Thread by @dbeniam

The Oromo Story they never told you. Part 1.
A critical study.

From a scholar's perspective, Oromo history is divided into two: “Documented History” and “Historical Negationism”.

“Historical Negationism” is the intentional distortion or corruption of historical records for nefarious reasons, but is fraudulently presented as legitimate Historical Revisionism.

‘Historical Revisionism’ is the process in which currently held historical understanding is redefined due to new academic findings that either disprove -or enhance with new details- current beliefs.

The goals of Historical Negationism are two folds:

The politically motivated restructuring of Oromo history has not gone unnoticed by scholars.
Concerning the explosion of the revised Oromo history, here is what Richard said in his book “Genealogies of Conflict” pg 16 and 17

“Historical Negationism” has played a critical role in shaping the opinions of many Ethiopians. We will be looking at key Oromo issues and how Historical Negationism was strategically and effectively used to manipulate and mobilize innocent Oromos.

1. Galla.
Historically, the word Galla was used both locally and internationally to identify the Oromo people until the 1980s. Since then the name was dropped and the usage of ‘Oromo’ replaced it. The ‘Galla’ term has been a part of Oromo history for centuries yet today through

H.Negationism has been used to promote a political narrative of the “oppressing Amhara“ and the “victim Oromo” who must fight for their freedom.
In “The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: 1300-1700” Mohammed Hassen highlights the following

For many Ethiopians, Oromos in particular, the statement by Mohammed summarizes their knowledge of the word ‘Galla’ and works to create antagonistic sentiments towards the Amhara by the Oromos.

But there is so much more to that name.

The name “Galla” has been THOROUGHLY studied by MANY scholars and, just like the name “Amhara”, there is no historian that can give a definitive answer on what it means or where it comes from. The first recorded use of the name in geez was not even by an ethnic Amhara but by a

Sidamo Monk by the name Bahrey in 1593, while some Arab historians have used the term earlier than that while documenting Somali history. Here is a summary of what historians could deduce on the meaning and origin of the name “Galla”.

Cornelius Jaenen 1956:

huntingbird 1955

Charles Beke 1848

Please note that none of these scholars make mention of Amhara or how the Amharas used it as a pejorative against the Oromos. This means that any negative perception of the name “Galla” was after the 1960s.

Krapf, J. L. (Johann Ludwig), 1810-1881 who associated very closely with Oromos to complete his volume “The Vocabulary of the Galla language” makes no mention of the word Oromo at all in his book and writes a glowing appreciation for the “Galla” people.

By far, however, the most thorough and mind-blowing study on the name “Galla” and its origin is written by Italian historian Antonio Cecchi, 1886, in his book “Da Zeila alle frontiere del Caffa” as he heard it from the Oromos themselves
(Italian pages and translation below)

There is so much to unpack in this text which is beyond the current topic and not suited for a platform such as twitter and its crippling character limitations.

This thread attempts to show those of us taught that “Galla” was the Amhara version of “Nigger” should realize that history is so much deeper and richer than what we probably know... and is often full of surprises.

Stay tuned, coming up: The Anole mutilation, myth or truth?