ABSTRACT: This study examines the history of women and warfare in Ethiopia, with particular reference to their role in the Italo-Ethiopian wars of the 1890s and the 1930s. It is based on both primary and secondary sources. It also draws on oral sources, with information gathered by interviewing elderly people mainly regarding their experience of the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1935-41. The study looks at the status and role of women in war. The study shows that though wars were fought mainly by men, women, too, played a significant role in the mobilization of troops, organization and transportation of supplies and provisions, raising the morale of fighters, gathering intelligence information, nursing the wounded, and in the actual fighting. Women that did not go to battlefields had to carry the burden of men's work at the home front. The study also indicates the impact of the frequent wars on the life of Ethiopian women.
Obviously, wars were frequent events throughout Ethiopian history. Internal wars were fought mainly for territorial expansion, political supremacy and because of tribal feuds of one sort or another. Some examples of such wars include: the Muslim-Christian conflicts since the 13th century that culminated in the 16th century war spearheaded by Ahmed Gragn; wars fought during the expansion of the Oromos in the 16th century; the religious civil wars of the 17th century; the frequent wars of Zemene Messafint (c. 1769-1855); and the wars fought to implement the policy of unification initiated by Tewodros II and his successors. The Ethiopians also waged wars to defend their country's independence against successive foreign aggressions. The Ethio-Egyptian wars of the 1870's, the Ethio-Mahdist wars of the 1880's and the Italo - Ethiopian wars of 1885-1896, followed 40 years later by the Fascist Occupation wars of 1936-41, can be given as examples of the second category of war. Hence, war was so frequent that it had become a way of life for the Ethiopians. Thus, already in the 17th century, the Portuguese writer Almeida wrote of the Ethiopians, "In war they are reared as children, in war they grow old, or the life of all who are not farmers is war" (Quoted in Pankhurst 1990a, 13). Many writers consider the Ethiopian army as a "natural order of society" and indeed the Ethiopians consider themselves primarily the nation of warriors (Teferi 1971, 12; Caulk 1976, 5; Tsehay 1980, 73).
In fact, as is the case in most feudal societies, the military profession was the most prestigious and somehow lucrative (Teferi 1971, 8; Merid 1976, 30; Caulk 1976, 5-6). The intensity of wars enhanced the social value of a military occupation. Donald Levine thus maintains:
Military virtues have ranked among the highest in Ethiopian value system. Military titles have been among the most prestigious in the Ethiopian social hierarchy. Military symbolism has provided a medium for important national traditions and a focus for a good deal of national sentiment. Military statuses and procedures have influenced the pattern of social organization in many ways (Quoted in Caulk 1976, 6).
In times of war, every able-bodied male snatched his spear and shield and followed his leader. It was his privilege and honour to fight. Society acclaimed him and the Church "absolved him of his sins", but in the course of it he had developed the concept that war in itself is the biggest expression of manhood. Women often love or aspire to become the wife of brave warriors. Aleqa Atme thus wrote of their choice: "Women are not willing to marry one who has not killed and does not grow a goffere (Afro-style hair)" (1901 E.C., 62). Therefore it is not surprising that wars were sought and peace was at times thought of as a monotonous thing in traditional Ethiopia. The British consul at the Ethiopian court in the mid 19th century, Walter Plowden, thus wrote:
If the [Ethiopian] did not find a real enemy they have to fight any way. In their past time they played "Waffo wugia, battle in which the aspiring youths mount and join on some appointed plain, village against village, district against district, for the mere love of fighting... the bravest and most distinguished warrior, often fall generally at the hand of some rival for the smile of a beauty, as the girl bestows her favour on the bravest (1868, 125).
Besides reward in terms of glory, military occupation had also been economically lucrative. Firstly, the military class was the greatest beneficiary of the landholding system. Members of this class were allotted the emperor's land, known as Dembegna, free of tax, and in the case of bale gults (owners of gult land), they enjoyed rights of collecting tributes and of using the free-labour of the peasantry in the their respective areas of governorship. The bale gults constituted the bulk of feudal administrative officials recruited mainly from within the army. Secondly wars also rewarded the brave with a significant booty from the vanquished. Moreover, successful service during military expeditions most often earned the brave warrior the favours of their kings and promotion to high ranks (Teferi 1971, 12-13; Tadesse 1972, 99; Abir 1980, 153).
