GARMAME

Garmame (1808/09-March 22, 1900) was an influential counsellor, a military leader, a governor during the reign of Menilek II. He was from the Moja clan of Shawa, and was a natural son of King Sahla Selasse [regional ruler of Shawa from 1813-47]. His early life is obscure, but from 1855-65 he acted as an intermediary between Menilek and his supporters at the time that Menilek was imprisoned for ten years by Emperor Téwodros II [reigned 1885-681 in the mountain stronghold of Maqdala. On his restoration to the throne in 1868, Menilek appointed Garmame as Dajazmach in command of a large army.

Garmame’s most significant military activity was in 1876, when Menilek appointed him regent over Shawa, and he led an expedition to the north. While Garmame was pacifying the regions around what is now Addis Ababa, Menilek’s uncle Maradazmach Hayle Mikael rebelled and, in April 1877, routed Menilek’s governor in eastern Shawa. Garmame rushed to Shawa, fought bravely, and, in May 1877, took the rebel prisoner. He also helped Ras Gobana Dachi, ten years later, to crush the Muslim rebellion in Qabena, east of Lake Zway.

Garmame was devoted to Menilek, and exercised considerable influence on him. When Menilek took Harar in 1887, Garmame, after considering the political weight of the province, advised him on the appointment of Ras Makonnen as governor. Garmame preferred the acquisition of properties and the storing of grain to the hoarding of gold and silver. He was commended for distributing grain to the people during the great famine of 1889-91.

BAIRU TAFLA