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A Contemporary Biography of Ras Alula: A Ge'ez Manuscript from Mänäwē, Tämbēn—I

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Haggai Erlich
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Extract

European contemporaries regarded Ras Alula, Emperor Yohannes's general, as one of the most prominent leaders of Ethiopia in the crucial period of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. This was a period in which the country was struggling to remain independent during the ‘scramble for Africa’. The Ras was referred to as ‘the best native general and strategist that Africa has perhaps produced in modern times’, and ‘undoubtedly’ the ‘greatest leader that Abyssinia has produced since the death of the Emperor Theodore in 1868’. His Italian adversaries thought in 1885 that ‘Ras Alula is the most serious, the most influential, and the strongest personality in today's Abyssinia. The word of Alula is heard with enthusiasm and confidence by the King’. A Sudanese Mahdist historian wrote that ‘Ras Allulā was one of the famous and brave men in war, very experienced in the tactics of battles. He was a bone in the throat of the British, Italian, and Turkish [Egyptian] empires’. A British soldier and diplomat was of the opinion that ‘the Abyssinian generalissimo’ was ‘apparently the moving spirit of that country’.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , February 1976 , pp. 1 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1976

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References

1 Wylde, A. B., Modern Abyssinia, London, 1900, 20.Google Scholar

2 Berkeley, G. F., The campaign of Adowa and the rue of Menelik, London, 1902, new ed., 1935, 13.Google Scholar

3 ASMAI (Archivio Storico del soppresso Ministero dell'Africa Italiana, Rome) 36/3–23, Ferrari's report, 14 09 1885.Google Scholar

4 al-Qādir, Ismā'īl b. ‘Abd, al-Ṭirāz al-manqüsh bibushrā qatl Yūḥannā malik al-ḥubūsh, MS, School of Oriental Studies, University of Durham, pp. 33–4.Google Scholar

5 PRO (Public Record Office, London), FO 406/1, Hewett to Admiralty, 7–10 01 1884.Google Scholar

6 Mäkuriya, Täklä Ṣadeq, Yä-Ityoṗya tarik, Addis Ababa, 1960/1967–1968, 48.Google Scholar

7 Sellasē, Heruy Wäldä, Yä-heywät tarik [biographies], Addis Ababa, 1914/1921–1922, 47.Google Scholar

8 ‘Abba Nägga’ was Ras Alula's ‘Horse name’. See Mäsqäl, Mahtämä Sellasē Wäldä, ‘Čē Bäläw’, Journal of Ethiopian Studies, VII, 2, 1969, 199–303Google Scholar, and the English introduction there by Täfla, Baku, pp. 195–8.Google Scholar

9 Ethiopian Herald, 7 02 1974Google Scholar. For the clash of Dogali see pt. II of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976Google Scholar, translation of leaves 19 and 7a, and nn. 1–5.

10 See below, pp. 29–33, and especially pp. 34–5. For his origin see p. 30, n. 35, and p. 31, n. 43. For his being ‘a ranker’ vis-à-vis the agrarian hereditary nobility, see Erlich, H., ‘Alula “the son of Qubi”, a “king's man” in Ethiopia, 1875–1897’, JAH, XV, 2, 1974, 261–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11 See below, inter alia, p. 30, nn. 37–11, pp. 33, 34, nn. 48–51, and pt. II of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976, n. 35.Google Scholar

12 See pt. II of this article, translation of leaves 40a–45b (especially 45a–b), nn. 44–68, and Appendix.

13 See Appendix to pt. II of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976.Google Scholar

14 See below, pp. 29, 30, nn. 30–4.

15 See below, p. 39, and n. 69.

16 See below, pp. 40, 41, nn. 71–4.

17 See pt. II of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976Google Scholar, translation of leaves 19 and 7a, and nn. 1–5.

18 See pt. II of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976Google Scholar, translation of leaves 47b–25b, and nn. 20–25.

