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Amhara (አማራ) is an ethnicity of people in the central highlands of Ethiopia, numbering about 19 million, making up around 26% of the country's population (estimates differ). They speak Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, and dominate the country's political and economic life.

Agriculture

About 90% of the Amhara are rural and make their living through farming, mostly in the Ethiopian highlands. Prior to the 1974 revolution, absentee landlords maintained strict control over their sharecropping tenants, often allowing them to accumulate crippling debts. After 1974, the landlords were replaced by local government officials, who play a similar role.

Barley, corn, millet, wheat, sorghum and teff, along with beans, peppers, chick-peas and other vegetables are the most important crops; in the highlands one crop per year is normal, while in the lowlands two are possible. Cattle, sheep, and goats are also raised.

Religion

Their predominant religion for centuries has been Christianity, with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church playing a central role in the culture of the country and of the Amharic ethnic group. The church maintains close links with the Egyptian Coptic Church. Easter and Epiphany are the most important celebrations, marked with services, feasting and dancing. There are also many "fast" days throughout the year, when only vegetables or fish may be eaten.

Marriages are often arranged, with men marrying in their late teens or early twenties. Traditionally, girls were married as young as 14, but in the 20th century, the minimum age was raised to 18, and this was enforced by the Imperial government. Civil marriages are common, although some marry in churches. After a church wedding, divorce is not considered possible. Each family hosts a separate wedding feast after the wedding.

Upon childbirth, a priest will visit the family to bless the infant, and circumcise him if he is a boy Template:Dubious. The mother and child remain in the house, for forty days after birth of a boy, eighty for a girl, before going to the church for baptism.

Art

Amharic art is typified by religious paintings. One of the most notable features of these is the large eyes of the subjects, who are usually biblical figures.

History

The Amharic-speaking peoples appear to be a mixed race resulting in mingling of Cushitic population with the dominant Semitic peoples of Abyssinian highlands. Certain Semitic tribes built the Kingdom of Axum around two millennia ago and it expanded to contain today Eritrea and all that now is northern Ethiopia, as well as portions of Jemen and Sudan. The Amhara inherit their religion and monarchical tradition from Axum, through Tigrayan tribes.

The region now known as Amhara contained in feudal era several provinces with more or less autonomy, such as Begemder, Gojjam, Qwara and Lasta.

Amharan warlords competed often over dominance of the realm with Tigrayan warlords. Also some branches of imperial dynasty were from Tigray, some from Amharic-speaking area. Apparently the Amharas got the final upper hand with the accession of so-called Gondar line of the imperial dynasty in the beginning of 17th century, though it soon lapsed in semi-anarchical state of Zemene Mesafint, rivalling warlords, who held emperors just as figureheads - the Tigrayans only made a brief return to the throne in person of Yohannes IV whose death in 1889 however allowed the base to return to Amhara.

Historians generally consider the Amhara to have been Ethiopia's ruling elite for centuries, represented by the line of Emperors ending in Haile Selassie. Many commentators, including Marcos Lemma, dispute the accuracy of such a statement, arguing that other ethnic groups have always been active in the country's politics.

One possible source of confusion for this stems from the mislabeling of Amharic-speakers as "Amhara", and the fact that many people from other ethnic groups have Amharic names. Another is the fact that most Ethiopians can trace their ancestry to multiple ethnic groups. In fact, the last Emperor, Haile Selassie I, often counted himself a member of the Gurage tribe on account of his ancestry, and his Empress, Itege Menen Asfaw of Ambessel, was in large part of Oromo descent. The expanded use of Amharic language may just result in part from it being a mix between Semitic Ethiopian and Cushite Agaw, the latter being akin to several southern peoples of he empire, such as the Oromo, and even the Somali.

External links

• Lemma, Marcos (MD, PhD). Template:Web reference