Institute of Ethiopian Studies

A Century of Ethiopian Historiography Author(s): Bahru Zewde Source: Journal of Ethiopian Studies, Vol. 33, No. 2, Special Issue Dedicated to the XIVth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies (November 2000), pp. 1-26 Published by: Institute of Ethiopian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41966106 Accessed: 15-12-2015 09:25 UTC

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This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JES,Vol. xxxm, No. 2 (November2000), 1-26

A Century of Ethiopian Historiography*

BahruZewde

Global Contours History,as therecounting of past eventsand deeds,is probablyas old as humanity itself.But it was the GreeksHerodotus and Thucydideswho introducedthe organizedand writtenhistorical narrative. In Asia, Chinesehistorians of the Han dynastydeveloped a similar traditionof writing organized and analyticalhistory. And it was onlyin thenineteenth century thathistory established itself as an academicdiscipline, first in Europeanuniversities and researchcenters and subsequentlyin othercontinents, notably the United States. This "professionalization"of historyis commonlyassociated with the Germanhistorian Leopold von Ranke.The archives,as the repositoryof staterecords, emerged as the majorbasis of historicalresearch. The historicaljournal, even more than the monograph or thebook, became thetrademark of this new profession. Predominantly narrative in formand politicalin content, thisnew historiography has remainedthe paradigm of historical research and writing. Over the years,beginning in the nineteenthand pickingup pace and depthin the twentieth,this paradigm has cometo faceserious challenges.1 The firstmajor challenge came fromMarxist historiography and the Annales school pioneeredby the Frenchhistorians LucienFebvre and Marc Bloch. The newhistoriography highlighted two majorlimitations of theRankean tradition: its focus on politicalhistoiy and thenarrative (as opposedto analytical) modeof itsexposition. Instead, it was proposedthat historians should deal withthe totality of the past humanexperience, or at the veryleast broadenhistorical investigation to include social and economichistoiy. The preferredmode of expositionbecame analysis of structures ratherthan a narrativeof events. This new historiography,which evolved over time,with different elements of it emergingat differenttimes, has had the effectof deepeninghistorical research by directing historiansto suchnew avenues as local histoiy,gender history, environmental history, and the histoiyof ideas,to nameonly some of them.At thesame time, it has broughtabout a shiftin perspective,of lookingat thehistorical experience from below rather than from above, from thepoint of view ofthe subject rather than the sovereign, the soldier rather than the general. It has also promptedhistorians into new sources, such as oralsources, as opposedto thearchival documentsthat had assumedalmost canonical importance in Rankeanhistoriography. Finally, this new approachhas meanthistorians linking up withother disciplines, such as social anthropology,economics, sociology and psychology. Much moreunsettling has been themore recent critique of the Rankeanparadigm, what has come to be knownas the "postmodernist"challenge. This has questionedthe fundamentalsof modernhistoriography, its claimto scientificstatus.2 This scepticismcould be said to haveemanated from the global tribulations of the first half of the twentieth century thatshattered the faith in thelinear progression of mankind, from low to highand frombad to good. Consideringhistoiy, as was indeedthe case in formertimes, as a formof literature,it cast doubton the possibilityof attaininghistorical truth. Nor was this spiritof scepticism unprecedented.It could be saidto havehad itsantecedents in thenihilism of Nietzsche and the

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 2 Bahru Zewde.^4Century of Ethiopian Historiography existentialismof Jean-PaulSartre, both of whom had questionedin differentways the humanisticand rationalisticassumptions of the Enlightenment. The post-modernistcritique of standardhistoriography might have had, as Giggers asserts,the effectof blurringthe distinctionbetween history and fiction,between "honest scholarshipand propaganda".3Criticism has also been directedagainst the post-modernists thatthey have been moreadept at writingabout historythan writing it. On thepositive side, however,it has had a salutaiyeffect in pointingboth the scientificlimits of historical investigationand theliterary potentials of historicalnarrative. The focusand scope of history has accordinglychanged in recentyears, from politics to culture("in the broad sense of everydaylife"4) and fromwhat is knownas metahistory(the grandhistorical narrative, or even philosophyof history)to microhistory(the lives of commonersin localized settings). Moreover,in as muchas the totalhistorical truth can not be known,historians, as Burke suggests,5could profitablyemploy some literarytechniques to fill the gap betweentheir researchfindings and whatcould have actually happened. After all, thebest literary historians had alwayscombined factual investigation and creativeimagination.

ContinentalSetting Africanhistoriography, denoting the history of Africansrather than of Europeansin Africa(as hadbeen thecase in thecolonial period), has had a muchshorter life span than the global trendsdiscussed above. It coincidedwith the decolonization process in the 1950s and 1960s.Two institutionspioneered this new process whereby Africans were able to appropriate theirhistory. They were the School of Africanand OrientalStudies (SOAS) in Londonand theDepartment of History at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison.The twoleading spirits of thisnew history, Roland Oliver at SOAS and JanVansina at Madison,have recently published reminiscencesof theirstruggle to establishAfrican history in Britishand Americanacademic institutions.6The twocenter s thatthey led playeda pivotalrole in thetraining of theAfrican and Africanisthistorians who were to deepen and broaden Africanhistoriography in subsequentdecades. Of thetwo, SOAS couldbe said to havehad theedge not only in training Africanhistorians but also in initiatingand sustainingthe Journalof AfricanHistory , a publicationthat could be said to have set the standardsfor historicalwriting on Africa.7 Centralto whatin effectbecame a historiographierevolution was the developmentof the methodologyfor the employmentof oral sourcesto reconstructthe historyof non-literate societies,a methodologythat has been superblysynthesized in theworks of Jan Vansina.8 Coupledwith the need of the newlyindependent African states to appropriateand redefinetheir past, the developments outlined above fostered the growth of centersof African historicalstudies in the continentitself. Two such centersattained particular fame and significancein sub-SaharanAfrica (excluding South Africa) - whatcame to be knownas the Ibadanand Dar-es-Salaamschools of historiography,based at theUniversities of Ibadanand Dar-es-Salaam,respectively. The leadingfigures in theformer were the Nigerian historians K.O. Dike and JacobAde Ajayi,while amongthe luminariesof the latterwere the British historianTerence Ranger (followed by his compatriotsJohn Iliffe and JohnLonsdale) and the late WestIndian historian Walter Rodney. Ibadan became not onlythe training ground for a numberof historianswho subsequentlyspread out to otherNigerian universities like Lagos, Ife and Zaria, but also chartedwhat could be describedas the Nigeriannationalist historiography.An allied developmentwas thefounding of theHistorical Society of Nigeria and twomedia for the dissemination of historicalresearch - theIbadan History series and the

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Journalof the Historical Society of Nigeria. Ibadan established the historiographie norm until it came to be challengedby whathad startedas its offshoot,the AhmaduBello University based in Zaria. The latternot only came to emphasizethe Islamic traditionof Northern Nigeriabut also introduceda Marxist perspective into the study of Nigerian history.9 The Marxistor class view of historybecame the trademarkof the Dar es Salaam school. The socialistexperiment of the Nyerereera - encapsulatedin Ujamaa- had its academiccounterpart on The Hill,as themain campus of the University of Dar-es-Salaam was known.The Hill evolvedas a sortof grandrendez-vous of AfricanMarxists.10 Two of the membersof thatschool, Arnold Temu and BonaventureSwai, in facthelped to carrythe Marxisttorch to Zaria in Nigeria,thus helping to bringabout the differentiationdescribed above. The celebratedspecimen of these endeavourswas WalterRodney's How Europe UnderdevelopedAfrica. Terence Ranger charted a morenationalist path with the studyof Africanresistance to colonialrule. All thisis not to say thatAfrican historical studies were confinedto Nigeriaand Tanzania Significant,if not so dramatic,advances were made in places like Ghana (led by Adu Boahen), Kenya (Bethwell Ogot), and Uganda (Samwiri Karugire and Matthias Kiwanuka),to mentionthe more important ones. Likewise,there has been a steadygrowth of Africanhistoriography in FrancophoneAfrica. One could cite the names of CheikhAnta Diop, AbdoulayeBathily and MamadouDiouf in Senegal;Ki Zerboin BurkinaFaso; Alpha Konarein Mali and WambaDia Wambain Zaire/Congo.A seriousdrawback has been the relativeabsence of interactionbetween the two traditionsof historiography,the Anglophone andthe Francophone. The UNESCO Africanhistory project had thesalutary effect of bringing historiansof both traditions together. The tworesearch-facilitating organizations, CODESRIA and OSSREA,11have also triedin variousways to resolvethis chronic problem. The latter, whichhad a regionalmandate, brought together in Swazilandin 1989 historiansof Eastern and SouthernAfrica to discussthe state of historical training and research.The workshopwas organizedunder the auspices of therecently formed Association of Historiansof Easternand SouthernAfrica. But thatassociation could hardlyget offthe ground. In 1994, CODESRIA hosteda meetingof historians in Bamako(Mali) withthe twin task of discussing the unfolding democratizationprocess and resuscitatingthe moribundcontinental association of historians and its journal, Africa Zamani. While the journal has been revived somewhat,the establishmentof an activecontinental historical association still remains an agenda forthe future.12 Even moredisturbing than the difficulties of creatinga commonforum for African historianshas been thecrisis that national historiographies have been undergoingin the last twodecades. This is a reflectionof the general crisis of Africanuniversities, which in turnis only a ramificationof the continent'sgeneral political and economiccrisis. Like their colleaguesfrom other disciplines, many African historians have been forcedeither to seek alternativeemployment at home or to join the ever-growingAfrican Diaspora abroad. A slightlyless disturbingvariation on thisintellectual haemorrhage - because the academics areretained within the continent - has beenthe ("academic labour") migration of a numberof historiansfrom the rest of the continent to southernAfrica.

