ ለምሳሌ አሚር አህመድና አባቱ አሚር አቡበከር ከተማዋን በምሽት ያስሷት እንደነበር ሪቻርድ በርተን ነግሮናል። (Richard F. Burton: ibid: 335)

7. ሼኽ አባዲር በከተማዋ ህዝብ ዘንድ በጣም የሚታወቁበትን ገድል በዚሁ መጽሀፍ ውስጥ ታገኙታላችሁ።

8. በርተን በጉብኝቱ ማግስት የጻፈው Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah (1850) ከፍተኛ እውቅናን አትርፎለት ነበር፡፡ እርሱ ግን በአውሮጳ አደባባዮች ያገኘውን ዝና ከማጣጣም ይልቅ ሌላኛዋን አስደናቂ ከተማ ለመጎብኘት ወደ ሀገራችን ምድር አቀና፡፡ ከዚያም በለመደው የማጭበርበሪያ ስልት ወደ ሀረር ገብቶ ያየውንና የሰማውን ሁሉ “First Footsteps in East Africa” በሚባለው መጽሀፍ ውስጥ ጻፈው፡፡ ታዲያ አሁን የምታነቡትን መጽሀፍ ሳዘጋጅ የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ ምንጭ ሆነው ከረዱኝ ሰነዶች መካከል አንዱ ይህ የበርተን መጽሀፍ እንደሆነ ወደፊት ታዩታላችሁ፡፡

9. “አልፍ ለይላ ወ ለይላ” የሚለውን የመጽሀፉን የዐረብኛ ስም ነው “The Book of Thousand Nights and a Night” በማለት የተረጎመው፡፡ አንባቢያን መጽሀፉን በደንብ የሚያውቁት ግን The Arabian Nights በሚለው ስሙ ነው፡፡ የዚህ መጽሐፍ የአማርኛ ትርጉም (“አንድ ሺህ አንድ ሌሊት” የሚል ርእስ ያለው) ከእንግሊዝኛው የተቀዳ የትርጉም ትርጉም ቢሆንም በዐረብኛው መጽሐፍ የሚገኘውን ድባብ አልለቀቀም፡፡

10. “የምስራቅ አፍሪቃ የትምህርት ማዕከል” ማለት ነው-በጌይ ሲናን (የሀረሪ ቋንቋ)፡፡ ሀረር እንዲህ የተባለችው በወርቃማው ዘመኗ ነው፡፡ ሪቻርድ በርተን ይህንን ሲገልጽ “it shares with Zebid in Yemen, the reputation of being an Alma Mater” ብሎ ነበር (Richard F. Burton: ibid, pp-323).

11. በሀረር ባህላዊ ትምህርት ቤቶች መምህሩ “ከቢር” ይባላል፡፡ ተማሪው ደግሞ “አርዳ ዊጅ” ተብሎ ይጠራል፡፡ መምህሩ ሲያስተምር ከተማሪዎቹ ውስጥ ተመርጦ በሚሾምና “ጢት ከቢር” በሚባል ረዳት መምህር ይታገዛል። በትምህርት የሚገኝ ማንኛውም ዕውቀት “ዒልሚ” ይሰኛል፡፡ ትምህርት ቤቱ “ቁርኣን ጌይ” ተብሎ ይጠራል። ትምህርት የሚጠናቀቅበት (የምረቃ) ደረጃ ደግሞ “ቀለም መስበር” በመባል ይታወቃል።