The Indigenous People
of Oromo History
Email:
[email protected]
During his prolonged residences abroad he acquired a thorough knowledge of the Arabic, Turkish and Persian languages and literatures, which, on his final return to France, enabled him to render valuable assistance to Thevenot, the keeper of the royal library, and to Barth�lemy d’Herbelot. After their deaths he lived for some time at Caen under the roof of Nicolas Foucault (1643-1721), the intendant of Caen, himself no mean archaeologist; and there he began the publication (12 vols., 1704-1717) of Les mule et une units, which excited immense interest during the time of its appearance, and is still the standard French translation. It had no pretensions to verbal accuracy, and the coarseness of the language was modified to suit European taste, but the narrative was adequately rendered. In 1701 Galland had been admitted into the Academy of Inscriptions, and in 1709 he was appointed to the chair of Arabic in the College de France. He continued to discharge the duties of this post until his death, which took place on the 17th of February 1715.

Besides a number of archaeological works, especially in the department of numismatics, he published a compilation from the Arabic, Persian and Turkish, entitled Paroles remarquables, bons mots et maximes des orienlaux (1694), and a translation from an Arabic manuscript, De l’origine et du progr�s du caf� (1699). The former of these works appeared in an English translation in 1795. His Conies etfables indiennes de Bidpai et de Lokrnan was published (1724) after his death. Among his numerous unpublished manuscripts are a translation of the Koran and a Histoire generate des em~ereurs turcs. His Journal was published by M. Charles Schefer in 1881.

GALLARATE, a town of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Milan, from which it 15 25 m. N.W. by rail. Pop. (1901) 12,002. The town is of medieval origin. It is remarkable mainly for its textile factories. It is the junction of railways to Varese, Laveno and Arona (for the Simplon). Six miles to the W. are the electric works of Vizzola, the largest in Europe, where 23,000 h.p. are derived from the river Ticino.

GALLARS, NICOLAS DES (c. 1520-

C. 1580), Calvinistic divine, first appears as author of a Defensio of William Farel, published at Geneva in 1545, followed (1545- 1549) by translations into French of three tracts by Calvin. In 1551 he was admitted burgess of Geneva, and in 1553 made pastor of a country church in the neighbourhood. In 1557 he was sent to minister to the Protestants at Paris; his conductor, Nicolas du Rousseau, having prohibitedbooks in his possession, was executed at Dijon; des Gallars, having nothing suspicious about him, continued his journey. On the revival of the Strangers’ church in London (1560), he, being then minister at Geneva, came to London to organize the French branch; and in 1561 he published La Forme de police eccl�siaslique institufe a Londres en l’Eglisc des Fran Qo’is. In the same year he assisted Beza at the colloquy of Poissy. He became minister to the Protestants at Orleans in 1564; presided at the synod of Paris in 1565; was driven out of Orleans with other Protestants in 1568; and in 1571 was chaplain to Jeanne d’Albret, queen of Navarre. Calvin held him in high esteem, employing him as amanuensis, and as editor as well as translator of several of his exegetical and polemical works. He himself wrote a commentary on Exodus (I~6o); edited an annotated French Bible (1562) a~td New Testament (1562); and published tracts against Arians (1565-1566). His main work was his edition of Irenaeus (1570) with prefatory letter to Qrindal, then bishop of London~ and giving, for the first time, some fragments of the Greek text. His collaboration with Beza in the Histoire des Eglises R�formIes du royaume de France (1580) iS doubted by Bayle.

