From Qurt Gǝbr to Yäquṭǝr Gäbbar: The Tributary Status of Peasants in Wälaytta of Southern Ethiopia, 1894-1937

The tributary status of Wälaytta peasants, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century is widely acknowledged in the literature; however, it is not adequately analysed. The current paper is aimed to address this problem. The article is based on previously underutilised local press, oral history, archival materials and published and unpublished secondary sources. The article shows how the Wälaytta peasants evolved from a non-exploitative tributary status (when Wälaytta was as an independent state) to qurt gǝbr, a fixed tribute levied on some of the newly conquered polities and later to oppressive yäquṭǝr gäbbar system, characterized by inequality, coercion, oppression and exploitation. The system created an asymmetrically dependent status of the local population. Yäquṭǝr gäbbar system was hierarchically institutionalized and hence local people couldn’t change their situation despite recurrent protests.