19 See pt. II of this article, translation of leaves 37b–39b, and nn. 36–43.

20 For example see pt. n of this article, translation of leaves 39b–45a, and nn. 44–64. For a fuller description of the internal struggles in Tigre in the period 1889–94, see Erlich, H., A political biography of Ras Alula, 1875–1897, Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1973.Google Scholar

21 ASMAI 36/17–168, Capucci, to Traversi, , 17 10 1894.Google Scholar

22 See Appendix to pt. II of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976.Google Scholar

23 See below, p. 29 and n. 29.

24 See below, p. 37, n. 62, and p. 45, n. 93.

25 See below, p. 34, n. 50, and pt. II of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976Google Scholar, translation of leaf 37b, and n. 35.

26 See below, p. 41, nn. 74–5, p. 42, n. 78, p. 44, n. 85, p. 45, nn. 90–1.

27 See Appendix to pt. II of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976.Google Scholar

28 This manuscript was lent by the priests of the church of Mänäwē, Ras Alula's birthplace, to H. Erlich who visited the village in February 1972 looking for oral sources on the Ras. The manuscript was then photocopied in Mäqälē and returned to the church. The author of this article wishes to thank H. H. Ras Mängäša Seyum, W. Yäšašwärq of Abiy Addi (a great-grand-daughter of Alula), Ato Ṣähay Alämayyähu of Abiy Addi, Mr. Isaac Greenfeld of Tel-Aviv University, Dr. R. Pankhurst of Addis Ababa, and the people of Mänäwē for their generous help. The manuscript was translated by R. Cowley and annotated by H. Erlich. Leaves la, Ib, 29a, and 29b were extensively blackened, and are reproduced above from handwritten copies made by Mänbäru Färrädä of Gondar. An annotation at the top of leaf 15b is too faint to be reproduced. It reads Mrs. K. Thorogood assisted by typing the article.

29 This suggests that the MS is a contemporary history, which was written before the death of Alula on 15 February 1897. (ASMAI 3/17–229, Governatore, V. to , M. D. G., 25 02 1897Google Scholar; Erlich, H., A political, biography of Bos Alula, 39Google Scholar. The last event described in that MS took placs in March 1890. See pt. II of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976, n. 68.)Google Scholar

30 Alula had a major role in the battles of Gundet, (16 11 1875)Google Scholar and Gura, (7–9 03 1876)Google Scholar against the invading Egyptian troops of Khedive Ismā'īl. Under the supreme command of Yohannes, he distinguished himself as an excellent general, and this may be justifiably regarded as the beginning of his career. According to an Italian writer Alula was later called ‘the Lion of Gura’ (Bonacucina, A., Due anni a Massawa, Fabriano, 1887, 43).Google Scholar

31 Dated from the coronation of Yobannes the fourth year ended in January 1876 just before the battle of Gura.

32 A sub-province in today's Eritrea.

33 In fact Alula was then only a Šaläqa (Douin, G., Histoire du règne du Khédive Ismaïl, Le Caire, 1933–1941, III, pt. III, 770).Google Scholar

34 In the battle of Gura the Egyptians admittedly lost 2,500 dead and 1,500 wounded (Ratib Pasha to Captain Wharton in FO 78/2631, Vivian, to Derby, , 23 01 1877).Google Scholar

35 Alula was of humble origins. His parents were peasants from the village of Zuqli, near Mänäwē, some 20 km. south of Abiy Addi, Tämbēn. In his early career he was an Aškär, follower, of Däjjazmač Kassa, subsequently the emperor Yohannes.

36 In early October 1876 Yohannes appointed Alula over Ḥamasēn and granted him the rank of a Ras (Douin, , Histoire, III, pt. III, 1085Google Scholar). Thus Alula replaced Däjjazmač Wäldä Mika'ēl, who had supported the Egyptians in Gura. (See Kolmodin, J. A., Traditions de Tsazzega et Hazzega Rome, 1912–1916, no. 239Google Scholar; Bek, Muḥammad Rif'at, Jabr al-kasr fī'l-khilāṣ min al-asr, Cairo, 1314/1896–1897, 14–15.)Google Scholar

37 In March 1877 Alula was called by Yohannes from Ḥamasēn back to Tigre (Mitchell, L. H., Report on the seizure by the Abyssinians, Cairo, 1878, 97Google Scholar). The emperor had to react to the Shoan king Menelik's advance of February 1877 to Däbrä Tabor (Sellassié, Guèbrè, Chronique du règne de Ménélik II, Paris, 1930–1932, ch. xxivGoogle Scholar). Yohannes reached Gojjam in the early rainy season to find that Menelik had already returned to Shoa. Yohannes spent the rainy season of 1877 at Däbrä Tabor and Alula was sent to camp near Menelik's border (Erlich, , 32Google Scholar; Gentile, L., L'Apostolo dei Galla, Torino, 1916, 345).Google Scholar

38 1877.

