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Some Amharic sources for modern Ethiopian history, 1889–19351

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Peter P. Garretson
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Extract

Emperor Menelik's reign (1889–1913) opens a new era in the kind of sources that the historian has at his disposal for the analysis of modern Ethiopian history. During his reign printing presses were set up in the country and spurred a gradual growth in the more widespread use of Amharic, not just as the spoken but also the written language of the imperial court. This is not to say that the Gә'әz literary tradition in Ethiopia disappeared altogether, for some chronicles in Gә'әz continued to be written after 1935, often very similar in form and content to those which have survived for the Gondarine and earlier periods of Ethiopian history. However, Menelik's reign, and the official chronicle of it by Gäbrä Sәllase, mark a significant departure, not least because the chronicle was written in Amharic and not in Gә'әz. There are a few earlier published literary works in Amharic, the songs of the kings of the fourteenth century being the most significant, but it should be emphasized that the Gә'әz tradition continued parallel to the Amharic in the form of tarikä nägäst, i.e the history of kings. Some of these are now preserved at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at Addis Ababa, like the Gondarine tarikä nägäst which belonged to Nәgus Wäldä Giyorgis, the valuable biography of the grandson of Emperor Tewodros (1855–68), Mäšäša, and a published biography of Ras Makonnen.

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Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , June 1978 , pp. 283 - 296
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Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1978

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References

2 This paper will confine itself largely to Amharic sources and leave to one side material in Gә'әz, Tәgrәñña, and Oromo (or Galla). Written Tәgrәñña and Oromo are basically a phenomenon of nineteenth-century missionary involvement in Ethiopia. Also, I have not undertaken a survey of oral material.

3 See the manuscript and book catalogues of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies; Giyorgis, Haylä, Zenahu Iä-Lә'ul Ras Mäkonnәn ‘The History of His Royal Highness Ras Makonnen’, Addis Ababa, date not known.Google Scholar

4 e.g.: Fumagalli, G., Bibliografia, etiopica, Milano, 1893Google Scholar; Pankhurst, R., Economic history of Ethiopia, 1800–1935, Addis Ababa, 1968Google Scholar, has a useful up-to-date bibliography; Varley, D. H., A bibliography of Italian colonisation in Africa with a section on Abyssinia, London, 1970.Google Scholar See also Zanutto, S., Bibliografia etiopica, Roma, 1936.Google ScholarMarcus, H. G., The modern history of Ethiopia: a select and annotated bibliography, Stanford, 1972Google Scholar, deals only with articles in geographical journals published before the first World War and held by the Library of Congress.

