|
Dejazmach Subagadis Woldu: Governor of Tigray and
Prince of Ethiopia
Ghelawdewos Araia, PhD
May 15, 2019
Subagadis (also spelled as
Sabagadis and/or Sibagadis) was born in 1780 (with
his baptismal name Zemenfes Qudus) to the Royal
House of Agame in the Adigrat/Azeba town circles
of the Ganta Afeshum district of Agame
sub-province of the Tigray Regional State.
Subagadis comes from a long dynastic genealogy of
the Royal House of Agame that was founded and
established by King Seme II (Dagmawi Seme) in the
1600s. I have affixed the title king to Seme
following a labeling theory that justifiably
describes his behavior and his deeds as the
founder of an incipient state in Agame. King Seme
is the son of Werede-Mihret Jirate Qechin1
originally from Lasta, and members of the dynasty
are in right order, as shown below:
Werede_Mihret
↓
Seme
II (Dagmawi)
↓
Awsebo
↓
Shifare
↓
Kinfat
↓
Sebhat
↓
Shum
Agame Kumelit
↓
Shum
Agame Woldu
↓
Dejazmach
Subagadis
According to Ethiopian
tradition and as shown in the above dynastic line,
seven generations are counted in order to arrange
marriage relationships with other family members
outside one’s own extended family units. All
Subagadis’ father, grandfather, and great
grandfathers were Tigrigna speakers, but because
his name is of Irob/Saho origin (“Suba” means
victory and “Gadis” by force or coercion) some
pseudo historians assumed that Subagadis was a
Saho; in fact, as stated in Wikipedia,
“Dejazmach Subagadis was the son of the
Hasaballa Irob chief Shum Agame Woldu Kumelit…2
Shum
Agame Woldu, the father of Subagadis, however, was
not simply the chief of ‘Hasaballa’; he was
also the governor of the entire Agame Awraja
(sub-province of Tigray) and governing from his
center at Adigrat; moreover, Shum Agame Woldu
belongs to the original home of the Royal House of
Agame at Azeba, in the Ganta Afe Shum area that
surrounds Adigrat. Before the rise of Adigrat as
the center-stage for the foundation of a
mini-state and subsequently the royal
establishment, Werede Mihret actually settled in
the Tsira-Desaa area of Kilte-Awlaelo sub
province, which was part of greater Agame.
However, due to interactions, mingling, and
marriages between various ethnic groups such as
the Tigray, Agaw, Afar etc before and after the
Kingdom of Aksum, it is not surprising that there
were a sizable Agaw enlisted and serving in the
Aksumite military; and it is not also surprising
that following Aksum, the Zagwe Dynasty of the
Agaw in Lasta inherited Aksumite heritage in all
its facets including architecture; again it is not
surprising that Werede Mihret, the son of Jirate
Qechin came from the Lasta area and settled in the
Kilte-Awlaelo and Agame areas. It is almost like
detouring and making full circle for Werede Mihret
to come back to the land of his ancestors.
Despite the above facts with
respect to identity issues, however, Subagadis was
very much connected with the Irob people and there
is no doubt that the Irob and Tigrigna speakers of
Agame share a dual heritage from either side and
syncretic culture that bounds them together, and
due to this fact, at one point when Subagadis
ascended to power in 1818 and consolidated
political authority in 1822, he first ascertained
his power base through his dynastic line and later
sought legitimacy from the Irob people whose modus
operandi was democratic; hence, he had to be
elected by the Saho-speaking peoples’ council.
Subagadis was elected unanimously by the Irob and
this was a great victory (Suba) for him, because
he would not resort to employing coercion (Gadis).
In the Tigrigna-speaking area of Agame, Subagadis
had no problem in regards to state power due to
his inheritance of power from his father, as is
the case in monarchic systems. Interestingly,
Subagadis was the only governor of Tigray and
prince of Ethiopia who enjoyed ascribed and
achieved statuses at the same time; ascribed for
inheriting power and achieved for being elected
democratically by the Irob.
