Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 154
Most of my Dghweɗe friends spoke with pride about their history of local warfare, but there
was one narrative that was prominent. This was the story about the violent expansion of the
descendants of Vaghagaya and/or Mughuze. We collected three versions of it: one from
Gudule who were the main victims of the conflict, one from Hudimche and another from
Hembe. The Hembe and the Gudule stories differ from the Hudimche version since they place
Mughuze-Ruwa at the centre and not Vaghagaya who is portrayed as his most prolific
descendant. The Hudimche version presumably cites the descendants of Vaghagaya in leading
this war because they themselves were part of his lineage.
The locality of Vaghagaya traditionally comprises the three neighbouring settlement units:
Gharaza, Hudimche and Korana. Korana was where Vaghagaya and Korana lived. Oral
history seems to suggest that the expansion of the Vaghagaya and Mughuze lineages took
place just as Gharguze was about to disappear. The decision of the 'Goze' and the 'Fte Kra' to
move on was linked to the growing influence of the Mughuze and Vaghagaya lineages. We
like to think that while the descendants of the latter expanded, they incorporated pre-existing
groups into the Tur tradition, such as for example the Gudule and the Hembe.
Another aspect of the expansion of the Mughuze and Vaghagaya lineages was that as a result
they were known to have most often fought among themselves. This is of course not
surprising, but considering they became the most numerous lineages in southern Dghweɗe,
they were able to form an alliance to fight any other opposing clan or lineage group. This was
presumably what bulama Tada Zangav of Hudimche meant when he explained to us in 1995:
The only fights the Vaghagaya could have were between themselves.
He then added:
They also fought with Ghwa'a, Kunde, Kwalika, and Hiduwe [Huduwa].
Other oral sources confirmed that Kunde fought Vaghagaya, and added that it was Ghwa’a
and Hembe who aided Kunde. On the other hand, if Kunde fought with Gathaghure, Hembe
and Gudule aided Gathaghure, while Ghwa’a and Taghdigile aided Kunde.
Figure 8a: Potential war alliances between northern and southern Dghweɗe
1 - Vaghagaya
fought Ghwa'a,
Kunde to its north
and Kwalika and
Huduwa to its
south.
2 - Hembe &
Ghwa'a aided
Kunde when
Kunde fought
Vaghagaya
(former
Gharguze).
3 - Hembe &
Gudule aided
Gathaghure
against Kunde
(Ghwa'a &
Taghadigile aided
Kunde).
Figure 8a illustrates that Vaghagaya (1) is the largest lineage group ready to expand, while
scenario two (2) shows that Ghwa'a on its own is not strong enough and needs to form a war
152