[Fumagalli's pioneer bibliography provides remarkably comprehensive, well-arranged, and annotated coverage of works on Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Horn of Africa produced up to 1891. For the subsequent period the bibliographic record is, however, poorer. Besides the works mentioned by Garretson reference should be made to the extensive bibliographies in Duchesne-Fournet, J., Mission en Éthiopie (1901–1903), Paris, 1909Google Scholar; Budge, E. A. W., A history of Ethiopia, London, 1928Google Scholar; Sellasié, Guèbrè, Chronique du règne de Ménélik II, Paris, 1930–1931Google Scholar; Perham, M., The government of Ethiopia, London, 1948Google Scholar; and, published more recently, Bartnicki, A. and Mantel-Niečko, J., Historta Etiopii, Warsaw, 1971.Google Scholar Reports on books published in Amharic, as well as on literature on Ethiopia in general, are to be found in numerous issues of the Rivista degli Studi Orientate and Oriente Moderno. Italian scholars walking in Fumagalli's footsteps also compiled a series of valuable annotated bibliographies, notably Rossini, C. Conti, ‘Etiopia (1915–1927)’, Aevum, I, 1927, 459–520Google Scholar, and ‘Bibliografia etiopica (1927–guigno 1936)’, Aevum, x, 1936, 467–587.Google Scholar Other bibliographies include Black, C. F., Ethiopica and Amharica; a list of works in the New York Public Library, New York, 1928Google Scholar; Öhlrich, C., ‘Schrifttum über Abessinien, 1850–1935’, Afrika Rundschau, 1, 1935, 209–12, and II, 1936, 268–72Google Scholar; Africa Orientale Italiana, Catalogo bibliografica della Biblioteca del Governo Generale AOI. 1. Africa-Islam, Addis Ababa, 1940.Google Scholar Eritrea is well covered in Dainelli, G., Marinelli, O., and Mori, A., ‘Bibliografia geografia della Colonia Eritrea, 1. 1891–1906’, Rivista Geografia Italiana, XIV, 2, 1907, 1–72Google Scholar, which may be supplemented, particularly for the later period, by Pollera, A., Piccola bibliografia dell'Africa Orientale con speciale riguardo all'Eritrea e paesi confianti, Asmara, 1933Google Scholar; Fuller, G. H., A list of references on the Italian colonies in Africa, Washington, D.C., 1942Google Scholar; and Checole, Kassahun, ‘Eritrea: a preliminary bibliography’, Africana Journal, VI, 4, 1975, 303–14.Google Scholar The latter years of Garretson's period are dealt with bibliographically in Haskell, D. C., Ethiopia and the Italo-Ethiopian conflict, 1928–1935; a selected list of references, New York, 1936Google Scholar; Zanutto, S., Libri sull' Etiopia e sul conflitto italo-ethiopico, Roma, 1937Google Scholar; and Migliorini, E., ‘Eleneo di scritti d'interesse geografico relativi all'Africa Orientale pubblicati negli anni 1935 e 1936’, Bollettino della R Società Geografica Italiana, II, 1937, 661–97.Google Scholar Also of interest are the bibliographies in two recent studies of Menelik, Darkwah, R. H. Kofi, Shewa, Menilek and the Ethiopian empire, 1889–1913, London, 1975Google Scholar, and Marcus, H. G., The life and times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844–1913, Oxford, 1975Google Scholar, as well as in Rubenson, S., The survival of Ethiopian independence, London, 1976Google Scholar, and various specialist bibliographies, such as that on economic, political and legal matters in Abbebe, Berhanou, Évolution de la propriété foncière au Choa (Éthiopie), Paris, 1971Google Scholar, and, on the medical side, in Rodinson, M., Magie, médecine et possession à Gondar, Paris, 1967Google Scholar, and Strelcyn, S., Médecine et plantes d'Éthiopie, 1, Warsaw, 1968.Google Scholar R.P.]

5 See, however, Matthews, N. and Wainwright, M. D., A guide to manuscripts and documents in the British Isles relating to Africa, London, 1971.Google Scholar

6 International Council on Archives, Guide to the sources of the history of Africa. Vol. 3. Sources de I'histoire de l'Afrigue au sud du Sahara dans lea archives et bibliothèques françaises, Zug, 1971.Google Scholar

7 International Council on Archives, Guida delle fonti per la storia dell'Africa a sud del Sahara esistenti in Italia, Zug, 1973.Google Scholar

8 For an indication of missionary sources for the mid-nineteenth century in Ethiopia, see Crummey, D., Priests and politicians, London, 1972.Google Scholar

9 Neither Willi Loepfe working at Zurich on Alfred Ilg and the Jibuti railway, nor Richard Caulk of the University at Addis Ababa have been able to locate this material.

10 An over-all catalogue of this material has yet to be published and provincial and district archives have yet to be fully explored and catalogued.

11 Aufricht, H., Guide to League of Nations publications, New York, 1951.Google Scholar [The vast literature on the Italo-Ethiopian dispute also contains many useful references to League of Nations documents. See inter alia Highley, A. E., The actions of the states members of the League of Nations in applications of sanctions against Italy 1935–1935, Geneva, 1938Google Scholar, and the bibliographic data in Laurens, F. D., France and the Italo-Ethiopian crisis 1935–1936, The Hague, 1967Google Scholar, and Harris, J. Brice Jr., The United States and the Italo-Ethiopian crisis, Stanford, 1964. R.P.]Google Scholar

12 See below. The postal address of both these institutions is P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Both, unlike the National Library, have relatively efficient xerox facilities.

13 Wright, S., Ethiopian incunabula, Addis Ababa, 1967.Google Scholar

14 Addis yä-mäṭṭut hakimoč [sic], Dәre Dawa, 1909/1916–17. This pamphlet is also to be found in the Quai d'Orsay, N.S. Ethiopie, 10, pp. 43–52.

15 Parts of Aәmәra for 1911–16 are available in microfilm at the IES but parts for later years are also at the National Library.