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 4 Bah ru Zewde.A Centuryof Ethiopian Historiography PoliticalContext Beforewe tiyto assess the statusof Ethiopianhistoriography within the global and continentalparameters delineated above, we need to consideranother, and admittedlythe mostdetermining, context, namely the political. For thepolitical regime has almostinvariably exercisedconsiderable influence over the nature and courseof historiography.Ethiopia has notbeen an exceptionin thisregard. The twentiethcentury began in Ethiopiawith Emperor Menilek at theheight of his power and glory.He presidedover an empirethat had expandedmore thantwofold by militarymight and enjoyedthe grudging respect of the European powers following his victory overthe Italians at Adwa in 1896.Although his campaignsof territorial expansion had been at timesmarked by brutalsubjugation and economicexploitation of the southernpeoples, the emperoron thewhole exercised a benevolentinfluence when it came to mattersof the intellect and of openingthe countryto new ideas. He opened the firstgovernment school in the country.He patronizeda numberof the early intellectuals, such as HakimWärqenäh, Afáwârq Gäbrä-Iyyäsus,and Täklä-HawaryatTäklä-Maryam. He reportedlycommissioned Aläqa Tayyäto writewhat was hopedto be a definitivehistory of Ethiopia,although that work did 13 notapparently see thelight of day. His successor,Lej lyyasu,was fairlyopen-minded. His problem,however, was his youth,which distracted him from constant and sustainedapplication to theaffairs of state,let alone the promotionof intellectualendeavours. It was underthe "regency"of Ras Täfari (1916-1930)that intellectual activity, including historical investigation, flourished. The period saw thepublication of a numberof books, notably by one of his mostdevoted functionaries, HeruyWâldâ-Sellasé, as well as therelatively free discussion of national,including historical, issues. This relativeautonomy was to shrinkonce the youngprince attained his ultimate objectiveof politicalascendancy. Nevertheless, his post-1941 reignwas markedby the expansionof education,including at thesecondary and tertiarylevels, and theintroduction of a historysyllabus. At theHaile Sellasie I University,successor of theUniversity College of AddisAbaba foundedin 1950,the Department of Historywas formallyestablished in 1963/4. At about the same time,the otherimportant venue of historicalresearch, the Instituteof EthiopianStudies, was opened,with the emperorgoing to the extenteven of donatinghis personalcollection of books to launchits library. Beneath this apparentbenevolent and personal interestlay, however,a more restrictivepolitical culture. That culture was delineatedby Solomoniclegitimacy and Säwan hegemony,cultural as well as political.The storyof the Queen of Sheba, whichno self- respectinghistorian could take seriously, was a cardinalelement of thatlegitimacy. Ethiopian historycould onlybe the storyof the Semiticnorth, with the peoples of the southas objects ratherthan subjects of history. The changesof 1974 and 1991targeted successively these two pillars of the pre- 1974 order:the first dismantled the legitimacy; the second broke the hegemony. At thesame time, however,these changes brought their own constrictingenvironments. The firsttried to fitall thoughtand activityunder the straitjacketof doctrinaireMarxism The Historygraduate programme,for example, is only now succeedingin liberatingitself fully from that straitjacket.Initially, the revolutionary regime tended to viewthe entire pre-revolutionary past as "reactionary"and hencenot worthy of investigation.As timeprogressed, however, it opted for selectiveappropriation of the past (rejectingHaylâ-Sellasé and adoptingTéwodros and Menilek,for instance). In thisas in so muchof its schooling,the Därg tookits cue fromthe Ethiopianstudent movement, which had becomevirulently anti-Haylâ-Sellasé. The struggle

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JES, Vol. XXXIII, No. 2 (November2000) 5 withthe insurgent forces in northernEthiopia, which attained particular ferocity in the 1980s, forcedit to realizethe value of historyfor its own legitimacy.The historians'worry now becamenot so muchharassment or neglect as itwas too muchattention. The post-1991order has brought new challenges to thehistorical profession. The first obvioussalutary effect has been theopening up of therevolutionary period for post-mortem analysis,just as the 1974 revolutionhad openedup theformer emperor's reign to historical investigation.The generalpolitical liberalization has also broadenedthe marginfor free investigationand free disseminationof historicalviews. Conversely,the deificationof ethnicityhas presenteda constantnuisance to theday-to-day activity of teachingand research. The hostilitythat has been injectedinto government-university relationship since that fateful clash of 1993 has also had its negativeimpact on academiclife, the historians'included. Whilethe government has notsubjected historians to anyparticular harassment, just as it has not given them any special encouragement,they have to contendregularly with the accusationsof ethno-nationalistpolitical groupings, who findthe historian's honest findings incompatiblewith their own poltically-loaded rendering of the past

The Pioneers A distinctivefeature of theEthiopian past, vis-a-vis much of the restof Africa,has been thepresence of an indigenoustradition of historywriting from at least the fourteenth centuryto thetwentieth. This has been essentiallyof two kinds:the chronicles covering the reignsof individualkings and the accountsof longertime-spans known as tarikänägäst ("historyof kings").I have alreadydiscussed the merits and demeritsof chroniclesas works of historicalreconstruction.14 Suffice here to say that,on thepositive side, one can cite their factualdetail and theirstrong chronological framework, even if it wouldrequire considerable labourto converttheir relative chronology to an absoluteone. On thenegative side are their decidedlypolitical and religiousbias, theirpredilection for supernaturalexplanation of historicalphenomena, and their aversion to quantification. Althoughthere were some very rare refreshing departures from this norm, notably by themonk Bahrey in the sixteenthcentury, it was onlyin the earlytwentieth century that a groupof intellectualswho beganto breaknew groundemerged. I have discussedelsewhere and in moredetail this group, whose strivingscovered the whole gamutof social justice, administrativereform and economicanalysis as well as historicalreconstruction.15 These pioneersof whatwe can call modernhistoriography, as distinct from the chronicle tradition, could be roughlydivided into two on the basis of the degreeof theirdeparture from that tradition.The firsttried to synthesizethe old traditionand new methodswhile the second demonstrateda more thorough rejection of theold. As so oftenis the case, themore critical andmethodologically sound proved the less productive. To thecritical group belong Gäbrä-Heywät Baykádañ and TamratAmmanuél. In his shortbut powerful piece, "As'é Menilek-naItyop'a", Gäbrä-Heywät castigates the chroniclers and offersan alternativemethodology in concise and elegantlanguage.16 Rejecting the biblicalversion for the genesis of humanity,he pusheshuman history back to at least 150,000 years.Nor does he attachmuch importance to the traditionalrecourse to the storyof the Queen of Sheba to explainthe origins of theEthiopian state.17 But, ironically (in view of his Bétâ Israel origin),it is TamratAmmanuél who givesus the moststrident rejection of that legend.18A thirdintellectual who had some affinityto thisgroup - in criticaldetachment ratherthan meagreness of outputfor he has produceda majorwork, YäGalla Tarïk- is

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As'mä-Giyorgis.His Catholicbackground, rather than any methodologicalsophistication, promptshim into a denunciationof Orthodox historiography that borders on thevirulent19 In otherrespects, though, As'mé is much nearerto the second group of early twentiethcentury historians, represented above all byAläqa TayyäGäbrä-Maiyam and Heruy Wâldâ-Sellasé.Industrious application, rather than criticad distance, was thehallmark of this group. Tayyä's major publishedwork, Yûltyop'yaHezb Tarik™is based on an uneasy combinationof the scriptures,some classical and modernhistorical sources as well as oral tradition.Nonetheless, with some degreeof charitableness,it could be describedas thefirst attemptat ethno-history.21 But Heruywas undoubtedlythe mostprolific of the whole lot, havingto his creditat leastfour major works of historicalimport. Ityop%ya-na Mätämma is a fairlysober and balancedaccount of the reignof EmpeorYohannes, quite in contrastto the vituperationwith which his contemporary,Afäwärq Gäbrä-Iyyäsus, treats that emperor. YäHeywätTarik is a biographicaldictionary that has served as a handy companionto historicalresearch on the late nineteenthand earlytwentieth centuries.22 Finally, Wazéma ("Eve") was designedto be a preludeto themuch more elaborate Yältyop'ya Tarik ("History of Ethiopia")that has come down to us only in galleyproofs and in incompleteform, its publicationhaving been interruptedby theItalian invasion of 1935-36.In thelast-mentioned work,its essentiallyShäwa-centric character notwithstanding, Heruy attains rare heights of objectivityand methodologicalsophistication in his discussionof the troubledrelationship 23 betweenEmperor Yohannes and his insubordinatevassal, Negus Menilek. Of interestis also the variedmanner in whichthese early intellectuals treated the threeemperors - Téwodros,Yohannes and Menilek.The firstgets enthusiasticadmiration fromGäbrä-Heywät,24 understanding from Tayyä,25 and disrespectand harshjudgement from Heruy.26Afäwärq's vituperativetirade on Yohannes is balanced by the sympathetic assessmentof Heruy, not to speakof the succinct corrective of Gabra-Heywatthat "in orderto praiseMenilek, it is notnecessary to condemnYohannes".27 Finally, Menilek evokes widely divergentportrayals. Aföwärq is fulsomein Iiis adulation.28Atsmé characterized him the greatestemperor since Yekunno Amlak.29Täklä-Hawaryat, who exhibits exceptional originalityin highlightingthe role of maidservants and pack animalsin theEthiopian victory at Adwa, strivesto understandthe predicamentof the emperorand his own patron,Ras 30 Mákonnen Gäbrä-Heywät'scritique of the reignof Menilek remainslatent rather than patent31The mostunremitting denunciation of the emperorcame fromthe EritreanGäbrä- EgziabhérGila-Maryam, who could neverforgive the emperorfor his abandonmentof his nativeregion to the Italians.Menilek, he statedwith passion, should not aspirefor a higher titlethan that of "King ofKings of half of Ethiopia".32

Transition The above fascinatingexperiment in modernhistory-writing ended with the Italian Occupatioa As in otherspheres of intellectualactivity, the immediatepost-Liberation years wereto have littleof theexcitement of thepre-War days. But exigencysoon broughtinto the limelighta historianwho servedas a bridgebetween the pioneersand the professional historiansand yetcontinued to makepublic impact into the 1980s.That historian was thelate Täklä-S'adeqMäkurya, who had his schoolingin theera ofthe Pioneers and yetcould present a paperat the 10thInternational Conference of Ethiopian Studies, held in Paris in 1988. Over thoseyears, he has publishedsome eighthistorical works, a recordthat excels thatof the prolificHeruy Wâldâ-Sellasé and dwarfsthat of the professionalhistorians who came after

