Shewa is a historical region of
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, formerly an autonomous
kingdomA monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
within the
Ethiopian EmpireThe Ethiopian Empire also known as Abyssinia, covered a geographical area that the present-day northern half of Ethiopia and Eritrea covers, and included in its peripheries Zeila, Djibouti, Yemen and Western Saudi Arabia...
. The Ethiopian modern capital
Addis AbabaAddis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
is located at its center.
The nucleus of Shewa is part of the mountainous plateau in what is currently the central area of Ethiopia, but prior to the
Zemene MesafintThe Zemene Mesafint was a period in Ethiopian history when the country was rent by conflicts between warlords, the Emperor was reduced to little more than a figurehead confined to the capital city of...
and after the loss of
BaleBale is the name of two former polities located in the southeastern part of modern Ethiopia.- The medieval dependency of Bale :...
with the invasion of
Ahmed GragnAhmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi "the Conqueror" was an Imam and General of Adal who invaded Ethiopia and defeated several Ethiopian emperors, wreaking much damage on that kingdom...
, Shewa was part of Ethiopia's southeasternmost frontier. Shewa was as defensible as any highland, and its government traced an administrative continuity with this earlier period despite the loss of neighboring lands to the Ethiopian Empire. At times, it was a safe haven; at other times, it was isolated from the rest of Ethiopia by hostile peoples.
The towns of
Debre BerhanDebre Berhan is a city and woreda in central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, about 120 kilometers north east of Addis Ababa on the paved highway to Dessie, the town has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,840 meters...
, Antsokia,
AnkoberAnkober is a town in central Ethiopia and one of the capitals of the former kingdom of Shewa. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, Ankober is perched on the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian Highlands 40 kilometers to the east of Debre Birhan, with a latitude and longitude of ,...
, Entoto and, after Shewa became a province of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa have all served as the capital of Shewa at various times. Most of northern Shewa, made up of the districts of
MenzMenz or Manz is a province of Ethiopia, located inside the boundaries of the modern Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region...
, Tegulet,
YifatYifat is a kibbutz in Galilee, northern Israel. Located adjacent to the town Migdal HaEmek and short distances from the cities of Afula and Nazareth. It falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council...
, Menjar,
BulgaBulga can refer to:*Bulga Land District, a land district of Western Australia*Bulga Coal, an Australian mining company*Tarra-Bulga National Park, a national park in eastern Victoria, Australia...
is populated mostly by Christian
AmharasAmhara are a highland people inhabiting the Northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. Numbering about 19.8 million people, they comprise 26% of the country's population, according to the 2007 national census...
and
OromosThe Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
, while southern and eastern Shewa have large Oromo and
MuslimAccording to the latest 2007 national census, Islam is the second most widely practised religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615...
populations. The important monastery of
Debre LibanosDebre Libanos is a monastery in Ethiopia, lying northwest of Addis Ababa in the Oromia Region. Founded in the thirteenth century by Saint Tekle Haymanot, the monastery's chief abbot, called the Ichege, was the second most powerful official in the Ethiopian Church after the Abuna.The monastery...
, founded by
SaintA saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
Tekle HaymanotTekle Haymanot or Takla Haymanot was an Ethiopian monk who founded a major monastery in his native province of Shewa...
, is located in the district of Selale in northern Shewa (the modern woreda of
Yaya Gulelena Debre LibanYaya Gulelena Debre Liban is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. It is named in part after the important monastery of Debre Libanos...
in the
Semien Shewa ZoneSemien Shewa is one of the 12 Zones of the Ethiopian Region of Oromia. Semien Shewa takes its name from the kingdom or former province of Shewa. Semien Shewa is bordered on the south by Addis Ababa, on the southwest by Mirab Shewa, on the north by the Amhara Region, and on the southeast by Misraq...
).
History
Shewa first appears in the historical record as a
MuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
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 Ifat around 1285. Recently, three urban centers thought to be part of the Islamic kingdom of Shewa were discovered by a group of French archaeologists.
Yekuno Amlak based his uprising against the Zagwe dynasty from an enclave in Shewa that was settled by Amhara Christians. He claimed Solomonic forebears, direct descendants of the pre-Zagwe Axumite Emperors, who had used Shewa as their safe haven when their survival was threatened by
GuditGudit is a semi-legendary, non-Christian, Beta Israel, queen who laid waste to Axum and its countryside, destroyed churches and monuments, and attempted to exterminate the members of the ruling Axumite dynasty...
and other enemies. This claim is supported by the
Kebra NagastThe Kebra Nagast , or the Book of the Glory of Kings, is an account written in Ge'ez of the origins of the Solomonic line of the Emperors of Ethiopia. The text, in its existing form, is at least seven hundred years old, and is considered by many Ethiopian Christians and Rastafarians to be an...
