History and Heritage

The historic Amhara province of Angot (Raya).

Leave a comment

Angot is a historically pure Amhara sub province which withstood multiple invasions which led to the creation of a unique warrior culture.

This article will focus on the ethnic habitants of Raya originally, the language spoken, the boundaries and the history of Angot from the 14th century to now.

Angot was always an Amhara province.1

Angot an Amharic term (አንጎት), translated as “Neck” due to its geographical location was a medieval province part of the Ethiopian empire.2

Additionally this Amharic dictionary first published in 1948 states that Angot was ‘located in upland wollo’.3

Angot is first seen in the chronicles of Amde seyon (1314-1344). In contrast to how tigrayn nationalists claim that angot/raya has always been their land, we see that it is listed as seperate province.4

Below is examples of Angot being mentioned in an Amharic victory poem in the chronicle of Amde Seyon I.

In modern times some residents of Raya have been mislead to believe that they are descendants of doba people however this is quite frankly wrong in multiple ways as I will show throughout this thread. This map shows Ethiopia during the reign of Amde Seyon I (1314-1344).5

Regarding the case of tigrayan nationalists claim on raya one we can see here that angot and ‘Tigre’ are two distinct provinces. We can also see that Tigre is much more northern in its location in comparison to angot which is closer to other provinces like lasta and Amhara.

To prove further the distinction between the tigrayan provinces and angot we see during Zara Ya’qobs reign that he appoints new rulers in the form of his sisters in the provinces of Ethiopia. (Amharic and English)6

The Egyptian Novelo map published in Florence in 1454 reinforces this point.7

Baeda Maryam (1448-1478) the emperor following Zara yaq’ob through his campaigns evidently shows us that the doba people are not Amhara and were actually in war against the Abyssinians and the Afar people too as shown below.8

A map showing angot specifically from 1482 shows modern towns such as chercher (cercer) and is in agreement with the description later provided by transition Alvarez regarding the border being the river sabalete. Doba is also not present.9

Iter S, from Cairo to Barara, A.D. 1402

The next refrence to angot we see is by missionary Fransisco Alvarez

Below are his own descriptions of the boundaries of tigray and angot.

“and came to sleep at a large river named Sabalete, at which river the kingdom of Tigrimahom ends, and the kingdom of Angote begins.”10

These boundaries are also shown on a map based off his travels.

Francisco Alvarez also tells us that once he reached the kingdom of angot the people spoke Amharic. This shows the inhabitants of Raya were Amhara.11

Description of the route the Portuguese contigent during the Ethio-Adal war took from the Abyssinian coast.12

These territories are confirmed in G.W.B. Huntingford, “The Historical Geography of Ethiopia,” which cites Emperor Libne Dengel (Dawit II) (1508-1540) himself describing his kingdoms.

“Aksum to wajrat”13

This map from 1550 during the reign of Gelawdewos the emperor (1540-1559)

From the map above again Angot is not part of Tigray and is closer to other Amharic speaking provinces/kingdoms i.e lasta, wag and Amhara. Doba is also out of the relm of abyssinia dismissing claims of ancestry by some misinformed inhabitatnts of Angot today.

The Distribution of royal churches and monasteries (13th-16th century) confirms this.

The inhabitants of angot are also clearly stated in the book Social and political history of Wollo Province in Ethiopia: 1769-1916 it states “Weresh/Yejju are the results of various layers of people: the Amhara of Angot..”14

Spanish missionary Pedro Paez (1564-1622) in his book “History of Ethiopia” lists Angot and Tigre as separate kingdoms.15

Another Portuguese missionary Manuel de Almeida (1580-1646) described the borders of Tigre and portrayed this in his own map.16

“Inland the province (in reference to Tigray) was bordered by the kingdoms of Angot, Doba, Begemder, and Semien.”

Manuel de Almeidas own map below reiterates this.

In Gérard Mercator’s map “Abyssinoum sive Preciosi Johannis Imperium,” published in 1607, Angot again is shown as an individual kingdom in Ethiopia.17

In the book Description de l’Afrique published in 1686 it states ‘south of Angot is Amhara’ which means Angot is not part of Tigray since it would say south of Tigray instead’18

Additionally from the same page it also states “Begemeder is one of the largest kingdoms in Abyssinia.. to the south the kingdom of Gojjam which is surrounded on all sides by Amhara Angot Tigray etc so again Angot is dinstingused from Tigray and is separate.

