Oromo National Identity Diametrically Opposed to Amhara Manner, Russian Officer Bulatovich Reveals
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
July 21, 2010
In a second article titled "Russia, the Oromos, Egypt, Sudan, Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia), Somalia, Islam & Orthodox Christianity" (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/169937), I republished other excerpts from Bulatovich´s book, and focused on the possible reasons for Russia´s failure as colonial power in the region. As reasons I identified an inherent Russian quantitative approach to the colonial process and an overall misperception of the past and the present of Asia and Africa, which is due to the Russian academic, intellectual and ideological acceptance of the Anglo-French Orientalism, a bunch of disciplines elaborated by the French and the English academia in order to mainly promote and diffuse an interpretation of data that would suit the interests of the Anglo-French Freemasonry, namely the driving force of the Paris and London regimes. I then indicated examples of Russian misperception of the East African History from Bulatovich´s excerpt that I republished. The excerpt demonstrated clearly that the Russian explorer was driven to many erroneous judgments and misperceptions because he had been theoretically based on Western European Orientalism, a definitely anti-Russian academic – theoretical – intellectual fabrication.
In a third article titled "Abyssinian Colonization of Oromia, Sidama and Kaffa in Bogus Ethiopia. An Early Witness from Russia" (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/169997), I republished another, longer, excerpt from Bulatovich´s ´From Entotto to the River Baro´ which bears witness to the evil Amhara and Tigray plans of illegal occupation of the annexed lands and of tyrannical consolidation of the Abyssinian colonialism by means of settlements peremptorily implemented among the subjugated nations.
In a fourth article titled "Ethiopia (Oromo) vs. Abyssinia (Amhara). Unbridgeable Ethnic, Cultural Gap Revealed by Bulatovich"
(http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/170546), I republished two more excerpts that focus on the Oromo society, namely ´Galla Clothing´ and ´Galla Family Life´. The text itself proves that Bulatovich came to get most of the details indirectly, and in this case his treatise is conditioned by the evident lack of access to the original source of information. Sometimes, Bulatovich insists on a wrong term; although he knows that the correct name of the subjugated nation is Oromo, he keeps calling them Galla. Furthermore, Arsi becomes Arussi, and Waaqo turns out to be Wak.
In the present article, I republish three chapters dealing with Oromo national identity, religion and language. All the preconceived concepts of the colonial era herewith present, thus leading Bulatovich to erroneous interpretations. Certainly, the Russian explorer was not a linguist, historian or historian of religions, and more importantly, academic exploration was not the primary interest of his travel which was kind of diplomatic reconnaissance. In fact, Bulatovich viewed the Oromos, the Sidamas, the Kaffas, the Amharas and the other nations that he encountered in his travel as the outcome of an interaction occurred at his lifetime with no past! Attempting to explain the origins and the nature of Oromo festivals like that of Borenticha, he never imagined that the closest possible parallel could be that of the Khonsu festival in Ancient Egypt, which took place in May and had genuinely apotropaic character.
However, the chapter on the Oromo national character is greatly interesting because it demolishes the Ethiopianist myth of a supposed Ethiopian nation. There isn´t and there can´t be any Ethiopian nation other the one identified by the Ancient Greeks and Romans as located south of Egypt, which means the Ancient Kushites and Meroites of Sudan, who are the ancestors of today´s brotherly nations, the Oromos, the Sidamas and the Arabic-speaking Sudanese.
By describing the traits of the Oromos and by clearly indicating that they are diametrically opposed to those of the Amharas (discussed in another chapter of his book that I will republish in a forthcoming article), Bulatoovich destroys the myth of possible Oromo – Amhara connection and/or affinity.
No common tradition, trait, quality, attribute or interest has ever existed between Africa´s most opposite groups: the indigenous, ancient and authentically Kushitic Oromos and the alien, Yemenite, a-historical and incestuous Amharas.
Due to the historicity of the Report which was submitted to the highest authorities of Tsarist Russia, I preserve the terms employed by Bulatovich. I must admit that, despite the Abyssinian filter of misinformation, and in spite of his preconceived ideas, Bulatovich offers at times a very sympathetic presentation of the Oromos, stating the truth wherever he had – mostly by coincidence – access to it.
