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Heruy's Ya-Heywat Tarik and Mahtama-Sellase's Che Balaw: Two Perceptions of a Biographical Dictionary
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 May 2014
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Explicitly or implicitly, biographies have dominated Ethiopian historiography. Until very recently, Ethiopian history has been almost exclusively the history of the elite. As such, the reconstruction of historical events has revolved around the careers of prominent individuals. The chronicles, which go back to the fourteenth century, illustrate this to a very high degree. They were conceived to document the reigns of kings and most of them adhered strictly to this rule, giving the reader a detailed and faithfully chronological account—often day by day—of the deeds of the protagonist.
This is not of course to say that other, non-biographical, information is not to be found in these documents. On the contrary, inasmuch as the chronicler takes it as his sacred duty to record whatever had taken place during the reign of a king, he is bound to give us a lot of useful information on such, strictly speaking, non-political issues as famine, pestilence, earthquakes, trade, and—invariably—religious affairs. But such information remains essentially incidental to the main objective, which is to document the life and career of the king. Interestingly such digressions from the main story are often prefaced by the phrase, “bazihem zaman” (“During this reign”, i.e., incidentally).
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References
Notes
1. “Three Portraits: Ato Asma Giyorgis, Ras Gobana Daci and Sahafe Tezaz Gabra Sellase,” JES, 5 (July 1967), 133–50Google Scholar; “Two Ethiopian Biographies,” JES, 6 (January 1968)Google Scholar; “Four Ethiopian Biographies: Dajjazmac Garmame, Dajjazmac Gabra-Egzi'abeher Moroda, Dajjazmac Balca and Kantiba Gabru Dasta,” JES, 7 (July 1969), 1–31.Google Scholar
2. Gupta, Sushma and Bekele, Shiferaw, “A Cumulative Index of the Journal of Ethiopian Studies Vols. I-XXV, 1963-1992,” JES, 27 (June 1994).Google Scholar
3. Gupta, Shushma and Tamrat, Taddesse, “The International Conference of Ethiopian Studies 1959-1991: Bibliography and Index, I-IX and XI,” JES, 27 (June 1994).Google Scholar Cf. Pankhurst, Rita, “International Conferences of Ethiopian Studies I-VI, 1959-1980: Author and Subject Bibliography,” Appendix in Rubenson, Sven, Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference of Ethiopian Studies (Addis Ababa, 1984).Google Scholar
4. List available in the Department of History, AAU.
5. Webster's New Biographical Dictionary (Springfield, Mass., 1983), vii.Google Scholar
6. Dictionary of National Biography (21 vols.: Oxford, 1921–1946), 1:lxi, lxxi.Google Scholar
7. Dictionary of National Biography, lxvi. The efforts made to include malefactors reminds me of my own difficult experience when trying to write a biography of the Oromo ruler of southwestern Wallaga, Dajjazmach Jote Tulu, for my senior essay. Jote had attained great notoriety as a harsh ruler. His preferred mode of punishing a rebel or wrongdoer was tying a huge stone around his waist and throwing him down into the Qambari river. He also reportedly hanged seven of his brothers-in-law for rebelling against him. Informants could thus not understand why on earth I would bother to record the life history of such a cruel person: Zewde, Bahru, “Dejazmach Jote Tulu (1855-1918)” (Haile Sellassie I University, History, 1970), 32.Google Scholar
8. Dictionary of National Biography, 1:lxvi.Google Scholar
9. Dictionary of African Biography, comp. Ernest Kay, (1st ed.:London 1970), x.Google Scholar
10. Ibid., xvi, xiii
11. Dasta, Makbeb, Yato Masanbat Balenjarenat Tarikna YaMesgana Getem (Addis Ababa, 1926 EC).Google Scholar
12. Ibid., 6.
13. Puglisi, Giuseppe, Chi è dell' Eritrea 1952. Dizionario Biografico (Asmara, 1952).Google Scholar
14. Both Heruy and Mahtama-Sellase had as their ultimate title that of blatten-geta, a title reserved to men who had distinguished themselves in traditional education.
15. See, among others, Walda-Maryam, Lamma, “Ya-Blaten Geta Heruy Walda-Sellase Heywat Tarik 1871-1931” (B.A. thesis, HSIU, 1963 EC)Google Scholar; Tedeschi, Salvatore, “La carrière et les idèes de Heruy Wäldä-Sellasié (1878-1938)” in Trois essais sur la litterature éthiopienne (Paris, 1984)Google Scholar; Asserate, Asfa-Wossen, Die Geschichte von Sawã (Äthiopien), 1700-1865 (Wiesbaden, 1980).Google Scholar
16. Obituary prepared by his family in 1992, fourteen years after his death, that is, after the fall of the Darg, when it became safe to write such an obituary.
17. Almost simultaneously it came out as “Source Material” in JES, 7 (July 1969), with an English introduction by Bairu Tafia.
18. pp. 2-4. There seems to be no trace of this useful manuscript.
19. The manuscript was in press when the Italians invaded Ethiopia. A good portion of the galleys was later retrieved and are found in a bound volume at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. Asfa-Wossen Asserate's study cited above has brought to light the section of the manuscript dealing with Shawan history.
20. It is of some interest that a significant number of the personalities died from the 1918 flu epidemic, which goes to show the heavy toll that the epidemic must have taken of the population, particularly in Addis Ababa.
21. Fusella, 15.