Is it true that Somalis assume we are all Habesha?

[learnmore1]

Tigre, Tigray and Tigrianye??

I get confused with these similar names

I don't blame you

It's English that actually makes these confusing

[EriMes]

what about 65 35.. i know tigre became muslims in the 17 century how ever it does not matter when one became muslim i want you also to become muslim as a tigrinya

It might be 65 Muslim 35 Christian.
The only reason why I always assume Christians are more than Muslims is the Tigrinya pop. is definetely more than the Tigre population. The Tigre inhabit a lot of land but the area is so sparsely populated, like Ogaden but not as extremely sparse maybe.
The government should do an honest census, I don't think we've had one yet. The town my fathers mum is from should be like 50/50 Tigre/Tigrinya by now.

And yes I understand that, anyone would want someone to join theirs to be honest

I would go with possibly around 70% muslims, the same is exactly what my cousin told me lol after he and his family visited back home 2 years ago for the first time since his parents fled during independence war, and the fact that a legitimate census has not been done and everything on EriTV being Tigrinya Tigrinya and more Tigrinya rings alarm bells with this governments portrayal of the population. Most elder muslims I know regardless if Saho, Tigre, Afar or Jeberti are all aware of this. We are not fools my friend.
I just don't see why Tigrinya people get so upset, also how can this government do an "honest census" when they haven't even allowed the hundreds of thousands of Eritrean western lowlanders who fled into East Sudan during the war to return to their ancestors homes, come on dude??? I really wouldn't be surprised if Tigrinya are a minority in general, their statistics of their region doesn't make any sense not only to me but neither to any elders.

You stated in another reply that "Arabic is not needed in Eritrea, we are not Arabs." ??? Only Rashaidas are Arabs but we are still Muslims and it is the language that our religion ISLAM was founded on and most muslims especially in Massawa use as the common language to communicate to others. Also how do you expect us to read the Quran? An English translated? Italian translated, or let me guess you want to create a translated Tigrinya Quran to make your people proud?
When my cousins family all went back home 2014 summer for the first time, their son only speaks English but his parents speak mainly Saho and Arabic at home, but they also can speak very well Tigrinya, English and can understand Amharic too, and when he was in Asmara Tigrinya people were telling him he is not real Eritrean because he doesn't speak Tigrinya, can you imagine the disrespect?!
You sound just like your people, you are a TYPICAL Habesha Tigrinya-Tigray - ARROGANT! Just like your brothers south of the border.
A Tigrinya telling any Eritrean especially a Saho that he is not real Eritrean wallahi there would probably be a murder scene in reality.

[James Dahl]

Habesha is a very old term, the Emperors of Aksum were titled Negush of Aksum and Habashat (or "the Habeshas") so Habesha has been the name of semitic speaking people of the horn of Africa for 1700 years.

The languages of Habesha people are all very similar, they have diverged over time, 1700 years is a very long time after all and so many are no longer mutually intelligible, but neither are many French or Italian dialects.

The denial of common history with the rest of Ethiopia is a rather bizarre modern invention of Eritrean nationalism.

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

Habesha is a very old term, the Emperors of Aksum were titled Negush of Aksum and Habashat (or "the Habeshas") so Habesha has been the name of semitic speaking people of the horn of Africa for 1700 years.

The languages of Habesha people are all very similar, they have diverged over time, 1700 years is a very long time after all and so many are no longer mutually intelligible, but neither are many French or Italian dialects.

The denial of common history with the rest of Ethiopia is a rather bizarre modern invention of Eritrean nationalism.

Yeah but not all Eritrea is habeshi, that's the point. There are Cushitic groups like the Afar and Beja.

[Waachis]

Es Salam Alaykum.

Is it common for Somalis to portray Ethiopia and Eritrea as a Habesha nation? I have been lurking this forum for a while now, and it seems every time there is a thread about Ethiopia or Eritrea, Habesha is mentioned but outside, I never never experience hearing it.

I will make it clear for you. The term doesn't exist nor used anymore after Abyssinia died out. It is also a very offensive term where Eritreans will disrespect you if you mention it directly. For two reasons why calling Habesha is wrong:

1) Habesha only refer to the people of Amhara, Tigray and the Gurage. They're minority and only inhabit in the Northern Highland. However, they have more power - the government, economical and military sector is owned by them (mainly Tigray) for several decades which is why you often hear deceitful sources from them and common portrayal like Amharic, Tigrinya or Tigray etc and not the others who are not commonly known.

2) It is a term associate with Christianity so it is an insult for the Muslims. 85% of the Eritreans are Muslims and all tribes other than the Tigray are Muslim dominated but the country is ruled by the minority Tigrays. In Tigray led-Ethiopia, despite its portrayal of Christian nation, 65% of the people are Muslims, mostly Cushitic. They often hate being labelled as Habesha. About 20% of the so-called Habesha are Muslims as well.

So, please do not lump us as one people or link us with Habesha.

Hope that's clear!

