A Survey of Representative Land
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1 A SURVEY OF REPRESENTATIVE LAND CHARTERS OF THE ETHIOPIAN EMPIRE (1314-1868) AND RELATED MARGINAL NOTES IN MANUSCRIPTS IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY, THE ROYAL LIBRARY AND THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES OF CAMBRIDGE AND MANCHESTER by Haddis Gehre-Meskel Thesis submitted to the University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies) for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 1992 ProQuest Number: 10672615 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672615 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 This work is humbly dedicated to the memory of His Grace Abune Yohannes, Archbishop of Aksum. ( 1897 - 1991 ) May his lifelong work in the service of the Ethiopian Church and people continue to bear fruit and multiply. 3 ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to compile and analyse information about ownership, sales and disputes of land in Ethiopia helween 1314 and 1868 on the basis of documents which are preserved in the marginalia of Ethiopia manuscripts in the Collections of the British Library, the Royal Library at Windsor Castle and the University Libraries of Cambridge and Manchester. While the specifically royal charters were drawn up in some cases as far back as the early fourteenth century, numerous other documents dealing with sales and disputes of land were written between 1700 and 1868. In that year, these manuscripts were looted by members of the Napier Expedition after the citadel of Emperor Tewodros II fell into their hands and were subsequently brought to the United Kingdom. While almost all the royal charters were written in Ge’ez, the rest of the documents dealing with personal bequests or gifts, sales and disputes of land were written in Amharic and thus, apart from their historical significance, they are also important as they illustrate the development of modern Amharic. Out of some 2,100 documents which are preserved in the marginalia of 49 manuscripts, I have here selected 274 and it is hoped that they will serve as a representative documentation of the land tenure system and administration ofland of the country for more than half a millennium. The number of documents dealt with in this thesis thus exceeds the number of those described by Conti Rossini, who translated some 100 other land charters and related notes compiled from the marginalia of Ethiopian manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford and in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. The documents reproduced in this thesis are put in chronological order and an effort has been made to find the equivalent European dating whenever the documents fail to supply a precise date. The documents are also translated and annotated and are classified into five sections, namely: Church Lands, Private Lands, Crown Lands, Land Sales and Land Disputes. Copies of the transcripts of the original Amharic and Ge’ez documents are also included together with glossaries of titles and 4 terms. As far as the locations of the lands referred to in the documents (i.e., personal land bequests or gifts, sales and disputes of land) are concerned, the city of Gondar and the regions around it are largely covered, while additional references to land grants to the sovereigns themselves and to members of the royal family, churches and individuals are also available for other areas of the country. The main findings of this study are that income from land, or more accurately a land tax, was used as a means to compel submission and obligation. The allocation or distribution of such an income to the Church and notable individuals was finely balanced and kept in equilibrium by the members of the Solomonic dynasty who ruled Ethiopia between the years 1314 and 1769. In the subsequent years, however, the country entered into the so called Era of the Princes (1769-1855), where local nobles succeeded in fragmenting the central power, so, in the absence of absolute power, the weak sovereigns were forced to grant ever more land to influential individuals rather than to the Church. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page Acknowledgement 8 Key to Transliteration 9 List of Emperors who granted gult lands 10 Chapter One: Introduction I. The Manuscripts 12 II. The Marginalia 18 III. Owners of the Manuscripts 22 IV. The Sources, Authenticity and Condition of the Documents 26 V. The Form and Content of the Documents 27 1. Royal Charters 29 2. Personal Land Gift Documents 36 3. Land Sale Documents 37 4. Land Dispute Documents 38 VI. The Land Tenure System and Taxation 38 VII. Land Ownership and Administration 44 VIII The Language 53 1. Script and Spelling 53 1.1. Aberrant Character Shapes 53 1.2. Double Vocalic Notation 57 1.3. Ligatures 59 1.4. Scribal Errors 59 2. Phonology 61 6 3. Morphology 64 4. Syntax 66 Chapter Two: Church Lands 69 I. State Land Grants 72 (Documents 1-36) 87 II. Personal Land Grants 114 (Documents 37-45) 116 Chapter Three: Private Lands I. State Guh Land Grants 120 (Documents 46-109) 136 II. State Allocation of Rim Lands 166 (Documents 110-129) 171 III. Church Allocation of Rim Lands 178 (Documents 130-139) 181 IV. Personal Rest, Rim and Gult Land Gifts 184 (Documents 140-181) 189 Chapter Four: Crown Lands 207 (Documents 182-196) 211 Chapter Five: Land Sales 220 I. Personal Land Sales (Documents 197-232) 225 II. Church Land Sales (Documents 233-248) 241 7 Chapter Six: Land Disputes 247 (Documents 249-274) 251 Chapter Seven: Summary 264 Appendix 268 Bibliography 322 Glossaries of Official Titles and Terms I. Official Titles 331 II. Terms 337 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am grateful to my supervisors, Dr. David Appleyard and Professor Andrew Roberts, for their helpful suggestions. I would also like to extend my thanks to Professor Richard Gray, Dr. Joan Maw and Dr. Dick Hayward for showing an interest in my studies and, in particular, I am indebted to Mr. Michael Mann, for his advice when I was designing the Amharic font, which is reproduced in this thesis. Finally, I would also like to register my thanks to James Garton, Maxim Anderson and Yalew Kebede for their constant encouragement, and to the librarians in the Institutions but especially to Mr. Peter Stocks of the British Library for being so helpful to me ever since I undertook this research. I am also equally grateful to the trustees of the David Hamilton Memorial Trust for their generous grant for travelling expenses in England and to the Africa Educational Trust for their grant to cover tuition fees as well as for the reproduction of this thesis. 9 KEY TO TRANSLITERATION In transcribing from Ethiopic script the following symhols have been used for letters which may be unfamiliar to the English reader:- Consonant Symbol A 'a o ‘a n sh «*> q ch T n kh TT /.h 5 j m t’ m ch’ A P’ A/e s ’ Vowel order Symbol first a second 11 third i fourth a fifth e sixth seventh Note: well known names such as Addis Ababa, Gondar, Makelle are not transliterated according to this system but are rendered in their more common spellings. KEY TO CLASSIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS C.L. = Church Lands Cr.L. = Crown Lands L.D. = Land Disputes L.S. = Land Sales P.L. = Private Lands 10 LIST OF EMPERORS WHO GRANTED GULT LANDS L Amdii S’eyon, 1314-44. 2. Hezbii Nan, 1430-33. 3. Zar’a Y a‘eqob (Qwast’ant’inos), 1434-68. 5. Eskender (Qwast’ant’inos), 1478-94 6. N a’od, 1494-1508. 7. Lebnii Dengel, Dawit (Wanag Sagad), 1508-40. 8. Galawdewos, 1540-59. 9. Minas, 1559-63. 10 Sars’ii Dengel (Malak Sagad), 1563-97. 11. Fasiladiis (Alam Siigad), 1632-67. 12. Yohannes I (A’elaf Sagad), 1667-82. 13. Iyasu I (Adyam Sagad), 1682-1706. 14. Tdwoflos (As’erar Sagad), 1708-11. 15. Dawit III (Adbar Sagad), 1716-21. 16. Bakafa, 1721-30. 17. Iyasu II (Berhan Sagad and Adyam Sagad), 1730-55. 18. Iyo’as I, 1755-69. 19. Takla Haymanot II (Gerum Sagad and T’ebab Sagad), 1769-77. 20. Salomon II, 1777-79. 21. Taklli Giyorgis, 1779-84, 1788-89, 1794-95, 1795-96, 1798-99, 1800. 22. Iyasu HI, 1784-88. 23. Hezqeyas, 1789-94. 24. Bii’eda Maryam II, 1795. 25. Yonas, 1797-98. 26. Egwala S’eyon, 1801-1818. 27. Iyo’as II, 1818-1821. 28. Gigar, 1821-1830. 11 29. Sahla Dengel, 1832-1840, 1841-1855. 1 2 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION I. The Manuscripts Ethiopia is unique in Africa; its history is recorded in many manuscripts and glimpses of its long history are also found on coins and stone inscriptions. Unlike most other African countries, whose ancient history is mainly based on oral tradition, Ethiopia enjoys fairly detailed written source material originating from as early as the middle of the Fourth Century A.D. During this period two brothers, Abreha and As’beha, reigned in Ethiopia and their kingdom opened up a panorama in the country's history1. The adoption of Christianity in Ethiopia as a State religion in 333 A.M. (340/41 A.D.) meant the introduction of a new character in the working of the State machinery2.