Commonly wars were mainly fought by men. Various factors, such as biological and social, mitigated the degree of the involvement of women in war in traditional societies. However these factors did not exclude women from warfare. Above all, in a country such as Ethiopia, where war had been a way of life, the role of women was quite significant. In peacetime, for example, women glorified valour and patriotism through their reverence for brave warriors. This was clearly evident in their occasional songs:
I wish I were his equerry,
So that I could always follow him
I wish I were his cartridge belt
So that I could embrace his waist.
I wish I were his rifle
So that I would always live attached to his chest
(Addis Alemayehu 1958 E.C, 233)
These sentiments emanated from the fact that women related to brave warriors by blood or marriage could claim a privilege in the society. Oral informants attest to certain privileges of the wife or mother of a hero, such as getting front seats at feasts and public ceremonies, and priority when fetching water. She can be invited to royal feasts and can inherit military holdings and instruments in the absence of an able-bodied male successor or when he was a minor. She had retainers of her own.
Both during wedding and burial ceremonies, women chants panegyrics for brave relatives. Conversely, the coward is insulted and regarded as womanish. Likewise, some war decrees also look down upon the coward equating him with his wife. One such decree issued by Emperor Menelik in November 1888 reads:
The man who handles a lance and does not come to this expedition is a woman and no more a man. He shall be called by the name of his wife, and have no share in their common wealth. She may take everything (Tekle Tsadiq 1982 E.C., 517).
Relatives of the coward feel great shame and were also insulted because of his cowardice. A song reflecting this attitude paints the coward and his mother as follows:
A coward renders service to his mother
When she bakes bread he gives her the cover of the stove.
Unless a male is brave
His birth is no better than abortion.
To a son who could not act like his father
Give him wad of cotton to spine it like his mother.
The mother of a coward is identifiable
For she stands at the back and persuades her son to retreat.
Therefore, it was not uncommon to find mothers and wives of the coward wishing his premature death. Women often encourage killing an animal, capturing a slave and bringing back genitalia of an enemy (Prouty 1986, 230).
The possession of firearms has also been equally honoured and the possessor enjoyed prestige in the society while women often wished to marry him. Richard Pankhurst said of this situation in the late 19th century:
A damsel who, it appears decided [not] to be wooed by a man who does not own a rifle, has a rule of ranking eligible competitor. Thus she would not even allow a man with a Russian rifle to walk by her door. A Welterly owner may send a word to her, but a Menlincher owner could approach her personally and if it was a man with a Leben she would take him for a lover. However a man who aspired to marry her has to own a Mouser (1967, 128).
Besides the above-mentioned roles played already during peacetime women were also not passive in times of war. On the one hand, the system of mobilization itself has a reference to women. Obviously the main criterion of recruitment to the army was, among others, the type of land at the disposal of an individual. The holding allotted to the army, known as the dembagna was placed under shalaqas, some of them ranking as high as Ras and Fitawrari. Women were generally not allowed to inherit land and other property of the military type. At times, however, it was necessary to have guardians for minors and mothers frequently acted as one for their sons on the illness or death of their husbands or whoever was passing on the inheritance. This privilege of women also worked in cases of the absence of a successor to a deceased husband or a father. In both cases women, be it wives or daughters, did inherit both the land and weapons and they were expected to perform the duties attached to the land and weapons, whether or not the duty was military or administrative. At a time of war, they can therefore lead their own army in person or can send them under the command of their favourite or close relative (Pankhurst 1968, 8; Tsehay 1980, 74; Damte 1950 E.C., 281). It should, however, be born in mind that such kind of the participation of women in wars is primarily motivated by economic reasons.
On the other hand, it is also not uncommon to find certain war decrees that order women to join military expeditions though they may not be directly addressed. The most common tasks in a mobilization order hinge on the need "to prepare provisions and supplies, to clothe the servants and maids and to feed the mules and horses."(Bairu 1982, 365) A direct reference to women along with the menfolk can also be seen in some war decrees like the one issued by a Yeju guardian of the puppet kings of Gondar in the first quarter of the 19th century known as Ras Gugsa. It reads: "One who does not join the army of Gugsa, man and woman, will loose his genital and her breast, respectively"(Atme 1901 E.C., 94). Moreover, most of the mobilization orders such as against the Muslim and foreign aggressors underline the need for dying for one's faith, country and wife, and thus equally apply to both men and women. Indeed such wars affect women in many ways, the most demoralizing of which is their rape and deportation, loss of husbands and relatives, poverty, famine, etc., as a result of which women respond to mobilization orders as soon as it was heard.
