The capricious manner of Eritrea’s creation, the long histories of immigration, invasions, and partition between foreign rulers, and the physical diversity of its landscape have left their mark on the inhabitants of the country.
The largest of these communities, which inhabits the Plateau, is the Tigriniya population. The Tigrinyia society in Eritrea used to be broadly sub divided into one group of families which are descendants of the mythical common ancestor named Meroni through the three sons, Chaluk, Faluk ad Maluk, and another which derives from early ‘Agau clans collectively named the Adkemeh Melga. The former live with the families associated with them in the former Hamasain and Akelli Guzai districts while the latter inhabits the former Serai district.
The Tigrinyia society is settled agriculturalists and are organized in village communities, which are each, composed of extended families. Most of these families are the original occupants and owners of the land and they are known as restenya while the families, which emigrated from different areas and are the tenants are known as the makalai ailet. Both classes of families enjoy the same rights of using the land but only the restenya had the right to voice in the management of the village. Domestically committees of elders representing the restenya families administrate while governmentally it was the headman or Chiqa adi that administrates the village. Chiqa adi is appointed from a particular family of restenya
For administrative purposes the Plateau districts subdivide into a large number of sub-districts which in the past were variously administrated on behalf of the Ethiopian Emperors by officers known as faresainya and hereditary chiefs or left to fend for themselves. The Italians introduced uniformity by putting chiefs in charge of all districts and appointing their own nominees, who are not always chosen from the traditional chiefs families. Similarly they appointed their own nominees to village headmanships, often ignoring the rights of the families from which the appointments were traditionally made.
Within the tribal organization, which emerged as a consequence, the dominant families became as aristocratic caste to which the other families were obligated to tender a number of exacting dues and services. At the same time the heads of the aristocratic families developed as powerful tribal chiefs. With the advent of the Italians it was natural that the non-aristocratic caste, who had become no more than serfs, should seek to be freed from their disagreeable obligation. In the event the Italians, while abolishing the more intolerable dues and services owed by the aristocratic caste, found the traditional political and social structure of the tribes too convenient for their purposes to be unduly weakened by reform. And so they were careful to support the authorities of the traditional chiefs and, thereby, preserved the social system over which they presided.
The Afar people who speak a Hamitic dialect called Afar inhabit the southern stretch of the Coastal Plain. The Afar were organized as small clans or families, traditionally they owe a loose allegiance to the Sultan, which the Italian colonizers did nothing to weaken it.
The Saho society in Eritrea spoke a Hamitic dialect closely related with the Afar. The Saho are organized as clans, which have become federated into five tribes, Assorta, Hazu, Minaferi, Debremaila and Sana’fay. Before the Italiians’ they had chiefs, their affairs being managed by councils of elders. This did not suit the Italians’ need for close control and accordingly they appointed chiefs in charge of each tribe: a measure, which made for administrative efficiency if not for popularity.
The southern end of the Northern Highlands inhabited by the Bilien. The Bilien society is composed of a number of small families, which came under the control of two powerful clans, the Bait Tarqay and Bait Tauqay, during the sixteenth century. The Bait Tarquay was Hamites and immigrants from Agau in Ethiopia; the Bait Taugay was from the Tigrinyia society that inhabits the Plateau.
The Bait Tarquay brought with them the Hamitic dialect used in Agau, which they subsequently passed on to Bait Taugay and which has since developed as a distinctive dialect
Within the two tribal organizations the members of the of the dominant class are known as simage and the other families are mikrirur. The relationship between them resembles that of restenya and makalai ailet in the Tigrinyia society. Before the arrival of the Italians the simage or heads of the families into which the Bait Tarqay and Bait Tauqay subdivided exercised a chiefly authority over their own chiefs and over the whole of either of the tribes and their affairs were managed by councils of elders until the Italians appointed paramount chiefs over each of the two tribes in 1932.Though the two tribes of the Bilien society share a common language and many common customs, the two tribes have tended to grow culturally apart. The Bait Tarqay, who are the immediate neighbors of the Tigrinyia society, are mostly Christians and are semi-nomadic, and many did become agriculturalists while the Bait Tauqay is all Moslems and nomads.
The remote lowlands of the Gash-Setit inhabited by the Kunama and Nara people. They speak dialects related to Nilotic dialects, are settled agriculturalists.
Traditionally occasional meetings of elders managed the affairs of the Nara and Kunama and though leaders sometimes emerged, nothing about chieftainship was known until the Egyptians appointed a prominent Nara named Totil to collect taxes and execute their orders. The Italians improved on Egyptian practices by converting the position held by Totil into hereditary chieftainship extending to the Kunama as well as to the Nara. This measure was deeply resented by the Kunama. The Kunama remains predominantly Nilotic and, though some follow Christianity and Moslem religious while most of them were wedded to their pagan traditions. The Nara is all Moslems and have largely become assimilated to their Tigriniyia neighbors, whose customs they have in many respects adopted.
At present Eritrea has a population of 3.52 million people composed of nine Ethnic groups. 60% of the population lives in rural areas while 40% of the population lives in urban areas. 20% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product is from agriculture. The working languages in the country are Tigrinyia, Arabic and English. The present day Eritrea and the population of the country get its current form after a long course of history. There were a lot of immigration, invasion and interaction among the society. Few and the major highlights in the history of the country and the people are mentioned in this context.