A brief look at the early history of some of the peoples who have occupied north-eastern Africa sheds some light on the origin of the Oromos. The Oromo belongs to the Eastern Cushitic language subfamily which in turn belongs to the Afro Asiatic super family that occupied most parts of northeastern Africa. The Cushitic speakers have inhabited north-eastern and eastern Africa for as long as recorded history. The land of Cush, Nubia or the ancient Ethiopia in middle and lower Nile is the home of the Cushitic peoples. According to recorded evidence the Cushitic family separated into different linguistic and cultural groups called Northern Cush, Middle Cush, Southern Cush and Eastern Cush at around 5,000 BC. The Eastern Cushitic family in turn gradually separated into different branches between 3500 and 2000 BC. Accordingly the Oromo national group came into existence as a linguistic and cultural group or as an entity beginning from 3500 BC. The Oromo is one of the Cushitic groups which spread southwards and then east and west occupying large part of the Horn of Africa. Their physical features, culture, language and other evidences unequivocally point to the fact that they are indigenous to this part of Africa. Available information clearly indicates that the Oromo existed as a community of people for thousands of years in East Africa (Prouty at al, 1981). Bates (1979) contends, “The Gallas (Oromo) were a very ancient race, the indigenous stock, perhaps, on which most other peoples in this part of eastern Africa have been grafted”.
According to Perham (1948): “the emigrant Semites landed in a continent of which the North-East appears to have been inhabited by the eastern groups of Hamites, often called Kushites, who also include the Gallas” (Oromos). Paulitschke (1889) also indicated that Oromo were in East Africa during the Aksumite period. As recorded by Greenfield (1965), Oromo reject the view that they were late arrivals, “… old men amongst the Azebu and Rayya Galla dismiss talks of their being comparative newcomers. Their own (Abyssinians) oral history and legends attest to the fact that Oromo have been living in Rayya for a long time.” Beke (cited by Pankhurst, 1985-86) quoted the following Lasta legend: “Menilek, the son of Solomon, … entered Abyssinia from the East, beyond the country of the Rayya or Azebo Gallas (Oromos). There are also evidence (Greenfield et al, 1980) that at least by the ninth and tenth centuries there were Oromo communities around Shawa (Central Oromia) and by about the14thcentury settlements were reported around Lake Tana. The recent discovery, (Lynch and Robbins, 1978), in northern Kenya of the pillars that Oromo used in the invention of their calendar system, dated by carbon date around 300 B.C. is another indication that Oromo have a long history of presence as a community of people in northeastern part of Africa.
Different areas have been mentioned as place where the Oromo developed or differentiated into its own unique community of people or ethnic group (Braukamper, 1980). According to some ethnologists and historians, the Oromo country of origin was the south-eastern part of Oromia, in the fertile valley of Madda Walaabu in the present Baale region. This conclusion was reached mainly on the basis of some Oromo oral traditions. Bruce, an English traveler in the 17th century indicated that Sennar in the Sudan was the Oromo country of origin and that they expanded from there.
There are several Cushitic peoples in East Africa very closely related to the Oromo. For instance, the Somalis are very similar in appearance and culture. The fact that the Somali and Oromo languages share between 30 percent and 40 percent of their vocabulary could be an indication that these two groups of people became differentiated very recently. Other Cushitic-speaking groups living in the same neighborhood who are closely related to the Oromo are Konso, Afar, Sidama, Kambata, Gedeo, Agaw, Saho, Baja and other groups. Konso and the Oromo people share more than 50% of common vocabulary.
In older literature and in fact until quite recently, the Oromos were referred to as “Galla”, a term with negative connotation that was given by Abyssinian ruling families. One may encounter this name in older texts, here and there but it should be noted that it is a pejorative and derogatory name. Historically, some people among the northern Amharic community used the label “Galla” derogatorily to label the Oromos. However, it should be known that the Oromo people neither call themselves nor like to be called by this name. The term seems to be aimed at destroying the identity of the Oromo people
The ancient Oromo settlement extends deep into present day Gojam, Gondar and Tigrai in northern Ethiopia. Even in recent history the Oromo were living in Gojam and Gonder as early as the seventeen century. But the Habasha clergy and rulers intentionally hide these facts or label these periods – the era of the princess – as the dark ages of their history. It is a fact that some of the Oromo population was absorbed by Amharic and Tigrinya speaking peoples. That such a process did take place is strongly suggested by the fact that Oromo personal names that frequently appear in genealogical reckoning of Amharic and Tigrinya speaking population. The Oromo also assimilated many of its neighboring populations. In this process it is believed that the Oromo developed into a veritable cultural corridor. It opened up extensive cultural exchange between societies which would have otherwise remained isolated and atomistic (Gada, Asmerom Legese 1973)
Demography
Before colonization, in around 1870, the Oromo was about 10 million. During the process of colonization, between 1870 and 1900, the Oromo population was drastically reduced from ten to five millions (Addis Hiwot). After colonization by emperor Menilk of Abyssinia, the emperor and his successors continued to reduce the Oromo population systematically. Many were killed in mass and thrown into graveyards by the colonial settlers and their army. Others died of famine during the so called Great Famine (1888-1892) and epidemics of various diseases, some intentionally spread among the Oromo population as a means to force them into submission. A significant number of the Oromo population was also sold off as slaves. The Oromo speaking people’s settlements extend in the south as far as the Great Lakes as Rwanda and Burundi in east Africa. Today the great portion of the Oromo people lives in the Ethiopian Empire.
The Oromo make up a significant portion of the population that inhabits the Horn of Africa. It is a single largest ethnic group in the empire state of Ethiopia. In fact the Oromo ethnic group rates second among the African indigenous peoples next to Hausa of Nigeria. It is the third largest language group in Africa, after Arabic and Hausa. As a nation out of the 53 or so nations of Africa only four have larger population than Oromia.
The 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), with all pressures and limitations imposed by the minority Tigray dominated government, shows that Oromia has a total population of over 28 million. Actually the Oromo nearly make up over 40 million out of the present 85 or so million population of the Ethiopian Empire. About 90% of the Oromo people live in rural areas where as a few live in the urban centers. The major urban centers of Oromia are Finfinne, Adama, Jimma, Dire Dawa, Chiro, Asala, Awasa, Shashamane, Bishoftu, Nekemte, Mettu, Ambo, Robe, Waliso, Fiche, Ghimbi, Dembi- Dollo and others. In some of urban centers of Oromia such as Finfinne the majority of the populations still appear to be Abyssinian settlers from the north.