39 i.e. The district of Adwa then called Tigre. As reflected in our MS, the term Tigre as a reference to the whole of this northern province was not frequently used in Yohannes's period.

40 In order ṭo spend the rainy season in their homes (see, e.g., Wylde, , Modern Abyssinia, 36).Google Scholar

41 Däbrä Tabor is east of Lake Ṭana, and Gavent is the district between Däbrä Tabor and Wällo. As Alula was sent to camp near Menelik's border, this ig possibly a reference to the Galla whom he presumably raided during the period between March 1877 and Yohannes's invasion of Shoa of February 1878.

42 Between March 1877 and February 1878.

43 Alula was then trusted and liked by Yohannes. This may be attributed not only to the Ras's personality, but also to the fact that ‘Alula is of low birth and has no pretensions of himself with the royal family’ (FO 78/3806, Egerton, to Salisbury, , 26 07 1885Google Scholar, quoting Mason Bey).

44 A great supporter of Yohannes and after the Emperor's death of Ras Mängäša Yohannes and Ras Alula (Mercatelli, in La Tribuna, 5 07 1895, ASMAI 3/6/42Google Scholar, De Martino, to Baratieri, 14 December 92Google Scholar; for his later career see Rossini, C. Conti, Italia ed Etiopia, Romạ, 1935, 469–71).Google Scholar

45 For Alula's friendship with Yohannes, and the best comparative sketches of their characters, see Winstanley, W., A visit to Abyssinia, London, 1881, II, 224, 225, 230, 235Google Scholar. According to Heruy, Alula was the emperor's ‘balämwal’, i.e. a favourite. Sellasē, Heruy Wäldä, Yä-heywät tarik, 47.Google Scholar

46 The title of Terkwe Baša was connected in Ethiopian history with the introduction of firearms. This functionary was the commander of the fusiliers and in charge of the imperial stores of firearms. The former Terkwe Basa was killed in Gura. (Lämläm, Aläqa, Tarik, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS Eth. 259Google Scholar. Mondon 72, fol. 21. An English translation is kept by Dr. R. Caulk, National University, Addis Ababa.) Alula used that title to emphasize his superiority over the other Rases in Yohannes's court, and he always referred to himself as ‘Ras Alula who is a Terkwe Baša’ (see, e.g., Alula's various letters in Giglio, C. (ed.), L'Italia in Africa. Serie storica. Etiopia-Mar Rosso, v, Documenti (1885–1886), Roma, 1966).Google Scholar

47 This may indicate that the obedience of others of the Emperor's vassals was grudging.

48 In February 1878 Yohannes finally invaded Shoa.

49 In March 1878 Menelik sued for peace. According to some Italian writers, it was Alula who removed the stone from the neck of Menelik when he submitted to Yohannes. (Among others, Valle, Col. Pietro ‘Abissinia, schizzo fisico e storico’, Rivista Militare Italiana, II, 1887, 495–508.)Google Scholar

50 The author clearly tended to minimize the internal conflicts which were referred to in the MS. See also part n of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976, n. 35.Google Scholar

51 While Alula was helping Yohannes to consolidate his hegemony, Alula's own new province was recaptured by its previous ruler Wäldä Mika'ēl. Wäldä Mika'ēl was supported by the hostile Egyptian authorities of Massawa and Kärän, by whom he was also recognized as a Ras (FO 407/11, Gordon's memorandum of 15 September 1879).

