Jimma Oromo Cultural Clothing

Jimma Oromo culture is rich in traditions, history, and unique customs. The Jimma Oromo people, primarily residing in the Jimma Zone of Ethiopia, have a deep-rooted heritage influenced by their historical kingdom, social structures, and religious practices.

Cultural Aspects of Jimma Oromo

• Gadaa System: Like other Oromo groups, the Jimma Oromo follow the Gadaa system, a traditional democratic governance structure that organizes society into age-based groups.

• Religious Influence: Islam has played a significant role in shaping Jimma Oromo culture, particularly since the reign of Abba Jifar II, who expanded Islamic influence in the region.   The picture below depicts Abba Jifar II with his Jimma Oromo wife in Jiren, Jimma in 1880s. 

 Jimma Oromo Cultural Attire

Jimma Oromo clothing reflects both historical and modern influences:

• Traditional Attire: Historically, Oromo people, including those in Jimma, wore garments made from cowhide, particularly among pastoralist communities.   The following pictures show Jimma Oromo cultural attires before the adaptation of Habesha Kemis in 1880s. The pictures were taken in Jiren, which was the former capital of the Kingdom of Jimma. The Kingdom of Jimma emerged in 1830 and ended in 1932.  The kingdom of Jimma was established by Arab slave traders.  The last king of Jimma, Abba Jifar II is believed to have been an Arab.  

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The government in Jimma

Around the 16th century, the Gibe region of south-western Ethiopia was dominated by Oromo-speaking groups, who, through a protracted process of migration known as 'Galla Migration', created diverse societies and political structures over some pre-existing societies such as the Sidama-speaking polities of Kaffa and Enarea. By the mid-18th century, increased competition for land, livestock, markets, and trade routes, between these Oromo societies led to the emergence of several states in the region.1

At the turn of the 19th century, there were at least five polities in the upper Gibe region that were known by contemporary visitors as the kingdoms of Limmu-Enarea; Gomma; Guma; Gera; and Jimma. The emergence of these kingdoms was influenced as much by internal processes in Oromo society; such as the emergence of successful military leaders, as it was by external influences; such as the revival of Red Sea trade and the expansion of slave trade routes by Arab traders into southern Ethiopia.

Initially, the most powerful among these states was the kingdom of Limmu-Enarea founded by Bofo after a successful defense of the kingdom against an invasion by the kingdom of Guma. Limmu-Enarea reached its height during the reign of Bofu's son Ibsa Abba Bagibo (1825-61), a powerful monarch with a well-organized hierarchy of officials. Its main town of Sakka was an important commercial center on the trade route between Kaffa and the kingdoms of Shewa and Gojjam (part of the Ethiopian empire). It attracted Muslim merchants from the northern regions, who greatly influenced the adoption of Islam in the kingdom and its neighbors including the kingdom of Jimma.

The polity of Jimma was established in the early 19th century by Abba Magal, a renowned Arab slave trader who expanded the kingdom from his center at Hirmata. By 1830, the kingdom of Jimma emerged as a powerful rival of Enarea, just as the latter was losing its northern frontier to the kingdom of Shewa. Jimma's king, Sanna Abba Jifar, had succeeded in uniting several smaller states under his control and conquered the important centers along the trade route linking Kaffa to the northern states of Gojjam and Shewa. In several clashes during the late 1830s and 1840s, Jimma defeated its neighbors on all sides, including Enarea. Abba Jifar transformed the kingdom from a congeries of small warring factions to a centralized state of growing economic and political power.

Abba Jifar created many administrative and political innovations based on pre-existing institutions as well as external influences from Muslim traders. Innovations from the latter in particular were likely guided by the cleric and merchant named Abdul Hakim who settled near the king's palace at Jiren. However, traditional institutions co-existed with Islamic institutions, and the latter were only gradually adopted as more clerics settled in Jima during the late 19th century.

Administration in Jimma was centralized and controlled by the king through a gradually developed bureaucracy.

The capital of Jimma was at Jiren where the palace compound of the King was established in the mid-19th century on a hill overlooking Hirmata, around which were hundreds of soldiers, servants and artisans.7 The building would later be reconstructed in 1870 by Abba Jifar II after a fire. Near the palace lived court officials, such as the prime minister, war minister, chief judge, scribes, court interpreters, lawyers, musicians, and other entertainers. There were stables, storehouses, treasuries, workshops, reception halls, houses for the royal family and visitors, servants, soldiers and a mosque.

The kingdom was divided into sixty provinces, called k'oro, each under the jurisdiction of a governor, called an abba k'oro, whose province was further divided into five to ten districts (ganda), each under a district head known as the abba ganda. These governors supplied soldiers for the military and mobilized corvee labor for public works, but retained neither an army nor the right to collect taxes.

Appointed officials staffed the administrative offices of Jimma, and none of the offices were hereditary save for the royal office itself. Officials such as tax collectors, judges, couriers, and military generals were drawn from several different categories including royals and non-royals, wealthy figures and men who distinguished themselves in war, as well as foreigners with special skills, including mercenaries, merchants, and Muslim teachers. These were supported directly by the king and through their private estates rather than by retaining a share of the taxes sent to the capital.

Modern Adaptations: Today, Jimma Oromo cultural attire mirrors Habesha Kemis, which is traditionally associated with Amhara culture.  The recent adoption of Habesha Kemis by Jimma Oromos has sparked alarm about cultural appropriation.  The widespread use of Habesha Kemis among Oromos in general represent a cultural takeover rather than an organic exchange of cultures.