A few years later In Vincenzo Coronelli’s map of “Ethiopia, Abyssinia, and the Source of the Blue Nile” (1690), Angot is again not a part of Tigray and is in close proximity to the province of Amhara (Bete Amhara).19

Lastly, Oromo writer Mohammed Hassen admits who the inhabitants of Angot were before the Galla incursions into Ethiopia.

Moving on to Angot in the 17th century and onwards Didier Robert de Vaugondy’s (1688-1766), antique map of Abyssinia, Angot as well as other provinces are shown separate from Tigray, which is labeled Roy de Tigre.20

James Bruce (1730-1794), a Scottish traveller, confirms Amharic being spoken in Angot.21

In Rigobert Bonne (1727-1794) map of Abyssinia (1771), Angot is shown in proximity to Begemeder, the Danakil, and Amhara (the province).22

This source from 1769 states the language spoken in Angot.23

‘the language spoken in the province of Tigre is formed in a great part from ge’ez, those (languages) which are in use in several other provinces hold much of the Amharic Dialect… the people of Begemeder have a unique dialect more distinct from the other ones. The people of Angot, Ifat, Gojjam, and Shewa also speak Amharic, and their dialects of the language are closer to one another.’

To continue, page 39 of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia (1830) describes the borders of Tigre.24

Despite the Oromo incursions in the 16th and 17th century, the language spoken within Angot continued to be Amharic.25

An Italian geographic book from 1827 shows both Angot and Welkait as apart of Amhara.26

To add on page 100 of the book Specimens of Dialects, Short Vocabularies of Languages: and Notes of Countries & Customs in Africa, written by John Clarke (1848), it explicitly states that Amharic was spoken in Angot.27

From the same year, page 39 of the book : Plowden, Walter Chichele, and Trevor Chichele Plowden. Travels in Abyssinia and the Galla Country: With an Account of a Mission to Ras Ali in 1848.28

Angot is not inclued as one of the provinces of Tigray after the amhara ras wubes expansion and control of tigray.

Page 25 of A Gazetteer of the World, written by A.A. Braze (1856), states the inhabitants of Angot as Amhara.29

Under Emperor Tewodros II, the former boundaries of regions within Ethiopia were restored, and Angot remained an Amhara province.

Angot’s borders are described to have a river as a border from Tigray as described by Fransisco Alvarez. Source : British and foriegn state papers 1863-1864 Vol LIV. William Ridgway.30

An Italian source from 1875 which also coincides during Yohaness IV reign states everything west of the tekezze including amhara proper, dembea, Gojjam, Damot, wellega, begemeder, Angot, semein, waldeba and welkait is part of Amhara.31

Boundaries of Tigre (Tigray) during his reign (Yohannes IV).32

Similar to Yohannes, under Menelik II (1889-1913), Angot was under Wag/Lasta administration within Amhara. Tigray administration was noted to be between the Mareb and Tekeze with its ruler as Ras Alula.33

Map of Ethiopia under Menelik

Text source for the map:

Another Map of Ethiopia under Menelik II showing the same thing.34

This map of Ethiopia from the early 1900s after Menelik shows Angot continues to be under Lasta.35

Population Statistics from the Derg period in Alamata and Kobbo showing that Amharas are the majority.

After the Derg fell, the TPLF forcefully annexed Raya (as well as Welkait) and incorporated it into Tigray. This was done in a similar process to migrants in Welkait. The migrants being tigrayns were incoproated into the region while the indigenous Amharas were cleansed.36

Tigrayn nationalists will also use this deceptive table. What they dont show you is how amhara citzens were ethnically cleansed and evicted.37

Continuing, the citizens of Raya are stated to identify with the Amhara regional state and Ethiopia and not with the Tigray regional state.38

The TPLF regime’s control over the strategic and fertile Amhara land, including Angot(Raya), led to systemic oppression. To maintain dominance, they imposed displacement, forced assimilation, and a form of apartheid. The people of Angot, who identified as ethnic Amhara, were forced to receive education in Tigrigna under TPLF occupation and faced severe employment discrimination due to systemic racism. Additionally, corrupt Tigrayan officials exploited the local population through land seizures, extortion, and forced labor.

Under TPLF rule, Tigrayan officials systematically oppressed the Amhara population in Raya through coercion and cultural erasure. They issued death threats and extorted locals, forcing them to make arbitrary payments beyond their means—even compelling them to sell their livestock to drain their resources. Meanwhile, the imposition of Tigrigna as the sole language of education made learning nearly impossible for Amharic-speaking children, further entrenching systemic discrimination.