52 Where he conferred with Menelik and Ras Adal over acute religious and political problems.

53 Ras Bariyaw Gäbrä Ṣädeq, the governor of Adwa, was left by Yohannes, in 03 1877Google Scholar in charge of Tigre. In May 1878 he crossed the river Märäb to fight Wäldä Mika'ēl, but was ambushed and killed by the latter on 20 May 1878, near Asmara (Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, Paris, Massauah 4, Carbonnel, to MAE, 25 05 1878).Google Scholar

54 The text has been tampered with here, as in 33b, 34a, and 34b above.

55 Wäldä Mika'ēl was encouraged by the Egyptians at Massawa to advance and take Adwa (Hill, B., Colonel Gordon in central Africa, London, 1881, 209Google Scholar; British Museum, Add. MS 51294, Gordon, to his sister, 26 04 1878, 15 05 1878).Google Scholar

56 Tämbēn and Endärta are two sub-provinces in today's Tigre. The capital of Tämbēn is Abiy Addi and that of Endärta is Mäqälē.

57 Wäldä Mika'ēl, who was in his headquarters at Hazäga, then the capital of Ḥamasēn (Kolmodin, , Traditions, no. 260Google Scholar). Owing to Gordon's policy the Egyptians, in May 1878, stopped supporting the Ethiopian outlaw (Wylde, A. B., '83 to '87 in the Soudan, London, 1888, I, 334, 335Google Scholar). Alula managed to mobilize in Tigre some 20,000 troops and crossed the Märäb in late September 1878 (MAE, Massauah 4, Carbonnel, to MAE, 10 11 1878).Google Scholar

58 December 1878 at Aksum (Hill, , Gordon, 328, 329Google Scholar, Kolmodin, , Traditions, no. 261).Google Scholar

59 Yohannes was then in Däbrä Tabor (Kolmodin, , Traditions, no. 261).Google Scholar

60 Thus Yohannes recognized the rank giren to Wäldä Mika'ēl by the Egyptians (Kolmodin, , Traditions, no. 261).Google Scholar

61 In fact Alula did not return with Wäldä Mika'ēl to Ḥamasēn, but accompanied Yohannes to the Galla country (Matteucci, P., In Abissinia, Milano, 1880, 95Google Scholar). They returned to Tabor, Däbrä in late 03 1879.Google Scholar

62 Alula crossed the Märäb, in 07 1879Google Scholar and camped at Gura west of Sägänäyti (MAE, Massauah 4, Raffray, to Consul, , Egypt, 8 09 1879Google Scholar). In August and September lie sent raiders to Halhal and Bogos, and actually controlled the Märäb Mellaš (the future Eritrea). While in Gura in August–September 1879 (but before 16 September 1879, when he received Gordon there), Alula imprisoned his deputy Ras Wäldä Mika'ēl. Ras Wäldä Mika'ēl was accused of treason, was sent to Yohannes in Däbrä Tabor, and then was put on Amba Sälama (where he stayed till 1891) (Kolmodin, , Traditions, nos. 262–5Google Scholar; Mäkuriya, Täklä Ṣadeq, Yä-Ityoṗya tarik, Addis Ababa, 1960/1967–1968, 57, 58Google Scholar). In Ḥamasēn, Alula's role in the fall of Wäldä Mika'ēl was well remembered to his discredit (Kolmodin, , TraditionsGoogle Scholar), and it is interesting to note that the author of our MS preferred to ignore the subject.

63 Alula moved to Täklay, Addi (west of Asmara) in late 09 1879Google Scholar (FO 407/11, Wylde, to Salisbury, , 20 10 1879Google Scholar). This place was his permanent headquarters till the second part of 1884 when he moved to Asmara (Erlich, , Ras Alula, 139).Google Scholar

64 Districts, places, and tribes in the Märäb Mellaš. ‘The people of … Hasägäde’ are the three Tigre-speaking tribes of Eritrea, Ḥabbab, Ad Takles, and Ad Tämaryam (see Trimingham, J. S., Islam in Ethiopia, second ed., London, 1965, 158–61Google Scholar). Bäqla is the coastal region north of Massawa, known also as the Säḥil (Trimingham, , 10Google Scholar). The population of those peripheral Muslim Eritrean tribes, which were nominally under Egyptian government, was tributary to Ras Alula and was frequently raided by his armies till the appearance of the Mahdists and the Italians in the area in 1885.