16 Parts of Bәrhanәnna Sälam are available at SOAS and the British Library, but a few of the missing copies can be found at the IES and National Library in Addis Ababa. A third possibility is the religious newspaper Goha Ṣäbah. However, I have been unable to obtain detailed information concerning it.

17 A translation of this can be found in Fusella, L., ‘Menelik e l'Etiopia in un testo amarico del Bāykadāñ’, AION, NS, IV, 1952, 119–43.Google Scholar

18 Addis Ababa, 1916/1923–4.

19 Blatten Geta Mahtämä Sәallase Wäldä Mäsqäl, Zәkrä nägär ‘Things remembered’, Addis Ababa, 1942/1949–50. A second edition was published in Addis Ababa in 1962/1969–70. [It is to be regretted that, despite efforts in several countries, no translation is yet available. An English rendering of much of Mahtämä Sәllase's material on land tenure is nevertheless published in ‘The land system of Ethiopia’, Ethiopia Observer, 1, 1957, 283–301Google Scholar, while the author's tabulated information on different types of landholdings is translated in full in Pankhurst, R., State and land in Ethiopian history, Addis Ababa, 1966. R.P.]Google Scholar

20 The Amharic edition is Gäbrä Wäld Ǝngәda Wärq, Yä-Ityoṗya märetәnna gәbәr sәm, Addis Ababa, 1948/1955–1956.Google Scholar

21 A translation can be found under Gebre-Wold Ingida Work, ‘Ethiopia's traditional system of land tenure and taxation’, Ethiopia Observer, V, 4, 1962, 302–39.Google Scholar

22 Ṣähafe Tә'әzaz Gäbrä Sәllase, Tarikä zämän zä-dagmawi Mәnilәk nәgusä nägä-Ityoṗya, Addis Ababa, 1959/1966–1967.Google Scholar

23 de Coppet, M., Chronique du règne de Menelik, Paris, 1930–1932.Google Scholar

24 Dästa, Makәbәb, Yato Mäsәnbät Balәnjärannät, tarikәnna yä-mәsgana gәṭṭәm ‘A history and praise songs (in memory of) Ato Mäsәnbät Balәnjärәnnät’, Addis Ababa, 1926/1933–1934.Google Scholar See also the unpublished collection at IES and n. 25 below. One particular type gave accounts of royal journeys. See Blatten Geta Hәruy Wäldä Sәllase, Yä-Lә'әlt Wäyzäro Mänän mängäd bä-Iyärusәlemәnna, bä-Mәsr ‘Her Royal Highness Princess Mänän's trip to Jerusalem and Egypt’, Addis Ababa, 1915/1922–3. Also Afä Wärq Gäbrä Iyäsus, Yä-Ityoṗya mängәst Alga Wärašәnna Ǝndärase Lә'ul Täfäri Mäkonnәn yä-Adän mängädaččäw akwahwan ‘The heir and Regent of the kingdom of Ethiopia: a description of Prince Täfäri Mäkonnәn's trip to Aden’, Addis Ababa. 1918/1925–6.

25 Rome, 1901, reprinted in Asmara in 1967. A translation is available by Fusella, L., ‘II Dāgmāwi Menilek di Afawarq Gabra lyasus’, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, XVII, 1961, 11–44Google Scholar; XIX, 1963, 119–49.

26 Qädamawi Nәgusä Nägäst, Haylä Sәllase, Hәywätenna yä-Ityoṗya ṗrmṗjja. Andäñña mäṣhaf ‘My life and Ethiopia's progress’, Addis Ababa, 1965/1973. See also, Imperial Ethiopian Ministry of Information, Selected speeches of His Imperial Majesty Haile-Selassie I (1918–1967), Addis Ababa, 1967Google Scholar, or Press and Information Department, An anthology of some of the public utterances of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Addis Ababa, 1949.Google Scholar However, the Amharic editions are more complete. Fәre känafәr zä-Qädamawi Haylä Sәllase Nәgusä Nägäst zä-Ityoṗya, Addis Ababa, 1944–55/1951–2–1962–3.

27 Qädamawi Nṗgusä Nägäst, Sәllase, Haylä, Hәywätenna yä-Ityoṗya әrmәjja. Hulättäñña mäṣhaf, Addis Ababa, 1966/1973.Google Scholar

28 Ras Bitwäddäd Mäkonnṣn Ǝndalkaččäw, M¨lkam betäsäboč ‘Excellent families’, ?Asmara, 1949/1956–7. Another but less interesting autobiographical work is his Yä-hәlm ručča ‘Running of a dream’, 1949/1956–7.

