The Arsi have developed a concept of Arsooma which roughly translates to Arsihood. This has provided Arsi with an identity that has been passing to clans and other groupings for a long period of time.[2] The Arsi have a complex concept of clan division. The two main branches are Mandoo and Sikko. Mandoo refers to the Arsis in the Arsi and northern Bale Zones, while Sikko refers to those mainly in the Bale Zone.[citation needed]
History
Arsi Oromo state an intermarriage took place between their ancestors and previous inhabitants of the
Arsi Province, Adere (
Harari) whom they call the
Hadiya.[3][4] Hadiya clans claim their forefathers were Harari however they later became influenced by
Sidama.[5][6]
In the beginning of the early seventeenth century, the lands of Arsi Oromo were under the
Emirate of Harar however the Emirate gradually lost control in the following centuries.[7][8] In the eighteenth century, Emir
Abd-Shakur made attempts to Islamisize the Arsi Oromo.[9]
Arsi Oromo were largely independent and ruling under their own
Gadaa Republic until about the 19th century. The Arsi Oromo demonstrated fierce resistance in coordination with the
Hadiya rebel leader
Hassan Enjamo against the
Abyssinian conquest of 1881-6, when
Menelik II conducted several unsuccessful invasion campaigns against their territory.[10][11] In response when the Abyssinians occupied Arsi, Shewans terrorized civilians by committing various atrocities including massacres and amputations.[12] Although Arsi put up stiff opposition against an enemy equipped with modern European firearms, they were finally defeated in 1886.[11]
In the 1940s the Arsi Oromo with the people of
Bale province joined the
Harari Kulub movement an affiliate of the
Somali Youth League that peacefully opposed Amhara Christian domination of
Hararghe. The Ethiopian government brutally suppressed the ethno-religious movement using violence.[13][14][15]
During the 1970s the Arsi faced persecution by the Ethiopian government thus formed alliances with
Somalia.[16]