Habescha

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Habescha ( Amharic habäša , Tigrinya ḥabäša, Ethiopian script ሓበሻ , sometimes Amharic Abesha , አበሻ abäša ; Arabic الأحباش, DMG al-aḥbāš ; outside of the German-speaking area sometimes Habesha ) denotes members of the Semitic-speaking ethnic groups, including the Amharen , Tigray (Tigrinya) and Tigre in the northern highlands of Abyssinia in Ethiopia and Eritrea . The ethnic groups are very similar, but speak different - albeit related - languages.

religion

In Ethiopia, the majority live Christians ( Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church , Protestants, Catholics) and Muslims. Unlike many other African peoples, the Christian faith was not spread through European colonization. Rather, the Habescha Christians are among the oldest Christian communities in the world. In the Bible there are baptismal stories (for example in Acts 8.26ff  EU the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch) that can be dated to around 50. In contrast to the Roman churches, there is an uninterrupted language tradition of Christianity in Ethiopia and Eritrea, as Old Ethiopian has always been used as the clerical language.

Muslim Habescha are usually Sunnis. There are also some Sufi orders represented in the country.

The number of Ethiopian Jews is very small today; less than 1,300 people, according to Israeli sources. In the course of Operation Moses , many Jewish Habescha settled in Israel.

The Christians in Eritrea mainly live in the plateau around Asmara and the Muslim parts of the population mainly in the lowlands and near the coast. In addition to Islam, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church , Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church are approved by the state. Religious minorities that are not officially admitted, especially evangelical groups and Jehovah's Witnesses, have been affected by state repression, especially since 2002.

Cultural similarities

The Habescha share many cultural elements across borders; this is most evident in the common Ethiopian script .

The kitchen is also essentially identical. Large-pored, soft bread cakes made from sourdough ( injera ), which are eaten with spicy meat or vegetable sauces, are typical . Grain and honey beer are also special specialties.

A special feature is that the Ethiopian Orthodox Habescha also adhere to certain dietary rules that are similar to the Jewish kashrut or the Islamic dietary rules . Orthodox people do not eat pork.

The Habescha's traditional way of making coffee is also striking. The coffee is first roasted and ground and then boiled several times in a bulbous vessel ( jabana ) . Coffee is then made several times - usually three times - from a serving of coffee. The entire preparation, including the roasting, is carried out by the guests.

population

The number of Habescha varies between 32 and 75 million depending on the source, with a number below 35 million being probable (all Amharen, Tigrinya and Tigray). A significant number of Habesha live outside of Ethiopia and Eritrea. According to information from joshuaproject.net, the following figures result: Ethiopia: 29,300,000, Eritrea: 2,300,000; United States of America: 250,000; Sudan: 111,000; United Kingdom: 75,000; Israel: 64,000; Italy: 53,000; Switzerland: 21,000; Yemen: 18,000; Canada: 16,000; Egypt: 6,000; Germany: 6,000; Djibouti: 3,500; Saudi Arabia: 1,900.

Etymology of the term Habescha

The etymological origin of the term is unclear. A first use can be found in the 2nd / 3rd Century with reference to the Aksumite kingdom in old South Arabic inscriptions. However, the term could be much older. According to a thesis by Eduard Glaser , the term "ḫbstjw" appeared as early as 1460 BC. In ancient Egyptian inscriptions and referred to the Habescha. Ultimately - according to Müller - the origin of the term can no longer be assigned at all because of the long period of use. The term Habescha is the etymological root of the word Abyssinia . Since the word was also traced back to Arabic habesch with the meaning “mixture of peoples”, the term “Abyssinia” for Ethiopia was perceived by the Ethiopians as degrading and was rejected.

history

The Habescha share a common historical legacy. They are essentially descendants of the population of the core area of ​​the Aksumite kingdom.

There are various theories about the origin of the Habescha. According to one theory, they are descendants of tribes from the south of the Arabian Peninsula who crossed the Red Sea to settle on the African side. As an indication of this, both the Ethiopian script , which undoubtedly goes back to the Old South Arabic script , and the Old Ethiopian language , which, together with the Old South Arabic languages and partly the New South Arabic languages, are classified as "South Semitic" in some classifications of Semitic . Both the Old and New South Arabic languages ​​are not closely related to modern-day Arabic , which is called "North Arabic " in such classifications. Arabic in this context indicates the distribution on the Arabian Peninsula and not a relationship with the (Northern) Arabic language.