29 Addis Ababa, 1915/1922–3.

30 Mahtämä Sәllase Wäldä Mäsqäl, Če bäläw, Addis Ababa, 1961/1968–1969.Google Scholar See also Journal of Ethiopian Studies, VII, 2, 1969, 1–31.Google Scholar There are other biographies and autobiographies of interest by Mahtämä Sәllase of his father Sәm kä-mäqabәr bälay: yä-Ṣ¨hafe Tә'әzaz Wäldä Mäsqäl tariku, Addis Ababa, 1957/1964–1965Google Scholar, and Lämma, Mängәstu (ed.), Aläqa Lämma Haylu, mäṣhafä tәzzәta zä-Aläqa Lämma, Addis Ababa, 1959/1966–1967.Google Scholar [A more recent autobiographical work to which reference may also be made is Hadaru, Hәywät, Yačči qän tärässač, Addis Ababa, 1967/1974–1975. R.P.]Google Scholar

31 One example of many is in FO 371/20940/6140 for May 1937, on pp. 198–210.

32 A few examples are: Sәiä kәbur Ras Bitwäddäd Mäkonnәn Ǝndalkaččäw әräft ‘Concerning the death of his Excellency Ras Bitwäddäd Mäkonnәn Ǝndalkaččäw’, Addis Ababa, 1955/1962–3; Sәlä wäṭṭatu mäsfәn Lә'ul Mäkonnәn Haylä Sәllase sälasäñña qän mättasäbiya ‘Concerning the youth of His Royal Highness Mäkonnәn Haylä Sәllase, a memorial (held) on the thirtieth day of his death’, Addis Ababa, 1949/1956–7; Lә'ul Ras Kasa Haylu sәlä әrsaččäw mättasäbiya ‘A memorial concerning His Highness Ras Kassa Haylu’, Addis Ababa, 1949/1956–1957.Google Scholar

33 See for instance: Wällo, Säyfu Abba, Yä-tarik qәrs 1928 amätä mәhrät yä-d¨bub Ityoṗya y¨-Sidamo torәnnätGoogle Scholar ‘A history of 1935–6; the war in south Ethiopia, Sidamo’, Addis Ababa, 1953/1960–1; Haylu, Mäzmur, Yä-kәbur Däjazmač Balča Aba Näfso aččәr yä-hәywät tarikGoogle Scholar ‘A short biography of Däjazmač Balča, Aba Näfso’, Addis Ababa, 1956/1963–4; Agäññähu, Mäkonnәn Wärq, Yä-Bәsu Abunä Ṗetros Ṗaṗas z¨-Mәsraq Ityoṗya aččәr zenaGoogle Scholar ‘A short account of His Holiness Abunä Ṗeṭros, Patriarch of Eastern Ethiopia’, Addis Ababa, 1938/1945–6. This only has a very short section on his life. Haylu, Tә'әzazu, Haylä Maryam Mammo, Addis Ababa, 1949/1956–1957.Google Scholar

34 Däjazmač Käbbädä Täsämma, Yä-tarik mastawwäša, Addis Ababa, 1962.Google Scholar

35 Mäkuriya, Täklä Ṣadәq, Yä-Ityoṗya tarik, kä-Aṭe Tewodros әskä Qädamawi Haylä SәllaseGoogle Scholar ‘A history of Ethiopia from Emperor Tewodros to Haylä Sәllase I’, Addis Ababa, 1938/1945–6. Others that might be mentioned are: Ammanu'el, Dämәsse Wäldä, Yä-Gәrmawi Qädamawi Aṣe Haylä Sәllase Nәgusä Nägäst Mәkәr BetGoogle Scholar ‘The Parliament of Emperor Haylä Sәllase I, King of Kings’, Addis Ababa, 1948/1955–6; Yä-Gazetanna Mastawwäqiya Masriya Bet, Yä-Ityoṗya Betä Krәstiyan әdgätәnna näṣannätGoogle Scholar ‘The growth and freedom of the Ethiopian Church’, Addis Ababa, 1944/1951–2; also published by the same organization, Zena miṭat zä-bәherä Erәtra ‘The recovery of Eritrea’, Addis Ababa, 1943/1950–1; Afä Wärq Adafre, Zәkrä nägäst zä-Ityoṗya ‘Memories of the kings of Ethiopia’, Addis Ababa, 1948/1955–6 (thia is one of a very traditional mould); Mika'el, Yared Gäbrä, Yәmṭu bä-zәnna Addis AbäbaGoogle Scholar ‘Let those (who have heard her) fame, come to Addis Ababa’, Addis Ababa, 1958/1965–6; Maryam, Gәzaw Haylä, Dagmawi Mәnilәk, kä-tarikaččänna kä-muyaččäwGoogle Scholar ‘Menelik II, his history and deeds’, Addis Ababa, 1956/1963–4; Walälu, Bogalä, Yä-Wälamo hәzb tarik barәnnätәm әndet täwäggädäGoogle Scholar ‘A history of the people of Wälamo and how slavery was eradicated’, Addis Ababa, 1956/1963–4.

