The Tragedy of Emperor Libne-Dingil of Ethiopia (1508-1540)

Abstract

Prefatory Note Emperor Libne-Dingil is one of the emperors of Ethiopia about whom only a very brief royal chronicle was written or preserved, most rulers of Ethiopia from Amde-Siyon (1314-1344) to Empress Zewditu (1916-1930). In the following, I report what two traditional Ethiopian historians have written about Libne-Dingil and his times. Much of what they write concerns the devastation wrought by Grann, the Left-handed, i.e., Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim alGhazi. Historians have relied much on the Tarike-Negest (in Geez, edited by R. Basset) and the Arabic history of Grann's campaign (also edited by R. Basset, as well as by Fahim Muhammed Satlut, Cairo 1974) called Fituh al-Habesha by Shihab ad-Din Ahmed Ibn Abd al-Qadir (also known as Areb Faqih) for this period of Ethiopian history. The Portuguese also wrote about part of LibneDingil's reign.1 During my second long stay in Ethiopia, I came to know about some important manuscripts on Ethiopian history that have not been published, and which have not been much studied or referred to. One by Tegenn, a former MelakeSehay2 of Debre-Marqos (the capital of Gojjam), is said to be rather unique, written in Geez and unlike any history of Ethiopia ever written, according to some who have read it. I was able to identify four copies of this book in Gojjam and one in Addis Abeba, but I failed to obtain a copy. Another history was written by Aggafari (Chamberlain) Beqqele Aboyye on orders of Emperor Hayle-Sillase, and probably the only copy in existence of this manuscript (a collection of treaties between Ethiopia and other countries,