| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Ethiopia | 160,000 |
| Languages | |
| Wolane | |
| Religion | |
| mainly Islam [1] | |
The Wolane people are an ethnic group in southern Ethiopia. [2] Wolane people speak a Semitic language which is closely related to Sil'te, Zay and Harari languages. [3]
Tradition states some of the Wolane people's ancestors were Kabir Hamid who arrived from Harar as well as saint Aw Barkhadle. [4] [5] Wolane are considered as once an extension of the ancient Harla people including Silt'e and Harari people prior to the Oromo expansions of the sixteenth century. [6]
In the thirteenth century, Wolane were historically associated with the Muslim state of Hadiya Sultanate and designated Hadiya people alongside other ethnic groups in the region. [7] In the 1600s, their leader Garad of Hadiya Sidi Mohammed defeated the troops of Emperor Susenyos I at the Battle of Hadiya thus protecting their frontier from Abyssinian annexation for the next three hundred years. [8]
Wolane’s territory was annexed into Gurage after Abyssinian forces of Menelik invaded in the 1800's. Wolane domain today remains under the Gurage zone's eastern most district, however there has been calls by the Wolane to push for a separate Wolane region. [9] [10]
The Wolane community consists of 160,000 people. A remarkable number of Wolane is living in Addis Ababa. The Wolane in the countryside live mostly in higher places, called "Däga". These places are very suitable for the cultivation of Enset, which is one of Wolane people stample foods. [11]
Harar, known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey, is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saints.
The Gurage are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. They inhabit the Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mountainous region in central Ethiopia, about 125 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa, bordering the Awash River in the north, the Gibe River, a tributary of the Omo River, to the southwest, and Hora-Dambal in the east.
Ethiopian Semitic is a family of languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan. They form the western branch of the South Semitic languages, itself a sub-branch of Semitic, part of the Afroasiatic language family.
Habesha peoples is an ethnic or pan-ethnic identifier that has been historically employed to refer to Semitic language-speaking and predominantly Oriental Orthodox Christian peoples found in the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea between Asmara and Addis Ababa and this usage remains common today. The term is also used in varying degrees of inclusion and exclusion of other groups.
Hadiya also known as Adea or Hadia was a medieval Muslim state in the southern part of its realm located south of Shewa and west of Sharkha. Hadiya was historically a vassal state of the Adal federation and then became a province of Abyssinia in the fourteenth century. In the 1600s Hadiya regained its independence and was led by a Garad. By 1850, Hadiya is placed north-west of lakes Zway and Langano but still between these areas.
Siltʼe is an Ethiopian Semitic language spoken in central Ethiopia. A member of the Afroasiatic family, its speakers are the Siltʼe, who mainly inhabit the Siltʼe Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region. Speakers of the Wolane dialect mainly inhabit the Kokir Gedebano district of Gurage Zone, as well as the neighbouring Seden Sodo district of the Oromia Region. Some have also settled in urban areas in other parts of the country, especially Addis Ababa.
Zay is an Afroasiatic language of the Semitic branch spoken in Ethiopia. It is one of the Gurage languages in the Ethiopian Semitic group. The Zay language has around 5,000 speakers known as the Zay, who inhabit Gelila and the other five islands and shores of Lake Zway in the southern part of the country.
The languages of Ethiopia include the official languages of Ethiopia, its national and regional languages, and a large number of minority languages, as well as foreign languages.
Gurage is a zone in the Central Ethiopia Regional State of Ethiopia. The region is home to the Gurage people. Gurage is bordered on the southeast by Hadiya and Yem Zone, on the northwest by Kebena Special Woreda, north and east by the Oromia Region, and on the southeast by Silt'e. Its highest point is Mount Gurage. Welkite is the administrative centre of the Region; Butajira is the largest city in this zone and the former administrative centre.
