Eddie Fernandes <[email protected]> fwded :John watched fearfully as "a thousand or more armed Abyssinians (Somalis)\\\
Frederick Noronha asked: Was Somalia also part of the Abyssinian empire? Frederick Noronha also posted: Abyssinia, was in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. ..... It was in its time the oldest continuously existing state in the world, and the only African nation to successfully resist the Scramble for Africa by the colonial powers during the 19th century. == COMMENT: a: Only in the feline "empire" are Somalis Abyssinians. b: While Ethiopia (Abyssinia) resisted colonization in the 19th century, Eritrea was colonised (temporarily) by the Italians in the early 20th century. c: A tribe of Abyssinians who migrated to the east (and / or sold by Ethiopian/Arab traders to the Portuguese and the Marathas) were known in colloquial Konkani as 'Habshis' (Abshis in Salcete); alternatively as Siddis. http://www.colaco.net/1/siddhi0.htm d: A question has to be asked: If people can be sold to others as slaves, can it be stated accurately that they (the people) were not colonised? e: Are we saying that colonisation is only present when done by Europeans? f: Was there colonisation on the Indian subcontinent before the Europeans arrived? jc