Under TPLF occupation, the Amhara population in Raya faced systematic oppression, including forced labor, ethnic marginalization, and cultural suppression. Tigrayan officials arbitrarily imprisoned locals with 20-year sentences to exploit them as unpaid laborers—effectively reducing them to slavery. Men were threatened with death unless they fled, while women were pressured to stay, likely as part of a demographic engineering strategy involving forced marriages.

Additionally, despite local opposition, Tigrayan authorities reinstated education in Tigrigna—a language most Raya residents do not speak—ignoring the Amhara community’s demand for Amharic-language schooling and administration under their rightful regional government. These measures reflect a broader campaign of displacement, cultural erasure, and subjugation.

In this video an Amhara man is talking about the experience of Amharas being forced to learn Tigrinya as part of the enforced Tigrinya identity.

Translation : “They are failing in the Tigrinya language (in reference to amhara children being forced to learn Tigrinya in schools as part of enforcing a Tigrayn identity’) we don’t know your Tigrinya because of this they are failing in Tigrinya, teach them in their mother tongue Amharic”

An Amhara who was forced to learn Tigrinya explains the process of how in the past 30 years TPLF has tried to “tigrinize” Amharas. Angot land is very fertile that’s all TPLF care about. 90% of azebo land is controlled by Tigray investors.

Tplf did everything in their power to destroy the identity of the Amharas living in Angot.

In this video an Amhara woman from Raya is speaking about her identity and oppression from tplf.

‘‘I’m an Amhara, pure Amhara, I will not give my hand in to tplf (Woyane), I can make him (tplf/woyane) kneel but he won’t make me kneel wollo is still Amhara’’

The struggle to free Angot(raya) after decades of apartheid and oppression by the fascist TPLF government still continues and it will never end until the Amharas from Angot finally gain freedom.

Amharas from Angot celebrating.
  1. Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: Volume 1: A-C ↩︎
  2. Travellers in Ethiopia, Richard Pankhurst ↩︎
  3. Amharic dictionary first published in 1948 by Tefera Werq Armede, then adapted to Amharic-English and republished in 1990 by American Thomas Leiper Kane. ↩︎
  4. G.W.B. Huntigford the glorious victories of Amde Seyon I. ↩︎
  5. Tadesse Tamrat Church and state in Ethiopia 1270-1527 ↩︎
  6. Royal Chronicle of Emperor Zara Ya’qob ↩︎
  7. Richard Pankhurst The Ethiopian Borderlands : Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century ↩︎
  8. The Ethiopian borderlands Richard Pankhurst ↩︎
  9. Iter S, from Cairo to Barara, A.D. 1402 ↩︎
  10. Narrative of the Portuguese embassy to Abyssinia during the years 1520-1521. Father Francisco Alvarez. ↩︎
  11. The Prester John of the Indies: a true relation of the lands of the Prester John, being the narrative of the Portuguese embassy to Ethiopia in 1520, written by Francisco Alvares. ↩︎
  12. The Penny Cyclopedia of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge, Volumes 1-2, 1833 ↩︎
  13. G.W.B. Huntingford, “The Historical Geography of Ethiopia” ↩︎
  14. Social and political history of Wollo Province in Ethiopia: 1769-1916 ↩︎
  15. Pedro Paez (1564-1622)”History of Ethiopia” ↩︎
  16. Manuel de Almeida (1580-1646) ↩︎
  17. Gérard Mercator’s map “Abyssinoum sive Preciosi Johannis Imperium,” published in 1607 ↩︎
  18. Description de l’Afrique published in 1686 ↩︎
  19. Vincenzo Coronelli’s map of “Ethiopia, Abyssinia, and the Source of the Blue Nile” (1690) ↩︎
  20. Didier Robert de Vaugondy’s (1688-1766) ↩︎
  21. Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, Volume 3, p. 693 ↩︎
  22. Rigobert Bonne (1727-1794) map of Abyssinia (1771) ↩︎
  23. Histoire moderne des Chinois, des Japonnois, des Indiens, des Persans, des Turcs, des Russiens,1769 ↩︎
  24. The Edinburgh Encyclopedia (1830) ↩︎
  25. The Penny Cyclopedia of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge, Volumes 1-2, 1833, p. 451 ↩︎
  26. Nuovo dizionario geografico portatile che contiene la descrizione generale e particolare delle cinque parti del mondo conosciuto ↩︎
  27. Specimens of Dialects, Short Vocabularies of Languages: and Notes of Countries & Customs in Africa, written by John Clarke (1848) p.100 ↩︎
  28. Plowden, Walter Chichele, and Trevor Chichele Plowden. Travels in Abyssinia and the Galla Country: With an Account of a Mission to Ras Ali in 1848. p.39 ↩︎
  29. A Gazetteer of the World, written by A.A. Braze (1856), states the inhabitants of Angot as Amhara. p.25 ↩︎
  30. British and foriegn state papers 1863-1864 Vol LIV. William Ridgway ↩︎
  31. Nuova Enciclopedia Italiana,1875 ↩︎
  32. Dye (1880), p. 519, map of Northern Abyssinia ↩︎
  33. The Political Crisis in Tigray, 1889-99 by Bairu Tafla ↩︎
  34. Rand McNally Atlas, 1895 ↩︎
  35. Peter J. Oestergaard; Kartographische Anstalt von F.A. Brockhaus, Berlin; Leipzig, 1920 ↩︎
  36. Assault on Rural Poverty: The Case of Ethiopia by Haileleul Getahun ↩︎
  37. Assault on Rural Poverty: The Case of Ethiopia by Haileleul Getahun ↩︎
  38. Popular Protest, Political Opportunities, and Change in Africa by Edalina Rodrigues Sanches ↩︎

