Shewa
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Shewa (also spelled Shoa) is a historical region of Ethiopia. Formerly an autonomous Kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire, the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at its center.
The towns of Debre Birhan, Antsokia, Ankober, Entoto and Addis Ababa have all served as the capital of Shewa at various times. Most of northern Shewa, made up of the districts of Menz, Tegulet, Yifat, Minjar, Bulga are mostly populated by Christian Amhara, while southern and eastern Shewa have large Oromo and Moslem populations. The great monastery of Debre Libanos, founded by Saint Takla Haymanot is located in the district of Selale in northern Shewa.
History
Shewa first appears in the historical record as a Muslim state, which G.W.B. Huntingford believed was founded in 896, and had its capital at Walalah. This state was absorbed by the Sultanate of Yifat around 1285.
In the 16th century, Shewa was ravaged and separated from the rest of Ethiopia by the forces of Ahmed Gragn; the region then came under pressure from the Oromo, who succeeded during the first decades of the following century in settling in the depopulated areas and making themselves masters. Because of this destruction and isolation, little is known about the details of the history of Shewa until almost 1800.
The Shewan ruling family was founded by Negassie in the late 17th century, who consolidated his control around Yifat. Traditions recorded differ about his ancestry: one tradition, recorded in 1840, claims his mother was the daughter of Ras Faris, a follower of Emperor Sissinios who had escaped into Menz; another tradition told by Serta Wold, a councilor of Sahle Selassie, was that Negassie was the descendant of Yaqob, the youngest son of Lebna Dengel, and thus assert descent from the ancient ruling Solomonid dynasty.1
Negassie's son, Sebestyanos assumed the title of Meridazmach ("General of the reserve army"), which was unique to Shewa. His descendants continued to bear this title until Sahle Selassie of Shewa was declared king of Shewa in the 1830s. His grandson Menelek II eventually would succeed as Emperor of all Ethiopia at the end of the century. The title of "King of Shewa" was subsumed into the Imperial title of "Emperor of Ethiopia" when Menelik became Emperor.
In recent times, Shewa was a Governorate-General (Province) under the monarchy, and was then an Administrative Region of Ethiopia under the Derg regime until 1984. In that year, upon the proclamation of "The Peoples Republic" under the now civilianized Derg, Shewa was split into four Administrative Regions, North Shewa, Southern Shewa, Eastern Shewa and Western Shewa. Following the fall of the Derg in 1991, the old historic provinces and regions were abolished, and the present modern regions (based on ethnic and linguistic boundaries) were introduced.
See also: Rulers of Shewa
References
- Mordechai Abir, Ethiopia: the Era of the Princes (London: Longmans, 1968), pp. 144ff.