Abba Seru Gwangul
Abba Seru Gwangul (died 1778) was a Son of Aba Getiye. Aba Getiye is a descendant of Sheikh Omar. Sheikh Omar is a Yemeni Islamic religious leader. Sheikh Omar married Woyzero Rajiya, a daughter of an Abyssinian noble man of the Yajju district. The descendant of Sheikh Omar are most commonly refer to as Wara Sheh, which means "Sons of the Sheikh".
The Wara Sheh began to have prominence with the emergence of Aba Gwangul who married Weyzeto Gelebu, the daughter of Ras Faris of the Lasta district. Abba Seru Gwangul had numerous children including Dejazmach Welle, Dejazmach Kormi, Abeto Yimer, and Woizero Aster. With his wife Woizero Gelebu, daughter of Ras Faris of Lasta and Salawa, Abba Seru Gwangul had Ras Ali, Ras Aligaz and Woizero Kefey.[1]
Aba Gwangul's descendants came to control Begemder and parts of Wollo, and his heirs were Enderases (Regents) of the Ethiopian Empire and rulers of the Zemene Mesafint.[2]
The Scottish explorer James Bruce met him in 1770, and recorded a vivid description of this man in his account of travels in Ethiopia.[3]
Notes
- Molla Tikuye, The Rise and Fall of the Yajju Dynasty 1784-1980, p. 201.
- Chris Proutky, Empress Taytu and Menelik II: Ethiopia 1883-1910 (Trenton: The Red Sea Press, 1986), p. 28n
- J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 110 n.2
| Preceded by none |
Chief of the Yejju | Succeeded by Ras Ali |