Wube Haile Maryam
Wube Haile Maryam of Semien,
The regional ruler and
Ancestry
Of ethnic
Haile Maryam’s had been arranged to marry Hirut Gugsa, who was of Solomonic royal lineage through her mother, princess Amete Selassie, the daughter of Solomonic Amhara king Tekle Giyorgis I. Hirut's father was the Oromo Regent, Ras Gugsa of Yejju. Hirut was Haile Maryam's ‘‘legitimate wife’’, their children (and Wube's older half siblings) were Merso, Betul and Yewub-dar.
● Merso Haile Maryam was the oldest half-brother and early rival of Wube.
● Betul Haile Maryam was the second half brother. He was the father of Taytu Betul, the future empress of Ethiopia and wife of Emperor Menelik II. Wube was thus an uncle of Taytu.
●
Career
Rise of power in Semien
Wube served as the governor of
After Wube's usurpation, his two half brothers and Hirut Gugsa; their mother, fled to
Early defeat and vassalage
In 1827, Wube was immediately challenged by the ruler of northwestern Ethiopia,
Later that year, Maru of Dembiya rebelled against Ras Yimam and sided with his rival; Dejazmach Goshu of Gojjam and Damot. Ras Yimam turned to Wube for military backing, which he honored. In October 1827, the combined armies of Yimam and Wube met the combined armies of Goshu and Maru at Kosso Ber in Gojjam and defeated them. Goshu escaped to his mountain fortress but Maru of Dembiya was killed and most of his territories given to Yimam's brother, Dejazmach Marye Gugsa. Half of Wogera was restored back under Wube's control by the Ras, as a reward for his service.[10][9]
Broken alliance
Wube then married Dinqinesh Sabagadis, the daughter of the Irob warlord and ruler of Tigray, Dejazmach Sabagadis Woldu, to foster an alliance against Yimam's successor, Ras Marye Gugsa.[1]
In 1830 however, Ras Marye invaded Semien, and Sabagadis broke his oath by not coming to Wube's aid, thus leaving Semien to be ravaged by conflict. In a dramatic shift of alliances, Wube sided with Marye against Sabagadis; in turn Sabagadis invaded Semien with his forces and drove Wube out of his fortresses of Amba Tazzan and Amba Hay. Sabagadis recognized Wube's half brother and rival Merso Haile Maryam as the governor of Semien before his return to Tigray.[11]
Conquest of Tigray and Eritrea
In February 1831, Wube and Ras Marye responded with a vigorous military campaign into Tigray. Marye and Wube's coalition met the forces of Sabagadis near the Tekeze river and conflict ensued. Ras Marye perished, but Sabagadis lost (the Battle of Debre Abbay) and was executed by Ras Marye's followers the following day. Wube and his troops remained in Tigray.[6][11]
In the aftermath of Sabagadis's death, Tigray Province plunged into chaos. Sabagadis' many enemies and rivals turned against his offspring. Moreover, even Sabagadis's own sons and supporters fought each other for ascendancy. Wube took advantage of the divided aristocracy, and pacified the region after a series of wars. He spared Sabagadis's sons (his wife Dinqinesh's brothers) and appointed them as tributary provincial governors in return for their submission.[9][10]
Wube then extended his rule over the northern highlands into the
Rebellions
Kassai Sabagadis; the governor of Agame and son of late Sabagadis Woldu, rose several times in rebellion against Wube in 1838. Kassai escaped Wube's wrath early that year when the warlord stopped pursuing the fleeing rebel over the Tembien mountains. In the second half of 1838, Wube left Tigray with his main army and crossed the Tekeze into Semien in anticipation of an attack by the regent Ras Ali II on his dominion. In the absence of Wube; Kassai Sabagadis once again raised the standard of revolt, and this time took control of nearly all of Tigray. Wube recrossed the Tekeze and ended Kassai's rebellion. Kassai Sabagadis was put in chains and remained Wube's prisoner for over 15 years until Tewodros II freed him.[13][14]
Another son of Sabagadis,
Merso Haile Maryam served as the governor of Tembien until he turned against his brother Wube, and after having devastated parts of Lasta (governed under Wube's ally) then threatened to march on his brothers dominion. However, when faced by the army of Wube, Merso fled into Yejiu territory.[13]
Foreign contacts
When Wube occupied Tigray, he found a small group of Anglican-sponsored Protestant missionaries, who tried to awake a reformist movement within the Orthodox Christian Church of the Ethiopians. In 1838 he expelled these missionaries and established relations with the French-sponsored
In addition, a mission sent by Wube to Egypt to acquire a new Coptic metropolitan for Ethiopia (the last metropolitan had died in the 1820s) was successful. In 1841 the
Wube also arranged for completion of the ongoing building of Dirasge Mariam Church for his coronation.
In 1841, That same year, Wube defeated Ras Ali II in battle, taking Gondar, the then capital of Ethiopia. Nonetheless, Ras Ali II escaped. In February 1842, their armies clashed again in the Battle of Debre Tabor, where Wube's initial tactical superiority from imported firearms almost carried the day, until a detachment under Dejazmach Birru Aligaz, Ras Ali's uncle, went to pay homage with his forces to Wube's encampment but found him very intoxicated[verification needed], also without guards and took him prisoner, thus enabling Ali to retain his title.[17]
Although Ras Ali II and Wube continued to have some tension, they avoided any serious clash as there was constant threat from Egyptian rulers from the north.[17] Subsequently, Wube was unsuccessful in his efforts to take Massawa and in 1844 withdrew inland, finally leaving Tigray in 1846.[3] Kassa Hailu later definitively defeated Ali II in the Battle of Ayshal, 29 June 1853, whereupon Ali fled to Raya where he lived the rest of his life.[18]
Defeat and death
Some sources date the ending of Zemene Mesafint era, during which Ethiopia lacked effective central authority from approximately 1769 to approximately 1855, to Ras Ali II's defeat at the Battle of Ayshal in 1853,, was finally crowned Emperor Tewodros II, ironically by Abuna Salama III in the Dirasge Mariam Church. Although some sources suggest that Wube may have died in 1855, it is more commonly accepted that he spent the later part of his years in prison and died in 1867.
References
- ^ ISBN 9780195382075.
- ISBN 9781514422236.
- ^ ISBN 9781569020579.
- ^ ISBN 9781631356155.
- ^ Lejean, Guillaume Marie (1870). Voyage en Abyssinie éxécuté de 1862 à 1864 (in French). Hachette. p. 42.
- ^ ISBN 9780932415103.
- OCLC 729977710.
- ISBN 9780932415103.
- ^ OCLC 729977710.
- ^ )
- ^ ISBN 978-3-447-06246-6.
- ISBN 9780810875050.
- ^ OCLC 729977710.
- OCLC 10276109.
- JSTOR 27828863.
- ^ ]
- ^ ISBN 9780521207010.
- ^ OCLC 2347397.
Notes
- ^ Also spelled as Wube Haile Mariam, Wube Hayle Maryam, Wibe Haylä Maryam, Webé Hayla Maryam
- Gebre of Semien, a legendary governor that ruled a prosperous Semien for 44 years, was the father of Haile Maryam Gebre; his successor. The grandfather of Wube Haile Maryam; ruler of Semien and Tigray. And the great-grandfather of Taytu Betul a future Empress of Ethiopia.[6]