Foundation The Kingdom of Kaffa was founded c.1390 by Minjo, who according to
oral tradition ousted the Mato dynasty of 32 kings. However, his informants told Amnon Orent, "no one remembers the name of a single one." The first capital Bonga was either founded or captured by Bon-noghe; it was later replaced by
Anderaccha, but Bonga retained its importance.
Conversion to Christianity During the 16th century, the
Emperor of Abyssinia Sarsa Dengel convinced the kingdom to officially accept
Christianity as its state religion. As a result, the church of
St. George was dedicated at Baha; the building preserved a
tabot bearing the name of Emperor Sarsa Dengel. Over the following centuries the influence of the Abyssinian king grew weak, and Christianity more or less disappeared, although the church of St. George was used as a "male house of ritual of George" until late in the 19th century when Christian practices were reintroduced.
Wars of expansion Beginning with
Gali Ginocho (1675–1710), the kings of Kaffa began to expand the borders of their kingdom, annexing the neighboring small Gimira states of She, Benesho and Majango. The neighboring state of the
Welayta and the
Konta came under their control in the reign of Tato
Shagi Sherocho (1775–1795), who extended the boundaries of his kingdom as far as the Omo to the southeast and almost to the confluence of the Omo and the
Denchya to the south. It was during the reign of King
Hoti Gaocho (1798–1821), that the territory of the Kaffa kings reached its maximum. According to Orent, the traditions of the Kaffa people relate that he ruled far and wide, conquering wherever he went, even as far afield as Wolleta and Kambaata. "To this day, some people still talk about the time that their ancestors defeated all their enemies and sat at the foot of a famous tree in Wolliso and decided not to go farther into Shewa province." concludes Orent.
Oromo invasion Around the 18th century the kingdom was invaded by the Mecha Oromos. But due to its difficult terrain, Kaffa was able to repel the invasion. However all territories north of the Gojeb river was lost to the Oromos.
Shewan invasion The last Kaffa king,
Gaki Sherocho, resisted for months against the combined armies of
Welde Giyorgis Aboye, Ras Damisse, and King
Abba Jifar II of
Jimma, until he was captured 11 September 1897, and was first sent to
Ankober, then to
Addis Ababa. Kaffa was then held as a fief by Wolde Giyogis until 1914. During his visit to Kaffa in 1897,
Alexander Bulatovich had the opportunity to study the culture of the inhabitants, describing them in his book
With the Armies of Menelik II, emperor of Ethiopia, identifying a number of practices in common with the more familiar
Amhara people. After the annexation into Ethiopia, the inhabitants suffered greatly due to the slave-raids organized by
Abba Jifar II, and the region almost became uninhabited. During the reorganization of the provinces in 1942, the former kingdom was enlarged by the addition of a number of other kingdoms from the Gibe region to become
Kaffa Province. == Economy ==