Product Code Database
Seble Wongel (died 4 December 1567) was Empress of Ethiopia through her marriage to Lebna Dengel. She is well-known as a key political and military figure during the Ethiopian–Adal War, as well as the reigns of her sons and grandson.
Popular tradition from the 18th century onwards holds that she came from Gojjam, though this association with the region may stem from the fact that she later settled there. The 20th-century record The Goggam Chronicle by Aleqa Tekle Iyesus suggests that Seble Wongel was a descendant of Ğara Šum from Enemay. While it is not clear if Seble Wongel actually came from Gojjam, it has been suggested that these later claims do not contradict 16th-century chronicles that record Seble Wongel as coming from outside the Ethiopian realm of direct control, as Gojjam enjoyed a high degree of autonomy at the time, and possibly not all of the area was Christian.
According to the Portuguese chronicler Miguel de Castanhoso, Cristóvão da Gama first came across the Queen while she was on top of the mountain of Debre Dammo. The mountain was said to have been heavily fortified as Imam Ahmed attempted to capture it via siege the previous year, "not out of desire for the treasures that were in it, for there were none there and he knew it well, but to get the Queen into his hands, whom he much desired, as she is very beautiful."Whiteway p. 15 Castanhoso provided a further description of the Queen:
Queen Seble Wongel advised against attacking at the Battle of Baçente, arguing that Gama should wait until her son Emperor Gelawdewos could march north from Shewa and join the Portuguese due to Ahmed Gragn having known of them.The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, as Narrated by Castanhoso With Some Contemporary Letters, the Short Account of Bermudez, and Certain Extracts from Correa, p.54 (2017) However, Gama was concerned that if he marched around this Muslim-held strongpoint, the local peasantry would be disappointed and stop providing supplies for his troops.Whiteway, p. 32. The Portuguese pitched their camp the day before Palm Sunday prior to the Battle of Jarte, the queen arrived to their rear. She was placed in the center of the camp, which was properly arranged to await for the "Moors" as it occupied a hillock "near the stream of Afgol" (Afgol Ghiorghis, Tigray Region?), the best site on the plain. Gragn, after seeing the outnumbered Christian forces, offered to allow Cristóvão da Gama and his Portuguese to return to their country as Seble Wongel had deceived him. Due to ever decreasing supplies and their opponents refusal to attack, Cristóvão da Gama arranged his forces with the queen at the center and, in the morning of Tuesday April 4, 1542, they began to march towards their enemy. The Adalites were defeated, with Gragn himself gravely wounded, and Seble's Ethiopian forces reportedly slew the Moors "as if they had been sheep".The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, as Narrated by Castanhoso With Some Contemporary Letters, the Short Account of Bermudez, and Certain Extracts from Correa, p.47 (2017) While in pursuit, the Queen had a tent pitched, her and her women bandaging the wounded with their own headgear and crying tears of joy as they had been afraid.The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, as Narrated by Castanhoso With Some Contemporary Letters, the Short Account of Bermudez, and Certain Extracts from Correa, p.47 (2017) After the victory, Seble Wongel sent out spies in disguise.The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, as Narrated by Castanhoso With Some Contemporary Letters, the Short Account of Bermudez, and Certain Extracts from Correa, p.48(3) (2017)
In 1542, after their forces had fought and defeated the Muslim Ottoman Empire-Adal army several times, the Portuguese suffering a defeat against a much larger force supported by thousands of Ottoman . After this, 120 Portuguese soldiers fled with Seble Wongel to the region of Tigray. Gelawdewos originally left Semien but rejoined his mother in October 1542. He then marched to Tigray and collected the remaining 120 Portuguese troops. Starting from 17 November 1542, Gelawdewos' combined Ethiopian-Portuguese forces defeated the Adal-Ottoman armies several times and killed several key leaders before finally killing Imam Ahmed and subsequently routing the Muslim army at the Wayna Daga on 21 February 1543. Imam Ahmed's wife, Bati del Wambara, escaped with 40 Turkish soldiers and 300 horsemen.
The eldest son of Bati del Wambara and Imam Ahmed was captured at Wayna Daga, and Seble Wongel used him to barter for the life of her son Menas, who had been held captive by the Adal for five years. Through her influence, as well as that of Bati del Wambara, a prisoner exchange was conducted, and Menas was returned to Ethiopia.
|
|
