Ethiopian students over many years have often asked why the British, after defeating Emperor Tewodros at Maqdala, in 1868, did not stay on in the country, and make it a “colony”, “protectorate”, “condominium” or “sphere of influence”. I always gave three answers: 1. That the British had promised from the outset that they would leave as soon as the dispute with Tewodros had come to an end; further, that it was only on that undertaking that they had been allowed,…
Foreign Drinks – and Drunkenness We saw last week that foreign alcoholic drinks gained increasing popularity in Menilek’s day. This impression, based on the reports of foreign travellers, is fully confirmed in the subsequent writings of Alaqa Lamma Haylu’s son, Maaza Lamma. Discussing this development as a temperance advocate, he recalls that this was a time when a brisk trade in spirits, particularly araki, or brandy, was carried out by Greeks, who were also the first distillers on a commercial…
A Conservative Period in Ethiopian History Despite the very significant reforms, and innovations, of the reign of Yohannes discussed last week, his years were on the whole a conservative period. This, as we have seen, was at least partially due to the series of invasions, by Egyptians, Italians, and Dervishes. These made it impossible for Ethiopia to contemplate peaceful progress. The Emperor’s conservative influence seems to have extended beyond the lands directly under his rule, and was felt in far-off…
We saw last week how Emperors Tewodros and Yohannes were both, in identical or different ways, concerned with the question of modernisation. Now read on:”Do Not Wear Shoes!” Emperor Yohannes’s dislike of European-sponsored innovation, the subject of last week’s article, was further manifested when two young Ethiopians, Mika’el Aragawi and Ageje Sachlu, who had been educated abroad by missionaries, arrived at his court, wearing shoes. He is reported to have dismissed them from his presence with the words, “If you…
We saw last week that Tewodros, anxious to obtain foreign craftsmen from the British Government, succeeded in getting some employed, and sent as far as the port of Massawa. The Emperor’s continued imprisonment of the British however, led to a break-down of friendly relations. Now read on: The Craftsmen Return to Britain Because of this break-down the British Government arranged for the craftsmen at Massawa to sail home on May 11, 1867, and plans were soon made to send an…
We saw last week that Tewodros was not only a cannonmaker, but also a road-builder. Now read on: Strategic Importance The strategic significance of Tewodros’s roads is apparent from the chronicle of Alaqa Walda Maryam, which contains several revealing passages. It records that when the Emperor’s big locally-made cannon was carried to Chachaho, some 60 miles south of Gafat, it became necessary to undertake considerable blasting of the road to enable it to proceed. The quaint, but detailed, description of…
In concluding this extended series of articles on Ethiopian education, reference may be made to the Fascist attitude to education for “natives”, which had a profound effect on education in Ethiopia in the period after 1936. Fascist policy was, generally speaking, opposed, to the creation of an educated “native” elite, and to any kind of training, which would enable “natives” to compete with “nationals”, i.e. Italians. The Philosophy of Benito Mussolini Himself The philosophy behind this policy was stated, in…
The British and Foreign Bible Society During the pre-war years under review, the British and Foreign Bible Society was also active. It opened a new Addis Ababa headquarters on 13 May 1926, on which occasion the Regent, Ras Tafari Makonnen, emphasised the importance of the Society’s work. He recalled that in former times the Bible was only available in Ethiopia in Ge‘ez, and was hence “not found in the hands of those who knew only Amharic.” Moreover, being available only…
We saw in recent weeks that the years prior to the Italian fascist invasion of 1935 witnessed a significant expansion of both Government and Missionary education in Ethiopia. Subsidised Government Education One of the most important developments of this period, which has passed unnoticed by many historians of Ethiopia is that students who founded the Tafari Makonnen School, as we have seen, in 1925, were, two years later, given a monthly allowance of three Ethiopian dollars, or Maria Theresa thalers,…
The reign of Menilek, and the establishment of Addis Ababa, led to a significant expansion, and in due course modernisation, of Ethiopian education. The reforming monarch, though himself a man of little formal schooling, and no exposure to foreign teaching, was profoundly conscious of the country’s need for a modern type of instruction. Such education was required, as he saw it, to maintain the country’s historic independence. This need was forcefully expressed by Ashaber Gabra Heywat, a foreign-educated Ethiopian young…
Traditional Ethiopian literature was largely religious, both in form and content. “Ecclesiastical in Character”: The great German scholar of Ethiopian culture, August Dillmann, emphasising the above point, once declared that the Ge’ez language was: “cultivated for literary purposes mainly in the service of religion and of the Church. The large majority of the extant writings are of ecclesiastical character. These had their basis in the versions of the Books of the Old and New Testaments, in the widest acceptation of…
This week’s corner concludes Professor Pankhurst’s three part series on the events, personalities and collective effort behind the successful repatriation of the Obelisk from Italy. The Ethiopisant scholar however, ends this article in tantalizing manner… We saw in the last article how the original Aksum Obelisk Committee, an entirely private body composed of less than a dozen individuals, albeit people of good will, helped to launch a movement for the return of the Aksum obelisk which Mussolini had looted from…
The historian continues the series relating to the events surrounding the return from Rome of the Aksum Obelisk, looted and transported in 1937. In this edition, Professor Pankhurst reveals an as yet untold display of staunch solidarity with Ethiopia’s right of restitution by Chief Segun Ulusola, the then Ambassador to Ethiopia of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as the esteemed emissaries of Zimbabwe, Egypt and others, including prominent Ethiopians and the crowd at Addis Ababa Stadium… Part Two…
Personal recollections of the Aksum obelisk issue: Early days This first in a series of articles about what must be rated as one of Ethiopia’s most successful, wholly unofficial and private initiative led grouping – the Aksum Obelisk Return Committee is timely…. Even as we speak, the returned obelisk is being re-mounted on the same spot it had stood on for centuries before it was carted away to a forced exile….. I write today, dear reader, as one of the founders…
We saw last week that the period after World War I had witnessed a number of reforms, as well as difficult relations with both Britain and France. Now read on: Reforms of the 1920s Contacts between Ethiopia and the outside world were nevertheless strengthened by the establishment of an Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by the setting up of Ethiopian Legations in Paris, Rome and London. Talks with the Coptic Church of Egypt were also initiated, with a view…