Culture and traditions

Ashenda, a historical Amhara festival.

2 Comments

Ashenda is a festival celebrated throughout the Amhara region and recently adopted throughout Ethiopia, a trend often seen within the country.

Ashenda is usually celebrated from August 16-21 (the dates may change slightly) which honors the assumption of Virgin Mary. The festival is celebrated after a 2 week fasting period.

One of the ethnic groups who have adopted Ashenda are “Tigrayans”. Rather than being appreciative and giving respect to Amharas for introducing this culture to them they have spent the last 3 decades rewriting history and creating relentless propaganda to discredit Amharas of their own culture.

Many Ethiopian ethnic groups claim to be the originators of the Ashenda Festival, only the Amhara people can support their claims to it using concrete historical evidence, as recorded by domestic & foreign primary sources.This article will debunk their failed propaganda while also providing evidence to back our claims.

Ashenda is an Amharic word,not Tigrinya. The first written mention of “Ashenda” is found in an Amharic book from 1910, authored by Tigrayan & German scholars.

They agreed Ashenda is originally an Amhara festival.

Amharic book from 1910

The book has a Amharic song about Ashenda trom 19I0. The authors explain that Ashenda is an Amharic word, which has 3 distinct but interrelated meanings.

Amharic poem

The first refers to a flower called “Ashenda,” exchanged between Amharas during the celebration.

In certain parts of Amhara, like Gondar, Ashenda is called “Shadey” /ሻደይ, reflecting the Amharic name for the seasonal flower, “Adey” / አደይ, which blossoms in late August.

A video of a Tourist in the Amhara region celebrating Ashendiye, it goes over everything we have explained so far including that Ashendiye comes from the Amharic word, Ashenda that describes the tall grass that grows in the Amhara region.

The Ashenda celebrations are everywhere in Amhara under different names.

Below is a photo from 1921 of Amharas celebrating Ashenda.

The original caption reads “Rito del Beghemeder,” meaning “Rite of Begemeder.”

“Rite” is another term for religious ceremony and Begemeder is the historical name for Gondar, a province in the greater Amhara region.

Rito del Beghemeder 1921

Amharas from Gondar celebrating Ashenda.

Gondar Ashenda celebration.

In Angot (Raya) , Amhara it is called Solel.

Solel (also known by Ashendiye and Shadey in other areas of Amhara Region) is celebrated every year around Nehase 16 and 17 (August 21st/22nd) after the end of the Filseta tsom (fasting).

Solel celebration in Angot, Amhara.

In some parts of the Amhara region the festival is called Shadey/ሻደይ

Marvelous cultural & religious festival of SHADEY ሻደይ at Lalibela| in front of Rockhewn St. George Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church|.
Ashenda celebration in Lalibela, Amhara.

Elsewhere, like in Gojjam, locals combine the Amharic terms “Adey” / አደይ and Ashenda / አሸንዳ to form “Ashendiye,” spelt አሸንድዬ or አሸንድየ. One may also hear “Ashenday” / አሸንዳይ or አሸንዳየ. Another name for Ashenda is “Engicha Nekela” in Gojjam.