Ethiopia through Russian Eyes
An eye-witness account of the end of an era, 1896-98 consisting of two books by Alexander Bulatovich
From Entotto to the River Baro (1897)
With the Armies of Menelik II (1900)
Translated by Richard Seltzer (seltzer@samizdat.com, www.samizdat.com)
From Entotto to the River Baro
http://www.samizdat.com/entotto.html
An account of a trip to the southwestern regions of the Ethiopian Empire 1896-97 by Lieutenant of His Majesty's Life-Guard Hussar Regiment Alexander Bulatovich
Originally published in St. Petersburg, 1897, Printed by V. Kirshbaum, 204 pages
Reissued in 1971 as part of the volume With the Armies of Menelik II, edited by I. S. Katsnelson of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R."Science" Publishing House Chief Editorial Staff of Oriental Literature Moscow 1971, entire book 352 pages, Entotto pp. 32-156
Translated by Richard Seltzer (from the 1971 edition)
Galla Language
The language of the Galla people is melodious and simple, and the words are easily pronounced because of the abundance of vowels.
It has none of the guttural sounds of Semitic languages, and I didn't notice any differences between abrupt and drawling consonants, as, for instance, in the Amharic letters "k" and "t".
The form of sentences is simpler and less flowery than that of the Abyssinians. Clauses are short and abrupt. And in conversation, the listener after each sentence of the speaker answers "yes" with a drawling "e" sound, after which the speaker continues.
In conversation with a person of higher station, the Galla begins his speech with the word duguma, which means "this is true." This must be because, in general, they often lie.
For conjugation, they use pronouns and auxiliary verbs for the future, present, pluperfect tenses. The perfect past, as in Amharic, is a basic verbal form.
They use participles and gerundives, but to less a degree than the Abyssinians.
Unfortunately, I am not well enough acquainted with this language to resolve its detailed and exact nature.
I tried to find out if the Galla have any epic folk tales, but only managed to collect a few proverbs and stories. I didn't find any epic folk tales.
By the way, here's a little story that an old Galla man told me as an amiable introduction to a gift: "A mouse came to an elephant to ask for the hand of his daughter. The elephant said, 'What! You, who are so little, want my daughter?' 'Never mind,' says the mouse. 'Give me your daughter.' The elephant did so.
Some time later, elephant hunters came to this place. The mouse having found out about this went by night to the hunters' camp and gnawed through all the saddle girths and horse gear and in this way saved the elephants."
Galla Religious Beliefs
The religious beliefs of the Galla are not reduced to a logical system. All that is out of the ordinary strikes the Galla. He loves nature, feels her, lives with her, and, to him, it seems that she likewise is endowed with a soul. River, mountain, large tree -- all these are living beings, particularly interested in this or that side of human life. First comes Borenticha -- the bearer of evil and of all misfortune. Men worship him under the name of "Borenticha," and women under the name "Borentiti."
Secondly, Adbar -- the bringer of the harvest and rain. Third, Oglye -- the spirit whom women worship in order to have children.
Fourth, Atelye-hora, masculine, and Atetye-dula, feminine -- also influences child-bearing, fertility, and reproduction of cattle.
The Galla pray to all these beings and offer sacrifices which vary with the importance of the occasion and the supposed power of the deity -- from a bull to a little bunch of grass or handful of pebbles. Usually each year on one of the Tuesdays or one of the Saturdays of May, each family offers a sacrifice to Borenticha. A ram is killed, beer is brewed, honey is gathered, flat cakes are cooked, and to this feast come all the relatives and neighbors. During the feast, some of everything is thrown on the ground. For instance, some beer is poured out saying "Here's for you, Borenticha. Here's to you, Borentiti. Pass us by. Don't touch us."
Trying to explain to themselves why they offer sacrifice once a year, namely in May, you hear two motives which, apparently affect this. First, the time coincides with the approach of the rains, and the well-being of the Gallas depends on the quantity of rains. Borenticha, as the great evil being, can hurt this.
