Imba Alaje is a mountain, or an amba, in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debubawi Zone of the Tigray Region, Imba Alaje dominates the roadway that runs past it from the city of Mek'ele south to Maychew. Because of its strategic location, Emba Alaje has been the site of several battles. As Anthony Mockler describes it,
It was [a] real amba, flat-topped, covered with crevices and canyons and caves, impregnable on the north and north-east where the Tug Gabat ran round its flanks through precipitous ravines, falling steeply away in the rear to the spur of Antalo, behind which lay the broad plain of Mahera.[1]
The village of Adi Gura is located on the north side of the mountain at an elevation of 2,700 meter. The larger town of Ambalage is located five kilometer to the south of the mountain.
There are many springs on the slopes of the mountain. On the northern flank at Addi Gura'i, the Mercy water bottling plant is located.
Alagi Pass
Just three kilometers to the southeast of the top of Amba Alagi is the Alagi Pass. Here, the Ethiopian Highway 2 crosses the mountain ridge at an elevation of 3,090 meter above sea level. To the south, the road starts climbing from Ambalage at 2,450 meters.
History
The first mention of Imba Alaje is in the Chronicle of Emperor Baeda Maryam (1468–1478 AD), who personally led an expedition against the Dobe'a, who lived around Imba Alaje and raided the caravan routes. In the early 19th century, RasWolde Selassie controlled the amba, and used it on 18 August 1811 to imprison Gebre Guro, the brother of Sabagadis, for 18 months because he had rebelled against the Ras.[4] The road built from the coast south to Magdala during the British 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia passed through Imba Alaje.[5] A generation later, the mountain was the scene of a battle in February 1889 between RasAlula Engida and RasSeyoum Gebre in which Alula was wounded.[6]
The first Battle of Imba Alaje occurred in December 1895. On December 7, 30,000 Ethiopians destroyed an Italian column of 2,350 led by Pietro Toselli and a day later, on December 8, the Ethiopian emperor, Menelik II, drove out the Italian forces of General Oreste Baratieri. After the defeat, the Italians withdrew from Imba Alaje to their half-finished fort at Mekele which Menelik then besieged for 15 days (6–21 January 1896).[7]
The second Battle of Imba Alaje was fought in May 1941, during World War II, part of the East African Campaign. The mountain had galleries carved into the rock to protect the defending troops and hold ample ammunition and stores. The defenders, Italian troops under command of the Viceroy, the Duke of Aosta, thought themselves to be impregnable. The initial attacks on the approaches to Amba Alagi by British troops under Major-General Mayne from the north, commenced on May 4 with a pincer from the eastern and western sides. There was hard fighting in the jagged mountainous terrain. Mayne's troops were joined on May 12 by Brigadier Dan Pienaar's 1st South African Brigade, which had captured the Italian garrison of Dessie (April 20) located 200 miles south of Imba Alaje, and by May 14 Imba Alaje was completely surrounded. A final assault was planned for the next day but a lucky strike by an artillery shell hit an Italian fuel dump, sending a stream of oil into their last remaining drinking water and forcing the garrison's surrender.[8]
In 1943, Imba Alaje was the location of the decisive battle of the "Woyane Rebellion" in Enderta Province. After capturing Mek'ele, the Woyane rebels swept south to the mountain where they encountered a government force consisting of 2,000 regular soldiers and 8,000 territorials. From 18 September through 6 October 1943, rebels under the personal leadership of Blatta Haile Mariam Redda repeatedly stormed the government positions, until artillery barrages and British Blenheim bombers at last dispersed the rebels.[9]
↑ Merla, G.; Minucci, E. (1938). Missione geologica nel Tigrai[Geological mission to Tigra]. La serie dei terreni, Vol. 1 (in Italian). Rome: Regia Accademia d’Italia, Centro Studi per l’Africa Orientale Italiana.
The Battle of Adwa was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War. The Ethiopian forces defeated the Italian invading force on Sunday 1 March 1896, near the town of Adwa. The decisive victory thwarted the campaign of the Kingdom of Italy to expand its colonial empire in the Horn of Africa. By the end of the 19th century, European powers had carved up almost all of Africa after the Berlin Conference; only Ethiopia and Liberia still maintained their independence. Adwa became a pre-eminent symbol of pan-Africanism and secured Ethiopian sovereignty until the Second Italo-Ethiopian War forty years later.
Menelik II, baptised as Sahle Maryam was King of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 to his death in 1913. At the height of his internal power and external prestige, the process of territorial expansion and creation of the modern empire-state was completed by 1898.
Lij Iyasu was the designated Emperor of Ethiopia from 1913 to 1916. His baptismal name was Kifle Yaqob. Ethiopian emperors traditionally chose their regnal name on the day they were crowned, and since he was never crowned, he is usually referred to as Lij Iyasu, "Lij" meaning child, especially one born of royal blood.
RasMakonnen Wolde Mikael Wolde Melekot, or simply Ras Makonnen, also known as Abba Qagnew, was an Ethiopian royal from Shewa, a military leader, the governor of Harar, and the father of future Emperor Haile Selassie. Described by Nikolai Gumilev as “one of the greatest leaders of Abyssinia”, he served in the First Italo-Ethiopian War, playing a key role at the Battle of Adwa.
