A history of chara people, south west Ethiopia ca.1897 – 1991

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to study the socio-cultural, economic and political history of the Chara people in the period between ca1897 and 1991.The Chara presently live in Kaffa zone. The Chara are one of the Omotic languages speaking people, geographically located in the south western region of Ethiopia or in the former Kaffa kingdom laterKaffa Teqlay-Gizat. The neighboring people call them by different names, but the people call themselves Tsaratsaand they are commonly calledby the name of Charaby the state. Like other peoples in the region, the social division of the society was based on clans. Accordingly, the Tata(the ruling groups of the society) were recruited from the clan named Buqasa‟a. On the other hand, the occupational groups were represented in the lowest position of the society. The Chara were followers of the traditional religion, and they call their god Yeriwhich is equivalent toYeroof the Kaffecho people.Adubo was the leader of the traditional religion of the Chara.The economy of the society was based on mixed activities of hunting and gathering, agriculture, crafts and trade.The people have created relations socially, culturally, and in economic aspects with the neighboring groups of peoples like the Kaffecho, Na’o, Konta and Me’eenit. However, mostly theirinteraction with the Me’eenit was not peaceful. They were frequently clashed with them due to territorial expansion, abduction and also looting of cattle by the Me’enit.The Chara were incorporated in to the Ethiopian empire in the year 1897. After the forcefull subjugation and incorporation of Menelik II through his general Ras Wolde Giyorgis, the Chara lost their socio-cultural as well as economic pristige. New rule was introduced in the area and the roll of traditional rule of Chara was minimaized. On the other hand, slavery and slave trade were widely expanded in the area. The people were one of the victims of slaveryand slave trade. Most of the Chara people were sold in to slavery by the local governors. Due to this problem, their number was greatly minimized.During the period of Italian occupation (1936-1941) the Chara also faced forceful road construction by the Italians. After the occupation, the Chara were governed in the Kaffa Teklay Gizat together with the peoples of Kaffecho, and Na’o. They lost their local administration after the introduction of new rule by the imperial government.The land measurement of the imperial government in 1955 E.C (1963), was, followed by land grab and alienations. The government declared new tax amount after the land measurement. On the other hand, somerulers like Melerasha Tibebu abused the land measurement. Due to this, the Chara were forced to leave their fertile land. Regarding the infrastructural development, the Chara were s very far from Education, health center, road and other institutions. Because of lack of modern facilities, the peoplewere greatly affected by epidemics.The sources that are used in this thesis are categorized in to three groups. The first groups of sources include manuscripts, thesis and dissertations. But these literatures are not specifically discussing about the history of Chara.They are also limited in number. The archival sources found in Jimma Zone Administration (JZA) and Decha woreda are not reserved properly. On the other hand, no archival sources were found at Wolde Meskel Tariku Memorial Research Center of Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) and National Archives and Llibrary Agency (NALA). Finally, I have tried my best to interview lnformants from different groups of people. I have encountered various problems while conducting this thesis, basically lack of written sources, the archival sources in Kaffa zone are not simply available for researchers.