65 It was probably in 1878 when he was appointed as a Terkwe Baša that Ras Alula divorced his wife Betwäṭa, a daughter of a peasant from Tämbēn, and married Wäyzäro Amläsu, the young and beautiful daughter of Ras Ar'aya Demṣu (lellequ). Ras Ar'aya was the emperor's uncle and a very influential person, of whom the young Alula had been a follower in the late 1860's (Erlich, , Ras Alula, 12).Google Scholar

66 See Matteucci, , In Abissinia, 233.Google Scholar

67 Amläsu, died in 10 1883Google Scholar (FO 406/1, Hewett, to Admiralty, , 7–10 01 1884Google Scholar). For a song lamenting Amläsu's death see Rossini, C. Conti, Proverbi tradizione e canzoni tigrine, Roma, 1912, p. 281Google Scholar, song no. 39 and also p. 283, song no. 40.

68 According to the evidence of the old people of Mänäwē, Amläsu was buried at Däbrä Damo. The ‘place of Abba Arägawi’ is Däbrä Damo, where Arägawi, one of the Nine Saints, taught Christianity towards the end of the fifth century. See Tamrat, Taddesse, Church and state in Ethiopia, 1270–1527, Oxford, 1972, p. 24, n. 1Google Scholar, quoting Rossini, Conti's Storia d'Etiopia, 158–61Google Scholar. See also Appendice III by Maurice de Coppet in Sellasié, Guèbrè, Chronique du règne de Ménélik II, II, 557.Google Scholar

69 During the period 1879–83 Alula, the governor of the Märäb Mellaš, had hostile relations with his Egyptian neighbours, and he frequently raided and clashed with them in Bogos, which was claimed by Ethiopia. Yet, as Alula was interested in developing commerce with Massawa, he maintained a modus vivendi with the Egyptians in that port (see Erlich, , Ras Alula, 50Google Scholar). In October 1883, the Egyptians sent a company of irregular troops to occupy Säḥaṭi, then a deserted water source on the caravan route to Massawa. Alula demanded the evacuation of the Egyptian troops from this place, which he regarded as ‘a neutral ground’ (FO 78/3808, Marcopoli, to Chermside, , 26 08 1885, quoting AlulaGoogle Scholar). This demand was rejected by Massawa, and Alula raided the place, killing 45 Egyptian irregulars and imprisoning 15 (Times, 26 11 1883Google Scholar; FO 407/28, Moncrief, to Baring, , 4 11 1883Google Scholar). This clash was the last one which the Ethiopians had with these neighbours. As the Egyptians were then actually facing destruction in the Sudan, British diplomacy was soon to initiate a peace treaty between Ethiopia and Egypt (to be signed also by Britain).

70 They were all people of humble origin, like Alula, natives of Tämbēn (Erlich, , Ras Alula, 148–9).Google Scholar

71 After Säḥaṭi the British sent Rear-Admiral Hewett to sign with Yohannes a treaty between Ethiopia, England, and Egypt. According to the so-called ‘Hewett Treaty’ (3 06 1884)Google Scholar, Alula started facilitating the Egyptian withdrawal from the eastern Sudan, where their garrisons were besieged by the Mahdists. Thus Ethiopia and the Mahdist state came into direct con frontation. In the Eritrean arena tension was gathering momentum during 1885 owing to Alula's intention to march on Kassala and relieve the Egyptian garrison. The Mahdists, on the other hand, influenced the Muslim inhabitants of Bogos and the area around Hassawa, aiming to replace there the evacuated Egyptians. In August 1885, ‘Uthmān Diqna, the Amīr of the eastern Sudan, arrived at Kassala (which had already fallen) and marched to Kufit, threatening in words and deeds to invade the Märäb Mellaš. Alula, who had hitherto hesitated to take the road to Kassala because of the Italian occupation of Massawa (February 1885), marched to meet him at Kufit, mid-way between Kärän, and Kassala, , south of Bisha, on 23 09 1885Google Scholar (Erlich, , Ras Alula, 69–138).Google Scholar

72 i.e. ‘Uthmān Diqna.

