Although the history of the Silte people has not been written down to the point of showing its history, it is linked to the origin of Haji Ali Umar. After a religious leader called Haji Ali left Berber and settled in Harar, he brought many religious people to the interior and then to southern Ethiopia. He married one of the "Zhera" tribes that previously lived in the area and had one daughter and five sons. They are Azernet Berbere, Silti, Hulbareg, Alcho, Sankure, Dalocha, Wolene, Gebedano... and other Silte-speaking areas. Another source of information regarding the origin of Silte is that the name Silte was found in history during the reign of King Amde-Zion in the 14th century, according to historians. In general, it has been established from historical texts that the history of the Silte people has historical connections with many other peoples of our country and was created and developed through blood, marriage, settlement, and trade relations.
It is said that the Silte people contributed and participated in the establishment and organization of Muslim sultanates in Harla, Zeila, Bale, and Shewa. This shows that the Silte-speaking people were established 10 centuries ago.
According to Braukämper, the Silte, Qebena, and Halaba peoples who were originally settled in the northern Hadiya Sultanate migrated from the southern and eastern parts of the country to their current location (Braukämper 2001:55:56). The Silte people also merged with the existing Selte-speaking peoples (Yafer Sab) in the area to form the current population. During this long historical process and movement, the Ethiopian people, including the Silte people, have formed a bond of marriage, trade, culture, and geography with each other. The peoples of the country have also formed strong bonds of blood, culture, economy, and social ties. The Silte people have been solving common problems with the surrounding Gurage, Marekano, and Oromo peoples through a traditional judicial system, and are still solving them.
The people of Silte have developed various common values with the nations, nationalities and peoples of the South. The people lived together with the Sidama, Hadiya and Halaba peoples in the ancient Hadiya kingdom, and local cultural and historical experts widely say that they had strong ties with the Sidama people in particular. The Silte community, which is widely settled in Silte and is known as the Zira, is said to have ties with the Sidama people, and a large number of Sidama natives who are followers of Islam have studied the Quran in various parts of Silte.
On the other hand, since the end of the 16th century, the Silte ruling class has been closely linked to the Kembata ruling class through marriage, in addition to establishing strong social and economic ties. In this regard, Oyeta, the daughter of Haji Ali Umar, became the basis for the establishment of the Oyeta dynasty, which was popular among the Kembata people after the death of King Hamelmal Tedra of Kembata. They not only shared borders with the Silte people, but also coexisted in the ancient Hadiya Sultanate. They have developed strong common values in various social and cultural areas by avoiding conflict. The established judicial system allows the Silte and Gurage people to solve their common problems together, and the Silte and Mereko people are also resolving conflicts through the Raga system. In addition, the interaction and unity of the Silte people with other peoples of our country is presented below.
According to Professor Braukamper (2001:55), the Silte people lived in the southern and southeastern regions of Ethiopia before the 16th century, in the areas of Arsi, Jijiga, Sherka, Sherka, Shercher, and Bale. When the people moved to their current location through social movements starting in the 16th century, the Silte people who remained in their original habitat intermarried with the Oromo people, creating a basis for cultural, social, and historical relations between the two peoples.
Braucamper/2001, 66/ states as follows “Those groups which can be identified as Hadiyya, both Cushitic and Semitic speaking maintained consciousness of related clans among various Oromo tribes, especially the Arsi, Gujji, Gile, Karrayyu and lttu. Just to mention one example the Adari clans in Arsi have kept a marriage restriction with the East Gurage (Silte) because they consider these people as their own kinsfolk and so claim to have spoken their Semitic language up to five generations ago ...”
“These Semitic and Cushitic peoples who lived in ancient Hadiya have a deep understanding of their interaction and unity with various Oromo tribes, especially the Arsi, Guji, Gile, Keryo, and Itu. For example, the Arsi Oromo tribe called Adare prohibits intermarriage with the Eastern Gurage-speaking /Silte/ people. This is because the Arsi Adare believe that they spoke the Silte language five generations ago and that they are one,” the scholar explains.
On the other hand, information gathered from elders indicates that Gensalte, the daughter of Hajj Aliye, married Sheh Adam, the son of Hajj Nasreddin Sheh Idris, a prominent Oromo cleric, and gave birth to seven children.
Among them, Azma Denbel Denbel was the reason for the creation of a large clan of Arsi Oromo, which became the basis for the relationship and bond between the two peoples. Arunete returned to Silte with her children, and her six children intermarried with Silte, giving rise to several clans known as Ademuye. The Dembel and Ademuye clans created by this historical blood bond live in Batu (Zway), Arsi Negele, Djo Kombel Kuyera, Shashemene and Bulbula districts of Silte zone, and Lanfro and Dalocha woredas in Oromia region.
