Re: Let the Agaw Reclaim Agawia from Amaras, as Israel did from the Arabs!
Posted: 23 Feb 2025, 16:48
by OPFist
No question that the priory identity of most people in Amara region, specially in Gondar, Qimant, Gojjam, Wag, Awi and Lalibela is Agawnet, even through most of them speak Amarigna. They were converted to Amarigna speakers through expansion of the rule of the so called Solomon dynasty after the 1270 over take of power from Zagwe dynasty of the Agaw rule. Shoa and Wallo parts of Amara region belong to the converted Oromo, who were victims of the same assimilation mechanism. Surely, these two areas will rejoin Oromia in near future. I think, it is now high time to change the name of Amhara region to Agawia (Agaw Land) and to promote Agawigna to working language of the region. Such promotion of Agawigna is tantamount to renaissance of Agaw people’s priori identity in their own regional area.
Recently, I could observe that Oromo nationalists are dedicated to promote the very essential cultural and political revival of the great Agaw nation. As far as the information I have till now is concerned, in the ancient and modern history of Cushitic peoples, it is almost becoming clear that Oromo nation is the root and stalk of all other Cushites, including the Agaw. The Oromo being initially Wàqeffatà nation, the Agaw started to have a new orientation towards Judaism, being influenced by Jewish immigrants, who came to Cush kingdom about 3000 years ago. Despite such small differences, not only the Agaw, but all Cushitic nations in the Horn of Africa seem to be further derivations from the Oromo and yet having certain conflicts in some areas. Here, it is enough to look at common history and/or conflict history of the Agaw and Oromo nations because of the fact that Agaw-Midir is the north-western neighbour of Biyya-Oromo with the worse experience of being a victim in the Habeshanization process (which is sometimes seen as method of being converted from Wàqeffannà of the Oromo and Judaism of the Agaw to Orthodox Christianity of the Habeshas). As it had been already well recorded, the Habeshanized parts of Agaw have got a conflict for many years specially with non-Habeshanized parts of the Oromo.
Even if the Agaw might not be further differentiation from the Oromo, it is becoming historical fact that Agaw nation is the main priori identity of most Amara and Tegaru in Abyssinia. Different versions of history, legend and story do tell us that Agaw people in the northeastern Africa have been influenced, both biologically and culturally, by the Jewish and by certain other immigrants from southern Arabia, particularly from Yemen. I think the cultural influence by these few Semites is stronger than their biological impact on the indigenous Agaw nation. That is why most of the Habesha do physically look like African Cushites, rather than being like those from the Middle East, despite the claim of their monarchs that they are from the Solomonic dynasty. Certain historians do describe this phenomenon as a cultural Semitization of the Cushites, and they do call Abyssinian people as ‘Semitic speaking Cushites.’ Some writers even assert that the Agaw people are the only indigenous inhabitants of most areas now occupied by Amharinya and Tigrinya speakers.
One of the facts to verify this theory is the linguistic studies done by some specialists. These experts do narrate that Agawinya is main substratum for the Ethio-Semitic languages. The assertion holds water because of the reality that the languages of Abyssinia have got the same grammatical structure to that of Agaw, but enriched by different terms and vocabularies from the Hebrew, Arab and Yemenite Hebrew. This fact is the basic ground for the recent argument regarding, specially Amharinya, in clarifying the question whether it is a Cushitic or a Semitic language. The answer is already given by some linguists, who tried to designate Amharinya as a ‘Semitized Cushitic language.’ It was stated in literature that Amarinya was creation of the Habesha ruling class around 1270. It seems that the monarchs in Ankober started to use this language just for the sake of distancing themselves from the common people they did rule (from Agaw and Oromo). It is similar to the truly historical process of creating French language and its usage by the monarchs of the old Germans (e.g. by the Franken) just to have a privileged position vis-à-vis the common people, who used to speak Deutsch (German language). German monarchs used to speak French, which could be seen as parallel to the Oromo monarchs, who preferred Amarinya as their working language. That means Amarinya was equivalent to French (as a language of the ruling class), and Afàn Oromo was the same to Deutsch (language of the common citizens).
Amarinya getting this privileged position became the superstratum on the substratum of either Agawinya or Afaan Oromo. Amarinya significantly influenced both substrata to the extent that most Agawinya speakers lost their own Cushitic language, whereas the Oromo tried to defend their language against such influence. The main mechanism used to destroy Agawinya was discrimination and stigmatization of its speakers so that they felt inferior to Amarinya speakers. To be privileged as ruling class, the common citizens had to give up their language of the common and strive to learn language of the monarchs. Also in practice, those who assimilated themselves into Amarinya-speaking community have gotten the expected privilege and profit, which the ruling class reserved for its own group. This same method was also applied to the Oromo, so that the assimilated Oromo always could be treated as part of the Habesha ruling class and got powerful positions, even to the extent of being kings and presidents of Abyssinian empire.
