GWANGUL, ALI

Ali Gwangul (17?-1788), known as Ali the Great, was the founder of a Galla dynasty of Rases (high commanders) who controlled much of what was then central Ethiopia and who often acted as kingmakers during the period of Ethiopian history known as Zamana mesáfent (“Era of the judges”) which lasted from around 1769 to 1835, during which all central government broke down.

Ali was a member of the Wara Sheikh family of the Yaju Galla in Wallo province. Tradition states that the family’s Arabian ancestor, Umar Sheikh, settled in the Yaju area during the time of Ahmad Gran (Ahmad Ibn Ibrahim). Ali’s father Gwangul, who died in 1777/78, became the chief of the Yaju, and this tribe provided the base for Ali’s rise to power about 1780. Ali sided with Ras Haylu, a nobleman of Bagemder, in his conflict with Emperor Takla Giyorgis, another contender for power, who reigned intermittently from 1779 to 1800. The emperor was defeated, Haylu and Ali enthroned Iyasu III (ruled 1784-88) at Gondar in 1784, and Ali was made the Dajazmach (senior court official) of Bagemder, in the northwest, one of the most important provinces of the empire.

In 1786 Ali was powerful enough to bring Takla Giyorgis back to the throne against Ras Haylu’s loved, a most senior title, and married the emperor’s daughter Aletash. He seems to have been the real ruler of the country during the last years of his life, and used his position to secure promotions and governorships for his Yaju relatives. Thus the Yaju became the chief Galla force in the political affairs of the country.

Although the career of Ali the Great was short, the reputation he gained was such that he is, in the Ethiopian chronicles, compared with many of the great men of the Bible. Ali’s special distinction was that he “was after the likeness of the first Qostantinos [Constantine the Great, the Roman emperor who ruled from 312-337 AD] King of Kings of Qostantineyo [Constantinople, now Istanbul because he was first a pagan, and afterwards became a Christian”. His reputation, if not his actual achievement, is summed up thus: “Ras Ali died who settled the whole world.”

SVEN RUBENSON