Amharas (;Following the BGN/PCGN romanization employed for Amharic geographic names in British and American English. ) are a Semitic-speaking predominantly Orthodox Christian ethnic group native to the north and central highlands of Ethiopia.
Their ancestral land lies in the historic provinces of Bete Amhara, Gojjam, Gondar (foremely known as Begmder), Simien, Lasta, Wegera, Angot, Dembiya, and the Shewa province. These regions are a part of the Amhara Region under the current government. Their language, Amharic, is the working language of Ethiopia and has been the lingua franca across the Ethiopian Empire for over 700 years.
The Amhara and neighboring groups in North and Central Ethiopia and Eritrea, more specifically the diaspora, refer to themselves as "Habesha" (Abyssinian) people.Goitom, M. (2017) "Unconventional Canadians": Second-generation "Habesha" Youth and Belonging in Toronto, Canada. Global Social Welfare 4(4), 179–190.
Role in the Ethiopian Empire The Amhara historically served as the rulers and political nobility of the Ethiopian Empire. Likewise, the provinces of the Amhara Region served as the political capital for most of its history from 1270, with the origin of the Solomonic dynasty being in Bete Amhara, and it's end in the Kingdom of Shewa. Gondar was the imperial capital for over two centuries. Additionally, all emperors required a genealogical link by blood to the house of Bete Amhara. As a result, all emperors of the Ethiopian Empire were of Amhara origin. Although Yohannes IV is often regarded as non-Amhara on account of his Tigrean identity, he nevertheless descended from the Amhara Gondarine branch of the Solomonic dynasty. It was this connection that established his legitimacy as emperor in the Amhara-Solomonic imperial tradition. The Amhara are often described in the scholarly literature as the people most closely bound up with the formation, expansion and survival of the modern Ethiopian state. __TOC__ Origin
Etymology and historical terminology The name Amhara has a long tradition of interpretation in Ethiopian scholarship. It derives from Ge'ez (ʿam, "people") and (ḥara, "free" or "soldier").Uhlig, Siegbert, ed. "Amhara" in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, p. 230. Harrassowitz Verlag (Wiesbaden), 2003. This ethnonym aligns with the later prominence the Amhara had in the Christian kingdom.
Among the earliest extants of the Amhara as a people, dates to the early 12th century in the middle of the Zagwe Dynasty, when the Amhara were recorded of being in conflict in the land of Wärjih in 1128 AD.Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 81IL SULTANATO DELLO SCIOA NEL SECOLO XIII, page 10, Enrico Cerulli., 1941
The use of this terminology in medieval external sources is historically consistent. Medieval Arab historians state that Christian Ethiopia was under the sovereignty of "the Lord of Amhara" which confirms that the new Solomonic dynasty appeared to be of the Amhara people in the eyes of its contemporaries. The Egyptian historian al-Mufaddal ibn Abi al-Fada'il in 704 Hijri (1304-1305 AD) labelled the Emperor of Abyssinia as al-Malik al-Amhari or "the Amhara King." In 1436 Ibn Taghribirdi wrote a passage about the death of Emperor Yeshaq referring to him as the lord of Amhara, "The Hatse, the Abyssinian king, the infidel and the Lord of the Amhara in Abyssinia died (in this year). His estates were much enlarged after wars waged and led by him against Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din, the Lord of the Jabarta." The 14th century Syrian historian, Al-Umari, recorded that the Ifat Sultanate as well as all the other Muslim principalities in the region, were under the authority of the "King of Amhara" who collected tribute from them and appointed their sultans.Masalik Al-Absar fi Mamalik Al-Amsar, Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari, 748 AH (1347-1348) In the early 15th century Egyptian writer Al-Maqrizi details a number of revolts against Christian rule in the Sultanate of Ifat, which were subsequently crushed by "the Amhara".Tarikh almuluk al-Islamiyn fi Al-Habasa (History of Islamic Kings in Abyssinia), al-Maqrizi, 1438
Another early reference of the Amhara comes from the mid-12th century source by Umara al-Yamani, a Yemeni historian who notes that one of the rulers of the Najahid Dynasty, Surur al-Fatiki, belonged to the tribe of Amhara. He says "He of whom I speak was the noble Kaid Abu Muhammad Surur al-Fatiki. He belonged to the tribe of Amhara, and all I can relate of him is but as a drop in the sea of his great merits" A non-contemporary 13th or 14th century hagiographical source from Saint Tekle Haymanot traces Amhara even further back to the mid 9th century AD as a named location and a recognized territorial domain.The Life of Takla Haymanot in the Version of Dabra Libanos and the Miracles of Takla Haymanot in the Version of Dabra Libanos, and the Book of the Riches of Kings. Translated by E. A. Wallis Budge. London 1906.
Medieval European cartography further agrees with the Arabic sources. The Italian (Venetian) cartographer Fra Mauro, notes a Regno Hamara or "Kingdom of Amhara" in his famous Mappomondo in 1460. Important information on Amhara is provided in the Historia Aethiopica by Hiob Ludolf, the data of which came from Abba Gorgoryos, himself a native of Amhara. On the map of Historia Aethiopica, Amhara is situated between the Abay River to the west, the Bashilo River in the north, the Afar Depression to the east and the Awash River to the south. The province consisted of much of Wollo and northern Shewa, and encompassed the region of Lake Hayq and the famous Istifanos Monastery. Cumulatively suggesting that within the Ethiopian Empire, Amhara had a higher position as a "kingdom" among provinces and was not limited in use as a toponym.
