A medieval European, the
Portuguese missionary
Manuel de Almeida, upon learning of the invasion, noted that both Adal and Abyssinia were experiencing divine retribution: {{Blockquote
Legend of Liqimssa The legend of Liqimssa is an ancient legend stemming from the Borana sect of the Oromo peoples that is credited as having been one of the main motivations for the beginning of the Oromo expansions. The Liqimssa roughly translates to "The Swallower" and was told to be a beast that consumed people one by one until there was nobody left to fight against it. It is meant to embody "hunger", and the story represents how a powerful entity will consume all there is around it until the "land of plenty" (in reference to the Borana homeland) is left barren and empty. The legend is interpreted by
Mohammed Hassen to be the embodiment of the Christian kingdom's growing power and influence in the regions directly north of the Oromo homelands.
Early expansions The early expansions were characterized by sporadic raids by Oromo pastoralists on the frontiers of the Ethiopian kingdom. After capturing cattle and other booty, the raiding parties would quickly return to their homelands. Actual settlement of new territories would not begin until the
Gadaa of Meslé. Gudifecha adoption tradition also lead to massive diversification within Oromo populations as they expanded during the 16th century. The introduction of scouting teams shows that the Oromo pastoralists had quickly become accustomed to border warfare. The night time attacks that would come to follow were unceasing and relentless, stripping the community of their "booty" and killing a large amount of the warrior class, then escaping before dawn as to avoid being followed back to their base camps. Once the community under siege was broken down enough to be settled without resistance, the remaining peoples would quickly be integrated through Moggaasaa, having their status, material goods and general livelihoods returned to them. The remaining warriors would join the Oromo gada's troops. With each period of adoption into the fighting class, the Oromo's knowledge of the local terrain would increase drastically.
Kilolé (1538–1546) After the death of Ahmed Gragn, Kilolé resumed his predecessor's raids and pierced further into Ethiopian territory. Aided by the weakening of both the
Ethiopian Empire and the
Adal Sultanate, he raided as far as the province of Dawaro, north of Bali. Again, however, after each raid, the parties returned to their villages. Bahrey's dating might, however, be off, as Shihab ad-din, who had written a decade before Ahmed Gragn's death, noted a locality named Werre Qallu, an Oromo name, in the province of Dawaro. Francisco de Almeida, however, agreed with Bahrey's dating, by affirming that the Oromo first began migrating around the time of Ahmed Gragn's invasion (1527).
Bifolé (1546–1554) During the time of
luba Bifolé, the Oromo migration achieved its first major success. All previous movements had been minor raids on neighbouring provinces, but under Bifolé, new raids were undertaken that began to weaken Ethiopian control. All of Dewaro was pillaged, and
Fatagar to its north was attacked for the first time. Furthermore, according to Bahrey, the inhabitants of the pillaged areas were enslaved to become
gebrs (
Ge'ez: ገብር
gabr;
Amh. ግብር
gebr,
Tgn. ግብሪ
gebri), a term referring more precisely to "tax-paying serfs", similar to the serfs in Ethiopia during feudal times. Emperor Gelawdewos, however, campaigned in the south as a result of those attacks. According to his chronicle, the Emperor defeated the Oromo incursions and made subject to his rule those he captured, which prevented further attacks for some time, with further incursions reduced to skirmishes. The initial attacks were significant, however, on a much larger and more devastating scale to the Ethiopian dynasty. Despite his reprisals, Gelawdewos was troubled and was forced to settle refugees in a town of
Wej, north of
Lake Zway, around 1550–1551.
Settlement Meslé (1554–1562) city fortifications originally erected in the sixteenth century following the Oromo invasions Meslé's time represent a fundamental change in the expansion of the Oromo. Newly-taken territories were permanently settled by Oromo for the first time, and mules and horses began to be ridden. The adoption of horseback riding from the north greatly increased the Oromo fighting power and put them on par with Ethiopian troops, who were largely equipped with firearms. In the new phase of migration adopted under Meslé, the Oromo defeated Emperor Gelawdewos's Jan Amora corps, allowing them to pillage a number of towns. Instead of returning to their homelands, however, they stayed in the new territories. Gelawdewos campaigned against the Oromo as a result, defeating them at 'Asa Zeneb (yet unidentified), but he was nevertheless unable to drive them from the frontier provinces and continued to build the new town in Wej for new refugees. Oromo expansions were not restricted to Ethiopian territories either, as activities against
Adal were also pursued. The forces of
Nur ibn Mujahid (r. 1551/2–1567/8), the Emir of
Harar, for instance, were soundly defeated by the Oromo in an ambush at the
Battle of Hazalo. According to Bahrey, there had been "no such slaughter since the Oromo first invaded".