See Bayle, Dictionnaire his!. el crit.; Jean Senebier, His!. littiraire de Gen�ve (1786); Nouvelle Biog. g�n. (1857), (A. Go.*)


GALLAS, MATTHIAS, COUNT OF CAMP0, DUKE OF LUCERA (I584-I647), Austrian soldier, first saw service in Flanders, and in Savoy with the Spaniards, and subsequently joined the forces of the Catholic League as captain. On the general outbreak of hostilities in Germany, Gallas, as colonel of an infantry regiment, distinguished himself, especially at the battle of Stadtlohn (1623). In 1630 he ,was serving as General -Feldwachtmeis!er under Collalto in Italy, and was mainly instrumental in the capture of Mantua. Made count of the Empire for thIs service,

he returned to Germany for the campaign against Gustavus Adolphus. In command of a corps of Wallenstein’s army, he covered Bohemia against the Swedes in 1631-1632, and served at the Alte Veste near Nuremberg, and at Lfltzen. Further good service against Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar commended General Gallas to the notice of the emperor, who made him lieutenantgeneral in his own army. He was one of the chief conspirators against Wallenstein, and after the tragedy of Eger was appointed to the command of the army which Wallenstein had formed and led. At the great battle of Ndrdlingen (23rd of August 1634) in which the army of Sweden was almost annihilated, Gallas commanded the victorious Imperialists. His next command was in Lorraine, but even the Moselle valley had suffered so much from the ravages of war that his army perished of want. Still more was this the case in northern Germany, where Gallas commanded against the Swedish general Ban�r in 1637 and 1638. At first driving the Swedes before him, in the end he made a complete failure of the campaign, lost his command, and was subject to much ridicule. It was, however, rather the indiscipline of his men (the baneful legacy of Wallenstein’s methods) than his own faults which brought about his disastrous retreat across North Germany, and at a moment of crisis he was recalled to endeavour to stop Torstenson.’s victorious advance, on.ly to be shut up in Magdeburg, whence he escaped with the barest remnant of his forces. Once more relieved of his command, he was again recalled to make head against the Swedes in 1645 (after their victory at Jankow). Before long, old and warworn, he resigned his command, and died in 1647 at Vienna. His army had earned for itself the reputation of being the most cruel and rapacious force even in the Thirty Years’ War, and his Merode Bruder have survived in the word marauder. Like niany other generals of that period, he had acquired much wealth and great territorial possessions (the latter mostly his share of Wallenstein’s estates). He was the founder of the Austrian family of Clam-Gallas, which furnished many distinguished soldiers to the Imperial army.

GALLAS, or more correctly GALLA, a powerful Hamitic people of eastern Africa, scattered over the wide region which extends for about 1000 m. from the central parts of Abyssinia to the neighbourhood of the river Sabaki in British East Africa. The name “Galla” or “Gala” appears to be an Abyssinian nickname, unknown to the people, who call themselves urn’ Orma, “sons of men” or “sons of Orma,” an eponymous hero. In Shoa (Abyssinia) the word is connected with the river Gala in Guragie, on the banks of which a great battle is said to have been fought between the Galla and the
Abyssinians. Arnaud d’Abbadie says that the Abyssinian Moslems recount that, when summoned by the Prophet’s messenger to adopt Islam, the chief of the Galla said” No,”-in Arabic hal (or gal) la,-and the Prophet on hearing this said, “Then let their very name imply their denial of the Faith.” Of all Hamitic peoples the Galla are the most numerous. Dr J. Ludwig Krapf estimated them (c. 1860) at from six to eight millions; later authorities put them at not much over three millions. Individual tribes are said to be able to bring 20,000 to 30,000 horsemen into the field.

Hardly anything is definitely known as to the origin and early home of the race, but it appears to have occupied the southern part of its present territory since the 16th century. According to ‘Hiob Ludolf and James Bruce, the Galla invaders first crossed the Abyssinian frontiers in the year 1537. The Galla of Gojam (a district along the northern side of the river Abai) tell how their savage forefathers came from the south-east from a country on the other side of a bahr (lake or river), and the Yejju and Raia Galla also point towards the east and commemorate the passage of a bahr. Among the southern Galla tradition appears to be mainly concerned with the expulsion of the race from the country now occupied by the Somali. Their original home was possibly in the district east of Victoria Nyanza, for the tribes near Mount Kenya are stated to go on periodical pilgrimages to the mountain, making offerings to it as if to their mother. A theory has been advanced that the great exodus which it seems certain took place among the peoples throughout eastern Africa during the 15th century was caused by some great eruption of Kenya

and other volcanoes of equatorial Africa. As a geographical term Galla-land is now used mainly to denote the south-central regions of the Abyssinian empire, the country in which the Galla are numerically strongest. There is no sharp dividing line between the territory occupied respectively by the Galla and by the Somali.

