Ga'ewa or Ga‘ǝwa ( Ge'ez: ጋዕዋ), pp. 348–49. was a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

regent in the north of the

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 sixteenth century. Her kingdom stretched from Metemma in the west to the area south of the Mareb river in the Ethiopian province of Tigray.. According to the '' Chronicle of King Gälawdewos'', an account of the reign of the Ethiopian emperor Gälawdewos (1540–59), Ga'ewa was the queen of Säläwa, a region in central Tigray. According to the Yemeni Arabic '' Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha'' (Conquest of Abyssinia), an account of the campaigns of Aḥmad Grāñ (died 1543), she was the queen of Mäzäga, a region that has not been conclusively identified. It has been located north of the Tekezé river and bordering the

Funj Sultanate The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate (due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue) (), was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern ...

in the west. After the death of her brother, Mäkättar, sultan of Mäzäga, she took over the regency on behalf of her nephew Nafî. The ''Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha'' describes her as "a woman of good counsel, intelligent and wise". She reportedly launched several raids against the Christian

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...

. In 1557, the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

under Özdemür Pasha took

Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...

from the ''

bahr negus Until the end of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( , modern transcription , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary royal nobility, formed the upper ...

'' Yeshaq and massacred the monks of Debre Damo. In a counteroffensive, Yeshaq defeated the Ottomans and invaded Mäzäga. Ga'ewa's troops were defeated and she fled to

Debarwa Debarwa ( ) is a market town in central Eritrea. It is situated about 25 kilometers south of the capital Asmara, and has a population of about 25,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Debarwa district (''Tsilima'') in the Debub ("Southern") ...

and the protection of the Ottomans. She tried to persuade Özdemür to liberate Mäzäga by telling him where she had hidden her treasure, but Yeshaq took Debarwa before the Ottomans could mount an expedition., p. 92. In folklore and oral traditions, Ga'ewa is often confused with the semi-legendary tenth-century Ethiopian queen

Gudit Gudit () is the Classical Ethiopic name for a personage also known as Yodit in Tigrinya, and Amharic, but also Isato in Amharic, and Ga'wa in Ţilţal. The person behind these various alternative names is portrayed as a powerful female rul ...

(Yodit). In some places, such as the village of Addi Akaweh, they are explicitly identified as one and the same person. Another tradition makes her the wife of Aḥmad Grāñ. The oral traditions of the village of Sǝfra Ga‘ǝwa depict its namesake as a wealthy woman with several herds of cattle.

Places named after her

*Addi Ga‘ǝwa ("country of Ga'ewa") *Qǝṣri Ga‘ǝwa ("enceinte of Ga'ewa") *Mǝ‘raf Ga‘ǝwa ("resting place of Ga'ewa") *Mäqabǝr Ga‘ǝwa ("tomb of Ga'ewa") *Sǝfra Ga‘ǝwa ("place of Ga'ewa")

Places named after her

Notes

Further reading