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JES, Vol, XXXIII, No. 2 (November2000) 7 him.Although the two have similarities,Täklä-S'adeq, unlike his predecessor,has managedto maintaina safe distancefrom the affairsof state,being preferred mostly for ambassadorial postsbefore the Revolution and livingin virtualor actualretirement afterwards.33 While the postshe occupiedinside the country (ranging from a non-demandingposition in theMinistry of Educationto headingthe NationalLibrary and the AntiquitiesAdministration) were congenialto his scholarlypursuits, his ambassadorialdesignations gave himthe spare time to do thewriting. Pragmatismhas characterizedmost of his works.The exigencyreferred to above - thecritical need feltin the 1940s foran Ethiopianhistory textbook34 - was theoccasion forhis debutinto historical writing with the publication of thebook withwhich his namehas been readilyassociated in the publicimagination, Yältyopya Tarik Kä 'As'é Téwodroseskä QädamawiHaylâ-Sellasé. This was reportedlyaccomplished in a matterof two weeks,35 presumablyon the basis of noteshe had alreadytaken. But he himselfgradually became awareof the limitations of that work, which was morepopular than scholarly. The trilogywith whichhe capped his career - pursuingthe themeof Ethiopianunity under the successive reignsof Téwodros,Yohannes and Menilek- was meantto fleshout the earliersketchy narrative.36But, in additionto the scholarlycraving for perfection,there was the more practicalobjective of demonstratingthe strongfoundations of Ethiopianunity in theface of thesecessionist movement in Eritrea.As such,the enterprise enjoyed government support and encouragement.37Similarly, his grandtome, YäGraft Wärära , was meantto be a responseto thethreat of Somali irredentism. 38 Like hisprecursor, Heruy, a Shäwanbias permeatesmost of his works.Yet, therehas been a noticeablerefinement in bothhis researchand presentationover the years.Writing historybackwards, as it were,he was able to deal withthe whole span of Ethiopianhistory, evenif the cut-off points were generally the traditional reigns of kings - fromLebnä Dengel to Téwodrosand fromYekunno-Amlak to Lebnä Dengel.39In his prefaceto the Lebnä- Dengel-Téwodrosperiod, the author clearly makes a consciouseffort to distancehimself from the chroniclers,whom he criticizesfor their adulatory tone when writingabout monarchs, theiranonymity, their preference for the Ge'ez medium,and theirnot so helpfulchronology. He also gives a surveyof Ethiopiemanuscripts found in Europeanlibraries as well as highlightingthe principalforeign authors on Ethiopia.40In the trilogyon Ethiopianunity, Täklä-S'adeqpushes his methoda notchhigher by introducingfootnotes to authenticatehis statements,annexing the letters of theemperors (with acknowledgement of the sources),and attachinga bibliographyand biographical sketches of the major personalities. A major source of Täklä-S'adeq's success and popularity,as comparedto the professionalhistorians, has been his use of the Amharicmedium. He was not of coursethe firstto do this.The pioneershave alreadystarted it in thefirst half of thetwentieth century, eschewingthe Ge'ez languagethat was preferredby the chroniclersuntil the nineteenth 41 century. Nor was he alone in his own time.Yilma Déréssa,for long the imperialfinance minister,had sparedsome time from his onerousministerial responsibilities to writea bookon sixteenthcentury Ethiopia.42 But Täklä-S'adeqhad a muchbigger audience than either his predecessorsor his contemporaries.Thus, while the professionalstalked to themselvesor communedwith their foreign colleagues, he was theonly major writer who cateredto a public thatfelt more at homein Amharicthan in English.

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ProfessionalHistoriography Professionalhistoriography denotes the pursuitof historicalstudies as a full-time occupation,almost invariablyin an academic setting.It encompassesboth trainingand research.Its lynchpinis thecritical evaluation and analysisof sources,which are thebases of historicalreconstruction. It also involves the discussionof historicalfindings through seminarsand conferencesand thedissemination of the resultsthrough historical journals. In thatsense, professional historiography in Ethiopia is barelyfour decades old, laggingbehind Europeby abouta century.The twomajor centres where that historiography developed have been the Instituteof EthiopianStudies and the Departmentof Historyof Addis Ababa University(formerly Haile Sellassie I University).The mainvenues for the discussionof historicalissues, as well as othersectors of Ethiopianstudies, have been the International Conferencesof Ethiopian Studies (started in 1959 butheld regularly only since 1982) and the not so annual seminarsof the Departmentof History.Up to 1974, the Interdisciplinary Seminarof the Faculties of Artsand Educationwas anotherimportant forum where historical researchfindings were testedbefore they saw the lightof day. The majorvehicle for the disseminationof researchhas been the Journalof EthiopianStudies , supplementedby conferenceand seminarproceedings as wellas thepublication of books and monographs. The foundationsfor the development of professionalhistoriography were laid in the early 1960s. In 1963, the Instituteof EthiopianStudies was established.It had a broad mandateof promoting research and publicationin thehumanities and culturalstudies as well as thepreservation of the country'sheritage. The Journal, which,except for a hiatusfrom 1975 to 1980,has continuedto come outfairly regularly up to thepresent, has also reflected thisbroad mandate, although history and linguisticshave predominated.In additionto itsfirst director,Richard Pankhurst, whose prolific publication record remains unmatched, a core of Ethiopianhistorians came to be based at theInstitute: Aleme Eshete, Bairu Tafia, Kinefe Regb Zelekeand TsehayBerhane Sellassie. With the exception of the first, whose research interests rangedfar and wide (to includefeudalism and Bolshevism,among other things), biography and textualanalysis emerged as a prevalenthistoriographical concera43 To theircredit, they (particularlythe firsttwo) were able to conducta good deal of researchthat came to be published,mainly in theJournal On the debitside was thatthey could not integratetheir researchwith teaching as theydid notalways have academichome base outsidethe Institute, whichhas remaineda researchrather than a trainingunit Anotherperson who made an imprintoutside the teaching framework was Zewde Gabre-Sellassie.44 The integrationof teaching and researchwas to be thehallmark of the Department of History,which was to emerge,in Donald Crummey'swords as "the institutionalhome of Ethiopianhistoriography".45 Two personsplayed a pivotalrole in theearly development of the department:Karl Berentzenfor European and World historyand Sven Rubensonfor Ethiopian.While Berentzen departed from the scene in theearly 1970s, to be dulyreplaced by David Chappie,Rubenson' s associationwith the department has enduredto thepresent, albeit fromthe distanceafter 1974. In the secondhalf of the 1960s,historical research joined the mainstreamof the emergingAfricanist historiography with the adventof MordechaiAbir, RichardCaulk, Donald Crummeyand TaddesseTamrat after completing their doctoral studies at SOAS. The teamwas reinforcedwith the returnof Merid Wolde Aregayfrom the same institutionin 1972 and thefinal delivery from incarceration of BahruZewde in 1981. What thenhave been the main developmentsthat historical research has witnessedin the four decades or so underreview? We shall tryto examinethe issue underthe following rubrics:

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JES,Vol xxxm, No. 2 (November2000) 9 framework,focus, scope, themes, and dissemination.I shall also tryto assess developmentsin therelated fields of archaeology and arthistory.

Framework Historicalresearch in thedepartment has been conductedat two levels: facultyand student.The formerhas dependedon the availabilityof researchtime, the latterhas been relativelymore steady and consistentBoth were seriouslyaffected by the upheavalsof the mid-1970s.While faculty research has tendedto see thelight of day in one formor another- conferenceand seminarproceedings, journal articlesand books - studentresearch results remainpredominantly unpublished - a stateof affairsthat has forceda good deal of quality researchto remainunknown and unappreciated.Until 1980, studentresearch consisted of the BAdissertation (or SeniorEssay as it is morepopularly known) that students were required to submitin their final undergraduate year. The launchingof the department's MA programmein 1979and of its PhD programmein 1990has considerablyupgraded that research. The SeniorEssay had its heydayin thelate 1960s and early1970s, when a cropof high-qualitydissertations that visibly advanced the frontiersof historicalknowledge was written.Contributing to thatstate of affairswas the EthiopianUniversity Service, whereby studentscombined one yearof teachingor othernational service in theprovinces with doing thebasic research for their dissertations. The SeniorEssay suffereda dramaticdecline after 1974and it beganto recoversome of its earlyglory only in the early1980s. Althoughthe standardof the students'language has declinednoticeably, they have continuedto apply themselvesto their research topics with an industryand ingenuitythat sometimes amazes even theirteachers. For the students,too, the exercisehas had the effectof revealing,even if somewhatbelatedly (because it is theirfinal year in the University),the fascinationof historicalresearch. Of late,it has becomepractically impossible to keep up withthe steady outflowof dissertations, a number of which are stillof considerable interest Even moretaxing hasbeen the intimidating increase of thenumber of students(in theregion of one hundredor more)allocated to the historyprogramme, which has renderedthe supervisionof the dissertationsa difficult proposition. In thelast academic year, the department for the first time inits history had to foregothe rite of defence. The MA programme,which had startedwith the limitedobjective of trainingthe department'sown junior staff, has nowbroadened to includestaff of otherhigher educational institutionsas well as secondaryschool historyteachers sponsored by the Ministryof EducatioaA waningof enthusiasmamong potential candidates in recentyears has now been reversedby the lower entrancerequirement introduced by the University,entitling all BA holdersto apply.Enthusiasm for the PhD programmehas yetto pick up, however.Although theprogramme has been designedin such a way as to give candidatesexposure in foreign (Europeanor American)academic environmentsfor a period of six to twelve months, potentialcandidates, including the department's own staff,have tended to prefergoing abroad fortheir third degree. It is appropriateto mentionhere the department'sforeign (primarily American) linkagesthat have made thisexternal PhD trainingpossible. The outgoingchairman of the department,Tekalign Wolde Mariam, was trainedat Bostonunder Jim McCann. But thetwo majorcenters of traininghave been at the Universityof Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (AbudssamadHaji Ahmad,Shumet Sishagne, and Daniel Ayana,)under Donald Crummey and at MichiganState University(Tesemma Ta'a, Guluma Gemeda,Benti Getahun,and

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Ezekiel Gebissa) underHarold Marcus.46 The factthat it has unfortunatelybecome common for studentsnot to returnafter completing their PhD studieshas had serious negative implicationsfor the growth of the department This does notnecessarily mean that they would not continueto engage in historicalresearch abroad, as the recordof two formerstaff membersof the department- GebruTareke and MohammedHasan47 - has shown.But the challengesand opportunités- bothcollective and individual- aregreater at home.