All are closely related, differing mainly due to dialect.

Ashenda celebration in East Gojjam zone.

Engicha Nekela (Ashenda) celebration in Gojjam.

Even Gurages, another tribe, celebrate Ashenda. The Kistane know it as ኩርፍወ / “Kurfwe” while the Sebat Bet call it ነቆ/ነኧ “Neqo/Ne-e.” Some also call it እረቐ or ኧረቐ / “Ereqe.”

Gurages celebrating Ashenda.

Second, Ashenda describes long strands of grass that Amhara women & girls traditionally attach to their clothes during festivities. This is done to commemorate Virgin Mary, who ascended to Heaven from a field of tall grass.

Now that we have proven the meaning of Ashenda and its ties to the Amhara community let’s debunk the notion that it was originally started by “Tigrayans”.

Tigrayans are only aware of Ashenda today because the TPLF politicized & appropriated it from Amharas.

For most of their history until recently Tigrayens celebrated a pagan festival called “Ayni Wari”. Most of the “vintage” photos and videos of Ashenda from Tigray is faked but we will get to that.

“Tigrayens” like to pretend Amharas are not the original however many sources attest to their poor imitation of Amhara identity & culture.

Combes and Tamisier, 1836, “Voyage en Abyssinie,”
pp. 313-314

Here’s what the British diplomat, Walter Plowden said about Tigray and their immitation of Amhara culture in the 1850S:

Ashenda is foreign to Tigrayans, we can consult the earliest Tigrinya dictionary in existence, printed in 1903. THERE is no mention of Ashenda anywhere.

1903 Tigrinya dictionary

Enno Littmann, whose team visited Tigray in 1905 & studied every aspect of “Tigrayan” culture. Yet, in their 1,000+ page publication, they did not mention Ashenda or anything Ashenda-related. Not even once.

On the contrary, Littmann did mention-dozens of times— that “Tigrayans”believed in demons, serpents, & other unorthodox creatures.

Before they rebranded their pagan festival as Asehnda to discredit Amharas, Tigrayans traditionally celebrated something called “Ayni Wari” / ዓይኒ ዋሪ, literally meaning “Eye of the Blackbird” in Tigrinya.

Even UNESCO documented that the people in Tigray copied the name Ashenda from us when the original name for thier celebration is Aynewari.

According to UNESCO:

Therefore, the festival is known as “Ashendeye” in the Amhara Regional State in Lasta, Lalibela and Gondar, “Engicha Nekela” in Gojam and “Solel” in Wollo Raya and Kobo districts.

Among the Agew of Waghemra, it is known as “Shadey”. In Tigray Region, there are different ways of naming the festival across various localities such as Ashenda, Mariya, Ayni-Wari.

UNESCO heritage document about the names of Ashenda festivals throughout different Amhara provinces.

“Tigrayans” don’t even call it Ashenda in Tigray. The Agew provinces in Tigray (Enderta and Tembein) call it Ashenda.

The name Ayinwari is the true name of the celebrations in the Tigray region before they stole the Ashenda name from Amharas.

The UNESCO document shows the names and dates of the celebrations.

Notice the Ayni Wari name but no Ashenda name.

Now that we have established that Amharas were the ones to introduce Tigrayans to Ashenda let’s compare how different the celebrations are.

Most of Ashenda is reserved as only a religous celebration to the Amhara and Agew communities. However in Tigrayen culture, there is little to do with religon and it is more of a social event. Let’s look at some of the cultural differences between Amhara Ashenda and Tigrayen Ayni Wari.

During Ayni Wari, Tigrayans pray to pagan gods to grant them fertility & earthly riches. They also curse their enemies in the name of their false gods. They do this using a young girl, no older than 12, who acts as an intermediary between the living & the dead.

Description of Ayni Wari celebration.

More proof of the un-Christian nature of Tigray’s Ayni Wari comes from Tigrayan folklore.Whereas for Amharas, Virgin Mary is the focus of Ashenda, for Tigrayans, it’s all about money & sex.

Tigrayans always tell their brothers & sons to “never marry an Ashenda girl” from Tigray:

The situation is so bad that Tigrayan elders call their own daughters gold-diggers, as these girls insult & ridicule anyone who does not give them money during Ayni Wari.

The degenerate behavior has lead to consequences, such as rising HIV cases.

The Tigray regional government has also invested millions of Birr each year to promote safe Sex during Ayni Wari in Tigray.

One popular poster reads “Let’s use our condoms for Ashenda” in Tigrinya.