The prime role of women in warfare begins with encouraging their menfolk to join military expeditions. This they did in person or through songs performed every night in villages following the mobilization order. On such occasions they sang songs praising the brave and belittling the coward. Old glories of notable warriors were recited (Pankhurst and Girma Selassie 1985, 51).
Moreover some notable women mourners and minstrels were also used both to justify and denounce wars. Both of them are sought for their professional duties at burial ceremonies and songs of weddings and others. Moreover they could express the cultural, social, political and economic problems affecting contemporary society in their poems. In some cases the society provided them with information and poems, in the hope that it would reach the ears of the concerned individuals or groups. Most often the minstrels or mourners themselves composed poems to express public opinion. A few of the minstrels could also achieve noble status and could be given royal land grants for the excellence in their profession.
An example of a poem by a minstrel that incited her men-folk to fight against Tewodros's brutality reads: "Unable to uproot one stem of a pepper, it scorched and burnt you alive" (Tekel Tsadiq 1981 E.C., 245)
Bairu Tafla tells us that mourners could intervene in wars and avoid or minimize bloodshed by going to the camps of the enemy. This was, for instance, seen when Menelik faced the challenge of Bezabih against the claim of his father's crown in Shoa following his escape from the prison of Tewodros at Meqdela in 1865. It is said that Enat Awaju (literally `mother of a proclamation'), a prominent mourner of Bulga, had tried to stop war between the two by conveying a message that declared the legitimacy of Menelik, to soldiers in the camp of his opponent:
Who is it for that you prepare your shield
Who is it for that you sharpen your spears
Who is it for that you sharpen your knife
Alas, it is your master's [King Haile Melekot's] son,
Say, "Bless our souls, Bless our souls".
(Tekel Tsadiq 1981 E.C., 1969, 6-7)
Her message was a sudden blow to the marching army of Bezabih that fought half-heartedly at the Battle of Gandilo and was defeated with ease.
Mourners and minstrels have also been very important as recorders of history through their comments on and observations of major events in their poems. Their poems thus became part of the oral traditions and were transmitted from generation to generation. For instance, Tewodros's suppression of the Shoan revolt in his campaign of 1855 was very harsh and accompanied by the amputation of limbs. A Shoan minstrel thus said in her poem: "How emperor Tewodros was humiliated/ by having greeted all the people of Showa/ by bowing down to them" [`amputation of hands' or `denial of hands' is an Amharic pun that also means bowing down in respect] (Tekle Tsadiq 1981 E.C., 245).
Minstrels used to join military expeditions to incite their menfolk to fight with great valour. Referring to such minstrels as Mungerashi, Plowden wrote that they run in the midst of the battle shouting, calling on the fleeing coward and encouraging the brave fighters (1868, 55).
As a rule the pregnant were not allowed to join military expeditions and, in most cases , those who joined were the slaves and servants. Yet some pregnant women are also reported to have joined military expeditions by hiding their pregnancy in order to avenge the death of their husbands or relatives or to ensure their rights of land inheritance. A Somali informant also said that pregnant wives of tribal war leaders did also participate in wars because they are supposed to be a rallying force if their husbands fell. The Somali also believe that a son born in battle will be very brave. Besides, pregnant women can also be mediators because no one, according to their tradition, will harm them. Despite these exceptions, pregnant women were not generally allowed for the obvious difficulty they face during the long marches and to prevent their being a burden. Moreover, pregnant women were treated with special care. The society believed that they must see and hear only good things, must be served for all their needs, must escape evil eyes, and must be protected from frightening things. All these are believed to cause harm to the foetus (Andromeda 1968, 7).
Despite these prohibitions, pregnancy could not be totally avoided, for women could conceive during the march and in camps because of lack of contraception. In the event of pronged campaigns women used to deliver in caves or camps or near villages. However, one can also find some women who delivered even during the march. Father Massagia wrote of one poor camp-follower that gave birth on such an occasion:
We heard a hustle and a bustle. As the poor woman feeling delivery near, wanted to stop but was forced to continue though her companions lightened her loads. On the road she became a mother and after an hour of rest taking her little creature into a basket she followed along (Quoted in Prouty 1986, 32).