GeographicalFocus A perceptibleshift in focushas been an outstandingfeature of historicalresearch. The timewhen the non-literatesocieties of the southwere consideredas havingno history because of the absenceof writtenrecords is long gone.Parallel with developments in other partsof Africa,a criticaluse of oral sourceshas madepossible a reconstructionof theirpast and henceliberation from the northern(or Semitic)fixation that had chracterizedEthiopian studiesfor long. The greatestsingle beneficiary of thisshift of focushave been theOromo, who sincethe late 1960s havebeen thesubject of investigationat boththe undergraduate and graduatelevel.48 Statistical evaluation would most probably prove that the Wälläga region in particularhas been the area of greatestinterest Although not to the same degreeas the Oromo,studies have been made of the Afar,the Harari,the Guragé,the Sidama and the Omoticpeoples. Sustained application to thestudy of theeven more marginalized peoples of Ethiopiahas been shownby Gebre Selassie successiveinvestigation of the Waytoand the Fuga.49 It is worth emphasizinghere that this shiftof focus has been dictatedby historiographicalrather than political considerations. It startedin theimperial era, which was politicallyassociated with "Semitic" domination. And it continuedand could evenbe said to have flourishedunder the Därg. And yet,with the ascendancy of ethno-nationalistdiscourse after1991, it has becomecommon to hearEthiopian historians castigated for their neglect of the south.Nothing is more perturbingthan such accusationsto seniormembers of the department,who have investedso muchprecisely on thestudy of thesouth. True, the fact that mostof thesestudies have notbeen publishedmay partly explain such accusations.But the factthat even thosewho are aware of theirexistence, albeit in unpublishedform, resort to suchaccusations makes one sometimessuspect other motives.

TemporalScope The firstEthiopian members of the department specialized in themedieval and early modernperiods of Ethiopian history. This was probablybecause their expatriate teacher, Sven Rubenson,was concentratingon what was thenregarded as the modernperiod, i.e. the nineteenthcentury, and theonly Ethiopian teacher at thetime, Sergew Hable Sellassie,was alreadyestablished in ancientEthiopian history. Whatever the circumstances, the choice had been a decisiveone forEthiopian historiography. For both Taddesse Tamrat and MeridWolde Aregayhave set thestandard in professionalhistoriography as far as theirrespective periods are concerned,medieval and earlymodern, respectively. Not onlyhave their PhD theses(one publishedas Churchand State, theother unpublished) have been thebasic referenceworks, butthey have also explorednew avenuesof researchthat have broadenedour understanding of thosetwo periods - ethnicinteraction in thecase of Taddesse,50millenarianism, society

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JES, Vol. XXXIII, No, 2 (November2000) II and technologyand land tenurein thatof Mend.51The pathcharted by Taddesse has been followedby AhmedHasan andBelete Bizuneh.52 Since the 1970s, therehas been a perceptibleshift to the modernperiod, more specificallythe twentieth century; the attraction of even the nineteenth century, once thegreat favouriteof historians,has diminished.The only effortto reversethis trendis Shiferaw Bekele'sgrowing interest in theZämänä Mäsafent and theremarkable re-interpretation of that periodthat he has achievedthrough a carefulreading of Ethiopian documents.53 As a matterof fact,this shift from ancient and medievalto modernEthiopian history has broughtwith it the dangerof imbalancein temporalfocus, with hardly any junior staffmember choosing to specializein ancientand medievalEthiopian history. There is in shortwhat I have called elsewhere"a disturbingconcentration of modernists"in the department.54This is partly because of the contemporaryrelevance of recenthistorical issues. Partly,however, it is explicableby the greater availability of sourcematerial, both written and oral.The furtherone goes in historicalinvestigation, the more tentative the sources tend to be. Whilehistorians of the department have been shyingaway from the remote past, they have been cautiouslypushing the temporallimits of investigationfurther forward. The politicalchanges of the last quarter century have contributed to thismove. The end ofimperial rule openedmuch of the twentiethcentury to historicalinvestigation. Even then,initially, studieswere concentratedon the earlytwentieth century. It was graduallythat the frontiers werepushed to 1974. Throughoutthe Därg period,departmental research, both student and faculty,stuck to thattemporal limit with rigorousorthodoxy, as reflectedin the much commented-uponterminal year for the first edition of ^4 History of Modern Ethiopia.55 Sincethe demise of the Därg, the frontiers have once againbeen pushed to 1991. And therevolutionary period, for long the terrain only of politicalanalysts and journalists, has now been opened for sober historicalassessment In one of the graduatecourses, successive batchesof studentshave been writinguseful papers on variousaspects of the revolutionary period:the Endalkachäwcabinet, the shiftin Mä 'isortstrategy from opposition to critical supportof the Därg, the strugglebetween EPRP and TPLF, the slogan of the "Provisional PopularGovernment", and the emergenceof Mängestu'sdictatorship. Even then,such an exercisein historicalreconstruction has notbeen withoutits problems,as passionshave not yet completelycooled down and the historicalrecords for the periodare far fromreadily available.So thatwhen some expatriate colleagues tell Ethiopian historians that contemporary historycan be written(i.e. dealingwith post-1991 developments), the latter can onlywince.

Themes As alreadyindicated, a majordevelopment of recenthistoriography has been the changeof emphasisfrom political history to economicand to some extentsocial history. However,the economic history that has beenwritten has notbeen whatone mightcall "pure" economichistory - not that thatwould be necessarilymore desirable- but more of exploringthe interrelationshipbetween economics and politics.56This political-economic approach,as itwere, has beenreflected in thegreater emphasis that has beengiven to landand agrarianissues. This emphasiswas articulatedat the second departmentalseminar held in 1983 in Debre Zeit In what soundedlike a manifesto,the paper presentedto lead the discussionon theresearch agenda declared: "There is nothingmore solid than land and there is nothingmore concrete than food".57 Since then,a numberof dissertationsat boththe BA andMA levelshave been writtenunder the general rubric of land tenure, although their utility

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 12 Bahra Zewde,A Centuryof Ethiopian Historiography has been diminishedby the absenceof any clear methodologicalguidelines and theirscant relationto the productionprocess. A majorcollaborative research project on thehistory of Ethiopianland tenure was undertakenin the 1980swith the University of Illinois.The major outcomeof the projectis the recentlypublished seminal work by Donald Crummey.58The projecthelped to strengthenthe department'sinfrastructure and to facilitatethe doctoral trainingof two of its members.While it did not at the time have a directimpact on departmentalresearch on landtenure, the published outcome is expectedto have a bearingon 59 thefuture course of researchin thissphere. The resultof anothercollaborative venture was the CODESRIA-sponsoredmulti-disciplinary study of the economichistory of the imperial period,which was editedby ShiferawBekele.60 A focuson the issue of famine,which had rarelybeen treatedfrom a historicalangle, has been achievedin theBA and PhD thesesof Adhana Haile.61The summationof this political-economicapproach is TekalignWolde 62 Mariam'sPhD thesis, whosepublication is eagerlyawaited. Urban historyhas been anotherimportant theme of research,a resultagain of departmentalresearch priorities. This has beenat boththe faculty and studentlevels. Writings by faculty- coveringGondär, Adwa, Nâqâmté, and Dire Dawa - haveappeared in theICES 63 proceedings. It is worthyof note in thisregard that the departmentdedicated its fourth 64 seminarto urbanhistory.1 An even moresustained application to urbanhistory has been evidentat thelevel of graduateresearch. The 1988 trio,as one mightcall them,all wroteon threedifferent towns: Bahr Dar, Jijjigaand Šašámáné.65Subsequent dissertations have dealt withAdama (Nazareth),Dessie, Dire Dawa, Gondär,Mäqäle, Yergalämand its environsas well as theKestané (Guragé) community and Aradainside Addis Ababa.66 A roughstatistical profileof the senioressays submittedto the departmentup to 1992 shows thatstudies of towns - around20% - constitutedthe single largest group. Such a corpusof data,although admittedlyof a descriptivenature, would nonetheless invite a freshsynthesis to understandthe processof urbanizationin Ethiopia At themicro-level, a numberof senioressays have been writtenon thesäfärs of Addis Ababa and Bahru'spiece on the earlysäfärs of Addis Ababa was partlyin the natureof a synthesisof these dissertations.67The two othermajor competitorshave been schoolsand churches.The lattermight be regardedas a sortof relapse to thereligious hi story that was supposedto havebeen superseded.But thestudies have had a lot moreto do withsuch political and economicissues as land thanwith religious affairs as such. Nor would such a "relapse"be totallyincomprehensible given the importancethat religionhas cometo assumein people's livesof late. In therealm of religious studies, one ofthe major achievements of the department has been thefostering of Islamic history. Although there have been a fewstudent dissertations on Muslim shrinesand otheraspects of Islam, this developmenthas centeredlargely on the scholarshipof HusseinAhmed. After an initialattraction to textualanalysis of the classical type,he made his debutwith a of the Christianbias of 68 critique predominantly Ethiopian studies. His PhD thesis,which centered on theevolution of Islam in Wällo,is now in the finalstages of publicatioa^Intellectual history,in the sense of the historyof intellectuals ratherthan the history of ideas, has been the long-timepre-occupation of BahruZewde. His decade-long ofthe twentieth intellectualsis to see the of 70 study early century finallygoing light day. But thestory would not be completeunless it is extendedto theintellectuals who have had such a palpable impacton Ethiopianpolitical life - forbetter or forworse - in the secondhalf of the century. That remains an agendafor the future.