Hadiya, also spelled as Hadiyya, is an ethnic group native to Ethiopia in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region who speak the Hadiyyisa language. According to a popular etymology, the name 'Hadiyya," sometimes written in the versions Hadya, Hadea, Hadija, Hadiyo, Hadiyeh, Adea, Adia, means "gift of god" A historical definition of the Hadiya people based on the old Hadiyya Sultanate included a number of Ethiopian ethnic groups currently known by other names. Currently, this historic entity is subdivided into a number of ethnonyms, partly with different languages and cultural affiliations. In his book "A History of the Hadiyya in Southern Ethiopia," Ulrich Braukämper reported that Leemo, Weexo-giira, Sooro, Shaashoogo, Baadawwaachcho, and Libido (Maraqo) Hadiyya subgroups remain a language entity and preserved identity of oneness, the Hadiyya proper. In contrast, Qabeena, Halaaba, Welene and Gedebano, and Silt'e people developed separate ethnic identities. Clans of Hadiya origin in Oromia, Sidama, Wolayta, Gurage, Tigray, and Afar were completely absorbed by these nations. They were initially all inhabitants of a single political entity, a sultanate, which in the four centuries following its break-up in the mid-16th century fragmented into separate ethnic groups.
The Siltʼe people are an ethnic group in southern Ethiopia. They inhabit the Siltʼe Zone which is part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region. Silt'e people speak Siltʼe language a Semitic language which is closely related to Wolane, Zay and Harari languages.
The Harari people are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group which inhabits the Horn of Africa. Members of this ethnic group traditionally reside in the walled city of Harar, simply called Gēy "the City" in Harari, situated in the Harari Region of eastern Ethiopia. They speak the Harari language, a member of the South Ethiopic grouping within the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic languages.
Garad is a term used to refer to a clan leader or regional administrator. It was used primarily by Muslims in the Horn of Africa that were associated with Islamic states, most notably the Adal Sultanate.
The Harla, also known as Harala, Haralla are an ethnic group that once inhabited Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia. They spoke the now-extinct Harla language, which belonged to either the Cushitic or Semitic branches of the Afroasiatic family.
The Halaba people (alternate spellings Alaba also called K'abeena are an ethnic group inhabiting the central Ethiopian highlands. The Halaba claim to originate from the Arab cleric, Abadir who settled in Harar. In the middle ages, Halaba were part of the Hadiya state. In the 1400s their Garad was in conflict with the Abyssnian monarch Zara Yaqob. They are mostly Muslims but there are also some Christians. A map of the region from 1628 shows a Kingdom of Halaba. They speak Halaba-Kʼabeena which is a member of the Highland East Cushitic language within the Afroasiatic family. Sidi Mohammed the Garad of Hadiya is stated to be a forefather for the Halaba people.
The Kebena people are a Cushitic ethnic group found in the Gurage Zone of Ethiopia. They speak the Kebena language which is a sub of Cushitic family group very similarly to the Kembata and Alaba languages. The Kebena have unique and beautiful culture. The Kebena people live in the Ethiopia predominantly in Kebena Special Woreda with it’s seat Wosherbe. In the 19th century they were part of the Islamic kingdom of Hadiya, in fact it was one of the two principalities of Hadiya. It became known as Kebena or Hadya Womba. It also became an important commercial and Islamic center in the late 19th to early 20th century. After the fall of the Hadiya kingdom the Kebena people took upon themselves to restore the rule and order in the region under the Islamic sharia which was led by Imam Hassan Injamo. The Kebena subsist on agriculture. Unlike their southern kinsmen, the Hadiya, the Kebena are followers of Islam. Kebena governors of their region were known as Garads, the most notable Garad was Hassan Injamo who led a resistance against Menelik's invasion.
A Malassay was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Adal Sultanate's household troops. According to Manfred Kropp, Malassay were the Harari armed forces.
Aze was the Garad (chief) of the Hadiya seven houses which consisted of Siltʼe, Wolane, Ulbarag, Azernet, Barbare, Wuriro, and Gadabano, speakers of Semitic Harari language. He was defacto ruler of the Hadiya state.
Ifat also known as Yifat, Awfat or Wafat was a historical Muslim region in the Horn of Africa. It was located in modern eastern Shewa.
Sidi Mohammed was the Garad (chief) of the Hadiya people in the beginning of the seventeenth century. He is considered a descendant of some of the Silt'e clan originators as well as the founder of Halaba ethnic group.