Such a tradition is also reported to be common even during the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1936-41.
The number of women camp-followers depends on the status of the war leader and the individual soldier. Thus some times about 30 to 40 female slaves are reported to have accompanied one well-to-do male or female soldier. As a result most of the literature shows that the number of camp-followers has often been more than the combatants and sometimes even their double (Wylde 1901, 217; Pankhurst 1990a, 68-70).
Women camp-followers start to perform their duties already before leaving their homes. They begin with the preparation of provisions and supplies following the mobilization order of their masters. The work includes spinning cotton for clothes, preparing food and ingredients of local drinks such as Tej, Tella, Araki, particularly for the royal and important chiefs. Simultaneously they prepare goods such as pots for cooking, jars for preparing and carrying drinks, baking pads, baskets, grinding stones and traditional medicines (Plowden 1868, 99).
During the march women perform many duties, though the nature of their duties depends on their rank. Thus while wives, daughters or concubines of high-ranking officials took supervisory roles, the remaining women perform duties that were more burdensome. Firstly, they were responsible for the transportation of every utensil of food and drinks that cannot be carried by drought animals. Many women carry grinding stones, no fewer than 3000 of which are reported for a single expedition by the 17th century Portuguese writer named Almeida (Pankhurst 1990a, 68).
At military camps women had the responsibility of preparing food and drinks for royal feasts and for the consumption of their respective masters and husbands. Thus as soon as a site was selected women took off their burden and dispersed to fetch water, fire wood, for baking enjeras and cooking stew. The peace time distinction in food and drinks based on ranks was maintained at camps too. Thus women prepared different qualities of food and drinks for masters and retainers. This and other duties such as washing the feet of their masters, collecting utensils, packing prepared foods and drinks for the next march etc., took them almost the whole night (Pankhurst 1990a; Caulk 1976, 7; Portal 1969, 143)
Besides all these, women were also expected to help in digging trenches, clearing roads, preparing camping sites in the selection of which they also had voices. Women also need to be at alert to awaken the men at dawn. Despite all these women had to keep up with their menfolk under difficult state of marching along inconvenient roads, crossing big rivers, climbing mountains and going down their descents, during which they were often obliged to crawl on their hands and feet. Sometimes they were obliged to fall apart on the side of very narrow roads overcrowded with the army and the animals, to the extent that they even loose life under their burden or an animal falling upon. (Pankhurst 1990a, 260) In all cases only the wives of higher officials and royal families that could ride a mule were safe. But even these felt the burden of long march of about 10 -20 miles a day and suffer from the inhospitable climates of marching routes (Pankhurst 1990a; Portal 1969, 257)
The above-mentioned duties of non-combatant women do not mean that they had no role in the main theatres of war. They are reported to have played a significant role in the course of the war. Some women guarded the camp with some soldiers so that it would not fall into the hands of the enemy. Others, served their combatant menfolk by gathering information on the whereabouts of their enemy's lines of combat, its numerical strength, etc. Indeed, women could play pivotal roles in the intelligence services as they were less suspected by the enemy. Others collected booty from captives, the dead, and the wounded. Still others were instrumental in organizing and mobilizing reserve forces and effectively served as communicators between their dispersed or broken army units. A band of women served their menfolk in misleading enemy soldiers by displaying themselves from the hill top and shouting but disappearing suddenly from the site so that the site would be falsely targeted by the enemy (Tekle Tsadiq 1983 E.C. E.C., 227-29).
The majority of women camp-followers joined the battle fields to raise the fighting morale of the soldiers with their war songs, ululations, and prayers. Indeed a war fought in the presence of women had always been bloody, since customarily the men did not retreat and hesitate before the sight of women (Gerima 1949 E.C., 30). Even the coward is therefore most often obliged to become a patriot for fear of the insult and mockery of women.
Quite a large number of women used to pick up the dead and the wounded. While they facilitated the burials of the dead, the great contribution of women was in nursing the wounded. They cured wounds using traditional medicine prepared from the leaves, barks and roots of plants and fleshes of animals. They use pieces of shemas (cloths made of cotton) as bandages to dress the wounds. In the absence of better means of transportation they had to carry the wounded to camps on their back. Women did also serve the combatants by supplying water, food and munitions.
