Kingdom of Shewa in the context of "Provinces of Ethiopia"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Kingdom of Shewa in the context of "Provinces of Ethiopia"




⭐ Core Definition: Kingdom of Shewa

Shewa (Amharic: ሸዋ; Oromo: Shawaa; Somali: Shawa; Arabic: شيوا, Italian: Scioà), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at its center.

The towns of Debre Berhan, Antsokia, Ankober, Entoto and, after Shewa became a province of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa have all served as the capital of Shewa at various times. Most of northern Shewa, made up of the districts of Menz, Tegulet, Yifat, Menjar and Bulga, is populated by Christian Amharas, while southern Shewa is inhabited by the Gurages and eastern Shewa has large Oromo and Argobba Muslim populations. The monastery of Debre Libanos, founded by Saint Tekle Haymanot, is located in the ancient district of Selale. Modern Shewa includes the historical Endagabatan province.

↓ Menu

In this Dossier

Kingdom of Shewa in the context of Sultanate of Aussa

The Sultanate of Aussa was a kingdom that existed in the Afar Triangle in southern Eritrea, eastern Ethiopia and western Djibouti from the 18th to the 20th century. It was considered to be the leading monarchy of the Afar people, to whom the other Afar rulers nominally acknowledged primacy.

Throughout the region’s history the Afar were lauded as great warriors whose slaying was held in higher regard than that of the Oromos to the soldiers of the Kingdom of Shewa. The expanding Ethiopians laid claim to the region but were met with harsh resistance due to the Afar's skills in desert warfare and that the Abyssinians were a highlander people "unsuited by nature to operations in these hot and feverish lowlands - To subdue them would indeed prove no easy task, taking into consideration the waterless nature of their country away from the (Awash River) river, and the unhealthy conditions prevalent along its banks." Due to this, and more, the Danakil country managed to remain independent from the Khedivate of Egypt and autonomous within the later Ethiopian Empire, unlike other (similar) groups in the region and the previous Dankali Sultanate.

↑ Return to Menu