Harmufa (1562–1570) and Robalé (1570–1578) During the
luba of Harmufa rule, the Oromo advanced even deeper into Ethiopian territory. With the use of horses, they were able to attack the province
Amhara, and
Angot. Further advances were made under Robalé during whose time
Shewa was pillaged and
Gojjam attacked. For the first time, Oromo advances were devastating core Ethiopian provinces, but their earlier incursions had been simply against frontier provinces. Despite the deeper attacks, the core provinces remained under Ethiopian control, and Emperor Sarsa Dengel carried out punitive expeditions in return. One such reprisal in 1573 involved the engagement of the Oromo near Lake Zway in a frontier province. He defeated them, took their cattle and distributed the herd among his subjects, who were described in his chronicle as "becoming rich" as a result.
Michelle Gadaa invasion of Adal period (1562–1579) At the same time,
Barento Oromo groups attacked the Adal Sultanate, which was greatly weakened by its wars with the Christian Ethiopians leading to no potential resistance. In the 16th century, the Oromo began their invasion of Harar region occupying as far as
Hobat which forced the Adal Sultanate to erect a wall around
Harar the capital city of the principality. By the late sixteenth century other Adalite towns in the Harar region also began to construct ramparts such as
Gidaya, and
Dakkar. According to
Harari chronicles the combination of the Oromo invasion which followed drought led to the destruction of several towns and regions including
Sim, Shewa, Negeb,
Hargaya and Dakkar. Oromo invasions in the Harar region were followed by epidemic and food shortages in Adal's capital Harar leading to massive loss of life which included Adal leader
Nur ibn Mujahid among the casualties in 1567. The Oromo attacks on the Harar plateau did not let up in 1572, as recounted in a Harari chronicle. The Adal Sultanate would move its capital to
Aussa due to the Oromo provocation in 1577 however Adal leader imam
Muhammad Gasa would be killed in battle against the Oromo in 1583. In the
Chercher region of Harar,
Ittu Oromo would incorporate the
Harari and plausibly the
Harla people. Its presumed the last remaining pre Oromo invasion inhabitants the
Harla people were able to survive due to the fortification of the city of Harar. Scholar
Christopher Ehret stated the greater part of the
Adal Muslim population were assimilated by the
Oromos with the exception of pockets of Harari and Argobba semitic speakers. According to historian
Mohammed Hassen and others, the Oromo invasions were devastating for the
Harari people and is one of the major reasons for their diminished populace. The Hawiye and Dir clans became the predominant inhabitants of Hararghe Highlands (land of the
Hararis) in the 16th century after the weakening of Adal. The
Oromos took advantage of the crippling state and decided to also invade and to occupy the Hararghe Highlands and assimilate with
Somali clan population of
Jarso,
Akisho,
Gurgura, Nole, Metta, Oborra, and
Bursuk. All were sub-clans of
Dir, a major Somali clan, and were later confederated into the Afran Qallo clan. According to
I. M. Lewis, in the early 1600s
Ughaz Ali Makahil successfully repelled the Oromo Invasions in modern northern
Somalia.
Reprisals under Sarsa Dengel The Oromo also encountered conflict with the
Argobba following their invasion of
Ifat and Shewa. Forced to fight the
Ottomans in the north of his empire,
Sarsa Dengel turned to curb the spread of the Oromo in the south in the 1570s. The first mention of his actions is in his short Royal Chronicle, which states that he fought a force of
Borana Oromo at
Lake Zway under a
luba named Ambissa. After the 1572 rains, the Oromo had taken
Wej, and the Emperor gathered his forces from throughout Ethiopia to form an army at Gind Beret. From there, Sarsa Dengel headed south, where he found that the Oromo had also taken
Maya. Despite the small size of his army, he was able to defeat the Oromo in the area, push them back to
Fatagar, and capture a large number of cattle. Sarsa Dengel again learned in 1574 of Oromo incursions in
Shewa and of the pillaging of cattle in lowland Zéma. The Emperor sent
Azzaj Halibo with only 50 cavalry to the area, who forced the Oromo to flee and sent the heads of 80 Oromos to the Emperor as trophies. Sarsa Dengel was again forced to head north with his army to crush the Ottoman-backed
Bahr Negus Yeshaq, but later returned to Wej in 1577–1578 to fend off Oromo advances in the area. As a result of the battle in the Mojjo Valley (just east of modern
Addis Ababa) against the Borana Oromo, corpses were strewn all over the surrounding countryside. The Emperor then fended off an attack by the Abati Oromo near
Bashilo River. As a result of the battle, according to
Bahrey, less than ten Oromo survived.