Apart from these, it was not uncommon to find women fighting in wars. As early as the 17th century, some women, though mostly members of the aristocracy, are reported to have "mounted mule or horse, spears in their hands with their belts tightened and their shemas or togas draped over their heads." Such manly appearance had reportedly displeased Emperor Iyasu, who in 1691, passed a decree against the practice. Nevertheless, women fighters were invariably reported by chroniclers, to have gallantly fought in most battles, particularly taking the rifles of their deceased husbands or relatives who had fallen on the field. Such women often dressed themselves like men (Pankhurst 1990a, 116).
Conversely prominent women of the royalty and aristocracy have been reported to have played decisive roles in military affairs both in provoking and ending wars and leading their army into battles. The number of such women for which we have documentation is very small, but the role they played was tremendous. Such women actively involved themselves in power struggle, promotions and demotions of officials, securing power and wealth for themselves and their relatives, using their position in relation to emperors or during their guardian roles. Below is a brief account of such prominent women with a particular reference to their role in the military history of Ethiopia since the early times.
The first of such women is a pagan queen of Damot known as Gudit /Yodit/ - who was described by many sources as a notorious and cruel woman that destroyed churches and monasteries in the process of her challenge to the Aksumite kingdom, whose Princess she is said to have slaughtered, and ruled between C. 940 - 980 A.D. That she had brought about the first persecution of Christians in Ethiopia and that she had overthrown an Aksumite King was attested to by contemporary Arab geographers and historians (Sergew 1972, 113). Her challenge seems to have been part of the various centrifugal forces that arose against the deteriorating power of the Aksumite kings. Though the Aksumites restored their power following her death, her intervention left a remarkable negative consequence on their subsequent political supremacy. Thus Gudit remained to be an impressive example of women military leaders that wielded great power.
Since the middle of the 15th century, Ethiopia also saw a woman of great power during the successive rulers between 1468 to 1520. She was Queen Mother Elleni, who was an ex-Muslim chief of Hadya baptised about 1445 on marring king Zere Yaqob (1434 - 68). She is said to have possessed great wisdom and sound political judgment. Her knowledge of the internecine Muslim - Christian conflicts over the monopoly of the booming Zeila trade was so deep that she followed a policy of appeasement towards Muslim neighbours of Ethiopia. She thought that peace with the latter would safeguard the share of the Christian kingdom from the caravan trade. To this end matrimonial arrangements were made with the ruling families of Adal and other Muslim sultanates. The tribute due from them was overlooked in order to cement their friendship and stop their periodic raids of the frontier provinces (Tadesse 1972, 288; Doresse 1967, 126).
At the same time the queen had foreseen the danger of the expanding Ottoman Turks in the Middle East and along the Red Sea coast. Thus without renouncing her policy of appeasement towards the internal Muslims, she wrote to King Emmanuel of Portugal in 1509 declaring an interest in military alliance against Muslims. Of course, the initiative for a Christian friendship had already been taken by Europeans in general and Portugal in particular since the start of the 15th century. The letter of Elleni, however, was an explicit proposal of possible joint attack against their common enemy Egypt and other Muslims. She thus clearly stated her readiness to contribute soldiers and provide supplies. Sylvia Pankhurst integrated the translation of this letter in her study on three notable Ethiopian women, one of whom was the same Elleni. It reads:
...our very dear and very Christian king of Portugal... we have heard that the sultan of Cairo assembles a great army to attack your forces to avenge the damage done to him by the captains and men-at-arms you have in India...Against the assault of such enemies we are prepared to send a good number of men-at-arms who will give assistance in the seaboard areas...
In addition to the above we advise you that if it is agreed to join our forces, we shall have sufficient strength to destroy the enemies of our holy faith... [but] we could not put an army at the sea where on we have no power. For this reason alliance with you, who thanks god are so powerful in maritime warfare, is necessary to us. If you wish to arm a thousand warship we will provide the necessary food and furnish you with everything for such a force in very great abundance (1957, 84-85).
