WALDA MIKAEL SALOMON
- 2 Min Read
Ras Walda Mikael Salomon (circa 1810-1906) was a 19th-century governor of Hamasen (later called Asmara) in northern Ethiopia who sought foreign support in order to establish himself as ruler of an independent Eritrea, on the Red Sea coast.
He was descended from the most prominent family of Hazega, a village in Eritrea, which competed with the house of Tsea Zega for leadership of Hamasen. He was appointed governor of Hamasen in August 1868, but was imprisoned in 1869 when it was learned that he was corresponding with the French emperor Napoleon III (ruled 1852-70), through Werner Munzinger, a Swiss scholar who played a role in Ethiopian politics at this time, and was seeking French aid in order to become an independent ruler of Eritrea.
In 1874, Walda Mikael was released, and was reappointed governor of Hamasen with the special assignment of expelling Egyptian forces from Bogos, a district of western Eritrea. He fought against the Egyptians at the battle of Guda Gudi in 1875, but changed sides in 1876, and was created a Ras by the Egyptians. Having obtained Egyptian arms, Walda Mikael ravaged the countryside. He defeated the forces that were sent against him by the Ethiopian government, and killed two governors of Hamasen, Dajazmach Haylu Habal in 1877, and Ras Baryan in 1878. Later, when Ras Alula, a general of Yohannes IV [reigned 1872-89] was appointed governor, Mikael was forced to take refuge near Keren, 45 mi (72 km) northwest of Asmara.
When the British general Charles George Gordon (1833-85), later to meet his death at Khartoum, was sent by the Khedive (ruler of Egypt as viceroy of the sultan of Turkey) to negotiate peace with Ethiopia in 1877, one of the conditions laid down by Emperor Yohannes was that no aid should be given to Walda Mikael.
Walda Mikael finally submitted in 1879, and was imprisoned at Amba Salama, in the Tamben district of Tegré, where he remained until May 1891. Though he was an old man, he took part in the Ethiopian campaigns against the Italians in the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1895-96.
ZEWDE GABRE-SELLASSIE
