Rohan, Roha and a connection discovered through history
Rohan Davids was named Rohan at birth. The company name was not created from an Ethiopian place-name. Years later, through self-funded historical study into human origins, ancient civilisations and what is often described as the “Land of Origins”, he discovered the striking historical resonance of Roha — the earlier name associated with the Ethiopian town now known as Lalibela.
Roha: the historic Lalibela
UNESCO records that, after the decline of the Aksumite Empire, power shifted in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to Roha in Lasta, and that the place was subsequently renamed for King Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty. UNESCO documentation also describes Roha as the ancient name of the town and the Zagwe capital associated with Lalibela's extraordinary rock-hewn churches.
Ethiopia and the study of human origins
The “Land of Origins” theme is grounded in Ethiopia's exceptional importance to human-origins research. UNESCO describes Ethiopia as internationally known to scholars for some of the oldest Homo fossil sites. The Lower Valley of the Omo contains hominid fossils fundamental to the study of human evolution, while Melka Kunture and Balchit preserve evidence of hominin occupation extending back around two million years.
Ethiopia and Jamaica: a relationship deeper than a modern business link
The Ethiopia–Jamaica connection long predates JAETUK. In 1948, Emperor Haile Selassie I granted land at Shashamane through the Ethiopian World Federation for members of the African diaspora. Historical accounts from the Ethiopian World Federation and the Shashamane Foundation describe Jamaican settlers among those who subsequently established lives there, alongside people from the United States and elsewhere in the Caribbean.
This chronology is important: the Shashamane land grant came in 1948; Emperor Haile Selassie's celebrated state visit to Jamaica took place in April 1966. The Jamaican government's historical timeline records his arrival on 21 April for a three-day state visit. The visit strengthened an already developing relationship rather than creating the original land grant.
Over subsequent decades Shashamane became a powerful symbol of Ethiopian, Jamaican, Rastafari and wider African-diaspora connection. That relationship has been expressed through migration, faith, culture, family life, education and community development.
From historical connection to JAETUK
JAETUK — Jamaica, Ethiopia and the United Kingdom — is intended to strengthen practical connections between those countries today. Its role is forward-looking: making cross-border opportunities, businesses, resources and relationships easier to discover while recognising that the Jamaica–Ethiopia relationship has deep historical foundations.
For Rohan Corporation Group, the Roha discovery, Ethiopia's importance to human-origins scholarship, the history of Shashamane and the enduring Jamaica–Ethiopia relationship form a coherent part of the Group's international outlook. They are not presented as proof of an etymology or as a claim that one modern organisation created those historic connections.
Primary and institutional references
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Lalibela: Rock-hewn churches
- UNESCO — Lower Valley of the Omo
- UNESCO — Melka Kunture and Balchit
- UNESCO — African human-origin sites and Ethiopia
- Ethiopian World Federation — historical timeline and Shashamane land grant
- Government of Jamaica — 1966 state visit timeline