Id say its going to be difficult to seperate yourself from thr Habesha identity if youre a Tigrinya which constitute the majority of Eritreas population as even tho you guys had your own region for a long time, youre still culturally connected to the Tigryans and Amharas of Ethiopia even if you believe they arent linked to the Axumite empire (which they are if you consider than most still have partial Yemeni ancestry altho Eritrean Tigrenyas are a bit more mixed). Habesha is essentially a overarching ethnicity which traces most Northrrn Highlander groups to the Dmt and Axum empire which precedes Abyssinia and Behr Negash. For much of your history, the Habeshas were one. Geez is the parent langauge of the habesha, not Tigrinya. Most of you practice a unique form of Christianity before you converted to Islam, you all use very similar script , and you all have similar cultural practices and clothings.

Politics is the reason why semitic Eritreans dont like to be associated with Habesha. And if you say your people have different identity, thats fine, but from what Ive observed, theres not much cultural difference between Tigrayans and Tigrinyas, only subtle regional differences. Ive seen Eritrean Tigrinhas And Ethiopian Tigrayans speak perfectly with one another, even Oromos from Borana and Jimma wouldnt be able to communicate with each other due to large differences in dialects and phrases and they both call themselves oromo.. Its the reason your people started claiming them as Agame or fakes. Northern Amharas are genetically similar to Tigrayans who are similar to Tigrinyas. And Id say Gondar or Gojjam is the homeland of the Amhara, Wollo is too far south for it to be Amharas homeland, even the Oromos claim Wollo as Oromo territory. Amharas or the protoAmharas migrated southward because the once fertile Tigray region started becoming drier and it couldnt support a larger population. Climate change was actually a major reason why Axum collapsed.


I support Eritrea, but I dont support widespreak Tigrinya cognitive dissonce caused by decades of anti habesha propaganda promoted by regimes backed by italians colonialists who were intent on maintaining a divide between Eritrean and Ethiopian highlanders.

more lies as usual from the oromo hating ''harar''.
fool, i have family from borana and from jimma, and they communicate just fine!

[learnmore1]

I would go with possibly around 70% muslims, the same is exactly what my cousin told me lol after he and his family visited back home 2 years ago for the first time since his parents fled during independence war, and the fact that a legitimate census has not been done and everything on EriTV being Tigrinya Tigrinya and more Tigrinya rings alarm bells with this governments portrayal of the population. Most elder muslims I know regardless if Saho, Tigre, Afar or Jeberti are all aware of this. We are not fools my friend.
I just don't see why Tigrinya people get so upset, also how can this government do an "honest census" when they haven't even allowed the hundreds of thousands of Eritrean western lowlanders who fled into East Sudan during the war to return to their ancestors homes, come on dude??? I really wouldn't be surprised if Tigrinya are a minority in general, their statistics of their region doesn't make any sense not only to me but neither to any elders.

You stated in another reply that "Arabic is not needed in Eritrea, we are not Arabs." ??? Only Rashaidas are Arabs but we are still Muslims and it is the language that our religion ISLAM was founded on and most muslims especially in Massawa use as the common language to communicate to others. Also how do you expect us to read the Quran? An English translated? Italian translated, or let me guess you want to create a translated Tigrinya Quran to make your people proud?
When my cousins family all went back home 2014 summer for the first time, their son only speaks English but his parents speak mainly Saho and Arabic at home, but they also can speak very well Tigrinya, English and can understand Amharic too, and when he was in Asmara Tigrinya people were telling him he is not real Eritrean because he doesn't speak Tigrinya, can you imagine the disrespect?!
You sound just like your people, you are a TYPICAL Habesha Tigrinya-Tigray - ARROGANT! Just like your brothers south of the border.
A Tigrinya telling any Eritrean especially a Saho that he is not real Eritrean wallahi there would probably be a murder scene in reality.

It is very hard to estimate, but in regards to ethnic group, Tigrinya are definitely still the largest in population followed by Tigre people.
We can't be so sure that the estimates we make on forums is exactly right, no one has really seen every inch of land in Eri. If you are trying to say the Saho population is more than the Tigrinya people though, that is wrong. Also, just because there are more ethnic groups with Islam as the main religion, doesn't mean they are the biggest in population. That's like saying, there are over 100 Non White American ethnic groups in America, so non-white Americans must be the biggest in population.

If you want Arabic as an official language then I am not really that fussed, if the people want it they can have it. I'm just saying most nomadic groups are isolated anyways, how often is it a Rashaida person will come into contact with a Kunama person, or a Tigre with an Afar person...

[James Dahl]

Habesha is a very old term, the Emperors of Aksum were titled Negush of Aksum and Habashat (or "the Habeshas") so Habesha has been the name of semitic speaking people of the horn of Africa for 1700 years.

The languages of Habesha people are all very similar, they have diverged over time, 1700 years is a very long time after all and so many are no longer mutually intelligible, but neither are many French or Italian dialects.

The denial of common history with the rest of Ethiopia is a rather bizarre modern invention of Eritrean nationalism.

Yeah but not all Eritrea is habeshi, that's the point. There are Cushitic groups like the Afar and Beja.

This is true, I don't know much about Saho history but I'd like to

[Sahibzada]

I went to a highschool with a Saho dude.Nigga was like 6ft3,I could tell he was a Cushite from a mile away

[Siciid85]

They sure all smell the same to me although Eritreans are slightly bit more tolerable