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Archaeologyand ArtHistory Whilehistorical research in thedepartment has thusexplored divergent themes and registeredconsiderable success, it has had an unimpressiverecord - to put it mildly- in the twospheres of archaeologyand arthistory. To be fairto thedepartment, it has notbeen for lackof trying, especially with regard to archaeology,which has cometo be regardedas a vital instrumentto revitalizethe study of thecountry's ancient and medievalhistory. The effortto establishan archaeologicalunit that would serveas an embiyofor a full-blowndepartment readslike a saga in futility.That saga goes back to the 1960swhen some of thecourses that are now partof theundergraduate programme were introducedand the casts of pre-historic creaturesthat now remain as mockingreminders of that futility were acquired, largely through the effortsof the late RichardWilding. Were it not for the interventionof the French archaeologists,Francis Anfray and RogerSchneider, even running those courses would have been injeopardy after Wilding's departure in the 1970s. Circumstancesconspired to frustrate the department'smeasures to trainEthiopian archaeologists. Alemseged Abbay vanished in the Americanwilderness.71 Ayele Tarekegnbecame a casualtyof the senselesssacking of universitystaff in 1993.72The strivingsof the departmentin the archaeologicalsphere now restssolely on the shouldersof one person,Kassaye Begashaw,who has been a full-time memberof the department since 1996. At the moment,with sponsorship from the Italian-Universitycollaboration project, thedepartment finds itself on thethreshold of introducingan MA programmein archaeology. But thewait on thatthreshold has madethe proverbial däjj ťenat of theimperial court mere child'splay. Althoughit is quite some timesince theproposal secured the approvalof the Councilof GraduateStudies, implementation has been delayedfor reasons that are farfrom clear to membersof the department.In the meantime,prospective funding is being lost or diverted.The crucialneed to broadenthe horizons of ancientand medievalEthiopian history througharchaeological research - the major rationalebehind the formulationof an archaeologicaltraining programme in thefirst place - also remainsunaddressed. By contrast,itis onlyrecently that the department turned its attention seriously to the developmentof arthistory. Although, studies of Ethiopianart have a fairlylong historyand scholarsengaged in thosestudies have even startedholding their own separateconferences sincethe 1980s,that tradition has had two seriousshortcomings. First, it has had an almost incorrigiblefixation on classicalChristian art, or, to putit graphically,icons and crosses.Ray Silvermannand Neal Sobaniahave recently challenged that fixation in a convincingmanner.73 But theircritique has not had the desiredsalutary effect largely because it has remaineda critiquefrom outside. A successfuleffort to broadenthe conference mandate to includecrafts andphotography as well as theperforming arts was madeat thefourth conference in Triestein 1996.But that does notseem to havehad a lastingimpact, either. Secondly,the historicalelement in Ethiopianart historyhas been ratheron the slenderside. Whatwe have had so farcould be moreproperly described as artcritique or art appreciationrather than art history. In shortartistic developments have rarelybeen placed in theirproper historical context. It is to help rectifythis defect that the departmenthas now turnedits attention to developinga courseor courses in arthistory. One of itsjunior members, AbebawAyalew, is beingdirected into doing his MA dissertationin thefield of art history. A close workingrelationship with the Fine Artsschool, which has nowbeen integratedwith the University,is also beingexplored. But itwill be sometime until the desired impact is madeon an areathat has been so farlargely the domain of foreign scholars.

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 14 Bahra Zewde.^4Century of Ethiopian Historiography Dissemination The disseminationof its researchfindings has been the Achilles' heel of the department.Although a good deal of staffresearch has seen thelight of day throughseminar and conferenceproceedings as well as periodicalarticles, almost all studentresearch remains unpublished.This has meantthat the many good qualityB A and MA thesesare knownonly to theenterprising and persevering.The exceptionto thissorry state of affairsis thecase oftwo formergraduates who publishedAmharic versions of theirdissertations.74 The idea of launchinga publicationproject (particularly with regard to the MA theses)was raisedat various times and differentlevels of the Universityadministration. But nothinghas materializedso far,Even withstaff research, because of the limited nature of the circulation of proceedingsand periodicals,their work has been knownonly to theircolleagues, expatriate and national.It is onlythrough the publication of books that they could reach the wider public. And,when it comesto that,the department can countonly four to itscredit so far:Church and Statein Ethiopia, A Historyof Modern Ethiopia , A ShortHistory of Ethiopia and theHorn J5 andEconomic History of Ethiopia edited by ShiferawBekele.

Popular and AlternativeHistory This curiousamalgam of impressive scholarship and diffidentpublication has putthe departmentat a disadvantagevis-a-vis practitioners of whatI have called herepopular and alternativehistory, who are notassailed by thesame kind of diffidencein goingpublic. In as muchas theground covered happens to coincidewith historical research proper, it is difficult to ignorethese practitioners. So a few wordsto relatetheir versions and assertionsto the findingsof professionalhistoriography are in order.All themore so in as muchas theyhave comein somecases to affectthe teaching-learning process in a negativefashion. In a way,the popular rendering of historyhas alreadybeen anticipatedby theworks of Täklä-TsadeqMakurya. But thosethat have followed in his trailhave notalways matched eitherhis eruditionor his scholarlybent. The personwho has come nearestto himin output and has perhapssurpassed him in methodologyis Lapiso G. Dilebo. In fact,Lapiso couldbe said to be sittingastride the professional and thepopular. Like Täklä-Tsadeq,he has written mostof his worksin Amharic,which thus has meantthat he has a widerreadership than the department'shistorians. Between 1982 and 1999 he producedfour volumes that are presented as a sequence("Book One" to "Book Four")but are notexactly sequential.76 As a matterof fact,in view of therepetitions that abound, the four volumes could easilyhave been reduced to two. The authoris remarkablyconversant with many of the availablehistorical sources, bothprimary and secondary.He paintson thebroad canvas of Ethiopianhistory with bold strokesthat alternately demonstrate flashes of inspirationand boutsof recklessness.Eclectic and didactic,he also has a penchantfor bombast.Yet, the analyticalframe of his reconstructionprovides a rarehistorical insight A majorasset of his works- and one that clearlysets him apart from the other popular historians - is thelegitimate place thatthey give to thehistory of the southern peoples of Ethiopia. At a lowerlevel than him are twowriters - Belai Gidayand P'awlosÑoñño - who havebeen tryingto writehistory from differing perspectives. The former'sworks - bothin the studyof currencyand bankingand thatof Ethiopian civilization - tendto be anchoredon the Aksumiteera of Ethiopianhistory.77 His book on Aksumitecoins is a misnomersince that subject is dispatchedin about five pages. His major work ("Ethiopiancivilization") perpetuatesthe traditional interpretation ofEthiopian history both in thecentral place it gives

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JES»Vol XXXIII, No. 2 (November2000) 15 to thestory of Queen of Sheba,who is said to have had hercapital in Aksum(!), and itstotal absorptionin theSemitic north. P'awlos Ñoñfíohas donea relativelymore respectable job. His choiceof morerecent periods(nineteenth and twentiethcenturies) has also made his taskless onerous.Of his three works,78the one on theItalo-Ethiopian war of 1935-36is themost disappointing and thaton Menilekperhaps the mostuseful. With candour that could have been disarminghad it not been damaging,the author tells us thathe has notused Ethiopiansources for the first work becausethey are invariablybiased.79 He thusends up usingmostly Italian sources. Adducing the valid argumentthat "one photographcan explainbetter than one thousandwords", he reproducesphotographs to surfeitwithout however bothering to tell the readerhis sources. Some of the photos,however, are rare,though the captionssometimes strike one as rather capricious. His book on Menilekwas writtenwith the central objective of showingthat Menilek was notmerely interested in purchasingarms and expandinghis realmbut also in introducing many of the moderninstitutions in the country.The great attractionof the work is undoubtedlythe large corpusof originaldocuments (decrees and letters)that embellish it. Ratherfrustratingly, the author has not thoughtit fitto tell us whereand how he got these originaldocuments. Likewise, the readeris leftin the darkas to the sourcesof the many photographs,some of themof rarequality (like thaton p. 435 showingMenilek and T'aytu relaxingwith members of theirnobility in whatappears to be theirelfeñ). The documents become a veritablecascade as the authorgoes on to depictMenilek the modernizer,the narrativeoften assumingthe characterof a series of letters.The author's thirdand posthumouslypublished work is a sympatheticaccount of thereign of Téwodrosintended to correctwhat the author considered was the standardportrayal of the emperoras cruel.The photoshere are not as of good qualityas in "Menilek"nor are the originaldocuments (of whichnonetheless there are quitea fewin bothAmharic and Arabic)as copious.A common failingof all theworks is theabsence of general context within which the particular stories are told. Runningcounter to thesepopular renditions and creatinga moreserious challenge to professionalhistoriography are thecontentions of tracts reflecting an explicitpolitical agenda. Theseoften represent a complete negation of almost all thathas been achievedby professional historiography.The lead in thisdirection was takenby pro-EPLFwriters (I deliberatelyavoid theuse of theterm historian for there were none amongstthem who would qualifyfor that description).I wouldnot dwell on themhere as has been handledcompetently already.80 In retrospect,all thateffort by an arrayof EPLF sympathizersto inventa separateEritrean historystrikes one as patentlymisplaced. At the end of the day,the destinyof Eritreawas determinedand will continueto be determinednot so muchby historyas by thehard facts of economicsand politics.In thatsense, the nonchalance with which Ethiopian and Ethiopianist historianstreated those inventions was perhapsnot as irresponsibleas it mighthave appeared But, in view of the factthat the same line of inventinghistory is being followedby some membersof the Oromo nationalist camp, it is I thinkincumbent on historiansto setthe record straightbefore another tragedy is unleashedin thename of historyon thishapless country of ours. Space does notpermit a fulltreatment of the subject.In thecontext of thispiece, I wouldlike to drawattention to someof theblatant assertions of two authorswho have come 82 to representthe trend: Asafa Jalata81 and theSisai-Holcomb duo. It is quiteobvious from a readingof these writers that they are eitherunaware of the many studies of the Oromo done by

