Gallas

“ Certainly the Gallas, although hitherto giving little or no proof of any common national sentiment, are one of the African nations which may look forward to a bright future of social progress, and even take its share in the general work of human advancement. ”

“ The Gallas [26] about Harar are divided into four several clans, separating as usual into a multitude of septs. The Alo extend westwards from the city: the Nole inhabit the land to the east and north-east, about two days' journey between the Eesa Somal, and Harar: on the south, are situated the Babuli and the Jarsa at Wilensi, Sagharrah, and Kondura,-- places described in these pages. The Berteri, who occupy the Gurays Range, south of, and limitrophe to, the Gallas, and thence extend eastward to the Jigjiga hills, are estimated at 3000 shields. ”

“ Most people appear to regard the Abyssinians as a different race from the Gallas, but, I believe, without foundation. Both alike are Christians of the greatest antiquity. It is true that, whilst the aboriginal Abyssinians in Abyssinia proper are more commonly agriculturists, the Gallas are chiefly a pastoral people; but I conceive that the two may have had the same relations with each other which I found the Wahuma kings and Wahuma herdsmen holding with the agricultural Wazinza in Uzinza, the Wanyambo in Karague, the Waganda in Uganda, and the Wanyoro in Unyoro. ”

“ Bravery; courageousness; heroism; intrepidity; as, the troops attacked the fort with great gallantry.
Gallas. A warlike race occupying the south and east of Abyssinia. They first appear in history in the 16th century, when they extended their conquests from the interior of Africa, laying waste by constant incursions the countries of Eastern Africa to the mountains of Abyssinia. Politically they do not form a single nation, but are divided into numerous tribes, forming separate kingdoms and states, which are frequently at war with each other. ”

“ Their noses are aquiline, their lips but slightly thick, they have intelligent faces, and are of slender build. Their activity is very great and they are addicted to robbing caravans.
Gallas.—The Gallas are strangers to civilization, the majority scattered over the plains which extend to the south of Abyssinia, leading a pastoral and nomadic life. They are divided into a great many independent tribes, being kept united, however, by origin and language. They are warlike, cruel, and given to plunder. Their colour is very handsome and their hair usually curly or woolly ”

“ They are evidently the remains of conquered peoples forming isolated ethnological groups amid the invading hordes of the Galla nation. In the open Orômo country still exist a few groups of Amharinians who have preserved the Abyssinian language.
The Gallas are usually of middle height, or about 5 feet 4 inches, although men are found amongst them as tall as the Scandinavians. They are broad-shouldered and slender-waisted, the young men having chests which would delight a sculptor; the legs are shapely, the feet small and always well arched. ”

“ A DARING EXPEDITION.
"I have discovered this," replied Canaris. "The Gallas are preparing for an attack; fresh men have come in from distant towns. They are encamped at the edge of the burned village, and in a small hut, which is surrounded by guards, your friends, I am confident, are confined. ”

“ The Galla, physically speaking, are a fine race of men, tall, muscular, and well formed. In the colour of their skin they vary considerably, as may be supposed, from the differences of situation and of neighbourhood in which they have located themselves. The Edjow Gallas, to the north of Angotcha, are, I understand, of a lighter colour 431 than the real Amhara or red man, but it is probable that some mistake exists as regards this statement. The Gallas of Limmoo are very dark-coloured, but they live in a country considerably more elevated than that of the Edjow Gallas. ”

“ Their language is a dialect of the Amhara tongue, but varied, like their skins, according to the precise locality of the tribe.
The features of the Gallas have none of the negro characteristics, such as the length of the skull, the contracted (though not receding) forehead, and the full development of the lips and jaws. The hair resembles that of the Abyssinians, and is dressed in various modes. Sometimes it is formed into long, narrow plaits, hanging nearly to the shoulders, and in others it is frizzed out into tufts. ”