Birmajé Gadaa (1578–1586) Despite Sarsa Dengel's military campaigns, the Oromo expansion continued to spread west during this time. It was under
luba Birmajé that the Oromo first began to use body-length ox-hide shields. The shields allowed the Oromo to resist arrows and therefore to defeat the Mayas. The Oromo often came into conflict with Daharagot, one of Sarsa Dengel's commanders, who was often successful. Nevertheless, during this time, the Oromo pillaged Ar'ine in Wej, killing Ethiopian couriers in the process. Further advances were then made in
Damot, which was situated south of the
Blue Nile, according to
Bahrey the Boran clan surrounded the province "enslaved the men and carried off the livestock". According to
Manuel de Almeida, many people from Damot then fled the province and settled north of the Blue Nile in
Gojjam. A consequence of this move was that the term Damot was extended to include the area of southern
Gojjam. Although it is unknown when exactly the move and the change of name occurred. While the Borana under Birmaje was raiding Shewa and Damot, the Barentu trekked north. Of the other Barentu groups, the Warantisha had already started spreading out along the valley of the Walaqa rivers, in southern Bete Amhara and in Gedem and the Karrayu spread throughout Amhara and Angot. Of the numerous Karrayu groups, the "seven houses" of Wollo had started to establish themselves in the southeastern section of the
Bete Amhara province, the Wollo Oromo settled there and gave their name to the province. A section of the Wollo Oromo raided the Muslim region of
Aussa where they defeated and killed
Muhammad Gasa, a descendant of
Ahmad Gragn.
Mul'eta (1586–1594) Under
luba Mul'eta a large raid (
Oromo:
dulaguto) was made on
Gojjam north of the
Blue Nile. With the Ottoman situation in the north largely under control, Sarsa Dengel again took the initiative against the Oromo in the south, where he forced the Dawé (or Jawé) Oromo in Wej to flight. Despite this, the Oromos under Mul'eta would win spectacular victories and waged war in all directions. According to
Bahrey, the Ethiopians suffered repeated defeats and lost all of their southern provinces during the period of the Mul'eta gada.
17th century Ethiopian Empire During the first half of the 17th century, invasions by different pastoralist Oromo groups were a permanent menace to the
Ethiopian Empire. About 1617, the
Oromos attacked
Begemder and
Gojjam, which were central regions of the empire. Between 1620 and 1660, the Ethiopian emperors had to defend different parts of their territory but could not stop to the waves of advancing Oromo groups. The Tulama expanded from
Shewa into Amhara and the Wallo and Azebo overran Angot, parts of Amhara and Waj, Begemder, and Tigre. In 1642 the eastern Oromo nearly annihilated the Ethiopian army from
Tigray. Under the reign of emperors
Fasiladas and
Yohannes II, the Oromo seem to have been virtually unrestrained in their expansion. During his visit to Abyssinia in the 1600s, the
Yemeni ambassador Al-Haymī remarked that the Oromo were similar to the
Mongols.
Iyasu I the Great (1682-1706) resumed the offensive against the Oromo and recruited battalions of Oromo which pledged their allegiance, whom he settled in conquered areas. Tulama and Liban Oromo were settled in northern
Gojjam and
Begemder and were encouraged to convert to Christianity. Some of their authorities were appointed to high offices in the army and in the administration of the provinces. In 1684–1685, Oromo groups fought against Emperor
Iyasu I in
Wollo and
Gojjam. In 1694, the Gugru-Oromo attacked
Gojjam and
Begemder. Although the military expansion of the Oromo continued, many Oromo groups started to settle in Ethiopian territory and developed into a political power, which was used by the different secular and ecclesiastical groupings. By the late 18th century, they were taking an active part in the political formation of the Ethiopian state. The process of mutual assimilation between the Oromo newcomers and other inhabitants of the empire was well under way. The Garen rulers conducted several military expeditions, known as the
Gaal Madow wars, against the Oromo warriors. The Ajuran with their guns forced the Oromo conquerors to reverse their migrations towards the war-ravaged
Muslim Adalites.
18th century Around 1710, the Macha Oromo reached to the
Gonga kingdom of
Ennarea in the
Gibe region that had a king by name of Shisafotchi. He tried to come to terms with the situation by absorbing into his administration the energy of ambitious Macha individuals. That proved to be the cause of his destruction. By favouring the Oromo at his courts, Shisafotchi alienated his own people. The ambitious Oromo individuals at his court harnessed the popular fury to their own advantage by overthrowing the king and taking over the kingdom. Also around the 18th century, the Macha Oromo crossed the Gojeb river and led an invasion of the
Kingdom of Kaffa. They found formidable natural barriers, which opposed their advance towards Kaffa. The mountainous jungle terrain made rapid cavalry attack and retreat virtually impossible, and their advance was halted by the Kafficho. They, however, conquered all territories north of the Gojeb, including the city of
Jimma. ==Impact==