Werji people

Worji

A medieval map of Ethiopia locating the ancestral homeland of the "Werjih." It indicates the approximate location of a province named for them that lied between the Great Rift Valley and the Ahmar Mountains
Total population
13,232 (2007 census)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Ethiopia
Languages
Oromiffa, Amharic
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Oromo, Jebertis, Argobba, Gurage, Amhara, Sidama, Afar, Agaw, Hadiya, and Beja

The Worji (Oromo: Warjiih; Ge'ez: ወርጂ; Arabic: ورجي [wɔrdʒi]), fully known as the Tigri-Worji, are an ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. The prefix for their traditional name, Tigri, comes from the Arabic word Tijaara, which literally translates to "trade." This refers to the Worji's traditional lifestyle and primary occupation as merchants.^[2]

History

The Worji were among the first people in the Horn of Africa to the south of the Axumite Empire to become Muslim, having accepted Islam by the 11th century. Alongside with another ancient Muslim group to their west, the Gebel, who would eventually procreate the Argobba people, the Worji participated in many battles against Christian Abyssinia and sided with the Ifat and Adal sultanates as they rose to power in the Middle Ages, especially during the Abyssinian-Adal War. These warriors, reportedly "very skilled in warfare", were not under the direct control of either empire, but rather acted as a supporting force for neighboring Muslim kingdoms during times of reprisal against Abyssinia. It was this time of military conflict that opened the door for the northerly expansion of Oromos, and thus began the assimilation of conquered populations, such as the Worji. It is based on this historical tale that some members classify themselves as a separate ethnicity. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that over centuries of living in Oromiyaa, the Worji have well assimilated among the Oromo, with no cultural distinction evident between the two.

Demographics

The Worji historically populated an area in south-eastern Ethiopia within the Oromiyaa Region. Today, they are found primarily in their modern hometown of Daleti and in numerous pastoral communities scattered in the regions of Shewa and Wollo. Some have settled in major cities within these former provinces, most prominently in Addis Ababa and Dessie.

According to the 2007 Ethiopian census carried out by the Central Statistical Agency, the Worji population numbered 13,232 individuals.^[1]

Language

The Worji primarily speak Afaan Oromoo as their mother tongue (14,066 in 1994) and Amharic as a second language, both of which belong to the larger Afro-Asiatic family.

Having lived in Shewa ever since it was a Gurage kingdom, there is a possibility that the Worji may have originally spoken an East Gurage language. Throughout their history of existence as a people, however, they have never had a language of their own, but rather spoke the languages of their neighbors. This can be attributed to the fact that they never settled in one place for very long due to their constant trading expeditions. Today, they are one of the few ethnic groups in Ethiopia without their own language.

Notes

References

• Grover Hudson, "Linguistic Analysis of the 1994 Ethiopian Census", Northeast African Studies, Volume 6, Number 3, 1999 (New Series), pp. 89 – 107.
• Pankhurst, Richard K.P. The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles. Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1967
• Pankhurst, Borderlands, p. 79.