SAHLA SELASSE

Sahla Selassé (1795-1847) was the regional ruler of Shawa from 1813-1847. In the course of the 1830s he assumed the title of Negus (king), and declared Shawa to be independent.

He was the son of Wassan Saggad, Ras of Shawa from 1780-1813, and of Wayzaro Zanaba-Warq, daughter of a powerful lord of the Manz region. He himself was nominated Ras of Shawa at the age of 18, even though he was not the eldest son. Immediately after his father’s death the Galla tribes, who in the 16th and 18th centuries had conquered most of Shawa, attempted to regain their independence in the areas reconquered by Sahla Selassé’s father and grandfather. But after several years of continuous fighting, and in alliance with a number of Galla chiefs, he was finally able to assert his authority and even to extend the boundaries of Shawa. Thereafter it became his policy to turn the conquered Galla into loyal subjects.

Although Sahla Selassé’s secret ambition was to reunite and rule the whole of the ancient Ethiopian empire, he concentrated primarily on conquering the Galla areas to the south and west of Shawa, though he also had to defend the northern and northeastern borders of Shawa against the frequent inroads of the Muslim Galla tribes of Wallo.

Shawa stopped paying tribute to the Ethiopian emperor during the last decades of the 18th century, and thus could be considered semi-independent. In the 1830s Sahla Selassé adopted the title of Negus without the consent of the emperor and his Galla regent, and declared his independence.

He was a talented, just, and benevolent despot, and gave Shawa good government, peace and stability, while the country prospered through trade. Towards the end of the 1830s Sahla Selasse’s position, threatened by a number of rebellions among his Galla tributaries, and by the activities of the jealous rulers of northern Ethiopia, was further shaken by a religious controversy which broke out in Shawa.

Sahla Selassé, who was fascinated by modern techniques and firearms, turned, under the influence of European visitors, to seek help, especially in the form of military equipment, from France and England. This resulted in an influx of European visitors into Shawa in the late 1830s and early 1840s. The most important event was probably the arrival of a British Indian mission led by W. Cornwallis Harris, which stayed from 1841-43, followed by the mission of Rochet d’Héricourt, sent by the King of France, which stayed from 1841-44. Both missions introduced sizeable quantities of firearms, and many new ideas, into Shawa. But by then Sahla Selassé was a very sick man. He died in 1847.

M. ABIR