Yohannes IV was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1871 to his death in 1889 at the Battle of Gallabat, and king of Tigray from 1869 to 1871. During his reign he successfully defended Ethiopia against a large scale Egyptian invasion.
RasAbebe Aregai was a military commander who served as Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 27 November 1957 until his death. He was a victim of the unsuccessful 1960 Ethiopian coup.
Darge Sahle Selassie Horse name Abba Gersa was a 19th-century Ethiopian nobleman, provincial governor, general and a trusted councillor of his nephew Emperor Menelik II.
RasMengesha Yohannes was governor of Tigray and a son of Emperor Yohannes IV. His mother was Welette Tekle Haymanot wife of dejazmach Gugsa Mercha. Ras Araya Selassie Yohannes was his younger half brother. Prior to the Battle of Metemma, Mengesha Yohannes was considered to be a nephew of Emperor Yohannes IV. During the battle, the Emperor was mortally wounded and it was on his deathbed that Mengesha Yohannes was acknowledged as his "natural" son and designated as his heir. This created something of a succession problem.
RasDesta Damtew KBE was an Ethiopian noble, an army commander, and a son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie I. He is known for his leadership in the Ethiopian Army during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. He was executed on 24 February 1937, by the Italian Armed Forces shortly after Ethiopia's loss in the war.
RasKassa Hailu KS, GCVO, GBE, was a Shewan Amhara nobleman, the son of Dejazmach Haile Wolde Kiros of Lasta, the ruling heir of Lasta's throne and younger brother of Emperor Tekle Giyorgis II, and Tisseme Darge, the daughter of Ras Darge Sahle Selassie, brother of Menelik II's father.
Giuseppe Galliano was an officer of the Royal Italian Army, mostly known for his role during the First Italo-Ethiopian War. He perished in the Battle of Adwa and was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour.
Hintalo, also called Antalo, was Administrative Center of Enderta’s historical wereda of Gabat Melash, is a small town located in the Debub Misraqawi (Southeastern) Zone of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It lies on a plateau with an elevation variously reported as 2050 to 2102 meters above sea level. It lies some 20 miles south of Mekelle, the capital of Tigray. The urge to control this fortified mountainous place has provoked frequent engagements among various Tigrayan chiefs since the 17th century. Hintalo flourished as a town in the last quarter of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century.
De Bono's invasion of Ethiopia took place during the opening stages of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. Italian General Emilio De Bono invaded northern Ethiopia from staging areas in the Italian colony of Eritrea on what was known as the "northern front".
Enderta or Inderta is a former historical province of Ethiopia; it is located in the eastern edge of the Tigray highlands. Enderta is bordered on the west by Tembien, on the south and southwest by Lasta and Wag, on the east by denkel, and on the north by Agame and Adwa. Mekelle was formerly the capital of the province. Enderta's local administration of Denkel/Afar up to the edges of Aseb under its jurisdiction seems to have been highly, interlinked with the operation of the salt trade and its taxation system; the entire tasks of salt caravan organization being the responsibility of the bäalgada, title assumed by the governor of Endärta, since at least the Medieval period.
Seyoum Mengesha KBE was an army commander and a member of the royal family of the Ethiopian Empire.
Ras Alula Engida was an Ethiopian general and politician who successfully led battles against Ottoman Egypt, the Mahdists and Italy. He was one of the most important leaders of the Abyssinian forces during the 19th century. Described by Haggai Erlich as the "greatest leader whom Ethiopia produced since the death of Emperor Tewodros II in 1868." Ras Alula was referred to by Europeans as "the Garibaldi of Ethiopia".
The Battle of Amba Alagi was fought in May 1941, during World War II, part of the East African Campaign. After the Italian defeat at Keren in April 1941, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta withdrew his forces to the mountain stronghold at Amba Alagi. The mountain had galleries carved into the rock to protect the defending troops and hold ample ammunition and stores and the Italian troops thought themselves to be impregnable. According to other sources, however, the fortress was easily defendable thanks to its position and the mountainous terrain, but lacked food and water, so that Marshal Enrico Caviglia later criticised the Duke for having chosen it for his last stand, calling the Amba Alagi "uno scoglio senz'acqua e senza viveri". The initial attacks on the approaches to Amba Alagi by British troops under Major-General Mayne from the north, commenced on 4 May with a pincer from the eastern and western sides.
Ambalage is a town in southern Tigray, Ethiopia. This town has a latitude and longitude of 12°56′N39°31′E with an elevation of 2445 to 2480 meters above sea level and is located along Ethiopian Highway 2. Ambalage is located just south of the mountain Amba Alagi, from which the name of the town was derived. An 'amba' is a flat-topped mountain (mesa).
The Battle of Debra Ailà(Debre Ailat) took place during the First Italo-Ethiopian War on October 9, 1895, where under the combined efforts of Italian colonial troops and Askari troops defeated the rearguard of the Tigrin army, which had withdrawn from Tigray's capital Mek'ele.
Welle Betul also known as Wale Betul, Wolie Betul and Wele Bitul, was an Ethiopian military commander under Emperor Menelik II, the ruler of Begemder, and the younger brother of Empress Taytu Betul.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
