It is difficult to ascertain that a particular ethnic group originated from somewhere; expanded due to certain exact reason; and finally occupied a given area. It is too challenging to come with the last conclusion for questions like which ethnic group is the first dweller and thus indigenous to this or that place. The Agew, one of the ethnic groups constituting the modern Ethiopian state, could not escape the shadow of such cases. In most historical documents, on the one hand, Aksumite pressure has been taken as a greatest factor that contributed to the expansion of the Agew to newer inhabitations. On other hand, there are studies that confer the cooperation between the Aksumite royalty and the Agew people. Therefore, this study examines reasons behind such controversies and it explores the pull factors that persuaded the Agew people to shift their center of residence. The source materials for this study were largely drawn from secondary sources such as books and theses. In addition, some primary sources, particularly oral interviews were used. The validities of the sources are crosschecked one against the other.

Keywords: Agew, Aksumites, Cushites, Expansion, Movement, Population, Semites