Despite such mechanism of assimilation, Oromo people resisted and preserved our culture and language to some extent. Even though almost all Oromo nationals living in the north part of Oromia, as an immediate neighbors to the Habeshanized Agaw, lost their priori language, they could save their Oromo culture from being extinct. This is what we have already observed among the Ràyyà-, Wallo- and Yejjü-Oromo. For the sake of resisting the Habeshanization process, which is mostly considered to be equivalent to the Christianization through Orthodox church, these part of Oromo people accepted Islam as their own religion and with that distanced themselves from the classical Habeshas. Because of this step, they had to pay the sacrifice of being massacred by the Habesha warlord, Yohannes, and being discriminated by other Habesha kings and rulers. This same process was applied in the whole Oromia after the invasion by Hbesha warlord, Minilk from Ankober, the town which was part and parcel of Oromia; it was the birth place of Obbo Guddisà, the grandfather of Haile-Sillasie.
It was such discrimination, Habeshanization and stigmatization of the common citizens, which led to the start of coordinated national liberation movement of Oromo people. In fact, Oromo people have been in liberation struggle since the beginning of cultural and political influence by immigrants from Yemen calling themselves Habashat. The 16th century Oromo “migration” being part of liberation movement, the Oromo did fight against Abyssinian invaders, especially since end of the 19th century. Oromo leaders, who declared Afaan Oromo be the working language of the monarchy in Gondar palace, were part of this Oromo national resistance against the Habesanization process. The movements, like that of Ràyyà, Bàle, Maccà and Tüllama, Afran Qallô, Me’ison, Ici’at, and the well formulated as well as organized liberation movement led, especially by the OLF, can also be given as examples of the resistance. These movements could help the Oromo cope better than Agaw people, who could not survive as such, but now need to revive their priori identity.
Interestingly, the politically conscious Agaw nationals have already started this revival movement. The sub-groups, like Bilen, Awi and Wàg-Xamta, have already started to use their own language and to be proud of being part of the Agaw nation, despite all pressures and subjugation from their Habeshanized neighbors. The Qemant/Kemant around Gondar are now demanding the same self-determination to develop and use their own language as well as to rule themselves, being free from the Habesha oppressors. Those who already lost their priori identity, like the Lasta-Lalibela of western Wallo, the Wayixo around Bahirdar, the Gafat of the whole eastern Gojjam and southern Gondar, the Kunfal of western Gojjam, the Bejjaa-Midir (Begemidir), the Quara and the Semien of the western and northern Gondar, the Axumites and the Abergele of western Tigrai, are now trying to come back to their true self and resurrect their lost language, instead of being seen as Amara and Tegaru, which is actually their false self. They have now started to assert like the famous South African freedom fighter, Steve Biko, once said: “you can beat or jail or even kill me, but I am not going to be what you want me to be.” Here, he rejected the false self imposed on him and he was determined to keep and maintain his true self.
The question now to be asked should be: is such renaissance of the Agaw identity possible? The answer is in short, ‘yes,’ but to be successful, this traumatized nation is now in a desperate need of help from its brotherly Cushitic nations, like the Oromo, Somali, Sidama and Afar. Speaking Amarigna and Tigrigna does not make these people other than Agaw. Just like the Brazilians are not Portuguese by speaking the language of their colonizer, the Agaw people can not be non-Agaw for not speaking their priori language. If they want to revive their true identity, all the Agaw nationals first need to be politically conscious. Here is the main focus, where the OMN and ONN can help. I personally think and believe that people in Abyssinia are the Habeshanized parts of Cushitic Afar, Beja, Agaw, Saho and Oromo, who denied their true self. To mention as further examples, the southern part of Tigrai (the Ràyyà) are Oromo, the eastern part are Afar, the north-eastern part are Saho and the rest are Agaw. Regarding Eritrea, the western part are mostly the Habeshanized Beja, the center as well as the southern part are the Habeshanized Agaw and the eastern part are the Habeshanized as well as the non-Habeshanized Saho and Afar.
