Soddo Gurage people
They primarily inhabit the Soddo (woreda) in the Gurage Zone, but large amounts also live in various parts of Ethiopia, particularly in Addis Abeba, Nazret, Butajira, and Dire Dawa.
The Soddo Gurage are known for and pride themselves on their Orthodox Christian identity, which they have historically practiced since ancient times, and from which their name Kistane (lit.
They also shared considerable geographic and linguistic polity with the Gafat, now an extinct group, and which was located adjacent to them, encompassing territory that once stretched widely to Gojjam and Kingdom of Damot in the west before the incursions of the Oromo migrations.
[2] Gurage oral traditions recount Aymellel as being the first destination where the expeditions of the mythological Azmach Sebhat arrived at, who is said to have been sent by Emperor Amda Seyon to settle in the area in the early 14th century.
Today, the Kistane are primarily divided by and consisted of the following sub-units: Amawute, Wacho, Gereno, Aymellel, Adele, Aygedo, Endebuyo, Keshte, Gemise, Angetge, Aratge, Kenz, Eshgedye, Dugda, Zemute, Melko, Nurenna, Damu, Wogeram, and others.
The Priests identified themselves as Kistane (Christian) Gurages, stating they were led by their hereditary ruler Abegaz Wolle who were constantly at war with the Oromo.
This is further affirmed by Ulrich Braukamper's conclusion of the presence of the Kistane in Waj before the migration of the Hadiya people and the discoveries of Christian relics and artifacts in Mt.
Sources list that the locals of Aymellel aided and fought in the armies of the Christian Kingdom in fighting against the invasion of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi during the Ethiopian-Adal war in the 16th century and were subsequently attacked and ransacked; Midre Kebd Abo most notably was burned and its treasures were looted by Islamic forces.
After the Imam's death in 1541 and the Christian Ethiopian state's narrow victory over them however, in the mid-16th century, the Gurage, like much of the rest of the inhabitants of southern Ethiopia found themselves victims of long-standing invasions, once more, this time from the Oromo.
The Oromo migrations, which started somewhere from the south-eastern peripheries of the country near the Kenyan border, began a series of expansions and incursions north-wards which would profoundly permanently affect the demographics of central, western, and southern Ethiopia today.
The geographic location of the Kistane however, left them more susceptible to Oromo raids and incursions in contrast to their fellow Gurages, and were not only separated from the mainland but were encircled and forced to endure centuries of aggressions and conflicts with them, as well as to a lesser extent, the Mareqo.
Many local heroes, known as Gotas such as Gacho Zage and Yadutu Dugda of Wacho, Bene Dutu of Aratge, Dama Roge of Damu, and many others continue to be hailed and oral stories of their bravery in battle are recited by elders.
The invasion and despoliation caused many Kistane villagers to flee and settle in neighboring areas such as Ada, Meqi, Zway, Minjar, and Bulga, facilitating the first mass migrations of the Gurage in other parts of the country.
The mother of Haile Selassie, Yeshimibet Ali, was the daughter of the Wollo Oromo chief Aba Jiffar Gamcho and his Kistane Gurage wife Wolete-Giorgis, who later became a nun.
Several clans of the Kistane are recorded to have been descended from Amharas, as well as Tigrayans who migrated to the area to escape Gragn's invasions and which are attested in their ancestral lineages (i.e.
[15] King Sahle Selassie of Shewa, himself also drawn into conflict with the Oromo, responded to a request of the leader and famed military commander of the Kistane, Woda Leliso for military help and an alliance against the Oromo who were growing increasingly aggressive and sent bands of Amhara riflemen to aid them[16] By 1830, he gained the submission of the Kistane leaders Kero and Amino and incorporated them as a tributary state of Shewa, monikering himself as "King of the Gurage".
This allowed them to retain their local political autonomy and spared them from the depredations that other Gurage sub-groups and neighboring peoples who did rebel faced.
However, several Oromo Baleabats (overlords) still ruled over Kistane Gurages in many districts in Kistaneland by force, and many emigrated to various parts of Ethiopia as a result of the despoliation and shrinking of their homeland which they were confined in that became unable to sustain their population.
The Alemgena-Welayta Road Construction Association was founded by the Kistane during Haile Sellasie's and provided a source of labor, employment opportunities and communal identity for new young emigrants who migrated to Addis.
In response, proponents of the Kistane Gurage angrily countered and formed a separate coalition called the Soddo Gordena Democratic action.
Unlike their neighbors to the north and much of the rest of the country, the Gurage traditionally did not practice a structured monarchial system and thus lacked definitive kings or single rulers.
