Agame () was a former
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
in northern
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. It includes the northeastern corner of the
Ethiopian Empire
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...
, borders
Akele Guzai
The Provinces of Eritrea existed between Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions.
Overview
In Italian Eritrea, the Italian colonial administration had divided the colony into ...
in
Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
,
Tembien, Kalatta Awlalo and
Enderta in the south, and both the Eritrean and Ethiopian
Afar lowlands in the east. This relative location of Agame is at the strategic crossroads between the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
coast and the interior of southern Eritrea, on the one hand, and the northern Tigrayan plateau on the other. In pre-1991, Agame had a total area of about with an estimated population of 344,800.
History
980 BC – 940 AD
Agame is one of the oldest regions of Ethiopia, being part of the
Kingdom of D'mt in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea that would develop into the
Kingdom of Aksum. It was a main center of Aksumite culture (second only to Central Tigray, where the capital was located), with a distinct sub-culture that separated the two regions from that of Central Tigray (
Shire,
Axum,
Yeha
Yeha ( gez, ይሐ ''yiḥa'', older ESA 𐩥𐩢 ''ḤW''; Old South Arabian: 𐩺𐩢𐩱 ''Yḥʾ'') is a town in the Maekelay Zone of the northern Tigray Region in Ethiopia. It likely served as the capital of the pre-Aksumite kingdom of D'm ...
), Central Eritrea (
Seraye
The Provinces of Eritrea existed between Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions.
Overview
In Italian Eritrea, the Italian colonial administration had divided the colony into ...
,
Hamasien
The Provinces of Eritrea existed between Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions.
Overview
In Italian Eritrea, the Italian colonial administration had divided the colony into e ...
,
Akele Guzai
The Provinces of Eritrea existed between Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions.
Overview
In Italian Eritrea, the Italian colonial administration had divided the colony into ...
and
Adulis
Adulis (Sabaean: ሰበኣ
𐩱 𐩵 𐩡 𐩪, gez, ኣዱሊስ, grc, Ἄδουλις) was an ancient city along the Red Sea in the Gulf of Zula, about south of Massawa. Its ruins lie within the modern Eritrean city of Zula. It was the e ...
), and frontier areas in northern Eritrea. Agame is one of the very few place-names identified in the
Adulis inscription as early as the 3rd century. It is mentioned there as an apparently viable local political entity and it seems that it continued as such from then onwards. The area also appears to have been part of the eastern cultural province of ancient Aksum: to this period dates back the foundation of the monastery of
Debre Damo
Debre Damo (), also spelled Debre Dammo, Dabra Dāmmo or Däbrä Dammo), is the name of a flat-topped mountain, or amba, and a 6th-century monastery in Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The mountain is a steeply rising plateau of trapezoidal shape, abou ...
, which played a major role in Ethiopia's ecclesiastic history throughout the Middle Ages up to the modern times.
11th century – 18th century
The chiefs of Agame would assume the title of ''Shum Agame'' (
Ge'ez: ሹም ዓጋመ) in medieval times and throughout history. Even though in the 16th century the ''Shum Agame'' submitted to Ahmad Ibrahim al-Gazi's army, the physical inaccessibility of lowland Agame suited the purpose of providing safe hideouts to various political, religious and social dissidents. It remained the centre of prominent monasteries such as
Gunda Gunde
Gunda Gunde Monastery ( ti, ገዳም ጉንዳ ጉንዶ ''Gädam gunida gunido'') is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo monastery located to the south of Adigrat in the Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone of the northern Tigray Region in Ethiopia. It is known ...
Maryam, which was established by the Stephanites (
Abba Estifanos of Gwendagwende
Abba Estifanos or Ǝsṭifanos (English Translation: Father Stephen) was an Ethiopian Christian monk from Tigray, itinerant preacher and martyr who is known for his reformation movement and as an early dissident of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church ...
) during the 15th century. Agame was mentioned in the 16th century charter written during the reign of Emperor
Lebna Dengel. During medieval times, Agame was part of a larger province of
Bur
A bur (also spelled burr) is a seed or dry fruit or infructescence that has hooks or teeth. The main function of the bur is to spread the seeds of the bur plant, often through epizoochory. The hooks of the bur are used to catch on to for exam ...
in Ethiopia, which also included some northeastern
Afar lowlands, and the
Buri Peninsula
The Buri Peninsula extends from central Eritrea north into the Red Sea.
