Being located on the southwestern periphery of the Ethiopian Empire, Ennarea was its tributary throughout much of its history, supplying the emperor with gold and slaves.

[2] According to oral traditions the royal Ennarean clan, the Hinnare Bushasho, originated in northern Ethiopia before settling in the Gibe region.

In the 9th century Aksumite king Digna-Jan is said to have led a campaign into Innarya, accompanied by "150 priests carrying 60 consecrated tablets (tabot)".

[5] It appears that since the late 14th century (around the same time when Kaffa was founded in the south) Ennarea gained nominal independence from its northern neighbor, although it remained in close contact with it.

By the reign of Yeshaq I (early 15th century) Ennarea is attested to have been a tributary of the empire, although it seems likely that it had been so already since the campaigns of emperor Amda Seyon 100 years earlier.

In a song dedicated to Yeshaq it is stated that Ennarea had to pay a tribute to the empire in the form of gold, slaves and cattle.

[11] By the early 19th century this Ennarean exile kingdom had been defeated and vassalized by Kaffa,[12] although its kings remained in nominal office until the Agar Maqnat.

[2] Meanwhile, the Oromo settled in what once constituted Ennarea, changed their mode of production from pastoralism to agriculture, and, by the early 19th century, founded five kingdoms: Limmu-Ennarea, Jimma, Gera, Gomma and Gumma.

[14] The kingship of Ennarea was a divine one: the king (Hinnare-tato) dined one time a day, always behind a curtain and with his meal resting on the back and shoulders of a slave.

[15] The kings wore rich golden jewelry, like a bracelet, a crown with a cross on its top as well as a phallic projection on the front (possibly gifted by emperor Sarsa Dengel in 1587) and two pieces representing the two sexes, symbolizing "eternal fertility and prosperity".

[16] Most kings were provided by the Hinnaro Bushasho clan, although it seemed to have been divided into two groups or lineages: a native one and one that claimed a northern, perhaps Amhara or Tigre origin.

After conversion, Badancho attempted to spread Christianity among his subjects not only by building many churches, but also by offering precious gifts to every single convert.

What seems clear, however, is the fact that only the nobility remained Christian in general, with their religion functioning as a kind of elite status, while the common people stuck to Paganism.