“ The general of the Imperialists was Mathias Count Gallas, a native of Trent, whose reputation and long career of severe and successful service, rendered him a formidable antagonist to the young Cardinal, whose army was to act in conjunction with the Swedes under the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and to add Alsace to the new conquests of France, whose frontier Richelieu had sworn should be the Rhine. ”

“ These Gallas are tolerably brave, avoid matchlock balls by throwing themselves upon the ground when they see the flash, ride well, use the spear skilfully, and although of a proverbially bad breed, are favourably spoken of by the citizens. The Somal find no difficulty in travelling amongst them. I repeatedly heard at Zayla and at Harar that traders had visited the far West, traversing for seven months a country of pagans wearing golden bracelets [27] , till they reached the Salt Sea, upon which Franks sail in ships. ”

“ The Portuguese gave the town for crest a cock (Gallo) , a legitimate pun. The serious derivations of the name are numerous. Pridham says that it is Galla, 'a Rock,' which is probable. But Chitty says it means 'a Pound,' and was so called according to the Malabars (i.e. Tamil people) from "... this part of the country having been anciently set aside by Ravana for the breeding of his cattle" (Ceylon Gazetteer, 1832, p. 92) . Tennent again says it was called after a tribe, the Gallas, inhabiting the neighbouring district (see ii. 105, &c.) ”

“ Success was for the present with the emperor and Spain. Gallas, now appointed to Wallenstein's place, was Aldringer's companion from boyhood, whereas Bernhard, the Rupert of the German war, disagreed with Horn. Under the leadership nominally of the king of Hungary, Ferdinand's heir, but really of Gallas, the army recaptured Regensburg and Donauwörth, and when the Spanish Cardinal Infante joined them with 15,000 men on his way from Italy to the Netherlands, they were invincible. Bernhard attacked Battle of Nördlingen. ”

“ The chief of Urua, a large region to the west of Lake Tanganyika, “arrogates to himself divine honours and power and pretends to abstain from food for days without feeling its necessity; and, indeed, declares that as a god he is altogether above requiring food and only eats, drinks, and smokes for the pleasure it affords him.” Among the Gallas, when a woman grows tired of the cares of housekeeping, she begins to talk incoherently and to demean herself extravagantly. ”

“ See The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, vol. ii. pp. 191 sq. 40. Among the Gallas the king, who also acts as priest by performing sacrifices, is the only man who is not allowed to fight with weapons; he may not even ward off a blow. See Ph. Paulitschke, Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas: die geistige Cultur der Danâkil, Galla und Somâl, p. 136. 41. Among the Kafirs of the Hindoo Koosh men who are preparing to be headmen are considered ceremonially pure, and wear a semi-sacred uniform which must not be defiled by coming into contact with dogs. ”

“ A language anterior to Malay, vernacular in Gilolo. Wallace: “Malay A.,” appendix. H. C.
Galgai.
A sub-dialect of the Caucasus, same as Ingush.
Galibi.
American: a form of the word Carib, belonging more especially to French Guiana.
Galilean.
A dialect of Aramaic. See Matth. xxvi., 73.
Galla.
African: spoken by the Gallas, i.e. “mountaineers,” a numerous people in Abyssinia and over a wide extent from the E. coast inwards, and S. till it reaches the Kaffir. See Tutschek: “Dictionary and Grammar,” Munich, 1844-5. ”

“ African Protectorate there are altogether as many as twenty-five distinct tribes, generally at a low stage of culture, with a loose tribal organisation, a fully-developed totemic system, and a universal faith in magic; but there are no priests, idols or temples, or even distinctly recognised hereditary chiefs or communal councils. The Gallas, who have crossed the Tana and here encroached on Bantu territory, have reminiscences of a higher civilisation and apparently of Christian traditions and observances, derived no doubt from Abyssinia. ”

“ In an illustration on page 662, which represents a battle between the Abyssinians and Gallas, is seen the king, shaded with his umbrellas, giving orders to a mounted chief, whose ornamented shield and silver coronal denote his rank. In the distance may be seen villages on fire, while on the right an attack is being made on one of the lofty strongholds in which the people love to entrench themselves. ”

