Agau (people)
The Agaw (also called Agau or Agaou ) are a group of ethnicities that live in the state of Amhara in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea . Their total number is about 700,000 people. They speak different varieties of the Central Kushitic (Agau) language, their religion is primarily Christianity .
The Agaw were first mentioned in an inscription by the Aksumite king Kaleb and in the writings of Kosmas Indicopleustes ; some experts hold a theory first developed by Carlo Conti Rossini that this ethnic group were the indigenous people of the Ethiopian highlands and were either expelled or mixed with the Tigray and Amhars .
Subgroups
- northern Agaw or Bilen , capital Keren
- western Agaw or Kemant , capital Aykel
- eastern Agaw or Xamir , capital Sokota
- southern Agaw or Awi (people) , capital Injibara