73 For other versions of Alula's letter to Diqna, , dated 18 09 1885Google Scholar, see SOAS micro-film M.518, ‘Sa'd Rif'at Report’; Shuqayr, Na'ūm, Tārīkh al-Sūdān, Cairo, 1903, 401Google Scholar; Jackson, H. C., Osman Digna, London, 1926, 113.Google Scholar

74 In fact Alula's army was armed with modern Remington rifles (among others: Zerboni, to Depretis, , 23 09 1885Google Scholar, Allegato 2, in Giglio, C., Etiopia-Mar Rosso, v, 60).Google Scholar

75 The number of the dead Mahdists was estimated by an Ethiopian officer as 5,050 troops (in FO 78/3811, Cameron, to Egerton, , 25 10 1885Google Scholar). But in fact at least a few hundred Mahdists survived the battle, including ‘Uthmān Diqna himself (Erlich, , Ras Alula, 126–8Google Scholar).

76 I found no other written or oral sourne which mentions a brother of Alula named Čewa. Alula's brothers were Käffa, Täsämma, and Gäbrä Maryam (killed in Gura). His sisters were Denqu and Kassa. Alula's father was Engeda Qubi and his mother's name was Gäräda. (Interview with Alula's descendants: Wäyzäro Yäšašwärq Bäyyänä of Abiy Addi and Fitawrari Bäyyänä Abreha of Aksum, February 1972.) According to Puglisi, G., Chi è dell'Eritrea?, Asmara, 1952, 14, he also had a sister named Tamarsa.Google Scholar

77 Alula was the only prominent Ethiopian leader who participated in Kufit.

78 The battle of Kufit was not, as reflected in our MS, a battle between Christians and Muslims. Many of the Eritrean Muslim tribes who opposed the Mahdiyya fought in Kufit, under the command of Alula. The Banū ‘Āmir tribesmen, led by their Shaykh Mūsā al-Fīl and by Blatta Gäbru, made up the main body of the Ethiopian advance guard (‘Sa'd Rif'at Report’).

79 In 1885 Alula's prestige was at its height. ‘Ras Alula is the most serious, the most in fluential and the strongest personality in today's Abyssinia.’ An Italian visitor was impressed: ‘… one can say that it is very easy to get anything from the Negus of Abyssinia once Ras Alula is interested in it’ (ASMAI 36/3–23, Ferrari, 's report, 14 09 1885).Google Scholar

80 Alula entered Asmara, on 6 10 1885Google Scholar (FO 78/3810, Egerton, to Salisbury, , 18 10 1885Google Scholar; unlike Wingate, F. R., Mahdism and the Egyptian Sudan, London, 1901, 252).Google Scholar

81 Dr. R. Caulk of the National University, Addis Ababa, has kindly given to me an English translation of a letter from Yohannes to Alula. This letter had been shown to one of his students by the late Fitawrari Asbeha Abreha of Koräm, a great-grandson of Alula. The letter, dated Samara (Däbrä Tabor), 5 Ṭeqemt (14 October 1885), praised Alula for his victory (at Kufit) and thanked him for his letter to the emperor dated 20 Mäskäräm (29 September 1885). So this letter of Alula was sent to Yohannes from Kärän, where the Ras stayed after the battle, before returning to Asmara.

82 On 12 October 1885 (3 Ṭeqemt), according to the above-mentioned source.

83 i.e. Samära, that is Däbrä Tabor. This was one of Yohannes's three capitals; the other two were Adwa and Mäqälē.

84 ‘Uthmān Diqna.

85 In fact ‘Uthmān Diqna did not break down many churches, as he did not invade Christian-populated territories. It was only later, in early 1888, when the Mahdist Amīr Ḥamdān Abū ‘Anja launched a holy war on Ethiopia and destroyed Gondar (23 January 1888), that churches were destroyed in large numbers. (For the ambivalent approach of the Mahdists to warfare against Ethiopia see Holt, P. M., The Mahdist state in the Sudan, second ed., Oxford, 1970, 150Google Scholar; Erlich, , Ras Alula, 219–20.)Google Scholar

86 The ‘people of Leo’ are the followers of Leo I, pope of Home (A.d. 440–61), namely the people who accept the doctrinal definitions of the council of Chalcedon (451), in opposition to the followers of Dioscorus, patriarch of Alexandria (444–54), who reject them. The former group are the so-called dyophysites, the latter the ‘monophysites’.

