Kingdom of Janjero

The Kingdom of Janjero (also Yamma ) was a small kingdom of the Sidama in what is now Ethiopia .

It was located in the triangle formed by the Omo and Jimma Gibe rivers . It bordered the kingdom of Jimma to the west and Garo to the south . Three mountains, Bor Ama , Azulu and Toba , mark the location of the former kingdom.

As its rivers were extremely difficult to cross, Janjero remained isolated from its neighbors until it was conquered in 1894 .

Culture

Europeans visited the kingdom as early as 1614 , but the region remained cut off from the outside world until the late 1950s. This encouraged the development of rumors and so it was believed that strange and cruel customs were preserved among the people.

Some of these supposed customs were:

The king had the right to abduct any person of either sex from their homes and either sell them into slavery or have them work for them.
Maize was grown in Janjero even before the 19th century . However, a king forbade its further cultivation because "the ears of corn were covered better than himself and the 'awns' resembled human hair."

Human sacrifices were reportedly carried out until the Ethiopian conquest.

A man wounded in the war was murdered by his relatives to prevent people from saying that he had died of enemy hands.

As soon as a new king ascended the throne, all people suffering from leprosy or ringworm were gathered and taken to the "hospital" on the other bank of the Jimma Gibe River, where they were beheaded.

The men's nipples were removed when they were young. These were frowned upon among men, and women wanted to be as little like women as possible.

history

The first mention of the Kingdom found in a song of victory over Yeshaq I . According to this, Janjero paid his taxes with horses. The first kings belonged to the Halmam Gama dynasty, which was later driven out by the Mwa tribe from the north.

Warriors from the kingdom defeated Janjero's army in 1844 and captured the king of Janjero. However, he was released in 1847 and continued his struggle against his more powerful neighbor.

In the 1880s Jimma conquered part of Janjeros. The rest of the kingdom was annexed in 1894 in the time of Menelik II . The last king, Abba Bagibo , fled to the Gurage area , but ultimately submitted to the Emperor Menelik. His son Abba Chabsa converted to Christianity , took the name Gabra Madhen and served his Ethiopian liege lord.

When the provinces were reorganized in 1942 , the former kingdom was incorporated into the Kaffa region . With the new constitution of 1995 , however, this isolated area west of the Omo River achieved the status of a woreda in the federal region of the southern nations, nationalities and peoples .

Individual evidence

↑ George WB Huntingford: The Galla of Ethiopia. The Kingdoms of Kafa and Janjero (= Ethnographic survey of Africa. North Eastern Africa. Vol. 2, ZDB -ID 446768-1 ). International African Institute, London 1955, p. 137.
^ After George WB Huntingford: The Galla of Ethiopia. The Kingdoms of Kafa and Janjero (= Ethnographic survey of Africa. North Eastern Africa. Vol. 2, ZDB -ID 446768-1 ). International African Institute, London 1955, pp. 137-144.
↑ Mary Roach : Bonk. Everything about sex - researched by science (= Fischer 18229). Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-596-18229-9 , p. 84.
↑ Mordechai Abir: Ethiopia. The era of the princes. The challenge of Islam and the re-unification of the Christian empire 1769–1855. Longmans, London et al. 1968, p. 91 f.

[1] George WB Huntingford: The Galla of Ethiopia. The Kingdoms of Kafa and Janjero (= Ethnographic survey of Africa. North Eastern Africa. Vol. 2, ZDB -ID 446768-1 ). International African Institute, London 1955, p. 137.

[2] After George WB Huntingford: The Galla of Ethiopia. The Kingdoms of Kafa and Janjero (= Ethnographic survey of Africa. North Eastern Africa. Vol. 2, ZDB -ID 446768-1 ). International African Institute, London 1955, pp. 137-144.

[3] Mary Roach : Bonk. Everything about sex - researched by science (= Fischer 18229). Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-596-18229-9 , p. 84.

[4] Mordechai Abir: Ethiopia. The era of the princes. The challenge of Islam and the re-unification of the Christian empire 1769–1855. Longmans, London et al. 1968, p. 91 f.