Everything about Amhara People totally explained
Amhara (
Amharic: አማራ,
Ge'ez: አምሐራ) is an
ethnic group in the central highlands of
Ethiopia. Numbering about 23 million people, it comprises 30.1 percent of the country's population, according to the most recent
census (1994). They speak
Amharic, the working language of the federal authorities of Ethiopia, and dominate the country's political and economic life.
Etymology
The derivation of the name
"Amhara" is debated; according to some it comes from the word
amari, meaning "pleasing, agreeable, beautiful and gracious" (also
mehare, "gracious", containing the same
m-h-r root as the verb to learn), while some Ethiopian historians such as Getachew Mekonnen Hasen say it's an ethnic name connected with
Himyarites. Still others say that it derives from Ge'ez, meaning "free people" (for example from
Ge'ez ዓም "
ʿam" meaning "people," and ሓራ "
h.ara", meaning "free" or "soldier"), though others, such as
Donald Levine, have dismissed this as a folk etymology. Ultimately, however, the name for the language and ethnic group come from the medieval province of
Amhara, located in central Ethiopia in modern
Amhara Region and the pre-1995 province of
Wollo.
Agriculture
About 90 percent of the Amhara are rural and make their living through farming, mostly in the Ethiopian highlands. Prior to the 1974 revolution,
absentee landlords maintained strict control over their
sharecropping tenants, often allowing them to accumulate crippling
debt. After 1974, the landlords were replaced by local government officials, who play a similar role.
Barley,
corn,
millet,
wheat,
sorghum, and
teff, along with
beans,
peppers,
chickpeas, and other
vegetables, are the most important
crops. In the highlands one crop per year is normal, while in the lowlands two are possible.
Cattle,
sheep, and
goats are also raised.
Religion
Their predominant religion for centuries has been
Christianity, with the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church playing a central role in the culture of the country and of the Amharic. According to the 1994 census, 81.5 percent of the
Amhara region (which is 91.2 percent Amhara) were Ethiopian Orthodox; 18.1 percent were
Muslim, and 0.1 percent being
Protestant ("
P'ent'ay"). The Ethiopian Orthodox Church maintains close links with the
Egyptian Coptic Church.
Easter and
Epiphany are the most important celebrations, marked with services, feasting and dancing. There are also many "fast" days throughout the year, when only vegetables or
fish may be eaten.
Marriages are often
arranged, with men marrying in their late teens or early twenties. Traditionally, girls were married as young as 14, but in the 20th century, the minimum age was raised to 18, and this was enforced by the Imperial government.
Civil marriages are common, although some marry in
churches. After a church wedding, divorce isn't allowed. Each family hosts a separate wedding feast after the wedding.
Upon childbirth, a priest will visit the family to bless the infant, and
circumcise him if he's a boy. . The mother and child remain in the house, for 40 days after birth of a boy, eighty for a girl, before going to the church for
baptism.
Art
Ethiopian art is typified by religious paintings. One of the most notable features of these is the large eyes of the subjects, who are usually biblical figures.
History
Certain
Semitic-speaking tribes, notably the
Agazyan, built the
Kingdom of Aksum around two millennia ago, and this expanded to contain what is now Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, and at times, portions of Yemen and Sudan. The Amhara inherit their religion and monarchical tradition from Axum, as do
Tigrayans.
The region now known as "Amhara" in the feudal era was composed of several provinces with greater or less autonomy, including
Begemder,
Gojjam,
Qwara and
Lasta.
Some time in the late middle ages, the
Amharic and
Tigrinya languages began to be differentiated. Amhara warlords often competed for dominance of the realm with Tigrayan warlords. While many branches of the Imperial dynasty were from the Amharic speaking area, a substantial amount were from
Tigray. The Amharas seemed to gain the upper hand with the accession of the so-called
Gondar line of the Imperial dynasty in the beginning of the 17th century. However, it soon lapsed into the semi-anarchic era of
Zemene Mesafint ("Era of the Princes"), in which rivalling warlords fought for power and the
Yejju Oromo inderases (or regents) had effective control, while
emperors were just as figureheads. The Tigrayans only made a brief return to the throne in the person of
Yohannes IV, whose death in 1889 allowed the base to return to the Amharic speaking province of
Shewa.
Historians generally consider the Amhara to have been Ethiopia's ruling elite for centuries, represented by the line of Emperors ending in
Haile Selassie. Many commentators, including Marcos Lemma, however, dispute the accuracy of such a statement, arguing that other ethnic groups have always been active in the country's politics.
One possible source of confusion for this stems from the mislabeling of all
Amharic-speakers as "Amhara", and the fact that many people from other ethnic groups have Amharic
names. Another is the fact that most Ethiopians can trace their ancestry to multiple ethnic groups. In fact, the last Emperor,
Haile Selassie I, often counted himself a member of the
Gurage tribe on account of his ancestry, and his Empress, Itege
Menen Asfaw of
Ambassel, was in large part of
Oromo descent. The expanded use of Amharic language results mostly from its being the language of the court, and was gradually adopted out of usefulness by many unrelated groups, who then became known as "Amhara" no matter what their ethnic origin.
Validity of ethnic group status
Up until the last quarter of the 20th century, "Amhara" was only used (in the form
amariñña) to refer to
Amharic, the language, or
the medieval province located in
Wollo (modern
Amhara Region). Still today, most people labeled by outsiders as "Amhara," refer to themselves simply as "Ethiopian," or to their province (for example Gojjamé from the province
Gojjam). According to Ethiopian ethnographer Donald Levine, "Amharic-speaking
Shewans consider themselves closer to non-Amharic-speaking Shewans than to Amharic-speakers from distant regions like
Gonder." Amharic-speakers tend to be a "supra-ethnic group" composed of "fused stock." Takkele Taddese describes the Amhara,
» The Amhara can thus be said to exist in the sense of being a fused stock, a supra-ethnically conscious ethnic Ethiopian serving as the pot in which all the other ethnic groups are supposed to melt. The language, Amharic, serves as the center of this melting process although it's difficult to conceive of a language without the existence of a corresponding distinct ethnic group speaking it as a mother tongue. The Amhara doesn't exist, however, in the sense of being a distinct ethnic group promoting its own interests and advancing the Herrenvolk philosophy and ideology as has been presented by the elite politicians. The basic principle of those who affirm the existence of the Amhara as a distinct ethnic group, therefore, is that the Amhara should be dislodged from the position of supremacy and each ethnic group should be freed from Amhara domination to have equal status with everybody else. This sense of Amhara existence can be viewed as a myth.
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