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 16 Bahra Zewde.A Centuryof Ethiopian Historiography membersand studentsof thedepartment or deliberatelyignore them because theyfind them incompatiblewith their political agenda. Whateverthe explanation,it is painfulto come acrosssuch a blatantuntruth as theclaim that Oromo scholars are "discouragedor prohibited" fromwriting in Ethiopiaand thatOromo studies is "flourishing"in Kenyawhile it is "non- existent"in Ethiopia.83While one would sympathizewith the effortsto rectifythe historiographicalinjustice that had been perpetratedon thesouthern peoples of Ethiopia(the Oromo included),it is difficultto see how thiscan be achievedby ignoringthe worksof historiansin thepast three decades. Rectificaiton could be attainedby a soberand systematic reconstructionof thehistory of the southernpeoples and notby swingingto theother end of thependulum and replacing the old mythologyby a newone. The fundamentalpremise of thesetwo works is thattwo entitiesknown as Oromia and Ethiopiaexisted in virtualindependence until Menilek conquered the former in the last quarterof the nineteenthcentury. The duo assertconfidently that "Oromia and Abyssinia shareda longborder for centuries".84 Asafa goes one stepfurther and reproducesa mapby the nineteenthcentury German missionary, Krapf, showing a regioncalled "Ormonia"which is presumedto be a corruptionof "Oromia". Rather inconveniently, this entity is locatedsouth of Käfa and Wälayta,an areathat is notcommonly associated with Oromo settlement. No honest historianwho knowshis sourcescould vouch forthe existenceof a pan-Oromoterritorial entitycalled Oromiabefore the twentiethcentuiy. To argue thatsuch an entityhas now become a formaldesignation of the Oromo-inhabitedareas or even thatan independent Oromiawill be bornin thefuture is one thing.To projectthat into the past is quiteanother. Related to this argumentis the claim thatit was the villainousMenilek - once again- who destroyedthe gada system.While it is true thatthe incorporationof the nineteenthcentury has resultedin thedenigration of Oromoculture and identity,to extendit intoa universaldestruction of thegada is a case of overkill.Studies by serioushistorians, includingthe leading historian of the Oromo, Mohammed Hasan, have shownthat, in thecase for instanceof the Gibe region,the systemcollapsed through internal stresses rather than externalpressure. Even greaterdistortions are committedwhen the authors push the theory of Ethiopian dependency.Ethiopian independence was achieved,we are toldat one point,not through any particular"bravery" of the Ethiopians but because of the alliance with European powers, with whomthey shared a commonreligion, and the exploitationof the rivalryof the tripartite powers- Britain,France and Italy.85Presumably because Menilek managedto acquire firearmswhile the Oromo rulers did notor did so onlyto a limitedextent, Ethiopia ("formerly Abyssinia")is supposedto have annexedthe Oromoterritories with the help of European powers.86In fact,so the argumentgoes, theEuropean powers went even further:they sent theirrepresentatives to set up Ethiopiangovernment institutions. So muchso that"a European or foreign-bornadviser would have indeedbeen foundin thenext room or behindthe door in everyoffice of the bureaucracy".87To give the characterizationa graphiccharacter, the "number of foreigners"in PankhursťsEconomic History is conveniently- if quite dishonestly- transformedinto "Foreign Employees in Ethiopia".88Even theprominent role thatEthiopia played in the foundingof the OAU is describedas "a premierexample of Ethiopia'srole in regardto actingas a foilfor the implementation ofWashington's policies".89 In sum,setting out to demonstratethe invention of Ethiopia, Holcomb and Sisai onlysucceed in inventinghistory.

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Prospects The above surveyhas hopefullyshown the progress that Ethiopian historiography has registeredin thelast century.The Departmentof Historyof Addis Ababa University,which has playeda pre-eminentrole in thisdevelopment, has donea commendablejob in shiftingthe geographicalfocus of historicalinvestigation from the north to thesouth. This has been made possiblethrough a freshappreciation and scientificexploitation of oral sources.It has also succeededto a remarkabledegree in integratingresearch with the learning process, with all its programmes(undergraduate and graduate)geared ultimatelyto the generationof fresh historicalknowledge. The informalnational network of historyteachers, who do not easily forgetthe skills of historical investigation or lose theirprofessional integrity, is by and largea productof the department. Whilemuch has been achieved,there is hardlyroom for complacency, however. The historian'sprofession is still confrontedwith considerablechallenges - challengesthat sometimesassume a dauntingcharacter. The responsibilityof meetingthese challenges rests partlyon the department.One of these challengesis the explorationof new themesof research,such as environmentalhistory and socialhistory. The departmenthas alreadytaken a commendablestep with regard to thelatter by directingone of itsjunior members to thestudy of social history.Although the departmentdedicated its 8thdepartmental seminar (held in Z wayin 1998) to genderhistory, that burgeoning branch of historicalstudies is yetto feature prominentlyin thedepartment's research agenda.90 Not onlyhas genderto be studiedbut even morevigorous efforts have to be exertedto changethe oppressivelymale profileof the 91 department. There is also a need to adopt new methodologiesthat could help link up historicalresearch with researchin otherdisciplines, notably social anthropology.The integrationof Ethiopianhistoriography into the Africanmainstream, a perennial concern, is stillfar from achieved to a satisfactorydegree. While it is difficultto ask historiansto sacrifice narrative,nonetheless the virtue of analysisin sharpeningand deepeningnarrative has to be appreciated.Above all, if the departmentwishes to make the impactthat it wishes and deserves,it has to takeseriously the issue of dissemination of research. All the above are internalchallenges that the departmentcould tryto meet.More dauntingare what one couldcall theexternal challenges. The lack ofunderstanding, not to say obstruction,which the MA programmein archaeologyhas metfrom higher authorities is a good case in point.The issue of NationalArchives, for long a majorhandicap of historical research,now seems to be resolved,albeit in a mannernot altogethersatisfactory to the department.But, whateverthe inherentimperfections of the legislationthat set up the institution,it is a majorstep and departmentmembers have to do theirbest to strengthenit. Most disturbingis the progressivedeterioration of conditionsin Addis Ababa University.This has had manydimensions and ramifications.The Universityappears to have had the worstof both worlds,lacking in autonomyand deprivedof resources.When an institutionfails to provideeither meaningful remuneration or a conduciveenvironment, it cannotexpect to retainits staff. When academic leaders are appointedand dismissedat whim, theycannot be expectedto demonstratecourage or vision.The unplannedinflux of students (withone hundredor more in the senior year) has madethe normal conduct of teaching a well- nighimpossible task. It is indicativeof the acuteness of the malaise that, in thisday and age of theInternet, it has notinfrequently become difficult to findeven a decentblackboard to write on. In short,while private colleges are mushroomingand regional"universities" are being trumpeted,the one trulynational higher education institution that the countryhas is being allowedto decay.

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Whateverits imperfections,the imperial regime gave thenation a universitythat has withstoodthe vicissitudes of time and the vagaries of state policies. It was able to surviveeven thedarkest days of Därg rule.One could onlyhope thatthe present generation of Ethiopia's rulerswould not presideover the dissolutionof thatinstitution. For thateventuality would mean,among other things, the end of Ethiopian academic historiography as we haveknown it.

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NOTES

* The Ethiopian,as distinctfrom Ethiopianist, focus of thispaper is explainedby thefact that it has been producedas partof a three-levelretrospective for the FourteenthInternational Conferenceof EthiopianStudies. Two otherpapers (by Donald Crummeyand Tekeste Negash) are expectedto deal withthe Ethiopianistdimension and Eritreanhistoriography, respectively.Although I havebeen grappling for long with most of the issues discussed in this paper,it assumedthis form largely during a refreshingsojourn in Trondheim(Norway) in August2000. 1 am gratefulto HaraldAspen of the Department of Social Anthropologyat the NorwegianUniversity of Scienceand Technologyfor hosting me therein connectionwith the seminaron "Developmentin Africa: Research Challenges".My visit to Norway, in connectionwith the 19thInternational Congress of HistoricalSciences held in Oslo, was sponsoredby NORAD throughthe good officesof theRoyal NorwegianEmbassy in Addis Ababa.To themtoo I expressmy gratitude. I am gratefulto Donald Crummeyand colleagues in theDepartment of History for helpful comments on an earlierdraft of this paper. 1 For lucidexposition of theRankean paradigm and its critics,the reader is referredto: Peter Burke,"Overture: the New History,its Past and itsFuture," in idem.,ed. NewPerspectives in HistoricalWriting (Cambridge, 1991), pp. 1-23,and GeorgGiggers, Historiography in the TwentiethCentury : From ScientificObjectivity to thePostmodern Challenge (Hanover and London,1997), particularly the Introduction. For yet another broad survey of historiographical trends,see GeoffreyBarraclough, Main Trendsin History (New Yorkand London, 1991). 2 One of the leadinglights of post-modernismin historyhas been the AmericanHayden White,who has articulatedhis views throughtwo influentialworks: Metahistory : The HistoricalNarrative in NineteenthCentury Europe (Baltimore,1973), and Tropics of Discourse: Essays in CulturalCriticism (Baltimore and London,1978). See in particularhis chapterin thelatter entitled'The Burdenof History". For a summaryof his views, anthology " as well as an enthusiasticendorsement, see KeithJenkins, On Whatis History? FromCarr andElton to Rorty and White(London and New York,1995). 3 Giggers,p. 13 4 Giggers,p. 14. 5 Burke,pp. 238ff. 6 RolandOliver, In theRealms of Gold.Pioneering in African History (Madison, 1997); Jan Vansina,Living with Africa (Madison, 1994). 7 One should note here the centralplace thatjournals have occupied in the growthof historiographicaltraditions, from the RankeanHistorische Zeitshrifi to the Annales that revolutionizedhistorical writing in the twentiethcentury. The Americanequivalent of the SO AS-basedJA H lias been theInternational Journal of African Historical Studies , based at theAfrican Studies Center of Boston University, while the French Cahiers d'études africaines has performeda parallel function for the francophone Africanist community.