According to another opinion, first published in Europe by the German orientalist Job Ludolf , the Habesha correspond to the population of the Kingdom of Saba, as mentioned in the Old Testament . According to the biblical illustration, the Queen of Sheba gave birth to the son of King Solomon Ebn Melek. He later returned to Israel as Emperor Menelik to visit his father. He was so happy about the visit that he sent Menelik the son of Zadok and with him the holy ark (according to other sources: a replica of the holy ark) to accompany him on the journey home. According to this representation, Menelik I was the progenitor of the Habescha. This representation was or is also supported by the Ethiopian imperial family. The most detailed description of the term so far in various Ethiopian languages ​​as well as Ethiopian and foreign sources from antiquity to the present comes from Wolbert Smidt (2014).

The Habshis in India

Contemporary Indo-Persian reports already refer to the Ethiopians of the Indian Deccan highlands as Habshis, today it is a term in India for those communities whose ancestors as slaves mostly came from the Horn of Africa; another term is siddis . The majority were Ethiopians , but above all the Habshis captured by the Christian Ethiopian kings - they were members of non-Christian neighboring tribes - bought by Portuguese slave traders and shipped to India also came from the surrounding areas of Africa ( Nilots , Bantus ).

Even the traveler Ibn Battūta (1304-1368 / 1377) found them widespread from northern India to Sri Lanka as guards, soldiers, sailors, but also in high positions, sometimes as eunuchs or even as regular rulers. The Habshi forces and rulers in Bengal became such a great threat that they were forcibly expelled from the country (1474–1493). The Habshis also came to the principalities of the Deccan ( Bidar , Bijapur , Ahmednagar ) from the beginning of the 15th century. to great influence, where as Sunnis, together with the also Sunni local Muslims, the Dakhnis, they fought bitter fights with the rival Persian - Shiite ruling class, who had also immigrated, for the highest state offices.

Habshis also served in the fleets of Gujarat and the Deccan principalities; the important sea fortress Janjira was since the 16th century. to the 20th century. continuously in the hands of Habshi-nobles, the Siddis of Janjira that their property against both the Mogul emperor who Marathenherrscher and the British claimed. In Gujarat, the Habshis still form their own African community today.

literature

  • Eduard Glaser: The Abyssinians in Arabia and Africa . Munich 1895, p. 8 f.
  • Wilhelm Max Müller: Asia and Europe according to ancient Egyptian monuments . Leipzig 1893, p. 116.
  • Wolbert Smidt: Self-designation by Təgrəñña speakers (Ḥabäša, Tägaru, Təgrəñña) . In: Bogdan Burtea, Josef Tropper, Helen Younansardaroud (eds.): Studia Semitica et Semitohamitica. ( Festschrift for Rainer Voigt ) Münster 2005, pp. 385 ff., 391 f.
  • Wolbert Smidt: The Term Ḥabäša: An Ancient Ethnonym of the "Abyssinian" Highlanders . In: Hatem Elliesie (Ed.): Multidisciplinary Views on the Horn of Africa. (Studies on the Horn of Africa, No. 1, edited by Rainer Voigt) Cologne 2014, pp. 37–69.
  • Eloi Ficquet, Wolbert Smidt: Ḥabäša . In: Alessandro Bausi, with Siegbert Uhlig et al. (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Aethiopica . Volume 5: Y – Z, Addenda , Wiesbaden 2014, pp. 339f.
  • Hatem Elliesie: The second volume of the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica in comparison ; in: Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, Volume 102, Issue 4–5, Berlin 2007, pp. 397 ff. (398-401).
  • John Burton-Page: Habshi . In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition (EI), Vol III. Suffer. London: Brill. Luzac 1986, pp. 14-16
  • Richard Pankhurst: An Introduction to the Economic History of Ethiopia . London 1961. - therein Appendix E: The Habshis of India , pp. 409-422. - According to Burton-Page, this work is incomplete and unreliable in terms of data, and a systematic study is still pending.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter W. Müller: Habashat. In: Uhlig (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Aethiopica : D-Ha. P. 948
  2. ↑ Walter W. Müller: Habashat. In: Uhlig (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: D-Ha. P. 948.
  3. ^ Rainer Voigt: Abyssinia. In: Uhlig (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: AC. Pp. 59-65.
  4. ↑ Hans-Albert Bruns: From the land that Poseidon loved. Jewelry from Ethiopia. In: Materia Medica Nordmark. Volume 20, No. 12, December 1968, p. 672 ff., Here: p. 672.
  5. ↑ Eaton, Deccan, pp. 106 ff., With reference to the report of the Portuguese priest Francisco Álvares from the year 1520 on the Ethiopian system of slave capture and trade.
  6. ↑ J. Burton-Page: Habshi . In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition (EI), Vol III. Suffer. London: Brill. Luzac 1986, pp. 14-16
  7. ↑ Pankhurst, Introduction, Appendix E: The Habshis of India , pp. 409-422, but see the note below in the literature.