Introduction

  • Tsega Etefa
Chapter

Abstract

The Oromo are the largest single ethnic group in East Africa. Together with other Cushitic-speaking peoples, they have been the native inhabitants of the region since antiquity. Their country covers much of central, western, eastern, and southern Ethiopia, as well as northern and eastern Kenya as far as the Indian Ocean coast, an area approximately the size of Texas in the United States.1 The period after 1704 was a time of relative peace throughout Oromoland and neighboring states, due in part to civil wars within the Ethiopian Empire that reduced military campaigns against the Oromo and other groups. During the resulting peaceful coexistence between 1704 and 1882, flourishing commerce and communication networks promoted the maturation of Oromo law and government, the integration of foreign ideas, and the assimilation of various non-Oromo cultures into Oromo culture. This study presents a comprehensive history of the Oromo, mainly during this period, from a transnational and interdisciplinary perspective.

Keywords

Peaceful Coexistence East African Coast European Traveler Present Habitat Ethnic Solidarity 
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Notes

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