Wand Bewossen

Dejazmach Wand Bewossen (died 10 December 1777) was a prominent figure in Ethiopian history. He was governor of Lasta and eventually Begemeder. He was on the losing side in the Battle of Nefas Mewcha (1769), but one of the victorious generals in the Three battles of Sarbakusa (May 1771).[1] For his valor in the Battle of Faggeta (9 December 1769), which included pursuing Fasil for three days after the engagement, he was made governor of Begemder, as well as married to Woizero Yewubdar.[2] He was also married to Woizero Yeworqweha, who was a descendant of Iyasu I and Woizero Wossen Azal, daughter of Dejazmatch Eshete Awsgenyos, sometime Governor of Agaw and Damot.

Not long after his marriage to Woizero Yeworqweha, Wand Bewossen then desired to wed Wossen Azal, the sister of Hailu Eshte. Hailu would not consent to this marriage: according to Herbert Weld Blundell's translation Hailu considered this alliance bigamous, but Crummy's interpretation of the Ge'ez text is Hailu was more concerned about the incestuous nature of the marriage. Wand Bewsossen then resorted to physical force to Hailu until he finally dropped all of his objections to the alliance.[3] He was killed at Ashawa when he fell from his horse.[4]

See also

Notes
  1. J.M. Reid, Traveller Extraordinary: The Life of James Bruce of Kinnaird (New York: Norton, 1968), pp. 192-203
  2. James Bruce, Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile (1805 edition), vol. 4 p. 410. The Ethiopian chronicles call her Yewubdar.
  3. Weld Blundell, The Royal chronicle of Abyssinia, 1769-1840 (Cambridge: University Press, 1922), pp. 316-318; Donald Crummey, "Family and Property amongst the Amhara Nobility", Journal of African History, 24 (1983), p. 213
  4. Weld Blundell, Royal chronicle, p. 331
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