Gong is a group of Omot peoples in southwest Ethiopia . Includes subgroups of anfilo , bosh (garo), kafa, manjo , urine, chinasha . Gongs, in addition to the main composition, include groups of foreign origin.
Content
General information
Strength
The number of people is about 400 thousand people, according to data for 2000. The most common gong language is Cushite ( Afrasian family ). However, much of the gong speaks the Oromo language. [1] Writing is based on Ethiopian writing.
Religion
A significant part of the gong profess Christianity, mainly of Monophysite or Catholic persuasion. Some adhere to traditional local beliefs; Among the gong there are also Sunni Muslims (Garo, part of anfilo and kafa).
History
In the Middle Ages, when the gong was more or less designated as a people, it occupied a significant territory of Ethiopia, stretching to the north up to the Blue Nile (the shinash ethnos has been preserved there until now). In the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, the invasion of the Semitic peoples, in particular the Oromo people (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries), divided the gong and narrowed the area of their settlement; part of the people was even assimilated. In the XVII - mid XIX centuries. Kafa, one of the subgroups of the gong, created a strong state with the feudal system, subjugating the entire people of the gong. [2] For a long time, they maintained relative independence, and only in the second half of the 19th century were the gongs annexed to the Ethiopian Empire .
Traditional Culture
Traditional Political Organization
Gongs retain their traditional tribal structure. But later caste and estate traditions are mixed with it.
Traditional Activities
The main occupation of the gong is still agriculture. Wheat , teff, banana , and coffee are grown (it was the gong that first domesticated it). Cattle breeding (small, cattle, horses), poultry farming and beekeeping are widespread. In addition, roaming hunters and gatherers are found among gong groups. In terms of housing and domestic culture, the traditions of the gong do not differ from the general Ethiopian.
Culture
Gongs have very rich, complex folklore, developed under the influence of several cultures: local traditional, Christian, Islamic. Borrowings from the Semitic peoples, neighboring with the gong until the XVI century, are manifested both in culture and in language. [3]
Notes
- ↑ History of the Southern Gonga (Southwestern Ethiopia) by Werner J. Lange Review by: David Turton Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 47, No. 3 (1984), p. 599
- ↑ Intruders and Traders in Western Ethiopia: (1) The Gonga History of the Southern Gonga by Werner J. Lange Review by: Roland Oliver The Journal of African History, Vol. 25, No. 1 (1984) - 109 C.
- ↑ Tsega Endalew. Cristian Influences on Shinasha Oral Tradition http://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/afrika/HAAP/TEndalew1-12.pdf Archived April 13, 2016 on Wayback Machine - P.2.
Literature
- Kobischanov Yu.M. Gong // Peoples and religions of the world / Chap. ed. V.A. Tishkov . M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia, 1999.- 138 S.
- Cristian Influences on Shinasha Oral Tradition https://web.archive.org/web/20160413142546/http://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/afrika/HAAP/TEndalew1-12.pdf
- Intruders and Traders in Western Ethiopia: (1) The Gonga History of the Southern Gonga by Werner J. Lange Review by: Roland Oliver The Journal of African History, Vol. 25, No. 1 (1984), pp. 108-110.
- History of the Southern Gonga (Southwestern Ethiopia) by Werner J. Lange Review by: David Turton Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 47, No. 3 (1984), p. 599