Chickpea (Cieer arielinulIl L.) and lentil (Lens euinaris Medik.) are among the major sources ofrndietary protein for the majority of population in Ethiopia. They also restore and maintain soilrnfertility through their symbiotic nitrogen-fixation in association with rhizobia. This study wasrnintended to investigate plant growth promoting propelties of chickpea and lentil nodulatingrnrhizobia and phosphate solubilizing bacterial isolates fi'om major producing areas of the country.rnAccordingly, a total of 157 bacterial isolates were obtained and characterized using differentrnstandard methods. Phenotypic and plant gro1h promoting characteristics of 66 rhizobia I isolatesrnrecovered fi'omroot nodules of chickpea and lentil grown in soils collected fi'Dln producing areasrnof the country were investigated. These rhizobial isolates showed wide diversity in their differentrnC and N-sources utilization pattern and tolerance to salinity, high temperatures, acid and alkalinernpH, heavy metals and antibiotics. Symbiotic and morphological characterization also showed arnwide diversity among these rhizobial isolates. Moreover, some of these rhizobial isolatesrnexhibited plant groMh promoting characteristics such as phosphate solubilization, IAArnproduction and antagonistic activity against FusariulIl o.)'sporulll. In addition, a total of 91rnphosphate solubilizing bacterial isolates were obtained fi'om chickpea and lentil rhizosphere soilrnsamples collected fi'om different producing areas of the country. These isolates were identifiedrnusing the API biochemical test kits and partial 16S rDNA sequences analysis. The result showedrnthe presence of genera such as Aeinelobacler, Aerolllonas, Agl'ObacleriulIl, Bacillus,rnBrevibacillus, BUl'khoideria, Chl)iSeOmOnas, Empedobaclel', Enlel'Obaclel', Pseudomonlls,rnRaislonia, Sphingomonas and Slenoll'Ophomonas. Phosphate solubilizing efficiency of thernisolates was assessed qualitatively using solubilization index and quantitatively. Quantitative estimation of the phosphate solubilization efficiency of different insoluble phosphorus sourcesrnshowed that most isolates have good solubilization ability of tricalcium phosphate, rockrnphosphate and bone meal. Furthermore, some of these isolates showed multiple plant growthrnpromoting characteristics; production of indole acetic acid and fluorescent siderophore, andrninhibition of FusariulII oxysporulII growth under ill vitro conditions. The effects of inoculation ofrnisolates with multiple plant growth promoting properties on chickpea and lentil growth in potrnculture showed significant improvement in number of nodules, shoot dry matter, shoot nitrogenrnand phosphorus contents. Generally, the present study indicated that Ethiopian soils containrnsymbiotically effective chickpea and lentil rhizobia which are endowed with different plantrngrowth promoting attributes. Moreover, chickpea and lentil rhizosphere harbor phosphaternsolubilizing bacteria which are diverse in their taxonomy and phosphate solubilizing efficiency.rnSome of these isolates are of particular interest for further research under different tieldrnconditions.rnKey words: IAA, MesorhizohiulII species, PGPR, PSB, RhizobiulII species