From 16th century
Horn of Africa and Ethiopia
The Oromo migration into Ethiopia was the most spectacular population movement identified for the Horn of Africa during the period under discussion. Beginning around 1535, it transformed the political and demographic balance of Ethiopia, and by 1700 a large part of the country was under Oromo control. The movement also intensified competition with Somali populations and displaced smaller sedentary communities from Shungwaya.
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The Story
Around 1535, Oromo groups began a migration into Ethiopia that became the most spectacular population movement in the Horn during the period. Its effects extended across a broad zone south of the Abbay, reshaping political authority, settlement, and access to productive land. The movement formed part of wider redistributions involving pastoral populations in the Horn and the territories east of the White Nile.
By 1700, a large part of Ethiopia was under Oromo control. Christian and Muslim authorities had lost power in the south-west, while Oromo and Somali groups competed for well-watered lands as far as the Tana. Smaller sedentary populations were driven out of Shungwaya, a coastal area north of the Somali-Kenyan border, and groups identified as ancestors of the Miji-Kenda settled in fortified villages known as kaya behind the main Kenyan port towns.
The movement cannot be explained adequately by drought alone or by the collapse of the Ethiopian empire. Its fundamental causes lay in tensions between relatively densely populated zones, including the Oromo heartland and perhaps the Ethiopian highlands, and less populated areas in northern Uganda, Kenya, and the Kenyan and Tanzanian Rift Valleys. By 1700, these regions had been occupied by groups whose economies and social structures supported higher population densities.
From 16th century
Horn of Africa and Ethiopia
The Oromo migration into Ethiopia was the most spectacular population movement identified for the Horn of Africa during the period under discussion. Beginning around 1535, it transformed the political and demographic balance of Ethiopia, and by 1700 a large part of the country was under Oromo control. The movement also intensified competition with Somali populations and displaced smaller sedentary communities from Shungwaya.
Continue exploring
The Story
Around 1535, Oromo groups began a migration into Ethiopia that became the most spectacular population movement in the Horn during the period. Its effects extended across a broad zone south of the Abbay, reshaping political authority, settlement, and access to productive land. The movement formed part of wider redistributions involving pastoral populations in the Horn and the territories east of the White Nile.
By 1700, a large part of Ethiopia was under Oromo control. Christian and Muslim authorities had lost power in the south-west, while Oromo and Somali groups competed for well-watered lands as far as the Tana. Smaller sedentary populations were driven out of Shungwaya, a coastal area north of the Somali-Kenyan border, and groups identified as ancestors of the Miji-Kenda settled in fortified villages known as kaya behind the main Kenyan port towns.
The movement cannot be explained adequately by drought alone or by the collapse of the Ethiopian empire. Its fundamental causes lay in tensions between relatively densely populated zones, including the Oromo heartland and perhaps the Ethiopian highlands, and less populated areas in northern Uganda, Kenya, and the Kenyan and Tanzanian Rift Valleys. By 1700, these regions had been occupied by groups whose economies and social structures supported higher population densities.
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