Geography
The Buri Peninsula is an area of land in the Ghela'elo Subregion of Eritrea, that juts out into the Red Sea. To its west lies the Gulf of Zula, also known as Ann ...
; Agame and Akkele Guzay were part of "Upper" (La'ilay) Bur, while the lowlands were further distinguished as "Lower" (Tahtay).
Agame appears on indigenous maps of the northern
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
in the 15th Century.
19th century
Agame had a major role to play in the political ascendancy of
Tigray in Christian Ethiopia during the greater part of the first quarter of the 19th century. One of the prominent warlords of northern Ethiopia, ''Dejazmatch''
Sabagadis Woldu
Sabagadis Woldu (; horse name: Abba Garray; baptismal name: Za-Manfas Qedus; 1780 – 1831) was a governor of Tigray Province of the Ethiopian Empire from 1822 to 1831. Sabagadis gained some notoriety in the first decade of the 19th century for r ...
, who ruled Tigray in the period 1822-31, had his power base in Agame. His demise at the
Battle of Debre Abbay marked a decline in the political importance of Agame in the Tigrayan political arena.
20th century
In the period 1896-1936, Agame was led by the descendants of Sabagadis. ''
Dejazmatch
Until the end of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( gez, መሳፍንት , modern , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary nobility, formed the upper ...
'' Kassa Sebhat was the chief of the area during the Italian war 1935-36. He mobilized the people of Agame and engaged the Italians at the battle of Fagena, in the Afar escarpment east of Addigrat. But he was defeated and ultimately surrendered. During 1941-74 Agame existed as an awraja (in the province of Tigray), having five districts (woreda) under it: Gulo Makeda, Ganta Afshum, Subja Sase, Dallol and Kalatte Balaza. Descendants of the Sabagadis family still governed Agame until the revolution.
Geography
Topographically, the Agame area exhibits diverse physical features:
mountain massif
In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
s, plains, plateaux, deep gorges and river valleys. Archaeological evidence indicates that Agame was one of the earliest places in Ethiopia to adopt
ploughshare
In agriculture, a plowshare ( US) or ploughshare ( UK; ) is a component of a plow (or plough). It is the cutting or leading edge of a moldboard which closely follows the coulter (one or more ground-breaking spikes) when plowing.
The plowshar ...
agriculture, but centuries of over-cultivation and maximum utilization of resource turned the area into agriculturally marginal land.
Demographics
The principal inhabitants of Agame are
Afar &
Saho. The Afar-speaking population predominated in the highlands. The north-eastern and south-eastern sector of the escarpment is principally inhabited by the Saho-speaking Irob and Afar-speakers respectively. Adigrat prevailed as the capital of Agame throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Since the 19th century, Agame has been an enduring
base for Lazarist Catholic evangelization in northern Ethiopia. The legacies of this process are the
Catholic Cathedral and the Seminary of Adigrat and the considerable Catholic congregation of Irob-land in the lowlands.
Government
The local noble family had ruled over Agame from the "Era of the Princes" until the
Derg
The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...
deposed Emperor
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
in 1974. This family retained sufficient power and respect following the
Italian conquest in 1936, that the Italian
Viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
Pietro Badoglio
Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime ...
proposed in a telegram to
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
that some of the old Ethiopian ruling class be co-opted into
Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa ( it, Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Seco ...
: "In the region between Shoa and Eritrea, there were local noble families which it was not convenient to slight because they had exercised command for generations and have authority and prestige which can be valuable for us."
[Richard P.K. Pankhurst, ''The Secret History of the Italian Fascist Occupation of Ethiopia, 1935-1941, 2'']
House of Agame
Ethiopian records traces the origins of this family to the marriage of King Margedir of Rome and Eleni, sister of
King Solomon
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
. The current lineage of the rulers of Agame is as follows:
References
{{reflist, 2
Tigray Region
History of Ethiopia
Adigrat
Provinces of Ethiopia