Battle of Amba Jebelli
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The Battle of Amba Jebelli was fought in
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 ...
in 1854 between the forces of
Kassa Hailu , spoken = ; ''djānhoi'', lit. ''"O steemedroyal"'' , alternative = ; ''getochu'', lit. ''"Our master"'' (pl.) Tewodros II ( gez, ዳግማዊ ቴዎድሮስ, baptized as Gebre Kidan; 1818 – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopi ...
(later known as Tewodros II), and the forces of Birru Goshu of
Gojjam Gojjam ( ''gōjjām'', originally ጐዛም ''gʷazzam'', later ጐዣም ''gʷažžām'', ጎዣም ''gōžžām'') is a historical province in northwestern Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Marqos. Gojjam's earliest western boundary ex ...
. Kassa was victorious, Birru Goshu was captured and spent the next 14 years in chains. The battle was fought in Gojjam, in the modern
Misraq Gojjam Zone East Gojjam (Amharic: ምሥራቅ ጎጃም), also called Misraq Gojjam, is a zone in Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Its capital is Debre Markos. East Gojjam is named after the former province of Gojjam. East Gojjam is bordered on the south by t ...
. Birru sought to avenge his father,
Goshu Zewde Goshu Zewde of Gojjam (1783 or 1788-1852) was the governor of Damot, Metcha and Ybaba, the most of Gojjam was, indeed, under the government of his son Birru Goshu. He was elevated to the personal titles of Dejazmatch in 1825 and Ras by Empero ...
, who had been killed in the Battle of Gur Amba two years before. Confident of success, he left his fortress at Jebelli and in March 1854 Kassa Hailu engaged him and defeated him. Birru then tried to use the same tactics he had successfully used against Ras
Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
, but his army failed him. As Mordechai Abir notes, "His Gojjamites were no longer fighting the hated Galla who had continuously ravaged their country, but a successful Amhara leader who was able to crush the much-disliked Yejju dynasty. Moreover, Kassa was the idol of the soldiers and his personal bravery became legendary." So when the two armies met again, Birru Goshu's army disintegrated and was taken prisoner. Birru's wife surrendered Jibelli (Jebelli is one of two ambas, or fortified mountaintops, in the valley of the Chamwaga River, and was frequently used as a stronghold by the rulers of Gojjam.) with its arsenal, if she were promised that she would not be reunited with her husband. Afterwards, Birru Goshu was imprisoned on an
amba Amba or AMBA may refer to: Title * Amba Hor, alternative name for Abhor and Mehraela, Christian martyrs * Amba Sada, also known as Psote, Christian bishop and martyr in Upper Egypt Given name * Amba, the traditional first name given to the first ...
west of Chelga.Henry Stern, ''Wanderings among the Falashas in Abyssinia'' (London, 1862), p. 72


Notes

Battles involving Ethiopia Battles of the Zemene Mesafint 1854 in Ethiopia Conflicts in 1854 March 1854 events {{Ethiopia-hist-stub