87 The author refers to the siege of Kassala. For details see Shuqayr, , Tārīkh al-Sūdān, 331–43Google Scholar; Holt, , Mahdist state, 166–9Google Scholar; Wingate, , Mahdism, 150–1, 241–2, 247–8.Google Scholar

88 By 9 June 1885 the Egyptian Mudīr of Kassala had already written four letters to Alula urging him to march and relieve the garrison (Shuqayr, , op. cit., 398Google Scholar; FO 78/3806, Bey, Iffat to Chermside, , 9 06 1885).Google Scholar

89 Alula was promised by the British the sum of 300,000 thalers if he relieved the Egyptian garrison (FO 78/3808, Marcopoli, to Chermside, , 12 08 1885).Google Scholar

90 No other source supports this claim that Alula forced the besieged Egyptians to adopt Christianity. On the contrary, in that period Alula was known to be most tolerant towards the Muslims in the Märäb Mellaš (Wylde, , Modern Abyssinia, 35Google Scholar; Martini, F., Nell'Africa Italiana, Milano, 1891, 109Google Scholar; Erlich, , Ras Alula, 144–5).Google Scholar

91 In fact Kassala fell into Mahdist hands on 30 July 1885 and its garrison was not relieved by Alula's later victory at Kufit. It was the other Egyptian garrisons, those of al-Qalläbät (Mätämma) and ai-Jīra, which were relieved by an Ethiopian army and sent by Alula to Massawa.

92 Alula returned from Kufit, to Asmara, in 10 1885Google Scholar and spent there the next twelve months facing the Italians in Massawa. Though authorized by Yohannes to deal with that question (see pt. II of this article, BSOAS, XXXIX, 2, 1976, n. 13Google Scholar) Alula's uncompromising and inflexible policy towards Italian expansionist tendencies did not coincide with the Emperor's belief that British mediation might solve the border problems. Thus in October 1886, Alula was diverted by Yohannes to the Mahdist front and was ordered to take the Mahdist-held Kassala. On 13 November 1886, Alula reached Kärän from where he led a 10,000 strong army towards the town. Nine days later when he camped in the Barya territory, Alula learnt that ‘Uthmān Diqna was aware of his intentions and had fortified the town. Alula decided not to march on Kassala and spent the next week destroying and devastating the Barya and the Kunama tribes (Erlich, , Ras Alula, 171–81).Google Scholar

93 According to many other sources Yohannes was anxious to see Alula marching on Kassala. His son Ras Ar'aya Sellasē and Negus Täklä Haymanot were then facing Mahdist pressure in Gondar (MAE, Mas. 5, Soumagne, to MAE, 30 12 1886Google Scholar; Genè, to Robilant, , 17 12 1886Google Scholar; Giglio, , op. cit., v, no. 272, p. 373Google Scholar). It seems that Alula's biographer tried here to excuse his master's failure to take Kassala. Indeed, Alula's wise decision to abandon this hazardous operation must have damaged his reputation as an invincible general.

94 South of Kufit.

95 For a colourful description see Pollera, A., I aria e i Cunama, Roma, 1913, 50–2Google Scholar. Alula's aim in devastating the Barya was to create a deserted buffer zone between the Mahdists and Ethiopia, to feed and supply his troops towards his coming anti-Italian campaign (Pollera, , op. cit., 54Google Scholar), and also ‘in order not to return empty handed’ (MAE, Mas. 5, Soumagne, to MAE, 30 12 1886).Google Scholar

96 Alula returned via Addi Abo.

97 Yohannes awaited for Alula, in Adwa till 7 12 1886Google Scholar and then moved to Mäqälē. Alula reached Adwa on 10 December 1886 and proceeded directly to Mäqälē (ASMAI 2/2–13, Genè, to MAE, 31 12 1886Google Scholar, contains a report by one of the participants, Muḥammad Maḥkūmī).

98 Alula's baptismal name.