If, especially the Agaw nation, starts to resurrect and revive its true self, this is what we can call part of true Cushitic renaissance or in short Cush renaissance. Some Habeshas mistakenly do talk about this renaissance by making it to be the same as the continuation and strengthening of the Habeshanization process. Meles Zenawi’s rhetoric about Ethiopian renaissance is such a classical misconception. If he really was serious, then he had to promote and support Agaw people of Abyssinia come back to their true self. Such de-Habeshanization (giving up false self) or re-Cushitization (coming back to true self) is what we can accept and respect as the genuine Cushitic renaissance, which now seems to be envisioned by Dr. Abiy and co. This phenomenon must be coupled with revival of Agaw’s cultural and national identity. Actually all Habeshas, including the Habeshanized Oromo, should have entertained this attempt of finding true self by putting their false self in question.
Here, I must stress that, not only Habeshanized Agaw, but also Habeshanized Oromo of north Shoa, east Wallo, south Tigrai and south Gojjam, should try to resurrect their true identity. I know that most of them did not lose their Cushitic culture, but surely they had already lost their Afàn Oromô. Now, it is the right time for them to try to find their priori identity, and say ‘no’ to the ongoing entertainment of their false self. I am sure, if they count back seven generation of their ancestors, they all can find who they really are, instead of just looking at the language they do now speak and identify themselves as Amara or Tegaru. Also, this lost part of Oromo community need the necessary help of politically conscious Oromo nationalists.
The movements of Agaw and Oromo people against the hitherto and the ongoing Habeshanization process can synergize each other, if the two brotherly nations try to work together. It is a good sign that the Habeshanized Agaw and Habshanized Oromo nowadays started to call themselves as Amhara – instead of hiding behind the already contaminated identity called ‘Ethiopian.’ But now, they have to move further and ask: who is Habesha in general, and who is Amhara in particular? Till now, I read two authors writing on such question and topic regarding the Amhara. Both versions are diametrically opposite, yet the attempt of the authors to answer this question is good. I encourage every Amhara and Tegaru to ask her-/himself: ‘who is my true self’? Surely, majority of them can find the reality of being descendant of Agaw or Oromo, or that of other Cushitic nations.
If this process of finding and getting one’s true self will continue, definitely in the future, both Agaw-Midir (which is wrongly designated as the Axum empire, Abyssinia, Ethiopia or Amhara-Tigrai) and Biyya-Oromô, can be a very good peaceful neighboring states under the common home – the African Union (future African Federation). This can be common vision for both Agaw people and Oromo nationals, if they want to struggle together and get rid of the Habesha tormentors, who are still promoting de-Agawianization and de-Oromonization towards the false self of being an Ethiopian, the code name for the Habeshanization process. I think both Agawinnet and Oromummà, as a respective true self of the two brotherly nations and as anti-dote against Habeshanism, must be further developed and promoted in order to get rid of being Abyssinian (false self of the Habeshanized Cushites).
All Cushitic nations of the region in general, and the Habeshanized Agaw in particular, need to rally behind the common vision of a future good neighborhood. Only a sort of supra-national union of independent nations, like free Agawia, Oromia, Afar-Saho, Somalia and Sidama, under certain common name, call it Cush Community, Ethiopian union, Oromian union or Horn Confederation can be the lasting and optimal solution for the complicated political situation of the region. That is why Oromian independence is indispensable and even Agaw-Midir’s independence is possible. Oromo nationalists need to work on this process and project. All Cushites, including the Agaw people, need to come back to their priori identity in order to galvanize the national liberation movement against rule of the elites with such false self, who are the worst servants of alien forces as we saw in case of the Woyane. If all the stakeholders in the region will agree in having a sort of independent nations’ union (Cush Community); surely, both Agaw-Midir and Biyya-Oromô will be the strongest pillars of the union, just as France and Germany are to the European Union.
By getting victory over these servants of alien forces, who have already denied their true nature, all brotherly Cushitic nations and members of Cush Community in the Horn, including the non-Cushitic minor nationalities in the region can live in the future with all the necessary harmony and peace. To this effect, what is important above all things is renaissance of the lost good values, like Gadaa democracy of the Oromo and true national identity of the Agaw. This approach of helping Agaw’s identity resurrection is one way of tackling the dictatorial culture of Habesha elites. That is why Oromo nationalists have to promote national revival struggle of Agaw people, because of the fact that Agaw’s renaissance in turn will be the best support for Oromo national liberation movement. We just ought to start this virtuous cycle, which really can have a positive feedback for Oromo struggle. That is why I would like to say thanks to the OMN and ONN for taking this marveleous step of helping Agaw’s cultural and political revival. May Waaqa help the Agaw nation resurrect its priori identity and revive its own national culture and language!