Battle of Debre Tabor
| date | February 7, 1842 |
|---|---|
| place | Debre Tabor , Ethiopia |
| output | Pyrrhic victory for Ras Ali II. |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Yejju Oromo |
|
| Commander | |
|
Ras Ali II |
Dejazmach Wube Haile Maryam |
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 30,000 | approx. 30,000 |
The Battle of Debre Tabor occurred in 1842 during the time of the Zemene Mesafint , in which various warlords in Ethiopia fought for supremacy. The battle was an attempt by Dejazmach Wube Haile Maryams , the ruler of the Ethiopian ruler, Ras Ali II, to overthrow the ruling power in Ethiopia. Ras Ali won the battle with heavy losses, but was unable to maintain his position of power in the long term despite his victory.
prehistory
Wube's strategy against Ras Ali was based on two pillars. On the one hand, he relied on gaining a tactical advantage over Ras Ali's famous Oromo cavalry by importing firearms . Second, he hoped that a new Abuna (head of the Church) of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church would support him and thus bring the dissatisfied Christian population on his side.
Wube made several attempts to acquire firearms from European governments but did not succeed until mid-1841. Theophile Lefebvre brought a small amount of weapons and some craftsmen with him from France who could repair a cannon which Wube had received from Ras Wolde Selassie and who also made other war goods. Around the same time he learned that a new Abuna was on his way to Ethiopia. Abuna Salama III. arrived in Ethiopia at the end of 1841. After these successes, the Dejazmach abandoned his caution, openly displayed his contempt for Ras Ali's envoys and announced that he would defeat Ras Ali, whom he accused of being a Muslim at heart . In his place he planned to put Tekle Giyorgis, a descendant of the Solomonids dynasty , on the imperial throne in Gondar .
course
After Abuna Salama had reached the Wubes camp, he marched to Begemder , occupied the city of Gonder with the help of Birru Goshu and then turned south together with his allies, where Ras Alis was staying with his troops. On February 7, 1842, the two armies met at Debre Tabor . Ras Ali had managed to raise almost 30,000 soldiers. Among them were his nephew Birru Aligaz and Dejazmach Merso , the brother of his rival Wube. According to Mordechai Abir, the battle was a battle between the Christian Amhars and the people of Tigray against the Oromo, who were desperately trying to maintain their supremacy in northern Ethiopia.
Both armies had almost the same troop strength, but their better equipment with firearms meant that Dejazmach Wube's supporters had the upper hand, and Ras Ali and some of his men had to flee. While the Dejazmach and his ally Birru Goshu celebrated their victory, Birru Aligaz surprised them with a small troop. Dejazmach Wube was captured and Birru Goshu fled to Gojam across the Abbai River . After his liberation, Ras Ali rewarded his nephew with the appointment of governor of Daunt, an area bordering Amhara and Wello. Dejazmach Merso received the Wube lands in Tigray.
Despite his victory in the Battle of Debre Tabor, Ras Ali's position deteriorated. He still had enemies in Gojam , Damot , Dembiya and Lasta , the clergy continued to reject him, and his Christian subjects in Begemder and Amhara also showed little sympathy for him. In return for Abuna's support, Ras Ali was forced to release Dejazmach Wube and wage war against his ally Dejazmach Merso so that Wube could regain his lands. His Muslim allies in Welo, concerned about the stationing of the Christian Birru Aligaz on their borders, also turned away from him. Ras Ali was forced to find support from other sources and received it from the Egyptians , who at the time wanted to consolidate their power in Sudan . In the short term, this helped Ras Ali, but it contributed to his unpopularity among the local population. One of his rivals, the later Ethiopian ruler Tewodros II , finally succeeded in wresting power from Ras Ali.