Prowess, Piety and Politics: the Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia

(1909-1930) by Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas; Reidulf K. Molvaer

Review by: Ezekiel Gebissa
Northeast African Studies, New Series, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1996), pp. 129-131
Published by: Michigan State University Press
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 Book Reviews 129

Prowess , Piety and Politics: the Chronicle

of Abeto
lyasu and Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia (1909-1930)
Gebre-IgziabiherElyas (Edited and translatedby ReidulfK. Molvaer)
Köln: Koppe, 1994. Pp. xxv, 596. Amharic text and English
translation;annotations,index.
ReidulfMolvaer'stranslationof Gebre-Igziabher Elyas's chronicleof the
reigns of Abeto lyasu and Empress Zewditu coversa formative periodin
Ethiopianhistory,a periodcharacterized by extraordinary eventsthathad
decisivelychanged the course of the country'spolitical and economic
developments. For some time,the periodremainedignoredby Ethiopia's
reputable chronicle tradition,perhapsdue to the absenceof a dominant
politicalfigureor itsinterposition betweenthereignsof thetwo architects
of modern Ethiopia-Menilek and Haile Sellassie. The task of
documenting thepoliticaleventsand historicalprocessesof thetimefellto
Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas. Educatedin the bestof Orthodoxchurchschools
in Shewa and Gojjam, the authorexcelledin theartof writing.Becauseof
hisskill, he was chosento serveZewdituas privatesecretary, a positionhe
usedto acquiretheempress'spapersand keepnotesof interviews withher.
What emergedfrom these recordsand his memoriesis a magnificent
narrative of an important periodin Ethiopia's politicalhistory.
Contraryto whatthe titleof the translation suggests,the chronicleis
not a comprehensiveaccount of Iyasu's politicalprowessor Empress
Zewditu'spiety. The mainstoryrunningthroughthevolumeis thepolitics
of the ascendancyof Haile Sellassie,who was portrayedas a courageous
militaryhero,a wise administrator, a visionary(modernizing) leaderand a
fair-minded administrator ofjustice.The originalchronicle,writtenduring
Iyasu'sand Zewditu'slifetimeand readyforpublicationwhenthe Italians
invadedEthiopiain 1935,was destroyedduringthefascistoccupation.The
authormanagedto retainthe manuscript, but not Zewditu'spapersand
his interviewnotes,sincehe had destroyedthemwhentheempressdiedin
1930, allegedly to prevent Haile Sellassie from defaming her
posthumously. For this,Haile Sellassiecondemned,demotedand banished
Gebre-Igziabiher to Wollega,wherehe liveduntil1944whenthe emperor
summonedand orderedhim to re-writethe chronicle.Gebre-Igziabiher
had a copy of theoriginalmanuscript to workfrom,but it took himeight
monthsto completethenew assignment. Apparently,thechroniclewhich

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130 Book Reviews

we now have was writtenfromscratch,perhapsto complywith Haile

Sellassie'sinstructions.
Althoughmuchspace was allottedto Haile Sellassie,substantively, the
chroniclemanagesto cast Iyasu and his policiesin a positivelight.Iyasu
comes across as a self-assured, far-sighted and reform-minded statesman
who was wrongly accused and toppled from power. Gebre-Igziabiher
demonstratesthat even Iyasu's prolific dynastic marriages were
consummated to createa "national"monarchyin whichthevariousroyal
houses have a stake,not simplyto satiatehis legendarysexual appetite.
Specifically, Iyasu marriedthe daughtersof Abba Jiffar of Jimma,Jote
Tuliu of Wollega,Abdullahof Harer and the Afarchieftainexpresslyto
integratethe Moslem Oromo, Afarand Somali into Ethiopiannational
politicallife(pp. 560-561).
Besidesthe goal of ensuringthe unityof the heterogenous empirehe
inherited,Iyasu wanted to improve the life of all its citizens.To that
effect,he attemptedto carryout importantreforms, which includedhis
attemptsto abolishthe gabbarsystem,separate educational mattersfrom
the church,institutea systemof audit and inspection,and reformthe
systemofjustice.Howeverwell-intentioned, Iyasu'sendeavorsto rootout
and
oppression,corruption gross abuse of powerdid not sitwell withthe
Shewan establishment.Their worst nightmarecame true with the
coronationof Iyasu'sfatherRas Michael,an Oromo and a formerMoslem,
as Negus of the entirenorthernprovinces.From the Shewan'svantage
point, Iyasu's reignrepresenteda mortaldangernot just to theirown
authoritybut to the verysurvivalof Menilek'sSemitic-Christian empire.
Thus, the Shewan establishment decided to overthrow him, not so much
for what he did as a ruler but because of his religiousand ethnic
affiliations.
Because of his stintas Zewditu's assistant,one would expectGebre-
Igziabiherto pay moreattentionto herreign;however,onlytwo chapters
(34 and 35) are devotedstrictly to describing heractiveroleas empress.To
be sure, Zewditu had few political accomplishments and the present
chroniclewas not writtento chronicleherachievements. She was depicted
as a feeble-minded, pious mother whose distinguishing was to fastand
role
prayforeverything, be it the battleof Sagele,or thefluepidemicof 1918,
or Teferi'svisitto Europe. Her priorityseemedto be holdinga requiem

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 Book Reviews 131

forher long dead fatherratherthan addressthe businessof government.

The closestshe came to makinga politicaldecisionwas to approvethe
demandto make TeferiNegus of Ethiopia.Even then,her choice of the
date of coronationwas overruledby Teferi'ssupporterswho insistedon
havingtheRas crownedrightaway.
Despite the restrictiveenvironmentin which it was written,the
chronicleis a useful,contemporary reflectionon a significant period of
Ethiopian politics. The book is rich in insights and unbiased in its
treatment of Iyasu.In manyrespects, it complements suchsourcesas Zikre
Neger (1962 Eth. C), Ya Tarik Mastawesha (1962 Eth. C) and the Auto-
of
biography Emperor Haile Sellassie I (1976). The translation is done
meticulously, althoughthe Englishrenditionis dense,repetitiousand, at
times,inaccurate.Molvaer goes to greatlengthsto try and explainthe
meaningof some Amharicparables,metaphorsand commonusagesthat
reallydo not make for accurateand fluentEnglish.In the process,he
sacrifices
readabilityforthesake of literaltranslation. On balance,though,
Molvaerdeservesto be congratulated not onlyfortranslating an important
historicalsource but also for makingavailablea beautifully calligraphed
Amharictext.
EzekielGebissa
MichiganStateUniversity

The Sufi Brotherhoods in the Sudan

Ali Salih Karrar
Evanston,Illinois: NorthwesternUniversityPress,1992.Pp. 234.
This book is an importantcontribution to our understanding of Sufismin
theSudanand indeedto thehistoryof Islamin Africa.Ali SalihKarrarhas
workedformanyyearsin the National RecordsOfficein Khartoum.He
is also fromthe Shayqiyyapeople, "one of the most prominentriverain
ethnicgroupsof thenorthern Sudan" (4). Each of thesequalifications
gives
him unparalleledaccessto some of the mostimportantdocumentation in
the historyof the Sufiorders,and also to major religiousfamiliesin the
Sudan. Based on both archivalwork and fieldresearchconductedin the
Shayqiyyaregionin 1982,Karrar'saccountdrawson interviews he made
with some of the senior representatives of these familiesand their
followers,on visitsto majorhistoricaland religiousvillagesand townsof

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