, which mentions Shewa as part of the realm of Menelik I (chapter 39). However, this story may be a later fabrication reflecting the similar conduct of Lebna Dengel's family, as the Aksum and its predecessor D'mt were mostly limited to Northern Ethiopia and modern Eritrea during the 1st millennium BCE.
In the 16th century, Shewa and the rest of Christian Abyssinia were conquered by the forces of Ahmed Gragn of Adal, and Shewa came under Muslim rule once again; the region then came under pressure from the
OromoThe Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
, who succeeded during the first decades of the next century in settling the areas around Shewa (which were renamed
WelegaWelega was a province in the western part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Nekemte. It was named for the Welega Oromo, who are the majority of the population within its boundaries....
,
ArsiArsi was a province of Ethiopia with its capital at Asella. The province was reduced to a Zone of the Oromia Region with the adoption of the new constitution in 1995....
and
WolloWollo was a historical region and province in the northeastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Dessie. The province was named after the Wollo Oromo, who settled in this part of Ethiopia in the 17th century...
). Presently, the Oromos of Wollo and Arsi in particular are predominately Muslim. Little is known about the details of the history of Shewa until almost 1800; however, Emperor Lebna Dengel and some of his sons used Shewa as their safe haven when threatened by invaders.
The Shewan ruling family was founded by
NegassieNegassie or Negasi Krestos was the ruling prince of Shewa , an important Amhara noble of Ethiopia. Although the official account is that his father Lesba Qal was a male-line great-grandson of Prince Yaqob, son of Emperor Lebna Dengel, and thus descended in male line from the Solomonic dynasty...
in the late 17th century, who consolidated his control around Yifat. Traditions recorded about his ancestry vary: one tradition, recorded in 1840, claims his mother was the daughter of Ras Faris, a follower of Emperor
SusenyosSusenyos was of Ethiopia...
who had escaped into
MenzMenz or Manz is a province of Ethiopia, located inside the boundaries of the modern Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region...
; another tradition told by Serta Wold, a councilor of
Sahle SelassieSahle Selassie was a Meridazmach of Shewa , an important noble of Ethiopia. He was a younger son of Wossen Seged...
, was that Negassie was a male-line descendant of Yaqob, the youngest son of Lebna Dengel, and thus assert descent from the ancient ruling
Solomonic dynastyThe Solomonic dynasty is the Imperial House of Abyssinia. Its members claim lineal descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the latter of whom tradition asserts gave birth to the first King Menelik I after her Biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem .-Overview:The dynasty, a...
. Thus the ruling family of Shewa were considered the junior branch of the Solomonic dynasty after the senior Gondar branch.
Negassie's son,
SebestyanosSebestyanos was a ruler of Shewa, an important Amhara noble of Ethiopia. He was one of the sons of Negasi Krestos. Abir states that he ruled for 15 years, although noting that Harris claims he ruled for 25 years, and d'Hericourt 33....
assumed the title of
Meridazmach ("Fearsome Commander"), 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, Sahle Maryam, eventually would succeed as Emperor of all Ethiopia at the end of the century under name
Menelik II. The title of "King of Shewa" was subsumed into the Imperial title of "Emperor of Ethiopia" when Menelik became Emperor.
Shewan kings spread their control towards the south and east, through lowland and desert, and succeeded in subjecting some regions under their rule. The Emperors of Ethiopia had long claimed these southern regions, and various direct and tributary relations had existed prior to the invasion of Imam Ahmad Gragn. The Great Oromo migration following the Imam's defeat had cut off these old relationships and had drastically changed the demographics of the area. The kingdom of Shewa that Menelik II brought into the Ethiopian realm had been somewhat expanded, and thus added significantly to the total area of the empire. Ethiopia reached further frontiers through expansion to the east and south, resulting in the Shewan region as the physical center of the modern country.
In recent times, Shewa was a Governorate-General (Province) under the monarchy, and was then an Administrative Region of Ethiopia under the
DergThe Derg or Dergue was a Communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I. Derg, which means "committee" or "council" in Ge'ez, is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a committee of...
military 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, replaced with the present ethnic-based
modern regions||Ethiopia is divided into 9 ethnically-based administrative regions and two chartered cities...
(based on ethnic and linguistic boundaries). The former province of Shewa territory was split between the
AmharaAmhara is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, containing the homeland of the Amhara people. Previously known as Region 3, its capital is Bahir Dar....
and
Oromia RegionOromia is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia...
s, as well as the
Addis AbabaAddis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
autonomous area.