It is worthy of note that she had knowledge of current affairs through Europeans visiting her court and the fact that she clearly stated the means with which the Christian allies could dismantle their Muslim enemy. Interestingly she had also proposed to cement their friendship with marriage relations between their respective royal families (Ibid; Sweetman 1984, 29)
The arrival of the first Portuguese diplomatic mission at the court of Ethiopia in 1520 was the result of her diplomatic efforts. By then nothing had come out, but her endeavour had paved the way for the later military aid of the Portuguese who sent their soldiers of 400 strong to assist king Lebne Dingle, based on his letter of 1535. This force arrived at Massawa in 1542 and gave an immense contribution to the victory of the Christians over the forces of Ahmed Gragn in early 1543 (Pankhurst 1957, 85; Tekle Tsadiq 1961 E.C., 22-23) His defeat and death in that year had been one of the major turning points in the history of Ethiopia.
Elleni died long before the coming of the Portuguese soldiers, but the latter met another queen known as Seble Wongel, who was the wife of King Lebne Dingil (1508 - 40). She was a Tigrean queen who was exiled to the inaccessible monastery of Debre Damo after the defeat of her husband by the Muslim invaders. Her courageous activities during the Muslim war were attested to by chroniclers and the Portuguese writers (Tadesse 1972, 276; Sweetman 1984, 29-30) Her exile to her native land had contributed to rallying local support from northern Ethiopia. She stayed in the monastery with a number of ladies and chosen band to guard them. Ahmed Gragn is said to have besieged the impregnable hill top for a long time but he failed to control her fortress. Thus when the Portuguese military mission arrived on the side of Christian Ethiopia it was Empress Seble Wongel and her brother Bahre Negash Dori who welcomed them. The Portuguese army secured supplies from the country and the cooperation of the local people, thanks to her presence and efforts. Then she negotiated a military operation with the Portuguese and added her 200 royal escort with 30 women mounted on horses like herself (Doresse 1967, 126-27; Pankhurst 1996, 26)
Seble Wongel was with the Portuguese throughout the campaign, dauntless and unfaltering in the greatest disaster. The empress and the ladies with her helped a lot in looking after the wounded, using their clothes to make bandages and burying the dead. The major battles fought in her presence were two. The first was held in September 1542, at which the Portuguese met Ahmed Gragn with Turkish volunteers of 900 strong who had come to his side to counter-balance the Christian solidarity between Ethiopia and Portugal. The battle proved disastrous for the Christians who lost 200 of the Portuguese soldiers and their commander Christopher Dagama (Doresse 1967, 146-47; Pankhurst 1996, 86). The reorganization of the remaining Portuguese army and the local force was mainly the responsibility of the queen. She advised the march to the south in order to contact a Christian army under her son, Emperor Gelawdewos (1540-59), who succeeded his father, Lebne Dingil. A number of Ethiopian forces rallied to the queen during the advance. Gelawdewos was in Tegulet (Shoa), but proceeded northwards having heard of the Portuguese support. They met in Semen and in February 1543 the united Christian army met Ahmed Gragn at the Battle of Woina Dega. The Muslims were defeated and Ahmed himself killed on the spot. Amidst the resultant confusion following his death the Muslim army was dispersed. This brought to an end the 12 years Muslim hegemony over the Christian kingdom (Atme 1901 E.C., 31; Pankhurst 1957, 86).
The Portuguese writers acknowledged in their writings Seble Wongel's "steadfast courage in adversity, her kindness and attention to the wounded and to her shrinking from the carnage" (Pankhurst 1996, 28).
Contemporary to Seble Wongel in the Muslim camp was a renowned woman of courage, Bati Del Wanbara, who was the wife of Ahmed Gragn and daughter of a Muslim military commander of Adal known as Mahfuz. Her father had been one of the Adali leaders of the constant frontier attacks against the Christian kingdom until his death in one of the campaigns in 1516. Tradition claimed that Del Wanbara had instigated her husband to avenge the death of her father. Be that as it may, she accompanied her husband throughout his expeditions despite the protestation of his soldiers. At times she had to be carried on the shoulder of soldiers up and down steep and rocky mountains. This was because she is said to have marched even in a state of pregnancy during which she was unable to use mules. Indeed she delivered her two sons during the campaigns of 1531 and 1533 in Ifat and Tigre, respectively (Tekle Tsadiq 1961 E.C., 95).