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 20 Bahra Zewde.^4 Centuryof Ethiopian Historiography 8 See his two workswritten over a gap of some twenty-fiveyears reflecting progressive refinementof the methodology: Oral Tradition: A Studyin HistoricalMethodology (Chicago, 1961) and Oral Traditionas History(Madison, 1985). 9 An overviewof thesedevelopments is to be foundin Paul E. Lovejoy's"The Ibadan school of historiographyand its critics,"in Toyin Falola, ed., AfricanHistoriography: Essays in honourof Jacob Ade Ajayi (London and Lagos, 1993),pp. 195-202. 10 One of them,Issa Schviji,has recentlybrought this atmosphere to lifethrough a collection ofhis lectures:Intellectuals at theHill. Essaysand Talks1969-1993 (Dar es Salaam,1993). 11 The acronymsfor, respectively, Council forthe Developmentof Economic and Social Researchin Africaand theOrganization for Social ScienceResearch in Easternand Southern Africa,two organizations(one continental,the otherregional) that have playedsuch a vital rolein thepromotion of social scienceresearch by Africanscholars. 12 One shouldalso notehere the highly successful CODESRIA-sponsored network of the early 1990s thatbrought together historians and politicalscientists from different countries of Africaas well as fromthe Diaspora to do in-depthstudies of the militaryand militarismin Africa.Edited by Eboe Hutchfuland AbdulahiBathily, the studies have nowbeen published as TheMilitary and Militarism in Africa (Dakar, 1998). 13 This was not the same as the book withwhich Tayyä's name has mostcommonly been associated: Yältyop'yaHezb Tarik. There has been some speculationthat Heruy's book Yältyop'yaTarik (discussed below) mightactually have been writtenby Tayyä.I discussthe pointsfor and againstthis allegation in myforthcoming book, Pioneers of Change,but was unableto reachany definite conclusioa 14 BahruZewde, "Ethiopian Historiography: Retrospect and Prospect,"in RichardPankhurst and Taddese Beyene,eds., SilverJubilee Anniversary of theInstitute of EthiopianStudies. Proceedingsof the Symposium : Addis Ababa, November 24-26, 1988 (AddisAbaba, 1990), p. 89. 15 BahruZewde, Pioneers of Change: The Reforming Intellectuals of Early Twentieth Century Ethiopia(to be co-publishedby JamesCurrey Publishers and AddisAbaba UniversityPress); forthcoming. 16 In BerhanYehun (Asmara, ), pp. 336-337. 17 Mängest-naYäHezb Astädadär (Addis Ababa, ), pp. 16-29. 18 TamratAmmanuél, "Selä Ityop'yaDärasyan," Maison des EtudesEthiopiennes, Bulletin No. 11 (AddisAbaba, 1997), p. 34. 19 As'mé, YäGalla Tarik (IES Ms.), p. 15. My referenceshere are to the unpublished manuscript,which has nowbeen translatedand annotatedby BairuTafia: Asma Giyorgisand His Work.History of the Galla and theKingdom ofŠawa (Stuttgart,1987). 20 The latestedition of thatbook has been published,with an Englishtranslation, by Grover Hudsonand TekesteNegash, eds., Yältyop'yaHezb Tarik.History of thePeople ofEthiopia (Uppsala,1987).

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JES, Voi, XXXIII, No. 2 (November2000) 21 21 TaddesseTamrat has used it skilfullyto reconstructthe Gafat past: "Ethnic Interaction and Integrationin Ethiopian History: The Case ofthe Gafat," JES , XXI (1988), pp. 121-154. 22 For a comparativeevaluation, see Bahru Zewde, "Two Perceptionsof a Biographical Dictionaiy:Heruy's YaHeywat Tarik and Mahtama-Sellase's Che Balaw" Historyin Africa. 23 Yältyop'yaTarik (copy available at IES Library),pp. 60, 67, 78, 85-89. 24 "Menilek",p. 343. 25 TayyäPapers, National Library of Ethiopia, Ms. Of 1919/20. 26 Wazéma,p. 51. 27 Gäbrä-Heywät,"Menilek", p. 338. 28 His openingsalvo sets the tone of his ingratiatingbiography of the emperor:Dagmawi Menilek(Rome, 1901), pp. 1-2. 29 YäGalla Tarik, Ms, II, p. 190. 30 UnpublishedAutobiography, pp. 91, 94, 116. 31 Notehis prevarication when he broachesthe subject in "Menilek",pp. 342-343. 32 See TekesteNegash, in No Medicinefor theBite of a WhiteSnake: Noteson Nationalism andResistance in Eritrea, 1890-1940 (Uppsala, 1986), p. 11. 33 A modestaccount of his careeris to be foundin a BA thesisrecently submitted to the Departmentof Historyof Addis Ababa University:Aynalem Getachew, "Life and Historical Writingsof Tekle SadikMekuria" (AAU: History,2000). Fortunately,the student was able to interviewthe subject of herstudy. It is hopedthat his childrenwould publish the manuscript ofhis own reminiscences in thenot too distantfuture. 34 As a consequenceof the dominantBritish presence in Ethiopiain the 1940s, European historyand textbookshad come to dominatethe schools.The standardhistory textbooks for longwere The Old Worldand TheMarch of Times,which recounted the history of the West andthe exploits of Western historical heroes. 35 Aynalem,p. 33. 36 So the authorsays in the prefaceto the firstvolume of the trilogy:Asé Téwodros-na Yältyop'yaAndennät (Addis Ababa, 1981 EC), p. 27. 37 The authorreveals ( Téwodros, p. 28) thathe got governmentfunding which made it possiblefor him to conducta four-monthresearch in Europeanarchives. 38 Ibid. 39 Thesewere published, respectively, in 1944EC and 1951EC. 40 pp. 18-27,34. 41 Of course chroniclerstoo had startedabandoning Ge'ez for Amharic,starting with Téwodros'schronicler, Zänäb, and endingwith Menilek's, Gâbrâ-Sellasé, the last of theroyal chroniclers.

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 22 Bahru Zewde.A Centuryof Ethiopian Historiography 42 Yältyo'pyaTarik Bä 'AsrasedestúñawKeflä Zämän (Addis Ababa, 1959 EC). This deals mainlywith the wars of Ahmad Grañ; the demographicmovement of the Oromo,which occurredin thesame centuiy and whichone wouldhave thoughtwould be of closerinterest to theauthor, is dealtwith only briefly towards the end. 43 RichardPankhurst shares his reminiscencesof theseearly years in "I.E.S. Foundationand theFirst Decade: A PersonalView by Dr. RichardPankhurst, the Founding Director," Silver JubileeAnniversary of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (Addis Ababa, 1990), pp. 11-26. 44 His maincontribution to Ethiopianhistoriography was the publishedversion of his PhD thesis:Yohannes IV of Ethiopia.A PoliticalBiography (Oxford, 1975). Aftera long hiatus duringthe Därg era,he has nowemerged onto public life and has beenmaking an impactboth in theacademic and popular milieu. 45 "Society,State and Nationalityin the RecentHistoriography of Ethiopia,"Journal of AfricanHistory , 31 (1990), p. 105. 46 The list does not includethose currently undergoing training: Abebe Fisseha and Wudu Tafetein Illinoisand GetnetBekele, Tibebe Eshete, Solomon Addis and GetahunMesfin in Michigan- all formerstudents of the department. 47 TheirPhD theses,which they both completed while on studyleave fromthe department, have now been publishedand in differentways set a respectablestandard of historical scholarship:Gebru Tareke, Ethiopia : Power and Protest.Peasant Revoltsin the Twentieth Century(Cambridge, 1991); MohammedHasan, The Oromoof Ethiopia: A History1570- 1860 (Cambridge,1990). 48 The list is headed by TesemmaTa'a, "The Oromoof Wollega: A HistoricalSurvey to 1910", MA thesis(1980); Daniel Ayana,"Protestant Missions in Wollega: A Studyof the Activitiesof the Missionsand theLocal Converts1898-1935," MA thesis(1984); Guluma Gemeda,"Gomma and Limmu:the Process of StateFormation among the Oromo in theGibe region,c. 1795-1889,"MA thesis(1984); and TekalignWolde Mariam,"Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Kingdomof Jimma(ca. 1800-1935),"MA thesis(1984). The firstthree continuedthe geographical focus into their PhD theses,although Daniel and Gulumahandled morerecent political-economic themes. 49 "The Waytoof Lake Tana: An Ethno-History,"MA thesis(1984); "A HistoricalSurvey of the Fuga Low-Caste OccupationalCommunities of South-CentralEthiopia," PhD thesis (2000). 50 "Processesof EthnicInteraction and Integrationin EthiopianHistory: The Case of the Agaw,"Journal of African History , 29 (1988), pp. 5-18; "EthnicInteraction and Integrationin EthiopianHistory: The Case ofthe Gafat," Journal of Ethiopian Studies , XXI (1988), pp. 121- 154. 51 "MillenarianTraditions and Peasant Movementsin Ethiopia, 1500-1855," in Sven Rubenson,ed., Proceedingsof the SeventhInternational Conference of EthiopianStudies (Addis Ababa, Uppsala and East Lansing,1984), pp. 257-262; "Societyand Technologyin Ethiopia, 1500-1800,"JES, XVII (1984), pp. 127-147; "Land Tenure and Agricultural Productivity1500-1850," Proceedings of the ThirdAnnual Seminarof the Departmentof History(Addis Ababa, 1986),pp. 115-129.

