Kingdom of Kaffa
Kingdom of Kaffa | |||||||||
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| c.1390–1897 | |||||||||
Map of Kaffa in 1870 by Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie | |||||||||
| Capital | Bonga, Anderaccha | ||||||||
| Common languages | Kafa | ||||||||
| Religion | Officially Christianity (primarily Miaphysite Christianity, with a Catholic minority after 1855), Islam (introduced by traders in the 16th century, known locally as nagade gibind, "religion of the traders"), Paganism | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||
• c.1390 | "The Minjo king" | ||||||||
• c.1425 | Girra | ||||||||
• c.1460 | "The Addio king" | ||||||||
• c.1495 | "The Sadda king" | ||||||||
• c.1530 | Madi Gafo | ||||||||
• c.1565 | "The Bonga king" | ||||||||
• c.1605 | Giba Neçoço | ||||||||
• c.1640 | Gali Gafoço | ||||||||
• c.1675 | Gali Ginoço | ||||||||
• c.1710 | Gaki Gaoço | ||||||||
• 1742–1775 | Gali Gaoco | ||||||||
• 1775–1795 | Sagi Seroco | ||||||||
• 1795–1798 | Besi Ginoco | ||||||||
• 1798–1821 | Hotti Ginoco | ||||||||
• 1821–1845 | Gaha Nerosso | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages to Early modern period | ||||||||
• Established | c.1390 | ||||||||
• Annexed by Ethiopian Empire | 1897 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Ethiopia | ||||||||
| History of Ethiopia |
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The Kingdom of Kaffa was a kingdom located in what is now Ethiopia from 1390 to 1897, with its first capital at Bonga. The Gojeb River formed its northern border, beyond which lay the Gibe kingdoms; to the east the territory of the Konta and Kullo peoples lay between Kaffa and the Omo River; to the south numerous subgroups of the Gimira people, and to the west lay the Majangir people. The native language, also known as Kaffa, is one of the Omotic group of languages.
Kaffa was divided into four sub-groups, who spoke a common language Kefficho, one of the Gonga/Kefoid group of Omotic languages; a number of groups of foreigners, Ethiopian Muslim traders and members of the Ethiopian Church, also lived in the kingdom. A number of socioeconomic groups, "but with the status of submerged status", existed; these included the manjo, or hunters; the manne, or leatherworkers; and the qemmo, or blacksmiths. The manjo even had their own king, appointed by the King of Kaffa, and were given the duties of guarding the royal compounds and the gates of the kingdom. The kingdom was overrun and conquered in 1897, and was eventually annexed by Ethiopia.
The land where this former kingdom lay is in the southern parts of the Ethiopian Highlands with stretches of forest. The mountainous land is very fertile, capable of three harvests a year.