Like the camp of the Christians there were also other Muslim women along with the wife of Ahmed. They were mainly wives of military commanders and soldiers. One of them was an ex-Christian wife of a certain Tekle Haymanot and was the relative of King Lebne Dingil before she was captured in battle and became wife of Ahmed, taking the name Hajirah. The sister of Ahmed known as Ferdausah, who was married to a Somali tribal leader Ben Uthman (Ibid) too participated in the major battle of Shimbra Kurie in 1529 at which the Christian army under king Lebne Dingil was completely defeated. Even though we lack sources of their engagement in actual combat the Muslim women too had been playing the role of nursing the wounded and building the morale of fighters.
Del Wanbara was, however, more important in instigating war even after the defeat of the Muslims in 1543. At the death of her husband, Del Wanbara fled to Harar and made a last bid for revenge. Before that, she secured the return of her son, who was a captive in the Christian court; she secured his liberty in exchange for another captive in her hand known as Minas, son of Lebne Dingil and an emperor of Ethiopia between 1559 to 1563. Obviously, Del Wanbara and Seble Wongel were instrumental in the exchange of the captives who were in fact their sons. Del Wanbara, however, did not give up her role of instigating her menfolk to a revengeful war. In 1552 she married Emir Nur Ibn Mujadid, successor of Ahmed, seeing in him the best prospect of achieving her aim of avenging the death of Ahmed. Indeed in 1559 a battle was fought between Ibn Nur and Emperor Gelawdewos in Fatagar, at which the latter was killed and beheaded by the order of Del Wanbera according to some sources (Ibid, 78; Sweetman 1984, 29; Doresse 1967, 147) Consequently both Seble Wongel and Del Wanbara made an immense contribution in changing the course of events in the 16th century.
The other period that saw women play decisive roles in military affairs was Zemene Messafint (c.1769 - 1855), a period full of civil wars fought for territorial expansion and for the position of guardianship to puppet Emperors. Chris Prouty has studied the case of eight women, "with spirited personalities who exercised power and influence" (Prouty 1979, 61) during the period. Some of them like Itege Mentwab and Itege Menen were royal courtesans who played significant roles not only in military affairs but also in political developments in the country using their influential position behind the monarchy. Mentwab was wife of Emperor Bekaffa (1721- 30) and she is said to have dominated the politics of Ethiopia during the childhood of her son and grandson between 1730 to 1769. Itege Menen, was mother of Ras Ali II, who was guardian of very weak Gondrine emperors. One of these was called Yohannis III she eventually married. (Paulos 1985 E.C., 112-13; Merid 1991, 88-89). This woman was indeed very influential from 1830 to 1853. Her authority came to an end with that of her son, Ras Ali, who was defeated by Dejazmach Kassa Hailu at the Battle of Ayshal in June 1853. Menen was also known to have led her own contingent to battles. She fought with the Egyptians in the north-western border regions. Another battle was fought in 1850 against a rebel, Kassa Hailu, who challenged her authority despite her efforts to appease him by offering him the daughter of Ras Ali II, Tewabech, as his wife. At that battle, she is said to have had under her command about 20,000 soldiers though she was defeated and captured along with her husband. She was released after her son Ali negotiated with Kassa and rewarding by bestowing upon him the title of Dejazmach and the governorship of Dembya province (Paulos 1985 E.C., 40; Prouty 1979, 63; Tekle Tsadiq 1981 E.C., 118).
The wives of dignitaries and ordinary soldiers also played a role in military affairs. In 1771, Ras Mikael Sehul, who was a king-maker at Gondar, declared that female fief holders should actually lead their soldiers to battles. However, the bulk of his army was drawn not from aristocratic women but from humble camp-attendants whose number was estimated to be about 10,000 at the battle of Gondar, where he was defeated by the joint army of the Amhara and Oromo chiefs.
In general the intensity of civil wars during the Zemene Messafint meant great human and material destruction, poverty and social misery. Women were very much affected by their consequences. There were battles at which the slaughter of women was reported. For instance, Ras Wolde Selassie's take-over of Tigre in 1780 saw the massacre of women, including pregnant women, while another Tigrean, Ras Wolde Rufael, had slain the women of Wombera in 1816. That is why the period between 1800 - 1840 was described as a "bad time for women" (Prouty 1979, 67). Of course, most of the aristocratic women were not victims of such massacres and assaults by soldiers. They used to be moved to safer and inaccessible villages designed for their exile such as Dima in Gojam and Mahdere Maryam in Begemidir (Ibid).
