A historical overview of the Wärğəḥ Muslim community in the Christian highland of Šäwa

Abstract

The Wargəh Muslim community constitutes more than 22,000 people in Ethiopia. They live in diverse parts of the country, but the largest number of Wargəh are found in north Sawa and near Dəre Dawa. In north Sawa, the community of Wargəh has established scattered pockets of villages between Dabra Berhan and Sabata towns. Linguistically, they speak Oromo and also Amharic. Fragmentary medieval Ethiopian historical sources describe the Wargəh as inhabitants of the lowlands of south-east Sawa. They were herdsmen, particularly camel keepers. Post-16th century sources record that the Wargəh transformed their way of life to become traders following the great medieval caravan trade routes. Due to their resistance against expansions, they were described as warriors and a ferocious people. For the purpose of this paper, we have gathered oral accounts from 13 local villages of north Sawa to identify how these people reconstruct their history and to understand how all these villages networked with each other to endure the waves of dynamic religious and population movements of these periods. Funerary stelae were also surveyed to determine whether their styles could be related to the megalithic cultures of south-west Ethiopia.