In any case the Galla must be regarded as members of that vast eastern Hamitic family which includes their neighbours, the Somali, the Afars (Danakil) and the Abyssinians. As in all the eastern Hamites, there is a perceptible strain of Negro blood in the Galla, who are, however, described by Sir Frederick Lugard as “a wonderfully handsome race, with high foreheads, brown skins, and soft wavy hair quite different from the ‘wool of the Bantus” As a rule their features are quite European.’ Their colour is dark brown, but many of the northern Galla are of a coffee and milk tint. The finest men are to be found among the Limmu and Gudru on the river Abai.

The Galla are for the most part still in the nomadic and pastoral stage, though in Abyssinia they have some agricultural settlements. Their dwellings, circles of rough stones roofed with grasses, are generally built under trees. Their wealth consists chiefly in cattle and horses. Among the southern tribes it is said that about seven or eight head of cattle are kept for every man, woman and child; and among the northern tribes, as neither man nor woman ever thinks of going any distance on foot, the number of horses is very large. The ordinary food consists of flesh, blood, milk, butter and honey, the last being considered of so much importance by the southern Galla that a rude system of bee-keeping is in vogue, and the husband who fails to furnish his wife with a sufficient supply of honey may be excluded from all conjugal rights. In the south monogamy is the rule, but in the north the number of a man’s wives is limited only by his wishes and his wealth. Marriage-forms are numerous, that of bride-capture being common. Each tribe has its own chief, who enjoys the strange privilege of being the only merchant for his people, but in all public concerns must take the advice of the fathers of families assembled in council. The greater proportion of the tribes are still pagan, worshipping a supreme god Waka, and the subordinate god and goddess Oglieh and Atetieh, whose favour is secured by sacrifices of oxen and sheep. With a strange liberality of sentiment, they say that at a certain time of the year Waka leaves them and goes to attend to the wants of their enemies the Somali, whom also he has created. Some tribes, and notably the Wollo Galla, have been converted to Mahommedanism and are very bigoted adherents of the Prophet. In the north, where the Galla are under Abyssinian rule, a kind of superficial Christianization has taken place, to the extent at least that the people are familiar with the names of Maremma or Mary, Balawold or Jesus, Girgis 01~ St George, &c.; but to all practical intents paganism is still in force. The serpent is a special object of worship, the northern Galla believing that he is the author of the human race. There is a belief in were-wolves (buda), and the northern Galla have sorcerers who terrorize the people. Though cruel in war, all Galla respect their pledged word. They are armed with a lance, a two-edged knife, and a shield of buffalo or rhinoceros hide. A considerable number find employment in the Abyssinian armies.

Among the more important tribes in the south (the name in each instance being compounded with Galla) are the Ramatta, the Kukatta, the Baole, the Aurova, the Wadjole, the Ilani, the Arrar and the Kanigo Galla; the Borani, a very powerful tribe, may be considered to mark the division between north and south; and in the north we find the Amoro, the Jarso, the Toolama, the Wollo, the Ambassil, the Aijjo, and the Azobo Galla.

See C. T. Beke, “On the Origin of the Gallas,” in Trans. of Brit. Assoc. (1847); J. Ludwig Krapf, Travels in Eastern Africa (1860); and Vocabulary of the Galla Language (London, 1842); Arnaud d’Abbadie. DouzeAnsdanslaHaule-Ethiop’ie (1868); Ph. Paulitschke, Ethnographie Nord-Ost-Afrikas; Die geistige Kultur der Dan’akil, Galla u. Sonu2l (Berlin, 1896); P. M. de Salviac, Les Galta (Paris, 1901).