It was also not uncommon to find women with terrible experiences of wars fought between their own relatives, or between husbands and relatives. Some such examples include the wife of Ras Ali II, who bore the war fought between her father Dejazmach Wube and her husband in 1842; the wife of Kassa Hailu (later Tewodross II), Tewabech, who bore her husband's fight against her grand mother Itege Menen and her father Ras Ali in 1850 and 1853, respectively. Itege Dinkinesh, wife of Emperor Tekle Giorgis, (1868 - 71) also had to suffer the fighting between her husband and her brother Dejazmach Kassa Mircha (later Emperor Yohannes IV) in 1871. Though some of these women too are reported to have provoked wars of even this sort, obviously the grief they felt was very deep.
On the other hand, political marriages contracted between important chiefs and the ruling aristocracy had, with some exceptions, greatly contributed to appeasing rebels and averting civil wars for a while. One such exception was the marriage of Kassa with Tewabech, daughter of Ras Ali. The union did not help to stop Kassa's ambition for the imperial throne that he eventually gained by dint of his military muscle. Tewabech was often described as courageous and used to accompany him to every battle, including the one fought with the Egyptians at Debarq in 1848 and others fought against the soldiers sent by her grand-mother. She is also reported to have encouraged Kassa's rebellion against the royal court because of his disappointment at Itege Menen (Tekle Tsadiq 1981 E.C., 136; Paulos 1985 E.C., 113; Atme 1901 E.C., 69). She accompanied Kassa to the battle of Deresge on 11 February 1855, which paved the way for Kassa'a coronation two days later. Tewabech finally died during the march with her husband in his campaign against a Wollo rebel known as Amede Beshir in 1859 (Tekle Tsadiq 1981 E.C., 183).
Two other warrior queens contemporary to Tewabech were Mestawat and Worqit of Wollo who administered the region for their minor sons, Amede Liben and Mohammed Ali, respectively. Both women belonged to the Weresheh family of the rulers of Yeju and Wollo. Their position was secured through their blood and the incapacitation of their minor sons. Likewise, other regional lords, these women brought regional challenges to the policy of unification attempted by Tewodros II. Thus from the beginning of his reign Woizero Worqit has attempted to trap Tewodros at a place called Gimba during his campaign to subdue Shoa in 1855 by allying herself with the then king of Shoa known as Haile Mellekot. It was planned that the king would fight at the front and Worqit from the rear. Nevertheless their plan failed because the secret agreement found its way to the imperial camp through the dissident factions of Shoa. Consequently, Tewodros first attacked Wollo and took hold of Meqdela fortress of Worqit and then subdued Shoa afterwards (Paulos 1985 E.C., 158-59; Tsehay 1980, 75; Bairu 1975, 20) The second challenge of Worqit to Tewodros, however, became successful in 1865 when she facilitated the escape of Menelik, son of King Haile Melekot and a prisoner of Tewodros since 1855, from the Meqdela prison by allowing his safe passage through her region and by giving him escorts from her contingent and sending messages to Shoa that declared the legitimate restoration of Menelik to his father's crown (Marcus 1975, 25; Bairu 1969, 26; Tabor 1987 E.C., 9).
This alliance of Worqit with Menelik brought upon her the disastrous vengeance of Tewodros, who killed her son in prison. However, Menelik compensated her grief by invading the region of her contender, Mestawot, in Wollo in 1867 with an army of 40,000 (Marcus 1975, 28-29).
Mestawot was one of the dissident regional rulers during the reign of Tewodros (1855 - 68). She sought the favour of the British military expedition that came to facilitate the release of the European prisoners of Tewodros. It is said that she was given the fortress of Meqdala by the commander of this British force, General Robert Napier, when they left Ethiopia in April 1868. This must have helped her to reinforce herself at the expense of Worqit, for the latter was in control of Meqdela before it had fallen into the hands of Tewodros. In 1876 Mestawot vowed her allegiance to King Menelik, who established full authority in Wollo. Thus she was able to restore her lost position. Since then she kept up a peaceful relationship with Menelik. She gave him military support at the Battle of Embabo, which ended in the victory of Menelik over his rival Negus Tekle Haymanot on 6 June 1882 (Caulk 1975, 72). She proved to be an able warrior and commander at this battle. She was reported to have held a spear and fought in the midst of the battle. To sum up, despite the patriarchal nature of the society, the Ethiopian women of former times had played a major role in the administration and military affairs of their country.
