Marchuwa
[2][3][4] As Chauncey Hugh Stigand states, the Welayta people had developed the art of weaving and wearing cloths made up of cotton prior to any other Ethiopian communities.When different parts of Africa used the barter system (exchanging of goods), the state of Wolaita spread this form of currency throughout its region.[5][2] Oral tradition claim that there was the storehouse of Marchuwa at Dalbo palace established by one of the kings of the Wolaita Tigre dynasty.Sources proved that until the Menelik II's conquest of the south Hadiya, Kambatta, Sidama, Dawuro, Gamo, and Gofa had used this Marchuwa as currency.[5][2][3] By the time Welayta people were incorporated into the Ethiopian Empire by Menelik II, Marchuwa was replaced by the Maria Theresa thaler and blocks of salt called "Amole tchew", which are assumed to be the first currency of the Ethiopia.