The Addis Tribune 12 December 03

Let us revert this week to the question of Addis Ababa's need of statues. Our first candidate for a statue is perhaps Emperor Tewodros, or Theodore, II, who for well over thirty years had a square in the capital called after him - but no statue. A first step towards the advent of such a monument was, however, taken earlier this year with the erection in Tewodros square of a double-life-size replica of his famous cannon (or more properly mortar) Sevastapol - so named after a famous battle in the nineteenth century Crimean War.

The replica cannon (or mortar), now on view in Tewodros square, is of symbolic importance. Almost exactly twice the size of the original weapon built on Tewodros's orders at his mountain fortress of Maqdala in the mid-1869s, it symbolises Tewodros's determination at all costs to overcome his country's technical backwardness.

The replica, it is however generally agreed, must now be accompanied by a statue of Tewodros the man: the man whose determination was responsible for the cannon.

Pioneer of Modernisation

Emperor Téwodros (or Theodore) II was Ethiopia's great pioneer of modernisation. Born around 1818 in Qwara, in the north-west of the country, he fought his way to power in a time of civil war. The Egyptians (then still nominally part of the Ottoman Empire) were then encroaching on Ethiopia's frontiers, and threatening the country's historic independence. Ethiopia, disunited and torn apart by civil war, was in no position to harness the forces of the Industrial Revolution, which were then spreading across the world.

Modernisation Plans

Téwodros, who was crowned Emperor in 1855, was determined to unify the county, and to embark on the path of modern progress. He sought to curtail the powers of the provincial nobility, and thereby to re-create an integrated State; to establish a regular paid army to replace the feudal levies which were then looting the countryside; to manufacture weapons with which to unify and defend the country; to establish paid governors and judges to replace officials then exploiting the people; to eradicate bribery; to disarm and pacify the country; to build roads on which to transport his artillery; to reform the system of land tenure and to curtail what he considered excessively large church estates; to abolish the slave trade; to discourage polygamy; to encourage more elegant dress; and to foster the written modern vernacular language (Amharic) in addition to the old ecclesiastical language (Ge'ez) which was no longer known to the population at large.

"Young in Years"

Téwodros's personality was described early in his career by a British observer, Consul Walter Plowden, who wrote that the Emperor was "young in years, vigorous in all manly exercises, of striking countenance, peculiarly polite and engaged when pleased, and mostly displaying great tact and delicacy. He is persuaded that he is destined to restore the glories of Ethiopian Empire, and to achieve great conquests; of untiring energy, both mental and bodily, his personal and moral daring are boundless. The latter is well proved by his severity towards his soldiers, even when these, pressed by hunger, are mutinous, and he is in front of powerful foes, more so even by his pressing reforms in a country so little used to any yoke, while engaging in unceasing hostilities, and his suppression of the great feudal Chiefs at a moment when any inferior man would have sought to conciliate them as stepping stones to Empire.

"His Wrath is Terrible"

"When aroused his wrath is terrible, and all tremble; but at all moments he possesses perfect self-command. Indefatigable in business, he takes little repose night or day; his ideas and language are clear and precise; hesitation is not known to him; and he has neither councilors nor go-betweens. He is fond of splendour and receives in state even on a campaign. He is unsparing in punishment... He is generous to excess, and free from all cupidity, regarding nothing with pleasure or desire but munitions of war for his soldiers. He has hitherto exercised the utmost clemency towards the vanquished, treating them rather as his friends than his enemies. His faith is signal; 'without Christ', he says, 'I am nothing; if He has destined me to purify and reform this distracted kingdom, with His aid who can stay me?"

Breaking the Power of the Great Feudal Chiefs

Looking at his policies, and initial achievements, Plowden continued:

"The arduous task of breaking the power of the great feudal Chiefs - a task achieved in Europe only during the reigns of many consecutive Kings - he has commenced... Some of his ideas may be impracticable, but a man who has done so much and contemplates such designs cannot be regarded as of ordinary stamp".