All of this is confirmed by Tigrayan researchers themselves, who studied the history of Ashenda based on oral traditions in Tigray & concluded that the Ayni Wari festival, as it is known in Tigray, not only has a pagan origin but retains its anti-Christian elements.

Now that we have established all the facts to prove that Ashenda is originally an Amhara festival to celebrate Virgin Mary that Tigrayans hijacked into a weird pagan festival let’s examine and debunk the fake proof that they use to claim our culture.

One of the photos Tigrayans use is this photo where they claim it’s Tigrayans celebrating Ashenda from 1910.

However this is false and it’s actually Tigrayans praising Italian colonial soldiers.

Translation of the photo.

Another photo in Adrigat where Tigrayans will tell you they’re celebrating Ashenda below, but the ascaris (native Italian collaborators) in the back with the tall hats reveal that Tigrayans are just dancing for their Italian colonizers.

The hats in the back were usually worn by Tigrayans and Eritreans as shown below.

An example of the type of hat worn by Askaris.

Another fake vintage photo shared by Tigrayans who claim this is them celebrating Ashenda however the same hats can be seen in the background.

Same as above: tall hats, long sleeves & shorts for uniform, gear strapped to the waist. These are all signs of ascaris. So instead of praising Mary, Tigrayans are praising Mussolini.

An example of the hat worn by Askaris.

Another photo where Tigrayans claim they were celebrating Ashenda in “Mekelle” in “1910.”

However in reality, the photo is of Eritrean kids putting on a show for Italians in Asmara, c. 1930s.

Tigrayans claim this is an Ashenda song from 1828 but there are many problems like the fact that singer is a man when it should be a woman; he’s singing about St. John, not Mary; he starts by saying “Oy Tasa” (“testing”) suggesting he’s in a studio and most embarrassing is the fact that audio testing was not a thing until 1857 at the absolute earliest.

More Tigrayan deception. They don’t even care to research the photo before posting it as theirs.

This photo is Eritrean children in Asmara put on another show for Italian officials as they cross paths. Photo from 1918.

This is just a fraction of the lies they have spread nonstop for the last 3 decades to claim our culture as theirs.

Most of the so called proof for Ashenda belonging to Tigray came in the last 30 years during TPLF era. Tigrayens called and still call their celebration Ayni Wari. Unlike Amharas they don’t celebrate for religous reasons rather for unholy reasons.

The culture, name and celebration of Ashenda has always been tied to Amharas. Amharas need to reclaim their culture and stop being so nice to agames.

History and Heritage

Tewodros II, the Amhara.

Leave a comment
Tewodros II surrounded by lions.

From the many emperors and national heroes that hail from the Amhara ethnic group, only a few have been able to embody the spirit, resilience, and vision of the Amhara people as profoundly as Emperor Tewodros II. Born Kassa Hailu, he rose from humble beginnings to become one of Ethiopia’s most iconic and transformative leaders. His reign marked a turning point in Ethiopian history, as he sought to unify a fractured empire, modernize its institutions, and resist foreign encroachment. Tewodros II’s story is a testament to the enduring spirit of the Amhara people—a spirit characterized by courage, determination, and an unyielding sense of purpose. However in recent years many people have tried to rewrite the true origins of Tewodros claiming that he hails from Tigray and Qemant descendent. Not only will this claim be debunked but we will also prove that he is fully Amhara.

This claim has circulated on the basis of an undated “Ge’ez chronicle”, in which Tewodros’ father allegedly tells him that he is Tigrean and not Amhara. The conversation is said to be held between Tewodros and a man named “Gebre-medhin” who was a clothes washer in Tigray and allegedly his father.

Alleged Ge’ez manuscript

There are a number of problems with this so-called “Ge’ez chronicle”, let’s investigate:

a) First of all, no legitimate Ge’ez manuscript starts by saying “X is from this ethnic group, not that one”. This reveals that the document was written recently to support a particular narrative and doesn’t follow the proper literary style of an actual manuscript.

b) This entire document was written online and uploaded as a pdf to website called dirzon. No actual corresponding manuscript exists.

c) Analytically, the Ge’ez spelling of Amhara is አምሓራ, but the “manuscript” has ዐምሓራይ which is 100% Tigrinya, just like ትግራይ. So two languages have been mixed in this document.

d) We can’t even say it was a scan of an actual Ge’ez ብራና (manuscript), because it’s not even written on parchment paper.

e) Ge’ez for son would be ወልድ አው or ወልደ and should have appeared in the document. How can these activists tell us they are the kangz of Ge’ez and make this many blunders ?

f) They also spelled his brith name wrong, it’s ካሣ not ካሳ.

g) A Ge’ez manuscript should start by praising God and then stating the day or year it was written. It also ends abruptly, probably because they thought this short stuff would be enough to fool us.

h) If it is real, they should provide the name of the Ge’ez corpus it is found in, and where it originates from (monastery), because all such Ge’ez manuscripts that exist online were discovered by actual scholars, organized, and categorized.

