Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: April-June | Volume: 2 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 9-18
The Kingdom of Wolaita (Ethiopia): Military Organization and War, To 1894
Solomon Berhe Tedla1, B. Sudhakara Reddy2
1PhD Research Scholar at Andhra University, Department of History and Archaeology, Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam, India
2Faculty of Andhra University, Department of History and Archeology, Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam, India
Corresponding Author: Mahipal Singh Sankhla
ABSTRACT
This study examines the Wolaita’s kingdom traditional military organization, warfare and the value and attitude of the people towards war and bravery. The study starts as an introduction by pointing out the importance of war in pre-colonial Africa and particularly in Ethiopia until a centralized Ethiopian Empire created at the end of the 19th century. After brief introduction and account on the background of the study area and the kingdom’s historical background, the study shows that the kingdom had well organized military organization; military trainings and the people had great value, attitude, and attention towards war and bravery at the time of the kingdom. The kingdom’s security and expansion to have the present territory was largely depended on its traditional war mechanisms besides other peaceful means. The study sums up the discussion with final conquest of the kingdom and its incorporation into Ethiopian Empire by the forces of Menelik II, which was superior in terms of modern firearms, and experience after bloodiest resistance that prolonged for more than seven years and took the life of thousands from both sides. The study points out that the strong resistance of the kingdom using traditional weaponry by itself was a sign of Wolaita kingdom’s traditional strong military organization and system of war.
Key words: Wolaita Kingdom, War, Military Training, Bravery
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