“ Gall, St., an Irish monk who, about 585, accompanied St. Columban to France in his missionary labours, banished from which he went to Switzerland, and founded a monastery on the Lake of Constance, which bore his name; d. about 646.
Galland, Antoine, French Orientalist, born in Picardy, professor of Arabic in the College of France; was the first to translate the “Arabian Nights” into any European tongue (1646-1715) .
Gallas, an Ethiopian race occupying the S. and E. of Abyssinia, energetic, intelligent, and warlike; follow mostly pastoral occupations ”

“ The interior is most carefully plastered over with mud and free of dust and dirt. The natives of this region are more advanced in ideas of civilisation than any others living along the Sobat and Baro in the plains. This is possibly due to their being in closer touch with the Gallas, with whom they trade considerably, than any of the more western tribes are.
They are a most peaceful, friendly and industrious race, and are great agriculturists. Miles and miles along the river banks are diligently cultivated by them twice a year, and splendid crops spring up from the generous soil. ”

“ Considerable intimacy of friendly relations was maintained for some time between the against the Turks. {4} Abyssinians and the Portuguese, who assisted in defending them "In the middle of the 16th century ... a migration of Gallas came from the South and swept up to and over the confines of Abyssinia. Men of lighter complexion and fairer skin than most Africans, they were Pagan in religion and savages in customs. Notwithstanding frequent efforts to dislodge them, they have firmly established themselves. ”

“ The country is wasted by continual feuds, and in some tribes the able men have been reduced by more than two- thirds. Even in the family itself, endless vendettas are carried on, unless blood-money has been accepted. But if the Gallas are with good reason feared by most of their neighbours, they are in their turn frequently threatened in the north by the Abyssinians of Gojam and Shoa, and to the east by the Somalis, whilst the slave-hunters often make successful razzias into their forests. ”

“ She bare seven sons, who became mighty robbers and founders of tribes: their progenitors obtained the name of Gallas, after the river Gala, in Gurague, where they gained a decisive victory over their kinsmen the Abyssins. [4] A variety of ethnologic and physiological reasons—into which space and subject prevent my entering—argue the Kafirs of the Cape to be a northern people, pushed southwards by some, to us, as yet, unknown cause. The origin of the Somal is a matter of modern history. ”

“ Cheerful and impulsive, but with a well-balanced temperament, they seldom yield to their angry feelings, at least in the presence of strangers. They are a warm-hearted, kindly people, in this also favourably distinguished from tht ir Somali neighbours, amongst whom cruelty and treachery are characteristic vices. The Gallas are moreover dis- tinguished from their Somali neighbours by their cleanly habits, shown especially in their tidy, well-swept dwellings. ”

“ Nevertheless in these incessant border feuds, the aggressors are invariably the numerically iiif^Tior Somali tribes. These fierce nomads, who go about constantly armed and reuJy for the fight, and who are alwa3'S lying in ambush to fall unawares on the foe, have naturally a great advantage over the sedentary Gallas, occupied chicHy with the cultivation of their durrah fields. But on the verge of the desert stretching north of the Ilarrar Mountains some of these Galla tribes have, as nomad pastors, adopted the habits and customs of their hereditary enemies. ”

“ Large droves of wild shaggy horses, and clusters of fiery savages were grouped on the plain outside. The ringing shout of the warrior mingled with the neigh of his war-steed, and the din and the clatter of household avocations resounded from the interior of every hut. To add to the bustle, the Galla females were running from house to house, with their long raven tresses streaming over their bare shoulders; whilst their short leather petticoats, with embroidered flounces, displayed the well-shaped limbs and the graceful form, for which the tribe are so justly famed. ”

“ The Galla are a very numerous race of shepherds living to the south and west of Abyssinia, and also in parts of the interior of that country. As their land is high, and the rains screen it for a considerable time from the sun, the general complexion of these people is brown; though some who inhabit the valley of the lower country are perfectly black, with long hair of the same colour. They are divided into tribes, for every seven of which a king or chief is elected. ”