Another major clue that this is a modern document is the inconsistency in spelling of ትግራይ (Tigray) and ትግሬ (Tigre).

Historically, the whole world knew both ethnic groups as the latter ትግሬ regardless of them being from Tigray proper or Eritrea region. The earliest mention of ትግሬ (correct spelling) is in a 14th century Amharic song for Amde Tsion.

But the so-called “Ge’ez manuscript” first uses ትግራይ which is a spelling popularized by TPLF and referring to both the Tigray “ethnic group” and region.

14th century poem for Amde Tsion.

Hundreds of years later, in the 17th century, a Ge’ez hagiography of Abune Teklehaimanot uses the same spelling for ትግሬ, and what do you notice ? Amhara is spelt አምሐራ, slightly different from አምሓራ (which is most correct and preferred as it first appears in Amda Tsion’s poems), but VERY different from Tigrinya ዐምሓራይ … literally a mix of 3 different spellings in one so-called “manuscript”.

Ge’ez hagiography of Abune Teklehaimanot.

Irrespective of what that Ge’ez document says, the greatest proof of Tewodros’ identity comes from Hourmoudz Rassam, a Syrian visitor to Ethiopia during Tewordros’ reign.


Rassam (far left) with the other captives of Tewodros II.

He arrived as an ambassador to resolve the diplomatic tensions between Ethiopia and Great Britain.

After careful investigation he writes the following concerning Tewodros’ mother. Clearly stating that she was an Amhara princess, daughter of the Ras of Amhara Sayint.1

His mother was an Amhara noble from the Abyssinian aristocracy.

Captain Henry M. Hozier who was apart of the British military expedition to Abyssinia, states that Tewodros was born to a noble family and his uncle Dejaz Confu was the governor of the provinces of Dembea, Kouara, and Tschelga.2

Now, according to another primary source, Kassa’s (Tewodros’) father did in fact die when he was an infant. So how did he have an adult conversation with his father “gebre-medhin”, as the “manuscript” claimed ?

It also states that his father was in fact Dejaz Haile Mariam, not a clothes washer called Gebre-Medhin.3

In addition to explaining that Kassa repeatedly defeated several Egyptian incursions, the same primary source states Dejaz. Kinfu was his uncle while others say that he was his father. Whatever the case, it’s clear he comes from an Amhara family in Qwara.

Unlike the previous primary source, Rassam is confident that Kinfu was not his uncle but rather his father.

He states that Tewodros affirmed Kinfu to be his father from whom he inherited the Amhara country.

Rassam also investigated the matter further by interviewing the childhood friends and relatives of Tewodros. They all unanimously affirmed Dejaz. Kinfu as his father, effectively debunking the obscure claim of Gebre-medhin being his father.

Finally, even if Dejaz.Kinfu had been his uncle, that would mean that the only realistic candidate to be his father would have been Dejaz.Haile Mariam who was also an Amhara anyway.

Now that we have dealt with the claim of Tewodros’ father being Tigrayan, let’s address the claim of his mother being Qimant. We already demonstrated that his mother was an Amhara from Sayint using the results of a primary investigation.

So where then did the claim of her Qimant ancestry arise ?

It was most likely from the fact that Tewodros was raised by a household maid of Qimant heritage. This is well explained by the first hand investigation of Rassam.

Burke’s “Royal Families of the World”, claims Tewodros is the son of Dejaz Hailu Wolde-Giyorgis, the governor of Qwara. With Dejaz. Kinfu Hailu being his brother rather than uncle or father.This still shows that he is blood related to the Amhara Qwaran ruling dynasty and not the son of Gebre-medhin.4

The royal line from which Tewodros descends from.

Another primary account which provides a description of Tewodros was written by the French explorer Antoine Thomson D’Abbadie who visited Ethiopia.

He states that Tewodros aquiline nose was an ordinary trait among pure Amharas. Revealing that he believed Tewodros to have the same features as his Amhara brethren.

