Taytu Betul, the light of Ethiopia
- marionjabot
- 5 mars 2019
- 2 min de lecture
Dernière mise à jour : 11 mars 2019
On March 2nd, Ethiopia celebrated “Adwa day”, which marks the victory of the Ethiopian army against the Italian coloniser. Ethiopian Emperor Menelek II (Negus Negast, King of Kings) defeated the Italian forces near the town of Adwa in Tigray, on March 1st 1896. He thereby stopped the Italians from expanding their colony from Eritrea to Ethiopia and secured the independence of the country.
Alongside Menelek, his wife Taytu Betul (ጣይቱ ብጡል) played a crucial role in pushing back the Italians. Menelek was Taytu’s fifth husband and when he became Emperor in 1889, she took an important role in the country’s politics. She was a descendant of the Solomonic dynasty and, being from an aristocratic family, could read and write Amharic, which was not common for a woman at her time. Her husband always consulted her before taking important decisions and she was known for taking strong stands, especially against colonisers. She strongly rejected the Wuchale Treaty, in which the Italians tried to trick the Ethiopians. In the Italian version of the treaty, Italy made Ethiopia an Italian protectorate – while the Amharic version recognized the sovereignty of Ethiopia. In 1890 she wrote a letter to the Italian ambassador: « You would like to make Ethiopia your protectorate, but it will never be so ». Taytu was known for her intelligence and played a decisive role in the strategy-planning of Adwa, when leading the Ethiopian army to victory at Makalle.
Taytu Betul and Menelek II pushed the modernisation of Ethiopia, and Taytu in particular encouraged the growth of Addis-Ababa as the economical and political centre of the country. At the same time, the quick growth of the capital let some rural areas behind and the North of the country had to face famine and epidemics. While they are now celebrated, some truths around the regent couple remain uncertain. They indeed took great care of their image through the daily publication of chronicles, which, for example, narrated the victory of Adwa.
In 1910, Taytul was forced into retirement. Her husband being sick, she had increasingly gained power, which angered her rivals; especially as she was appointing relatives to all positions of influence.
Being the only African country to not have been colonised by Europeans, Ethiopia is often seen as a symbol of resistance and Pan-Africanism. Taytu Betul was a great battle-strategist and defender of her country against the foreign invader. On this International Women’s Day, we can pay tribute to Taytu who also stands for all Ethiopian women who fought alongside men on the battlefield, defending their country and independence.
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