GALLATIN, ALBERT (1761-1849), American statesman, was born in Geneva (Switzerland) on the 29th of January 1761. The Gallatins were both an old and a noble family. They are first heard of in Savoy in the year 1258, and more, than two centuries later they went to Geneva (1510), united with Calvin in hiS opposition to Rome, and associated their fortunes with those of the little Swiss city. Here they remained, and with one or two other great families governed Geneva, and sent forth many representatives to seek their fortune and win distinction in the service of foreign princes, both as soldiers and ministers. On’ the eve of the French Revolution the Gallatins were still in Geneva, occupying the same position which they had held for two hundred years. Albert Gallatin’s father died in 1765, his mother five

years later, and his only sister in 1777. Although left an orphan at nine, he was by no means lonely or unprotected. His grandparents, a large circle of near relatives and Mlle Catherine Pictet (d. 1795), an intimate friend of his mother, cared for hun during his boyhood. He was thoroughly educated at the schools of Geneva, and graduated with honour from the college or academy there in 1779. His grandmother then wished him to enter the army of the landgrave of Hesse, but he declined to serve “a tyrant,” and a year later slipped away from Geneva and embarked for the United States. A competent fortune, good prospects, social position, and a strong family connexion were all thrown aside in order to tempt fate in the New World. His relatives very properly opposed his course, but they nevertheless did all in their power to smooth his way, and continued to treat him kindly. In after life he himself admitted the justice of their opinions. The temper of the times, a vague discontent with the established order of things, and some political enthusiasm imbibed from the writings of Rousseau, are the best reasons which can now be assigned for Gallatin’s desertion of home and friends.

In July 1780 Gallatmn. and his friend Henri Serre (d. 1784) landed in Massachusetts. They brought with them youth, hope and courage, as well as a little money, and at once entered into business The times, however, were unfavourable. The great convulsion of the Revolution was drawing to a close, and everything was in an unsettled condition The young Genevans failed in business, passed a severe winter in the wilds of Maine, and returned to Boston penniless. Gallatin tried to earn a living by teaching French in Hatvard College, apparently not without success, but the cold and rigid civilization of New England repelled him, and he made his way to the South. In the backwoods of Pennsylvania and Virginia there seemed to be better chances for a young adventurer. Gallatin engaged in land speculations, and tried to lay the foundation of his fortune in a frontier farm. In 1789 he married Sophie All�gre, and every prospect seemed to be brightening. But clouds soon gathered again. After only a few months of wedlock his wife died, and Gallatin was once more alone. The solitary and desolate frontier life became now more dreary than ever; he flung himself into politics the only outside resource open to him, and his long, and eventful public career began.

The constitution of 1787 was then before the public, and Gallatin, with his dislike of strong government still upon him, threw himself into opposition and became one of the founders of the Anti-Federalist, or, as it was afterwards called, the Republican party. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention of 1789-I 790, and of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1790, 1791, and 1792, and rose with surprising rapidity, despite his foreign birth and his inability to speak English with correctness or fluency. He was helped of course by his sound education; but the true cause of his success lay in his strong sense, untiring industry, courage, clear-sightedness and great intellectual force. In 1793 he was chosen United ‘States senator from Pennsylvania by the votes of both political parties. No higher tribute was ever paid to character and ability than that conveyed by this’ election. But the staunch Federalists of the senate, who had begun to draw the party lines rather sharply, found -the presence of the young Genevan highly distasteful. They disliked his ‘French origin, and suspected him to be a man of levelling principles His seat was contested on account of a technical flaw in regard to the duration of his citizenship, and in February 1794, almost three months after the beginning of the session, the senate annulled the election and sent him back to Pennsylvania with all the glory of political martyrdom.

The leading part which Gallatin had ‘taken in the “Whisky Insurrection” in Western Pennsylvania had, without doubt, been an efficient cause in his rejection by the senate. He intended fully to restrain within legal bounds the opposition which the excise on domestic spirits had provoked, but he made the serious mistake of not allowing sufficiently for the character of the backwoods population.

Oromia Flag
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1