Barentu (Oromo)
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Ethiopia | |
| Languages | |
| Oromo | |
| Religion | |
| Islam, Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, Protestantism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Oromo, Borana and other Cushitic peoples. |
Barentu people, also called Barentoo or Baraytuma, are one of the two main groups of the Oromo people in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. They historically expanded towards east, southeast and northeast Ethiopia, while the other moiety named Borana Oromo people expanded west, northwest and southwards.
Between the 12th and 15th centuries, the Oromo people had differentiated into two major confederations of pastoral tribes: the Borana and the Barentu. There were also several other minor subgroups. The Barentu people thereafter expanded to the eastern regions now called Hararghe, Arsi, Wello and northeastern Shawa. The Borana people, empowered by their Gadda political and military organization expanded in the other directions, regions now called western Shawa, Welega, Illubabor, Kaffa, Gamu Goffa, Sidamo and in the 16th-century into what is now northern Kenya regions. The Borana and Barentu groups are sometimes referred to as two early era moieties of the Oromo people.
The Barentu Oromo people in Arsi, Bale and Hararghe regions abandoned their traditional religions and the Gadda system of governance in the 19th century, when they were converted to Islam. In eastern regions close to Somalia, about 98.5% of the Barentu people now follow Islam. They are geographically closest to the Afar people from the Afar Region, who were the two first ethnic groups to accept Islam in Africa.
Some people away from Somalia border, in the Arsi Zone and the Bale Zone follow the traditional Oromo religion which is called Aadha, whose god is Waaq. People who follow Waaqa are often from the Borana Oromo people.
The Barentu consist of the following sections or subgroups, which in turn include many subdivisions:
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