- Kingdom of Gumma
The Kingdom of Gumma was one of the kingdoms in the
Gibe region ofEthiopia that emerged in the 19th century. Its eastern border was formed by the bend of theDidessa River , which separated it from (proceeding downstream to upstream)Limmu-Ennarea to the northeast, Gomma and Gera to the south. Beyond its northern border were variousMacha Oromo tribes, and to the west Sidamo tribes. Its territory corresponds approximately with the modernworeda s of Gechi and Didessa.This former kingdom was mostly located on a plateau with an average elevation of 6500 feet, and had a population estimated in 1880 of about 50,000. Its inhabitants had a reputation as warriors. [C.F. Beckingham and G.W.B. Huntingford, "Some Records of Ethiopia, 1593-1646" (London: Hakluyt Society, 1954), p. lxxix] Beckingham and Huntingford considered Gumma, along with Gomma, was the least economically developed of the Gibe kingdoms; however Mohamed Hassen notes that, with the exception of the northern and western boundaries where constant raiding by her neighbors, the Arjo in the north and the Nonno in the west, forced those living in those parts to embrace
pastoralism , the land was intensively farmed and grew many of the same crops as the other Gibe kingdoms --sorghum ,wheat ,barley andcotton -- except forcoffee . [Mohammed Hassen, "The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History 1570-1860" (Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1994), pp. 115f]History
The latest kings of Gumma traced their origin to a man called Adam, who around 1770 came to live in the area, and is said to have helped in the deposition of the last king of the previous dynasty, Sarborada. The historian Mohammed Hassen, in discussing this tradition, suggests this tradition about Adam "was invented so as to Islamize the original founder of the dynasty." [Hassen, "The Oromo", p. 108]
King
Jawe was converted toIslam by merchants fromShewa andBegemder , and in turn he imposed his religious faith upon his subjects. [J. Spencer Trimingham, "Islam in Ethiopia" (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 202]In 1882, King
Abba Jubir of Gumma convinced the kings of Ennerea, Gomma and Jimma to form a confederacy known as the "Muslim League", to counter the threat from some of the Macha Oromo, who in turn formed their own alliance, the "League of the Four Oromo". At first the Muslim League had little success against this threat, for the other members did not support Abba Jubir against the Macha, until his elder brother Abba Digir was captured, when the people of Ennerea came to their help. However, even with this help Abba Jubir had no more success and was forced to negotiate an armistice with the Macha in return for his brother. Abba Jubir then went to war against Jimma, and sacked its capital, despite Gomma and Limmu-Enerea coming to the aid of Jimma.Despite the failure of the Muslim League, Gumma remained a stronghold of Islam, and provided asylum to men exiled from the other Gibe kingdoms. [Beckingham and Huntingford, "Some Records", pp. lxxxvii] It was conquered by Emperor
Menelik II in 1885, but the kingdom remained a "hotbed of rebellion and Muslim fanaticism against alien colonial administration."Firisa , son of the last king, had found sanctuary in theSudan after the conquest, and returned in 1899 to declare ajihad against the conquerors. Firisa was eventually captured in 1902, then executed inJimma soon afterwards. [Hassan "The Oromo", p. 160; however, Trimingham ("Islam", p. 202) states the year Firisa was captured and executed is 1901.]See also
*
Rulers of the Gibe State of Guma Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.