Subagadis and his ancestors,
including Dagmawi Seme who later relocated to the
Aiga area in Adi Irob, spoke Tigrigna but they
also learned how to speak Saho but this does not
make them to be Irob. This fact is substantiated
by Abba Tesfai Medhin in his book entitled The
History of the Irob People, in which he argues
that the origin of the Irob is from Tigray proper
and more so from the central highlands of Agame;
he further argues that the original language of
Seme was Tigrigna. Moreover, the Saho language of
the Irob is an admixture of Saho and Tigrigna and
it is not entirely Saho as is the case in the Saho
(Asawrta) of Eritrea.2a
Dejazmach (henceforth
Degezmati in Tigrigna) Subagadis was married to
Embeytey (Lady) Tishal Gebremeskel of Areza,
Seraye (present-day Eritrea) and begot fifteen
children, ten boys and five girls and their names
are: Degezmati Hagos3, Degezmati Kahsay,
Degezmati Wolde-Michael, Degezmati Guangul, Shum
Agame Aregawi, Shum Agame Sebhat, Degezmati
Bariagabir, Degezmati Woldeselassie, Degezmati
Fenta, Weizero Wuba, Weizero Birchiqo, Weizero
Gibtsit, Weizero Brur, Weizero Tslat.4 All
fifteen children are not from the same mother,
Tishal; Subagadis himself had close to
twenty-seven siblings, but although his mother
Embeytey Wolete-Giorgis was the chief wife of his
father Shum Agame Woldu, the latter must have had
several wives to begot more than two dozens of
children. By the same token, one of the sons of
Subagadis, Shum Agame Sebhat, was born from
Weizero Letebrhan of Shumezana, Akele-Guzai (in
present-day Eritrea).
Subagadis belongs to the Zemene
Mesafint or Era of Princess (1769-1855), a
period in which Ethiopia was divided into regions
ruled by local lords, but all of them aspired to
become emperors of Ethiopia and were not as such
interested in confining themselves to their
respective regions. Furthermore, the princes
strongly believed that the king was symbol of
Ethiopian unity and cannot be dethroned by any
power, although the status of the monarch during
the Era of Princess was one of subservience and/or
acquiescence to the contending lords.
The contending princes were
mainly from Tigray, Gondar, Gojjam, Wollo, and to
some extent from Shewa; the latter’s lords
administered their local region during the Era of
Princess, but they were not directly involved in
the fierce competition for state power against the
other lords. The first prince who consolidated
power over Tigray in 1748 was Ras Michael-Suhul
and two decades later he expanded his dominion to
Gondar and relocated to that city where the
relatively weak emperor resides; after ruling for
almost four decades, he was followed by Ras
Woldeselassie (1736-1816), who governed Tigray
from his center at Cheleqot/Hintalo.
Subagadis gathered momentum in
his home district and rebelled against Ras
Woldeselassie, but the latter had a huge force and
he campaigned in the Agame area to subdue the
recalcitrant rebel; quite obviously, Subagadis was
no match to the forces of Woldeselassie and he
sought refuge at the monastery of Gunda Gunde.
Ultimately, however, Woldeselassie could not
easily get the submission of Subagadis and he
recognized him as the governor of Agame in 1810. A
year later, not only did Subagadis consolidate
over Agame, but he also managed to enjoy full
support from his subordinates in Adwa, Shire,
Akele-Guzai, and Hamassien.
Ras Woldeselassie died in 1816
and Subagadis quickly overrun the whole of Tigray,
and by 1822 he was recognized by the people as the
sole lord of Tgray. In order to further
consolidate power beyond Tigray, Subagadis
tactfully established alliances with Dejazmach
Wube HaileMariam of Semien, Wagshum Kinfe of Lasta,
and Dejazmach Goshu Zewde of Gojjam. The main
objective of the alliance was to systematically
isolate and if possible eliminate Ras Mariye Gugsa
of Gondar, his main foe and contender.
Before Subagadis was seriously
engaged in the competition for power with the
various princes, he strongly believed that
firearms would effectively decide the outcome of a
battle, and for this reason, in an effort to amass
as much weapons as possible he established
diplomatic relations with the European leaders,
mainly with the British; and he was successful in
this regard. By the 1820s standard, Tigray under
Subagadis became a formidable region with latest
guns, trained fighters, and matchlock men
vanguards
Subagadis, now confident with
his latest firearms and by far superior guns
compared to those acquired by other contending
princes, he was ready to attack Ras Mariye Gugsa
along with his Yejju forces. However, Subagadis’
fate will be sealed at the Battle of Debre Abai by
the River Tekezze, in which he lost the battle to
the Mariye’s forces and ultimately executed by
his enemies; nonetheless Mariye too was killed by
Degezmati Hagos (Meda Tsebebo) and both contending
princes died only to leave a smooth road to power
to the ambitious Dejach Wube who later became the
governor of Tigray. The defeat and loss of
Subagadis was attributed to the following main
factors:
1.
