It is unclear whether Ras Alula was acting on his own initiative in this instance, or at the orders of his Emperor. Upon returning to Asmara, Alula mobilized 5,000 men and marched from Ghinda towards Sahati. What does England mean by destroying Hewett's treaty and allowing the Italians to take my country from me? …Did I not relieve the Egyptian garrison in the Bogos country? Did I not fight at Cassala when it was too late? Have I not done everything I could? You English used us to do what you wanted and then left us. Wylde, the former British vice consul at Jeddah, who recorded these words in a dispatch to the Manchester Guardian: His mistrust is clearly expressed in a conversation carried out with Augustus B. Īlthough he had collaborated with the British against the Mahdists, Ras Alula chief interest was to guarantee Ethiopian sovereignty, which made him very wary towards the English whom he suspected supported the Italians' encroachments. As part the European Scramble for Africa, at this time the Italians took control of the Red Sea coasts, occupying Massawa and Sahati with the tacit approval of the British, which was a violation of the Hewett Treaty. However events beyond Tigray or the Horn of Africa gave Ras Alula very little time to recover from the battle. Nevertheless Alula advanced into the territory of the Bogos, then entered Keren in September 1885, where he stayed for ten days, then marched on Kufit.Īt Kufit, Osman Digna's forces were annihilated, but the Ethiopians also suffered significant losses: the commanders Blatta Gebru and Aselafi Hagos were killed, and Ras Alula himself was wounded. Ras Alula prepared for his campaign against the Mahdists, despite the opposition of certain local leaders who did not accept his rule. In the Hewett Treaty, concluded in 1884, the United Kingdom recognized Bogos and Massawa as possessions of Ethiopia in return for Ras Alula's help evacuating the Egyptian garrisons of Amedeb, Algeden, Keren, Ghirra, and Gallabat which had been isolated by the Mahdists, and because of these successes the British once more asked for his help against the Mahdists under Osman Digna. From Asmara, he devoted himself to defending the northern borders of Ethiopia against the Italians, the Anglo-Egyptian forces, and later the Mahdists. That same year the new Ras moved his family and following to Asmara, where he built a palace at the top of a hill in the middle of that town. On 9 October 1876, the Emperor Yohannes IV made Alula governor of Mereb Mellash and Midri Bahri (today part of Eritrea). Emperor Yohannes badly needed a man with these skills at the moment, for Ras Wolde Mikael was in revolt in Hamasien Alula was promoted to Ras and sent to deal with this unruly aristocrat, who fled to Bogos. His second marriage was purely for political reasons, to improve his legitimacy with the local aristocracy, who did not hide their disapproval at seeing the son of a peasant reach this stature.Īlula demonstrated his military skill in the Battle of Gundet and Gura, which were fought in November 1875 and March 1876 respectively, where he routed the Egyptian forces. However in order to enhance his position at the Imperial court, he divorced his wife and married Woizero Amlesu Araya, daughter of Ras Araya Dimtsu, the powerful and much respected uncle of Emperor Yohannes IV.
He had three children by his first wife Wozero B'tweta. In spite of his humble backgrounds, Alulua succeeded in climbing the ladder of the feudal hierarchy.
Erlich records an oral tradition that the young Alula distinguished himself by being the one who captured Tekle Giyorgis in the battle where Emperor Yohannes crushed his opponent (11 July 1871). The house of Ras Alula at Asmara, in present-day EritreaĪt first Alula attached himself to the distinguished Ras Araya Dimtsu, hereditary chief of Enderta who was lord of the land his father farmed before long he gained the attention of Ras Araya's successful nephew, Dejazmach Kassa Mercha (the future emperor Yohannes IV), who made him his elfegn kalkay ("chamberlain and doorkeeper").
"Thereafter," concludes Erlich, "his friends and the people of Mannawe nicknamed him Ras Alula." "To the Castle of Ras Alula Wadi Qubi," they mockingly replied. Haggai Erlich relates a story about Alula's childhood - "well known throughout Tigray": a group of people carrying baskets of bread to a wedding ceremony were stopped by a group of children led by the future Ras, who demanded to know where they were going. Alula was born in Mennawe, a village in Tembien, 15 miles south of Abiy Addi, the son of Engda Eqube, a farmer of modest origins.
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