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JES, Vol XXXIII, No. 2 (November2000) 23 52 Ahmed Hasan, "A HistoricalSurvey of Ethnic Relations in Yefat and Temmuga, NortheasternShewa (1889-1974)," MA thesis(1994); BeleteBizuneh, "Inter-Ethnic Relations in Borana:A HistoricalSurvey to 1943,"MA thesis(1999). 53 See his "The Statein theZamcma Masafent (1786-1853): An Essay in Interpretation,"in TaddeseBey ene et al , Kasa and Kasa. Papers on theLives , Timesand ImagesofTewodros II and YohannesIV (1855-1889)(Addis Ababa, 1990), pp. 25-68;and "Reflectionson thePower Eliteof theWärä Séh Masfenate(1786-1853) ''Annales d'Ethiopie, Vol. 15 (1990), pp. 157- 179. 54 Bahru,"Retrospect and Prospect", p. 94. 55 An exceptionto this rule is ShumetSishagne, who pushed his studyof the Eritrean liberationfront into the early 1980s: "PowerStruggle in theEritrean Secessionist Movement," MA thesis(1984). 56 See, forexample, Abdussamad H. AhmaďsMA thesis,"Trade and Politicsin Goijam 1882- 1935" (1980), carriedthrough into his PhD thesis,"Gojjam: Trade,Early Merchant Capital and the WorldEconomy 1901-1935" (University of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign,1986); ShiferawBekele's MA thesis,"The Railway,Trade and Politics:A HistoricalSurvey, 1896- 1935" (1982); and Bahru Zewde, "Economic Originsof the AbsolutistState in Ethiopia (1916-1935),"Journal of EthiopianStudies , XVII (1984), pp. 1-29; idem.,"The Fumbling Debutof BritishCapital in Ethiopia:A ContrastiveStudy of the AbyssinianCorporation and theEthiopian Motor Transport Company," in SvenRubenson, ed., Proceedings of the Seventh InternationalConference of EthiopianStudies (Addis Ababa, Uppsala and East Lansing: 1984),pp. 331-339;idem., "Concessions and Concession-Huntersin Post-Adwa Ethiopia: The Case ofArnold l&Az? Africa,XLV, 3(1990 ), pp. 365-383. 57 Proceedingsof the ThirdAnnual Seminarof theDepartment of History(Addis Ababa, 1986),p. 166. 58 See thedetails in Crummey,"Society, State and Nationality," p. 106. 59 Land and Societyin the ChristianKingdom of Ethiopia.From the Thirteenthto the TwentiethCentury (Urbana and Chicago,2000). 60 ShiferawBekele, ed., An EconomicHistory of Ethiopia. Volume 1 : TheImperial Era 1941- 1974 (Dakar,1995). 61 Respectively,"Peasant Response to Faminein Ethiopia,1975-1985," BA thesis(published in revisedform in theJournal of EthiopianStudies, XXI (1988)) and Historyof Selected Faminesin PeasantSocieties in Tigrayand Wallo,Ethiopia (1914-1974)" (1996). 62 "A Cityand Its Hinterlands:The PoliticalEconomy of Land Tenure,Agriculture and Food Supplyfor Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1887-1974) (Boston University, 1995). 63 As notedin BahruZewde, et al, "FromLund to Addis Ababa: A Decade of Ethiopian Studies(1982-1991)," Journal of EthiopianStudies , XXVII, 1 (1994), p. 9. Examplesare: MeridWolde Aregay,"Gondar and Adwa: A Tale of Two Cities,"in Taddese Beyene,ed., Proceedingsof theEighth International Conference of EthiopianStudies , II (Addis Ababa, 1989), pp. 57-66; ShiferawBekele, "The People of Dire Dawa. Towardsa Social History (1902-1936) (10th)and TesemmaTa'a, "The Processof Urbanizationin Welega, Western

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Ethiopia:The Case of Neqemte"(10th), later published as "The Processof Urbanizationin Wollega,Western Ethiopia: The Case ofNekemte", JES, XXVI, 1 (June1993). Bahru'sstudy of Gondar,which had also appearedat the 10th,was laterpublished as "Gondarin theEarly TwentiethCentury : A PreliminaryInvestigation of a 1930-31Census," Journal of Ethiopian Studies, XXI (1988), pp. 57-81. 64 The paperseventually came outas Proceedingsof the Fourth Seminar of the Department of History(Addis Ababa, 1989). 65 SelteneSeyoum, "A Historyof BahrDar Town, 1936-1974";Tibebe Eshete, "A Historyof JijjigaTown 1891to 1984";Bend Getahun,"A Historyof Shashemenefrom its Foundation to 1974". 66 One can thuscite the following MA theses:Ababu Aligaz,"A Historyof YirgalemTown and Its Environsfrom 1933-1974" (1995); Abdu Mohammed,"A Historyof Dase Town 1941-1991" (1997); GetahunMesfin, "Dire Dawa, 1941-1974: An InstitutionalHistory" (1997); GutemaImana, "A Historyof Adama(Nazret) Town from Its Foundation up to 1974" (1996); MedhaneTaddesse, "Salt, Trade and Urbanization:The Storyof Meqele Town,1872- 1935" (1995); ShimelisBonsa, "Migration,Urbanization and UrbanLabour Undertakings. The Case of theKistane of Addis Ababa,c. 1900-1974"(1997); SolomonAddis, "A History of the Cityof Gondar1934-1966 E.C." (1994); and Zewdu Temtime,"A Social Historyof Aradac. 1890-1935:A Survey"(1995). 67 BahruZewde, "EarlySafars of Addis Ababa: Patternsof Evolution,"in AhmedZekaria, BahruZewde and TaddeseBeyene, eds., Proceedings of theInternational Symposium on the Centenaryof Addis Ababa (AddisAbaba, 1987), pp. 43-56. 68 This was eventuallypublished as "The Historiographyof Islam in Ethiopia,"Journal of SemiticStudies 3:1 (1992), pp. 15-46. Otherworks of his include: "Islam and Islamic Discoursein Ethiopia,"in HaroldMarcus, ed., New Trendsin Ethiopian Studies. Papers ofthe 12thInternational Conference of Ethiopian Studies , Vol. I (Lawrenceville,1994), pp. 775-801; "The Lifeand Careerof ShaykhTalha b. Jafar(c. 1853-1936),"JES, XXII (1983), pp. 13-30. 69 Islam in NineteenthCentury Wallo , Ethiopia.Revival Reformand Reaction',expected publicationdate October 2000. 70 A previewof his findingsand conclusions- as wellas someprojections for future research - are to be foundin BahruZewde, "The Conceptof Japanizationin theIntellectual History of Ethiopia,"Proceedings of the FifthSeminar of the Departmentof History(Addis Ababa, 1990), pp. 1-17; idem.,"The EthiopianIntelligentsia and Italo-EthiopianWar 1935-1941," InternationalJournal of African Historical Studies', idem., "The Intellectualand the Statein TwentiethCentury Ethiopia," in HaroldMarcus, ed., New Trendsin EthiopianStudies. Papers ofthe Twelfth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Vol. I (Lawrenceville,1994). 71 He has now re-emergedonto academia, but with a book notexactly related to archaeology: IdentityJilted or Re-imaginingIdentity : The DivergentPaths of theEritrean and Tigrayan NationalistStruggles (Lawrenceville, 2000). 72 Ayelehas sincesuccessfully completed his PhD dissertationat theUniversity of Cambridge "The MortuaryPractices of AxumiteEthiopia with Particular Reference to the GuditStelae

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Field (GSF) Site", 1997) and is currentlya post-doctoralfellow at the UnivesityCollege, London. 73 RaymondA. Silverman,Ethiopia: Traditions of Creativity (East Lansing,1999). 74 WorkuNida, Jûbdu. YâGuragé Bahel-na Tarik (Addis Ababa, 1983EC) and Tabor Wami, AbbaBora 1897-1958(Addis Ababa, 1986EC). The formeris thestory of the Gurage Muslim revivalistmovement led by Hasän Enjamowhile the latter revolves around a biographyof the famouspatriot leader Däjjazmach GärasuDuki. 75 This is theculmination of years of effort by thedepartment to preparea viabletextbook for freshmentaking the introductory course on Ethiopianhistory. It was compiledfrom individual contributionsby variousmembers of the department. 76 Yältyop'yaRäjjem YäHezb-na YäMängest Tarik (Addis Ababa, 1982); Yäl tyop ya YäGäbbarSer 'at-naJemer Kapitalism (Addis Ababa, 1983); Yältyop'yaYäMäkära Ser'at-na YäErtera Teyyaqé (Addis Ababa, 1985); YältyopyawinätTarikawi Mäsärätoö-na Masäriyawoch(Addis Ababa, 1999). 77 His two mainworks are: AxumiteCoins. Money and Bankingin Ethiopia(Addis Ababa, n.d.)and EthiopianCivilization (Addis Ababa, 1992). Recently,he seemsto havefound it fit to cap his careerwith an autobiographythat is interlacedwith landmarks in Ethiopian(more strictlyTegrean) histoiy: Ityop'ya Hagûré-na Tezetayé (Addis Ababa, 1992 EC). 78 In chronologicalorder: Yältyop'ya-naYúlťalya Torenät (Addis Ababa, 1980 EC); DagmawiAťéMenilek (Addis Ababa, 1984EC); andAté Téwodros(Addis Ababa, 1985 EC). 79 He actuallycites two works in his bibliography:Käbbädä Täsämma's YäTarikMastawáša andMogäs Keflé's YäMussoliniMesťir. 80 Tekeste Negash, "Historiansand EritreanHistory: A Review Article,"in idem.,No Medicinefor theBite of a WhiteSnake : Notes on Nationalismand Resistancein Eritrea, 1890-1940 (Uppsala, 1986). AlemsegedAbbay, in the work cited above, highlightsthe contradictionsbetween popular and politicalmemoiy. 81 Oromiaand Ethiopia:State Formation and EthnonationalConflict, 1868-1992 (Boulder and London,1993); "The Strugglefor Knowledge: The Case of EmergentOromo Studies," AfricanStudies Review, Vol. 39, No. 2 (September1996), pp. 95-123. 82 BonnieHolcomb and Sisai Ibssa, The Inventionof Ethiopia. The Making of a Dependent ColonialState of Northeast Africa (Trenton, 1990). For a reviewarticle comparing this with my own A Historyof Modern Ethiopia,see Ivo Strecker,"Glories and Agonies of the EthiopianPast," Social Anthropology(1994), 2, 3, pp. 303-312. 83 Asafa,"Struggle for Knowledge," p. 106. 84 Holcomband Sisai,p. 282. 85 Asafa,Oromia and Ethiopia,p. 7. 86 Asafa, "Strugglefor Knowledge," p. 95. 87 Holcomband Sisai,p. 15. * Ibid., 139.

This content downloaded from 213.55.104.103 on Tue, 15 Dec 2015 09:25:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 26 Bahni Zewde.^4Century of Ethiopian Historiography 89 Ibid.,p. 227. 90 The possibilitiesin thissphere have been clearlydemonstrated by an excellentsenior essay submittedin June2000 describingand analyzingthe lives of threeprostitutes: Betelhem Tekola, "Narrativesof ThreeProstitutes in Addis Ababa". This is reminiscentof Tekalign Wolde Mariam'sessay based on threeslave narratives:"Three Ex-Slave Narrativesfrom SouthwestEthiopia" (1980). 91 The firstfemale historian, Tsehay Berhane Sellassie, was attachedto the IES and later movedon to studysocial anthropologyin Oxford.A femalegraduate recruited with great enthusiasminto the department in theearly 1990s, she leftit forunknown reasons after barely twoyears. All effortsby seniormembers of the department to restrainher were in vaia

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