Secondly, this time coincides with great feasts in honor of the Mother of God in Abyssinia and with "Bayram" among the Mohammedans. Seeing the ones and the others celebrate at this time, they made a holiday for themselves, and at the same time they sacrifice to Borenticha.
Aside from this annual sacrifice to Borenticha, they pray when undertaking anything like a hunt or war and also in case of illness. Prayer consists of song in which the one who prays expresses by his words the essence of what is asked. In time of illness, relatives of the sick man sing in a toneless voice, and growl and leap, trying to chase away the sickness.
They offer two sacrifices to Abedara, spirit of the Earth: before sowing and after harvesting. Usually, women cook some flat cakes made of tef, go into a thicket, throw the cakes under a big tree and sing and dance there in honor of Abedara.
Women often pray to and offer sacrifices to Atetye, throwing bunches of grass under big trees.
"Oglye" in different places signifies something different. In Leka, for instance, this god is identified with an elephant. In other regions he is considered of feminine gender, giving fertility. In any case, each time when a ram or a bull is killed in the home, women smear their neck and chest down to the stomach with fat and hang a piece of "white fat"64 in the form of a necklace around their neck. Men, too, having gathered blood in a shield and having mixed it with ashes of grass, cover their forehead and cheeks with this blood and hang "white fat" around the neck, and on the arms wear bracelets of fat. The latter give them good luck in war. The entire night after this, wild singing and dancing continues.
Thus, we see gods entangled among themselves. But this original polytheism is even more entangled when it gets mixed with worship of Christian saints: the Mother of God, Saint George the Victor, and Archangel Michael. This should not be taken as an indication that they were formerly Christians.
Rather, simply being neighbors with Abyssinia and seeing how the Abyssinians worship these saints, the Gallas came to the conclusion that these are probably likewise great beings whom they didn't know about before; and they began to worship them too. They always call one of the olive trees near the house "Maryam," and during the big Abyssinian feasts of the Mother of God in January, they offer sacrifices: they pour a handful of barley or wheat and pour some beer under the olive tree and sing songs.
They also offer sacrifices to mountains and large rivers. As already mentioned above, these sacrifices are very diverse, beginning with a bull or a ram and ending with only a bunch of grass. But there is still another unique kind of charm at times of sacrifice that I came upon accidentally. In Wollaga, in the middle of the road, I saw a clay figurine that represented a four-legged animal with a horse's head, lying on a pile of stones, sprinkled on the top with little bunches of cotton. I ordered my servants to pick it up for me, but they wouldn't, saying that you shouldn't do this, that this is an enchanted object which would bring misfortune to anyone who picks it up.
Then I myself picked it up. To my questions about what this meant, they explained to me that probably this figurine, which represented the devil, was thrown along the road by a Galla out of malice to his enemy.
By the way, when in a great hurry, instead of a ram, for instance, Gallas offer a clay image of it as a sacrifice.
There is one more interesting rite. At the exit of the path which leads from the house to the big road, you almost always come upon a little bed of stones, and on it lies dry grass. This is made so that Borenticha, having seen the sacrifice, won't stop at the house, but will pass by.
The Gallas don't have their own weekly or annual feasts, and they also don't have fasts. But living as neighbors with Abyssinia, the Gallas adopted from the Abyssinians some annual feasts: Holy Cross Day, which coincides with the end of the rains and the onset of spring, called in Abyssinian Maska and in Galla Maskalya; and Christmas, called Guma by both Abyssinians and Galla.
The Galla have no public worship, no priests, no altars, no idols. But in their midst there are soothsayers, whom they call kalicha. Conditions necessary to become a kalicha are not fixed: anyone who has a calling can make himself one. But the degree of respect for a kalicha depends on the degree to which his predictions and advice are good. Sometimes the name kalicha is hereditary and passes from generation to generation to the eldest in the generation. A kalicha who advises well and speaks the truth is very respected by the people. They come to him from afar to get advice and offer gifts.