Long before the Battle of Debre Abai, Subagadis was
betrayed by some of his confidants including
Degezmati Gebremichael, Hanta Gebru, Degezmati
Sahlu of Haramat (Kilte Belesa); and Dejach Wube,
who incidentally was the son-in-law of Subagadis
2.
Subagadis underestimated the forces of Ras Mariye;
he thought he was going to subdue his foe by the
firearms he acquired, but on the contrary his own
forces were overwhelmed by the sheer number of his
enemy forces;
3.
Subagadis made a strategic mistake by advancing to
the turf of his enemy instead of waiting for Ras
Mariye’s forces to come to mainland Tigray, in
which case he would have had a chance to sustain
the fight and get support from the local peasants;
legend has it that Subagadis was told by his
advisors not to advance toward the Tekezze and
rather wait until his fighting forces gather more
momentum, but he apparently ignored their advice.
4.
Subagadis entered the battle before he made
military arrangements with his allies mentioned
above, and he simply headed toward the battle zone
without mobilizing all his forces in Tigray,
Akele-guzai, Seryae, and Hamassien
Subagadis was one of the
brilliant and visionary leaders of the Zemene
Mesafint (Era of Princes); he was a
charismatic leader and a fine diplomat and made
good relations with fellow Ethiopian aristocratic
leaders of his time and European statesmen alike;
he especially had established ties with the
British in order to secure Massawa as port of
Ethiopia and the Red Sea as outlet to the rest of
the world; and in an effort to effectively control
Massawa and its vicinity, he arranged marriage
relationship with the Naib aristocrats of Hirgigo
(greater Massawa). Similarly, in order to control
the Semien-Gondar area, he established relations
with Weizero Yewibdar and begot a child from her;
by employing such clever and astute relations, he
ensured that under his rule Tigray proper was from
Massawa in the east to Semien/Gondar in the west;
and to the south up to Alwaha Milash (in
present-day Wollo around Woldia) and to the north
present-day Eritrea including Akel-Guzai, Seryae,
and Hamassien.
In Tigray, Subagadis’
sisters greatly contributed in cementing unity and
solidifying the political base of their brother by
marrying aristocrats of their own measure. For
instance, Weizero Senbetu entered into Aiba, not
far from Hawzien; Weizero Tsebela went to Guhalat/Haramat;
Weizero Brur married and moved to Aide’oor; and
Weizero Tabetu married Degezmati Dimtsu of
Enderta, lived at Feleg Da’ero and out of the
marriage relationship she begot Ras Araya and
Weizero Silas. Tabetu was married again to Shum
Tembien Baymot, but her daughter Silas was married
to Shum Tembien Mirach and gave birth to Kassa
Mircha, future Emperor Yohannes of Ethiopia. The
last, but not least, sister of Sunagadis, Weizero
Hadero was married to Ato Amha of Ag’udi. The
marriages of these women was made by design, but
they too, in turn and by default, constructed a
formidable connective tissue that played a major
role during the heyday of the Zemene
Mesafint.
Subagadis was also in
consultation with Coffin and Salt, British
diplomats and travelers, for more effective
relations with the European powers; in this
regard, he had a distinct advantage vis-à-vis his
opponents not only in terms of obtaining matchlock
muskets but also recognition as the prince of
Ethiopia by the Europeans.
Subagadis was humble and down
to earth; he was conferring aristocratic titles
such as Ras (Amharic) or Raesi (Tigrigna), the
highest title in the Ethiopian nobility ladder; a
title just below the ‘king’. However, he
maintained ‘Degezmati’, a title below Raesi
for himself when even his subordinates obtained
higher titles; he was a man of justice and at one
point known as ‘friend of the poor people’ not
only in Tigray but throughout Ethiopia where the
other princes governed. Subagadis was also known
for his achievements in finding cities such as
Atsbi, Endaselassie, and Adwa. The latter town was
initially planned out by Raesi Andehaimanot but
the real architect of Adwa was Subagadis, and by
the time he consolidated power, he made Adwa the
business capital for all Ethiopia while Adigrat
retained its status as the political center. On
top of conducting business and trade at Adwa,
however, Subagadis also used the city for
ceremonial purposes such as rewarding local
dignitaries and/or appointing governors (e.g. the
Bahri Negash of present-day Eritrea) of districts
and provinces; the newly appointed officials were
granted, among other things, the famous Ethiopian
aristocratic shirt known as Qemis
in Amharic and Qemish
in Tigrigna (in most instances, a robe made
out of silk) and an embroidered cape made out wool
or cotton. The Qemish
should not be confused with its present usage to
mean loose garment or women’s skirts.