The etymological definition is thus attested in Arabic, Ge'ez, Italian and Latin sources over five centuries and in all, highlighing the developing centre of power in the Ethiopian kingdom as Amhara.
Ethnogenesis
Aksumite Era The history of the Amhara people align closely with the history of Amharic, a South Semitic language, and their native language. Like other Habesha ethnic groups in Ethiopia, the identity of the Amhara people is directly tied to the historical Aksumite civilisation. The settlement of Aksumite-descended Christian families in the central highlands and their influence on highland Agaw groups resulted in the formation of Amhara Christian highland culture, which came to define the Ethiopian state.
Early Solomonic imperial chronicles and Debre Libanos records link the southward migration of Christian families into Amhara and Northern Shewa to the relocation of the kingdom itself. Population movement from the old northern provinces into the more fertile south aligned with the movement of the centre of political power from the historic Aksum, towards the north-central highlands of the Amhara.
The Christianization of Amhara is believed to have begun during the Aksumite period. Istifanos monastery on Lake Hayq, Amhara Region marking region as a long-established Christian land.
Assimilation of Agaw into Ethiosemitic Groups Throughout the history of north and central highlands, the Cushitic Agaw adopted Amharic and Tigrinya and took on the Ethiosemitic cultures in the relevant regions. However, remnants of Agaw culture still exist in the northern highlands of Tigray and Amhara, and further into Eritrea. The Agaw consist of several different linguistic groups, residing in scattered communities across a wide geographical area spanning from Gojjam to Eritrea.Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p.51 Additionally, in the Amhara Region, other Semitic-speaking groups have adopted Amharic and Amhara culture, such as the Gafat that lived south of the Blue Nile, and the Argobba of East Shewa.
History
Overview "Amhara" was historically a medieval province located in the modern province of Wollo (Bete Amhara), the area which is now known as the Amhara Region was composed of several provinces which had little or no autonomy, these provinces included Dembiya, Begemder, Gojjam, Wollo, Lasta, Shewa, Semien, Angot and Wag.
Evidence of a traceable Christian Aksumite presence in Amhara dates back to at least the 9th century AD, when the Istifanos monastery was erected on Lake Hayq.Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 36. Several other sites and monuments indicate the presence of similar Axumite influences in the area, such as the Geta Lion statues, which are located 10 km south of Kombolcha, and are believed to date back to the 3rd century AD, though they may even date back to pre-Axumite times.Briggs, P. and Wildman, K. (2014). Ethiopia. Chalfont St Peter: Bradt Travel Guides, p. 357.
In 1998, ancient pieces of pottery were found around tombs in Atatiya in Southern Wollo, in Habru which is located to the south-east of Hayq, as well as to the north-east of Ancharo (Chiqa Beret). The decorations and symbols which are inscribed on the pottery substantiate the expansion of Aksumite civilization to the south of Angot.
According to Karl Butzer "By 800, Axum had almost ceased to exist, and its demographic resources were barely adequate to stop the once tributary pastoralists of the border marches from pillaging the defenseless countryside." With some of the common people the Axumite elite abandoned Axum in favor of central Ethiopia. Christian families gradually migrated southward into Amhara and northern Shewa. Population movement from the old provinces in the north into more fertile areas in the south seems to have been connected to the southward shift of the kingdom.
The Christianization of Amhara is believed to have begun somewhere during the Aksumite period. The political importance of Amhara further increased after the fall of Aksum, which marked the shift of the political center of the Christian Ethiopian state from Aksum in the north to the Zagwe region of Lasta further inland."Amhara" in Siegbert Uhlig, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p. 168.
The Amhara nobles supported the Zagwe dynasty prince Lalibela in his power struggle against his brother, Harbe, which led him to make Amharic the Lessana Negus () as well as fill the Amhara nobles in the top positions of his Kingdom.Mohammad Hassan, The Oromo of Ethiopia, pp.3
Solomonic Dynasty (1270 - 1974)
Early Solomonic Period (1270 - 1632)
Yekuno Amlak, a prince from Bete Amhara (lit: House of Amhara) claimed descent from Solomon, and established the Solomonic Dynasty in 1270 AD. The early rulers of the Solomonic Dynasty may have been referred to as the "kings of Amhara", due to the origin of their founder, Yekuno Amlak, and therefore, their followers were called "Amhara" and brought this new name with them when they conquered new lands. Characterized by a Christian feudal culture, and by the adoption of Amharic, which from became the lingua franca. This population of a rather small province became the dominant group in the empire."Amhara" in Siegbert Uhlig, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p. 230.
The cultural contact and interaction between the Amhara and the indigenous Agaw accelerated after the 14th century. As the Agaw adopted the Amharic language and converted to Orthodox Christianity, they increasingly succumbed to Amhara acculturation. Other South Semitic speakers like the Gafat and Argobba in Shewa also began to adopt Amharic and assimilate into Amhara society. By the end of the 16th century, the populations of Gojjam, Lasta and Begemder were almost completely made up of Christian Amharic speakers."Amhara" in Siegbert Uhlig, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p. 231.