36 I shall deal with the possibility of local and provincial archives in the next section when looking at each province individually.

37 Volker Stitz and Donald Crummey both pointed these out to me, but I was unable to see any of them personally.

38 See Belletu Mengestu's 1972 fourth-year history paper at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies entitled ‘A short biography of Abune Mātéwos [sic] (1881–1926)’.

39 I have this information from several different sources in the History Department at the University at Addis Ababa; see particularly Aby Demissie's fourth-year paper of 1964, ‘Lij lyasu: a perspective study of his short reign’.

40 The original is at the Bibliothèque Nationale, MSS Éthiopiens No. 302.

41 Gullälat, , Yä-Däjazmač Näsibu Zämanu'el tarikGoogle Scholar, IES MS 216.

42 Qäññazmač Hayle Zälläqä, Yä-Däjazmač Gärmame yä-həywät tarik. This is catalogued as a printed book despite being in fact a typescript. Another is by Siraq Fäqqädä Səllase of Däjazmač Abba Wəqaw, IES MS Nol. 400.

43 Ṭәlahun, Bäkurä Ṣәyon, ‘Yä-Asosa Bәni Šangul tarik’, IES MSS 359 and 362.Google Scholar

44 The first volume to appear will be devoted to early nineteenth-century letters.

45 These are in two large files known as Amharic Correspondence No. I and II and include letters from Menelik's reign up to 1935.

46 These last two categories will be gone into in greater detail in the next section. I am not including here private manuscript collections of scholars.

47 Proof of this can be seen for instance in the biographies mentioned above of Näsibu and Gärmame. See nn. 41 and 42 above.

48 I have encountered this at various churches in the Addis Ababa area, Ǝnṭoṭṭo Maryam for instance has books donated at various times by Empress Ṭaytu and Däjazmač Balča. [Full details of such records are listed in Haylä Gäbrә'el Dañ's above-mentioned catalogue of manuscripts in Addis Ababa churches. R.P.]

49 I must thank Patrick Gilkes for this information.

50 I heard of him through LeVerle Berry.

51 Bahru Zewde has found him useful while doing research.

52 These are in the possession of the family.

53 A copy is in the possession of Aleme Eshete at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies.

54 I am grateful to Sandro Triulzi for pointing out to me the existence of these papers at Lazarist House, Mesfin Harar Road, Addis Ababa. Täsfa Sәllase was one of the translators of Gäbrä Sәllase's chronicle.

55 This is attributed to Aläqa Täklä Iyäsus, IES MS Nol. 254.

56 See p. 289, n. 33.

57 See MSS 734, 794 and 797–826. Each of the last series of MSS (i.e. 797–826) contain volumes averaging 300–400 folios.

58 Information from Dr. Andrzejewski.

59 The Institute of Ethiopian Studies has copies of a Däbrä Bәrhan MS and one from the family of Nәgus Wäldä Giyorgis.

60 For instance, And Alem Mulaw in a recent fourth-year paper presented to the History Department gives examples of tax and customs receipts.

61 Tafla, Bairu (ed. and tr.), A chronicle of Emperor Yoḥannes IV (1872–89), Wiesbaden, 1977Google Scholar; Erlich, H., ‘A contemporary biography of Ras Alula: a Gә'әz manuscript from Mänäwë, Tämbēn’, BSOAS, XXXIX, 1, 1976, 1–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar; 2, 1976, 287–327.

62 See especially p. 285, n. 7.

63 Information from Dr. Andrzejewski and others.

64 Information from Bahru Zewde.