Kumsa Mereda

Dejazmach Gebregziabher Mereda (Amharic: ገብረእግዚአብሄር መረዳ?), born Kumsa Mereda (Oromo: Kumsaa Morodaa, Amharic: ኩምሳ መረዳ?; 1870–1924) was the third and last Moti, or ruler, of the Leqa Neqamte state. His father was Moti Mereda Bekere. Upon the reconquest of Leka Neqamte by Ethiopia under Menelik II, he submitted to Ethiopian rule, converting to Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity, taking the name Gebregziabher (Amharic: "Servant of God"), and was appointed the Shum, or governor, of the expanded Welega Province.[1] He fought at the Battle of Adwa and was later awarded the title of Dejazmach.

Under his rule, Nekemte continued to prosper, despite the re-imposition of central authority; Russian explorer Alexander Bulatovich visited Nekemte on 13 March 1897; in his memoirs he describes its marketplace as "a very lively place and presents a motley mixture of languages, dress, and peoples", and carefully described the paintings in the town's newly constructed Ethiopian Orthodox church.[2] In 1905, a central government customs office was officially opened in Nekemte.

His cousin was the businessman and historian Blatta Deressa Amante, father of the senior statesman Lij Yilma Deressa.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/states/ethiopia/leqa.html Leqa Naqamte Kingdom
  2. ↑ From Entotto to the River Baro (1897), translated by Richard Selzer, Ethiopia through Russian Eyes: Country in Transition, 1896-1898 (Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 2000) ISBN 1-56902-117-1 (accessed 2 November 2009)
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