The Naggadras, Trade, and Selected Towns in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Ethiopia

Abstract

Urbanization came slowly and painfully to nineteenthand twentieth-century Ethiopia; the changes which did occur took place firmly within the Ethiopian context. One of the principal means by which the national and regional rulers exercised their power over towns, and control over the long-distance trade that flowed so sluggishly through them, was through a network of Niggadras. Niggadras in Amharic literally means head of the merchants (from Naggade, or merchant, and ras, or head). The origin of the word goes back to the leaders of caravans consisting generally of more than ten donkeys or mules. Second, and more important, were those Ndggadras who controlled and organized customs collection at various kella or customs posts throughout the country. Third were the Naggadras who supervised tax collection and justice in the regular country and urban markets. Fourth, there were some Naggadras who were appointed by a noble with general power in his province to control trade as well as to tax and judge in market areas. Naggadras functioning in one of the last three senses were scattered throughout the empire and their appointments depended on the complex political relationships between the center and periphery of the Ethiopian empire. The Niggadras in Ethiopia served primarily as a means whereby Menilek and his feudal aristocracy could control the expanding commercial life of the empire. In feudal Europe, central or royal power was often maintained by controlling strategic towns; in Ethiopia, in the absence of a large number of major towns, the struggle concentrated on customs posts or kella scattered along the major trade routes. The three major towns that did exist-Addis Ababa, Harar and Gondar-were of course the seats of some of the most important