A History of Gidole Town from Foundation to 1991, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

This thesis investigates a history of Gidole Town from foundation to 1991. Gidole is located in the Southern Ethiopia particularly in Dirashe Woreda. For this study, primary and secondary sources were consulted. Collected sources were critically evaluated, and historical facts were analyzed qualitatively through chronological analysis and presented in written form. The finding indicates that, as a result of Dirashe’s incorporation into the Ethiopian empire, its people encountered many new things. Before Gidole town was founded, Emperor Menelike’s II soldiers garrisoned in Horma Qa’alo Mountain. Later, it was renamed “Gardulla Town” in the 1890s, and it served as an administrative and trade center for a long time. But during the Italian occupation (1936–1941), they arrived in Gardulla town in June 1936 and bombarded the town. Because Italians assumed the town was a source of food, water, and an information channel for patriots. Instead, they founded a new Gidole town two kilometres away from Gardulla town in the 1936. The main factor in its foundation was that it was chosen as a defense camp for the Italians and the suitable climate of the area. During the Italian's stay in Gidole town, both positive and negative changes were seen. From 1941 to 1974, government and private organizations were established in Gidole, which made the town the center of Gamo Gofa Province (Tekilay Gizat). As a result, trade and the establishment of social services are better than before. The establishment of memorial monuments for Gardulla Patriots and the foundation of various government and private associations in town had a significant effect on the growth and expansion of the town. Post 1974 marked the end of the old feudal system with the socialist ideology that liberated gabbars from the feudal yoke in Ethiopia in general and in Gidole in particular. Illiteracy, the traditional evil practice of Hada and Sohaya, was abolished. The amalgamation of craftsmen (Hauddah) with other social classes and urban cooperative association was another change. The development of Peopling, ethnic interaction and municipal administration and revenue in Gidole town was another development. Finally, the Growth and expansion of religious institutions and social services in the town was boldly reflected in the period we investigated to 1991.