Due to this connection, a large number of Silte people have lived in various parts of Oromia to teach Islam and trade with the Oromo people, and when border conflicts arise in neighboring areas, they have been united in solving problems through shared culture. To show the strong bond between the Silte people and the Oromo, they say “Adamnet Yelay Siltenet Elay”, which means that a person who is not an Oromo without a tribe does not have Silte. A large number of Silte people live peacefully in social life with the Oromo people who have spread to the Alemtiya area north of Zway. In addition, in the 16th century, one of the famous fathers who led the Silte people, Sheikh Nasrellah, went to the Jimma area to teach Islam. This laid the foundation for unity between the Oromo and the Silte people in Jimma. The strong Abu Jifar Islamic Educational Center since the 19th century also contributed to the creation of strong unity among the people by providing religious education to many Silte Ulema.
In general, the strong cultural, social, and economic ties between the Siltiti and Oromo peoples have led to the emergence of many lexical similarities and unity that are now evident between the Cushitic Oromo language and the Semitic Siltiti language, and have also played a significant role in maintaining strong ties between the peoples.
Professor Braukamper (2001:55:56) states that the relationship between Silte and Amhara began during the reign of King Amde Zion. Oral Traditions also mention King Zer Yaqoob (r-1465). The king came to the Silte area during his efforts to control the ancient kingdom of Hadiya, and it is widely said that the Ate Disen or Disen tribe was related to the Amhara people.
In addition, the relationship between the Silte and Amhara peoples has been strengthened since the first half of the 19th century. During this period, King Sahle Selassie (1814-1834), the ruler of the Shewa region, conquered the Silte region. A large number of people were captured and settled in Merahbete, Ankober, and various parts of Shewa. After the conquest of the region by King Sahle Selassie, the king also formed a marriage alliance with Azma Chunbul, the granddaughter of Gen Silte, Azma Qalbo, daughter of Etewerege, according to a study by Dr. Derck (2011). The marriage between King Sahle Selassie and Etewerege gave rise to several royal families, including Ras Kassa and Ras Darge.
As a result of this and the above-mentioned connections, many Amhara people trace their ancestry to Silte. In addition, a large number of Amhara people from Silte have been living in peace and love in various parts of the country through marriage and other social and economic ties. As mentioned in the introduction above, the Amhara people who lived in the Silte area during the Italian occupation have pledged to become part of the traditional administration of Silte and to live in peace and love with the people of Silte.
The Silte people have strong linguistic, historical, cultural and psychological ties with the Harari and Zai peoples. The Harla people are the basis of the connection between the Silte and Harari peoples, according to the book “Harari-Silte: The Historical Connection of the Harari and Silte Peoples” published in 2000 by the Harari H/B/C Government’s Cultural Tourism and Information Bureau. Abdulfatah Hulder’s (1994) book also states that the Harla people were a bridge between the Silte and Harari peoples.
According to the widely reported genealogical information among the Silte people and the widely reported traditional information about the Harla people, although the Harla people were the first community to form the Silte people, this genealogical information suggests that the Silte people are related to the Somalis of Ogaden and the Afar people. The German professor Braukkemper (2001:28) states the following:
“According to a wide spread tradition in south East Ethiopia, there were two ancestors bearing the name Djabari: Ahmed and Ismail who were commonly considered as brothers. Ahmed’s decendants are said to live mainly north of Awash and Ismail’s south of that river. The Somali of Ogaden /Darod/ and thier Oromized fracitions in the region of Hararge in particular claim thier orign from Ismail who is placed in their genologies twenty to twenty five generetions ago .The story of Djabarti ancestory is not limited to the Somali who sarted their vigorous expantion from the coastal regions toward the interior relatively late .That is hardly before the 17th century. But it is also found among the Afar and inconection with the Harla tradition …. ”ይህም ማለት በስፋት በትውፊታዊ መረጃ እንደሚነገረው ጀበርቲ በአህመድና እስማኤል ዘራቸውን ለሚመዙ ህዝቦች ቅድመ አያት ተደርገው ይቆጠራሉ ፡፡
Ahmed Jaberti and Ismail Jaberti are brothers, and Ahmed Jaberti is the ancestor of the people living in the northern Awash River region. Ismail Jaberti's descendants are widely spread south of the river. The Ogaden Somalis, known as Darod, trace their lineage to Ismail Jaberti. In the process of genealogy, Ismail Jaberti is mentioned by the Ogaden Somalis from the twentieth to the twenty-fifth generation. The history of Jaberti in the genealogy is limited to the Somalis, but the Afar and Harla traditions also mention Jaberti.
While Ismail Jaberti is said to be the common father of the Somali, Afar and Harla peoples, the people of Silte also mention Ismail Jaberti in their genealogy analysis up to 7-9 generations. He lists the genealogy of the people of Silte as Haji Ali - Haji Umar - Hajj Ismail-Jaberti----etc. In addition, it is believed that the Gerad administrative system has survived as a part of the traditional administration among the Somali and Silte people to this day, which may be one indication of the relationship.
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