ABSTRACT
The Argobba people consist of two geographically separated groups commonly known as “Northern” and “Southern” Argobba. The Northern Argobba, sometimes called Argobba North, live in the region of Ankober, in Shoa province, northeast of Addis Ababa, a district in which the military-political capital of Emperor Menilek II (1844-1911) was at one time located. Northern Aigobba inhabit the villages of Aliyu Amba, Ch’ano, and others near the Borkenna River, a tributary of the Awash. Historically, the northeastern edge of the Central Ethiopian Highlands has been the crossroad for important trade routes that brought the Argobba into contact with Shoan Amhara and Wollo Galla, and especially with the semi nomadic Afar, their immediate neighbours. In the past the Argobba maintained good relations with the Afar out of necessity to facilitate Argobba caravan traffic to Harar and the Red Sea coast.
