DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0165
THE FOLK-LITERATURE OF THE GALLA
149
one can obtain from it references to the condition of the region which is at present Galla,
before the invasion of this people into Ethiopia, and at the same time receive information
as to the relations between these Galla kingdoms and Christian Abyssinia. Nor should one
show himself skeptical of the possibility that oral tradition constitutes a fount of informa-
tion of importance concerning ancient events. For example, Conti Rossini1 observed
that in the oral historical traditions gathered by Bieber in Kaff a,2 there was reference to a
Sipenhao, i.e. Sapenhi, governor of the Innarya under the rule of Malak Saggad, also re-
corded in the written Ethiopian chronicle of this king. In this work I have collected proof
of the preservation through the centuries of the legends about the Emperor Theodore I;
and in the course of my studies of the Kushite peoples, I have frequently had the opportunity
to observe that the genealogies of their tribes which the natives know, are a source of informa-
tion not to be despised. Unfortunately, however, as I have said, among the chronicles of
the Galla kingdoms, this of Guma is the first which has been published. And the Amharic
conquest, by destroying the independence of the Galla kingdoms, has resulted in these
chronicles becoming less known day by day among the Galla people themselves, because
there is now lacking one of the principal reasons for the existence of the chronicles: that
of exalting the noble origin and the deeds of the reigning dynasty. (Observe that the chroni-
cle of Guma mentions only the family of Adam.) These chronicles stopped at the Amharic
conquest. The struggles of the Amharic chiefs, their rise and fall, and their disagreements,
are not, Loransiyos says emphatically, subjects dealt with in the stories of the sons of
Orma. Now the chronicles are known only to the elders. It would, therefore, in my opin-
ion, be of great scientific interest to collect them soon, before the remembrance of them is
lost and these unique historical documents fall into oblivion.
The present chronicle has the title Dubbi motummd Guma, which Loransiyos translates
in Amharic, Yd-Gumd mangist ndgar, “ Chronicle of the Kingdom of Guma ” (the Galla
dubbi, from the root dubb, “to speak,” corresponds exactly in sense to the Amharic ndgar,
“ account,” “ thing,” “ contest ”). The chronicle begins with the account of the way in
which the Adamite dynasty got possession of the kingdom of Guma. It should have ended
with the cruel death sentence of the last king, Abba Foggf, decreed by Ras Tasamma;
however, as I have said above, I was unable to finish my work, and, unfortunately,
was prevented from publishing the last fragment gathered of this chronicle, because
many points in it are obscure to me. Therefore, I have published only a summary of it,
reserving the publication of the original until, with the aid of some native, I have revised
and cleared it up.
1 Carlo Conti Rossini, ‘ Studii su alcune popolazioni dell’ Etiopia,’ (Rivista degli studii Orientali, 6th year, pt. 2,
p. 416).
2 Friedrich J. Bieber, ‘ Das Land Kaff a und seine Bewohner,’ (Revue des Etudes Ethnographiques et Sociolo-
giques, Paris, 1909, p. 225-249).
149
one can obtain from it references to the condition of the region which is at present Galla,
before the invasion of this people into Ethiopia, and at the same time receive information
as to the relations between these Galla kingdoms and Christian Abyssinia. Nor should one
show himself skeptical of the possibility that oral tradition constitutes a fount of informa-
tion of importance concerning ancient events. For example, Conti Rossini1 observed
that in the oral historical traditions gathered by Bieber in Kaff a,2 there was reference to a
Sipenhao, i.e. Sapenhi, governor of the Innarya under the rule of Malak Saggad, also re-
corded in the written Ethiopian chronicle of this king. In this work I have collected proof
of the preservation through the centuries of the legends about the Emperor Theodore I;
and in the course of my studies of the Kushite peoples, I have frequently had the opportunity
to observe that the genealogies of their tribes which the natives know, are a source of informa-
tion not to be despised. Unfortunately, however, as I have said, among the chronicles of
the Galla kingdoms, this of Guma is the first which has been published. And the Amharic
conquest, by destroying the independence of the Galla kingdoms, has resulted in these
chronicles becoming less known day by day among the Galla people themselves, because
there is now lacking one of the principal reasons for the existence of the chronicles: that
of exalting the noble origin and the deeds of the reigning dynasty. (Observe that the chroni-
cle of Guma mentions only the family of Adam.) These chronicles stopped at the Amharic
conquest. The struggles of the Amharic chiefs, their rise and fall, and their disagreements,
are not, Loransiyos says emphatically, subjects dealt with in the stories of the sons of
Orma. Now the chronicles are known only to the elders. It would, therefore, in my opin-
ion, be of great scientific interest to collect them soon, before the remembrance of them is
lost and these unique historical documents fall into oblivion.
The present chronicle has the title Dubbi motummd Guma, which Loransiyos translates
in Amharic, Yd-Gumd mangist ndgar, “ Chronicle of the Kingdom of Guma ” (the Galla
dubbi, from the root dubb, “to speak,” corresponds exactly in sense to the Amharic ndgar,
“ account,” “ thing,” “ contest ”). The chronicle begins with the account of the way in
which the Adamite dynasty got possession of the kingdom of Guma. It should have ended
with the cruel death sentence of the last king, Abba Foggf, decreed by Ras Tasamma;
however, as I have said above, I was unable to finish my work, and, unfortunately,
was prevented from publishing the last fragment gathered of this chronicle, because
many points in it are obscure to me. Therefore, I have published only a summary of it,
reserving the publication of the original until, with the aid of some native, I have revised
and cleared it up.
1 Carlo Conti Rossini, ‘ Studii su alcune popolazioni dell’ Etiopia,’ (Rivista degli studii Orientali, 6th year, pt. 2,
p. 416).
2 Friedrich J. Bieber, ‘ Das Land Kaff a und seine Bewohner,’ (Revue des Etudes Ethnographiques et Sociolo-
giques, Paris, 1909, p. 225-249).