When the country was subjugated, the first thing the Abyssinians did was to capture and execute the kalichas. Now there are almost none of them in the country, or they hide secretly in thickets. In appearance, they differ from others in the fact that they grow very long hair.
The Galla have many superstitions, for instance belief in werewolves which they call buda. One glance of a buda is enough to kill a man, especially at meal time.
From what has been said above, it can be seen that the faith of the Gallas is not in any way fixed. But at the same time, because it includes an understanding of God-Spirit, and of the origin of evil -- Borenticha -- as well as a precarious understanding of life beyond the grave, it cannot present a serious hindrance to their conversion to Christianity.
Right now, in Shoa, and particularly in Leka, Galla are baptized in large numbers. But unfortunately, this is superficial, since the Abyssinian clergy have no missionaries who would try to explain the essence of the Christian faith to the Galla.
Galla National Character
The main character trait of the Galla is love of complete independence and freedom. Having settled on any piece of land, having built himself a hut, the Galla does not want to acknowledge the authority of anyone, except his personal will.
Their former governmental system was the embodiment of this basic trait of their character -- a great number of small independent states with figurehead kings or with a republican form of government.65
Side by side with such independence, the Galla has preserved a great respect for the head of the family, for the elders of the tribe, and for customs, but only insofar as it does not restrain him too much.
The Galla is a poet. He worships nature, loves his mountains and rivers, considering them animated beings. He is a passionate hunter.
The Galla are a warlike people. They are very brave, and killing among them, as among other peoples, is elevated to a cult. Very recently there were some Galla tribes where a youth did not have the right to get married until he killed an elephant, a lion, or a man. Having killed one of them, a Galla greased his head with butter, worse bracelets, rings, and an earring.
But comparing their bravery with the bravery of other peoples, I should say that this is not the nervous enthusiasm of the Abyssinian, not the selflessness of the Russian, but a quicker bent for blood. This bent makes the Galla dreadful to such a point that he doesn't notice danger.
The armaments of the Gallas consist of a metal spear (which has a different shape among the various clans), a knife in his belt, and a large shield. Whether or not a Galla is a cavalryman depends on his place of residence. On the plateaux of Chalea, Wobo, Tikur, Shoa, and Leka, which are abundant in horses, all the Galla are cavalrymen. In the mountains and forests of the west and southwest regions adjacent to Kaffa, almost none are.
The ambush, the night attack, the single combat -- those are the favorite tactics of the Galla.
Both on horse and on foot, the Galla fights for his personal goal -- to kill and to get trophies. There is no general concept of "patriotism." To run away is not considered a disgrace. The Galla likewise have no concept of all being related to one another by blood and kinship. In the recent subjugations of the Galla by the Abyssinians, the most violent fighters in the ranks of the Abyssinians were themselves Galla.
Galla make excellent cavalrymen. Their horses are plain and small, but hardy and fast. In battle, they very rarely get close to the enemy. Instead, having galloped at the enemy in full career and having thrown a spear, they abruptly turn around and gallop away. In general, the Galla are marvelous military material, and particularly now, after that school of obedience and discipline that they pass through under the power of the Abyssinians.
The ambition and sense of honor of the Galla do not go very far. The Galla passionately wants to kill somebody or something in war or in a hunt to have the right to grease his head with butter and to return home with songs. But you can defeat a Galla without risk. In case of injustice, the beaten man feels indignation, but never outrage.
The Galla is a beggar, sooner generous than stingy, sooner good than bad. You can only believe him with caution. Formerly, there was almost no thievery among the Galla, but this was not due to principled honesty, but rather to the absence of want -- all the more so because the distribution of property was very equal. But now, theft has become very common.
As regards the difference between separate clans of the Mocha, those who inhabit the plateau are more warlike and blood-thirsty than those who live in the lowland. As regards culture, the inhabitants of Wollaga, Leka, and Jimma differ sharply from the others. These are mainly trading and manufacturing regions.
Note
Picture: Oromo earring from Jimma
From: http://www.samizdat.com/bulatovichphotos/illustrations/earring%20of%20a%20Galla%20from%20Jimma.jpg