On top of finding
administrative and economic centers in Tigray,
Subagadis as a pious Christian and staunch
supporter of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church constructed churches at Adigrat (Qirqos and
Medhane Alem), Atsbi (Silassie or Trinity), and
Adwa (Medhane Alem); the Medhane Alem (Redeemer of
the World) at Adwa built by Subagadis is still
serving the local Christian congregation; he was
also patron of the Gunda Gunde monastery in Irob,
Agame, where his remains were laid to rest
following his death at the Battle of Debre Abbay.
Nature was also in favor of
Subagadis during his reign of thirteen years
because of sufficient rainfall and abundant crops
everywhere. Oral tradition has it that Subagadis
was praised and loved by his people in his
dominion, and with respect to abundant crops, as
documented in my debut book (1995), the following
Tigrigna song was popular all over Tigray and
present-day Eritrea:
ንኣንጭዋ ግብሪ ሃብዋ
ንኣንጭዋ
ግብሪ ሃብዋ
ሱባጋድስ ሊኢኹዋ
Roughly translated, it means:
Pay Tribute to the mouse
Pay tribute to her,
She is Subagadis’ harbinger5
As already stated above,
Subagadis unequivocally claimed the Red Sea as the
sovereign territorial waters of Ethiopia, and as
beautifully captured by Ato Belai Gidey, Subagadis
said, “Because this sea is our throat, we must
diligently defend it from any enemy encroachment;
and when I die bury me on the shores of the sea,
and if you can’t place my remains facing towards
the sea.” 6
Subagadis, popularly known as
Abba Gerai by his horse name, ruled his dominion
with rules and regulations based on the ancient
Ethiopian Fetha
Biher (“Justice of the Nation”), and as a
result the people revered and loved him, and it is
for this apparent reason, when he was killed at
the hands of Mariye forces, the whole of Gondar,
Gojjam, Wollo, Tigray, and present-day Eritrea
cried for him. This is not surprising because he
was governor of Tigray and prince of Ethiopia, and
history has affixed to his reign, “the golden
age of Tigray”.7 Subagadis has become
an embodiment of the Tigrayan psyche and is always
remembered on social events including weddings and
major holidays; the famous Ethiopian honey wine or
mead is associated with his name; in fact to this
day the people in Tigray metaphorically address
the mead as መሴ መሴ ናይ ሱባጋድስ’ዬ Mesie Mesie nay Subagadisye,
meaning the Mies or honey wine is of Subagadis.
Incidentally, the best Ethiopian honey wine is to
be found in Adigrat and its vicinity. On top of
the wine obsession and grandeur associated with
Subagadis, his persona is depicted positively by
local traditional singers and recited by oral
history narratives. His name lives on as if his
ghost refuses to die and rather enjoys the
everlasting presence on his behalf!!
Notes
1.
Gebreyesus Abay, መሰረት ዓሌት ህዝቢ መረብ ምላሽ (Origins
of the Peoples of Eritrea)
2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabagadis_Woldu
2a. Abba Tesfai Medhin, History of Irob People https://irrob.org/tarik-irob-by-abba-tesfai-medhin
3.
The nickname of Degiat Hagos, son of Subagadis, was
ሜዳ ፀበቦ (Mieda
Tsebebo) and in Tigrigna, it literally means
“the plain field is inadequate for him”
4.
The list of Subagadis’ genealogy was compiled by
Mulu Berhan Asefa, who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada,
USA, but two men including Ato Hailu and Ato Suba
are missing from my own family tree chart that I
reconstructed via research.
5.
Ghelawdewos Araia, ETHIOPIA:
The Political Economy of Transition,
University Press of America, 1995, p. 4
6.
Belai Gidey Amha, አክሱም አዲስ አበባ፡ ኢትዮጵያ፡ 1995,
pp. 156-168
7.
For further information on Subagadis, his sons and
grandsons, see also Tale
of Agame (ወግዒ ዓጋመ) at
www.africanidea.org/Tale_of_Agame.pdf compiled
by Dr. Ghelawdewos Araia
All
Rights Reserved; Copyright © IDEA, Inc. 2019
|