Téwodros's importance as a reformer was likewise recognised by Clements Markham, the historian of the subsequent British expedition against him. Likening him to Peter the Great of Russia, he wrote: "They were both... kings of men, both endowed with military genius; both lovers of mechanical arts; both possessed of dauntless courage..."

Impossible to Import Fire-arms

Téwodros, living in the interior of the country, without access to the sea, found it almost impossible to import fire-arms. He managed, however, to have a number of cannons manufactured by European missionaries and others at his court. (An enlarged replica of one of them, called Sevastopol, has recently been unveiled in Téwodros Square in Addis Ababa, adjacent to the site of the proposed Téwodros statue). He was, however, for the most part poorly armed.

Téwodros's attempts to modernise the country, and to obtain craftsmen from Europe, led him into an involved and long-drawn-out conflict with Britain. Angered by the British Government's failure to respond to a letter and by the British's consul's behaviour, he detained the consul, a special representative of Queen Victoria, and several other Europeans. The British responded by despatching a powerful and well-equipped Anglo-Indian army against his mountain fortress of Maqdala in 1867.

Though overwhelmed by the overwhelmingly superior fire-power of the invaders, who inflicted heavy casualties on his men, Téwodros refused to surrender. "A warrior who has dandled strong men in his arms like infants", he wrote to the British commander, "will never be dandled in the arms of others". He accordingly released his European prisoners, put a pistol to his mouth, and committed suicide, on 13 April 1868, thus confirming his unique position in Ethiopian history.

British troops then looted Maqdala. They set fire to the citadel, and took away many Ethiopian manuscripts and crosses the return of which is today demanded by AFROMET: the Association for the Return of Maqdala Ethiopian Treasures.

Téwodros' s orphaned son Alamayahu was then taken to England, and is buried at Windsor Castle.

Historical Sources

Part of Téwodros's tragedy is that his life was for the most part recorded only by his foreign captives and Ethiopian enemies.

The following works nevertheless throw light on his career and aspirations, as well as providing glimpses of appearance, bearing and dress.

Contemporary:

Martino Moreno, "La cronaca di re Teodoro attributa al Dabtara 'Zaneb'", Rassegna di Studi Etiopici (1942), II

Roger Acton, The Abyssinian Expedition (London, 1868) [contains numerous engravings]

Hormuzd Rassam, Narrative of the British Mission to Theodore (London, 1869) [with engravings of Téwodros and his cannon Sevastopol]

Clements Markham, A History of the Abyssinian Expedition (London, 1869)

William Simpson, Diary of a Journey to Abyssinia, 1868 (Holywood, California, 2003)

Modern, with special reference to Téwodros's appearance, bearing and dress:

Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia 1855-1974 (London & Addis Ababa, 1991)

Sven Rubenson, King of Kings Tewodros of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, 1966)

Richard Pankhurst, Economic History of Ethiopia 1800-1935 (Addis Ababa, 1968)

Tekle-Tsadik Mekouria, Emperor Téwodros and the Unity of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, 1990) [in Amharic]

Richard Pankhurst, "Téwodros as depicted in European Engravings", Journal of Ethiopian Studies (1987), XX

Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin, "Tewodros (a Play)", Ethiopia Observer (1965, IX

Taddese Beyene, R. Pankhurst and Shiferaw Bekele, Kasa and Kasa. Papers on the Lives, Times and Images of Téwodros II and Yohannes IV (1855-1889), (Addis Ababa (1990)

Richard Pankhurst, "Emperor Tewodros and the Battle of Mäqdäla (1868) as depicted in Ethiopian Popular Art", in Etudes éthiopiennes, Actes de la conferénce internationale des études éthiopiennes (1994), vol. I

Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin, "Tewodros (a Play)", Ethiopia Observer (1965)), IX

Statement by the Association for the Return of Maqdala Ethiopian Treasures, House of Commons, Cultural Property: Return and Illicit Trade Seventh Report, Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence (London, 2000), III