The ethno-genesis of the Siltie has also exhibited an aspect of pluralism. There are various views regarding the origin of the Siltie people. One of the versions on the origin of the Siltie states that the Siltie came from an eastern part of the country following Imam Ahmed Gragn’s war of expansion during the first half of the 16th century (Label, 1974, Lapiso, 1990; Shack, 1966;
Trimingham, 1965). Based on these sources, the Muslim communities of Siltie, namely Azernet Berbera, Hulbareg (Melga), Wuriro, Wolena, Gedebano, and Zeway (Zay) are identified as descendants of people from Harar (Trimingham 1965:188; Shack; 1966, Lapiso, 1999).
Despite pinpointing the directions of expansion of the Siltie from the east, the above historical records could not identify the existence and the earliest area of the Siltie in the eastern parts of Ethiopia. Other sources, on the other hand, indicate the presence of the Siltie long before the 16th century in Ethiopia (Abraham and Habtamu 1994: 28, 31; Yalew 2004: 35; Kairedin 2013: 40).
According to this view, the Siltie people expanded from the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, settled around Lake Zeway before the war of Ahmed Gragn, and eventually dispersed to other areas including the present Siltie Zone areas in three different exoduses (Abraham and Habtamu 1994: 28, 31). Hetzron’s and Sherif’s (1985) analysis of a historical account of linguistic patterns even put the time for ethno genesis of the people further back to the 8th century (Hetzron 1976: 28-32; Sharif 1983: 3). Other sources further identified the existence of indigenous Siltie speaking communities such as Zhara and Abzana long before the wars of Imam Ahmed (Dinberu 1995:19 Aklilu 2002:42). The native peoples inhabited the area since the ancient time. In addition, scholars (e.g. Lapiso, 2000; Braukämper 2001; Bustorf 2009, 2011) further strengthen the Siltie's existence long before the 16th century.
According to these sources, the Siltie are one of the ancient people who had established the medieval Ethiopian Hadiyya Sultanate which was incorporated into the Christian highland Kingdom under Amdesion (r. 1314-1344) in the 14th century. This view is derived from the chronicle of medieval Ethiopian ruler, Amdesion and 16th-century writers such as Almada. The chronicle of Aste Amdesion mentions an entity allied to the Emperor by the name ‘Saltagie,'
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‘Saltahi' which can be interpreted as the country of Siltie (Braukämper 2001: 51; Bustorf 2009:
607). Added to this, the German anthropologist, Braukämper also identifies the Siltie as the only people related to the Hadiyya Sultanate who did not adopt a Cushitic language. He further noted that the Siltie lived in areas around the Charcher highlands in eastern Ethiopia before the 16th century (Braukämper 2001:55; Bustorf 2009: 607). Other scholars also mentioned the 16th and 17th century’s population movements in south-eastern Ethiopia contributed for the inter-mixing of various peoples and the genesis of the Siltie in its current form. According to these sources, due to the wars of Imam Ahmed and the population movement of the Oromo, the ancient Islamic principalities including the Hadiyya Sultanate were weakened and dissolved. Such incidents led the ancient people including the Siltie to move from the east to the south and western parts of Ethiopia to the present land (Lapiso, 2000; Yalew 2004: 35; Bustorf, 2009; Bustorf, 2011).
Therefore, the various sources mentioned above clearly indicate the existence of the Siltie long before the 16th century exodus.
Oral traditions in the area relate mainly the people’s origin with the 16th century well known
‘’Grand Fathers’’, Geradecha and Queens (Gisticha) movement. These individuals came from the east to the present Siltie land. However, if we carefully inspect the contents of their narrations, local informants do not limit the genesis of the people to the 16th century. Based on the primary informants21, Siltie grandfathers such as Hajji Aliye, Sheik NeserAllah, Sheik Alinur, Sheik Berkele, and „grandmothers” or queens such as Gistit Tahirat, Gistit Shemsiyate migrated from the east with a large number of people, and passed via Sharka Gadab and Wag countries and finally settled in the present Siltie land. These migrants intermingled with the local populations known among the Siltie as Zhara and Abzana which the people considered as Yafarsabe (indigenous people).
Hajji Aliye especially has been considered among the Siltie as the founding father, for he played a significant role in integrating the new comers with the natives and establishing a new system of traditional administration the people employed until the late 19th century. Hajji Aliye and others married with the indigenous people and gave birth to many children who later became genesis
21 Interview with key informants Sheik Abdurrahman, Sheik Yusuf, Hajji Hussein, and Hajji Arega Nuriye. It is also based on FGD that was conducted in March 2012 in Werabe town with notable key informants who gathered for cultural reform committee meeting which is not functional this time due to the death of key elders, on one hand, and less interest on the part of government officials to support the initiative on the other hand.
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for most of contemporary Siltie clans and sub-groups. According to FGD participants22, Hajji Aliye’s sons, namely Aleqiro, Semerdin, Dilapa, and Gun-Silti (Sultan II), and his daughter, Ouyeta played a great role in the origin of Siltie people in its current form. Among Hajji Aliye’s children, his daughter Ouyeta was given to the Kembata King as a political marriage that later became the base for the emergence of Ouyeta ruling dynasty among the Kembata around the nineteenth century (Braukämper 2001: 51).
Also, others who came with Hajji Aliye such as Ahmed Berbera, Oucha, and Sheik Nasrallah were mentioned as one of Siltie ancestors who played a significant role in the ethno genesis of the Siltie. Hence, it is the combination of these factors that have laid a foundation for the genesis of the Siltie ethnic group in its present state. In fact, most of the clans and sub-clans that are found currently among the Siltie people trace their genealogical origin to the supposed 16th century ancestors. Such genealogical connection in the people's patrilineage mythological oral traditions also goes far beyond this period up to Sharafic lines among the Hashemite in Arab land. In short, the above various written and verbal traditions confirm the existence of the Siltie long before the advent of Hajji Aliye’s group to the area. Some sources, however, contest the genesis and continuation of the Siltie an autonoumus ethnic group before the 1990s period (Zerihun, 2015). Some sources also categorize the Siltie as part of the wider Gurage groupings under the generic name Eastern Gurage (Shack, 1963; Dinberu et al, 1995; Zerihun, 2015). But a growing number of literature indicate , however, that the Siltie are an autonoumus ethnic groups themselves with a notion of independent and shared origin, language, religion and territory as well as a common psychological makeup ( Markakis, 1998; Braukämper 2001;Abdulfeta, 2002;
Vaughan ,2003;Bustorf, 2011; Kairedin 2012,2013; Smith, 2013). My empirical data also indicate further that the Siltie are one of the ancient people of the country whose ethno genesis goes at least back to the 9th century.
22 The above FGD participants.
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