Multiple secondary sources also back this claim up on top of the primary sources that prove Tewodros’ Amhara heritage. A secondary source produced by Donald Levine titled “Greater Ethiopia” identifies Tewodros as Amhara. Despite making many historical errors, even Donald got this right.5

Another secondary source produced by Mordercai Abir and titled “Ethiopia” Era of the Princes”, corroborates.6

A third secondary source produced by James Minahan and titled “Nations without States, A Historical Dictionary of Contemporary National Movements” corroborates again.7

Now that we have shown both primary and secondary sources to prove Tewodros true heritage let us end off by examining Tewodros’ official chronicles.

Tewodros only has 2 official chronicles, and both are in Amharic.The first was by Aleqa Zenab from Gondar. The second is by Aleqa Welde Mariam from Shewa. Both were written during his reign, though the second contains some posthumous notes on the emperor.

The chronicles of Tewodros.

Additional research and commentaries by Ethiopian scholar Paulos Gnogno in 20th century

Tewodros was born Kassa Hailu.

DAD: Hailu Weldegiorgis. He was a hereditary noble from Qwara in Gondar.

MOM: Attegeb Wendbewessen (Amharic). She was from small village in Gondar called Enfraz. Her father was also Ras named Wedajo Wend BeWessen. He married an Enfraz noblewoman named Weyzero Teshalen (Also Amharic)

Above are from Gnogno’s research. And those before him like Gerima Tafere in his book አባ ታጠቅ ካሣ የቋራው አንበሳ.

In summary of these sources together:

  1. Tewodros’ father died when tewodros was 1 and tewodros continued to live with his mother….
  2. Later on she sent him to live with relative Dejazmach kenfu hailu (NOT Tewodros’ father; rather, his uncle or half brother)
  3. Relative wanted his own sons to inherit his wealth, but was it was prophesied by monks that Tewodros would get everything. This made Kenfu jealous and threaten Tewodros, so his mother moved him to a monastery
  4. the gedam was ravaged by Ras Yemam, who wanted to target Dejazmach Maru…. Yemam harmed everyone in the monastery except tewodros….
  5. Shortly After that Dejazmach kenfu died, and his two sons Yilma and Mekonnen started fighting each other in a place called Zengi ……
  6. Mekonnen won the battle over his brother Yilma, and since young Tewodros supported Yilma, he was captured along with Yilma… however he was also spared from any harm by Mekonnen and released for free
  7. Tewodros joined forces with Yilma and Mekonnen to fight the ruler of Gojjam back then named Biru Goshu
  8. Tewodros and co lost the battle.. so tewodros went on in hiding for about a month, before helping Dejazmach Goshu fight his own son Biru Goshu…. Together they won the battle and Tewodros was rewarded for his support
  9. He continued to lead a life of jegnenet until he deposed emperor Yohannes III and was crowned the new emperor

This is confirmed by his Amharic royal chronicle by Zenab and by the french translation of his second chronicle.

Based on the information I have presented this is the (paternal line) of Tewodros:

The proof provided here serves a two fold purpose which is that it debunks the lousy attempt to try and claim one of the most important Amhara figures and it also serves the purpose of educating Amharas. This is just one of the many examples in recent decades of Oromo,Tigrayen and even in some cases Eritrean nationalists rewriting Amhara and Ethiopian history for political and historical reasons.

In this case this historical revisionism stems from the insecurity of the Tigrayen ethnic group over the fact that they have one king who was the exact opposite of Tewodros. The Tigrayen king, Yohaness IV had Amhara and Agew heritage(a topic for another time) but besides that he was also a traitor to the country allying with the same people who would lead to the demise of Tewodros, the British. This is just one of the many reasons as to why tigrayens would go as far as to make fake Ge’ez documents to claim him.

At Amhara Archive we aim to debunk false narratives like this and educate the wider Amhara community so they understand their history and heritage fully.

  1. Narrative of the British mission to Theodore,king of Abyssinia;1869 ↩︎
  2. The British Expedetion to Abyssinia: compiled from authenthic documents;1869 ↩︎
  3. Abyssinia by G.W. Prothero; 1920 ↩︎
  4. Burke’s “Royal Families of the World” VOL 2 ;1977 ↩︎
  5. Greater Ethiopia;2000 ↩︎
  6. Ethiopia, the era of the princes;1968 ↩︎
  7. Nations without states : a historical dictionary of contemporary national movements;1996 ↩︎