By about 1500 BC their civilization became the Axum Empire, based on an assortment of the Sabaean culture and the Cushitic culture.

Certain Semitic-speaking tribes, particularly the Agazyan, established the Kingdom of Aksum around two 2000 years ago, and this extended to include what is now:

• Eritrea
• Northern Ethiopia
• Portions of Yemen and
• Portions of Sudan

It is believed that the Amhara inherit their religion and tradition from Axum. The region now known as “Amhara” in the feudal period was comprised of several provinces with greater or less autonomy, covering:

• Begemder
• Gojjam
• Qwara and
• Lasta.

Amhara warlords repeatedly struggled for power of the realm with Tigrayan warlords. Though many branches of the Imperial dynasty were from the Amharic speaking area, a considerable amount was from Tigray.

The Amharas appeared to gain the upper hand with the accession of the so-called Gondar line of the Imperial dynasty in the starting of the 17th century.

Nevertheless, it soon failed into the semi-anarchic era of Zemene Mesafint (meaning “Era of the Princes”), in which adversary warlords fought for power and the Yejju Oromo had effective control.

The Tigrayans only made a short return to the throne in the person of Yohannes IV, whose death in 1889 allowed the capital to go back to the Amharic speaking province of Shewa.

Historians usually believe the Amhara to have been Ethiopia’s ruling elite for centuries, represented by the line of Emperors ending in Haile Selassie.

Many commentators, including Marcos Lemma, nevertheless, dispute the truth of such a statement, arguing that other ethnic groups have always been active in the country’s politics.

One likely source of confusion for this stems from the mislabeling of all Amharic-speakers as “Amhara”, and the fact that many people from other ethnic groups have Amharic names.

Another is the fact that most Ethiopians can trace their descent to multiple ethnic groups. In fact, the last Emperor, Haile Selassie I, often counted himself a member of the Gurage tribe on account of his ancestry, and his Empress, Itege Menen Asfaw of Ambassel, was in large part of Oromo ancestry.

The extended use of Amharic language results mostly from its being the language of the court, and was progressively adopted out of usefulness by many unrelated groups, who then became known as “Amhara” no matter what their ethnic origin.
Feel free to have your say on the debate associated with this topic and we’re glad to publish it in this blog.
* Menelik I was the first of the Solomonic line of rulers of Ethiopia that ended only with the overthrowing of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974.

Keywords: Amhara, Menelik I, Sabaean culture, Cushitic culture, Agazyan, Amharic, Tigrinya, Zemene Mesafint, Yejju Oromo, Yohannes IV, Shewa, Gurage tribe, Itege Menen Asfaw, Emperor Haile Selassie I,

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• some say it’s derived from the word amari, (meaning pleasing, agreeable, beautiful and gracious) (also mehare, gracious, containing the same m-h-r root as the verb to learn);

• Ethiopian historians such as Getachew Mekonnen Hasen say it is an ethnic name associated with Himyarites;

• Others say that it derives from Ge’ez, meaning “free people” (that is. from “?am” meaning “people,” and “h.ara”, meaning “free” or “soldier”)

In the end, nevertheless, the name for the language and ethnic group come from the medieval province of Amhara, situated in central Ethiopia in modern Amhara Region and the pre-1995 province of Wollo.
Have your say on this debate.

Keywords: Amhara, amari, mehare, Himyarites,

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The Amhara people are mostly farmers who live in the north central highlands of Ethiopia. 

The Amhara, numbering about 23 million, making up 30.1% of the country’s population according to the most recent 1994 census, are a Semitic people whose ancestors possibly came from what is modern-day Yemen. 

These people speak Amharic, the working language of the federal authorities of Ethiopia, and dominate the country’s political and economic life for many years.

They are situated mainly in the central highland plateau of Ethiopia and embrace the major population in the provinces of:

• Begemder
• Gojjam
• In parts of Shoa
• Wallo

Many Amhara live in the mountains, politically strategic, but making it difficult to travel and gain provisions. The work division look like that the:

• men in the fields
• women around the house and
• children at home and watching the animals

The chief food of the Amhara is injera and wot. Injera is prepared from indigenous grain called teff. Wot is a sauce that can be made from beans or meat.

Although their life is hard (due to contaminated drinking water and deforestation causing most Amhara to live in yearly risk of famine) the Amhara are proud people, proud of their ethnicity, their religion, their special place in the world. Their culture is strong, developed over many centuries, and it has resisted the invasions of outside governments and religions.

Most marriages are discussed by the two families. Divorce is acceptable and must also be negotiated. There is also a “temporary marriage,” by oral contract before witnesses. Priests may marry but not entitled for divorce or remarriage.

We know we only said very little about the Amhara people. Feel free to write us any thing related to this topic and we will gladly publish it in this blog.

Keywords: Amhara people, Amharic, Begemder, Gojjam, Shoa, Wallo, injera, wot, teff,

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