![]() from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he wrote his thesis on the History of Ras Alula, Ethiopia's national hero, under the guidance of professors Richard Gray and Edward Ullendorff. Former Italian allies, the Tigrian warlords Ras Mengesha Yohannes, Ras Alula, Bahta Hagos and Wolde Mikael traveled to Addis Ababa to seek forgiveness from the Negus for their dealings with the colonial governor, General Oreste Baratieri.Hundreds of his men were slaughtered by cannon and rifle fire, while only four Italians were injured, forcing Ras Alula to pull his men back.The following year, Ras Alula died at Abba Garima after being wounded in a battle with his old rival, Ras Hagos of Hamasien.Yohannes went on to repel and quel on multiple occasions Italian and Sudan mahdist aggressions with his famed generals such as Ras Alula Aba Nega.This battle saw the decisive defeat of the Egyptian army commanded by the Danish adventurer Colonel Arrendrup by Yohannes's general Ras Alula Engida.Dabbab was taken prisoner by Ras Alula Engida's followers two weeks later.Enjoy this video telling you about the Little Rome of East Africa, Asmara, the beautiful city embodying feminine grace and beauty. ![]() Not built for Eritreans, Italians built Asmara primarily for themselves, as indicated by separate areas designated for Italians and Eritreans, each disproportionately sized. Asmara represents perhaps one of the most concentrated and intact assemblage of Modernist architecture anywhere in the world. Since then, Asmara has benefited from a strong Italian architecture, and was called Piccola Roma ( Little Rome) because of its strong resemblance to Rome. In 1889, Asmara was occupied by the Italy, and was made the capital city of Eritrea by Governor Martini in 1897. He built a palace on top of a hill in the center of Asmara from there, he devoted himself to defending the northern borders of Ethiopia against Italian, and Anglo-Egyptian aggressors. Once Ras Alula became governor of this province, he moved the capital from Debarwa to Asmara. On October 9 th, 1876, the Emperor of Ethiopia, Yohannes IV, made his greatest war general Ras Alula, governor of Medri Bahri. In the early days, Asmara was part of the kingdom of Medri Bahri, a medieval kingdom in the Horn of Africa, whose capital was Debarwa. Only Eritreans, and their neighbors remain loyal to the original pronunciation, Asmera. Arbaete Asmera literally means in Tigrinya language, “ the four (feminine plural) made them unite.” Eventually Arbaete was dropped and it has been called Asmera, which means “ they made them unite.” Majority of non-Eritreans call it by the Italianized version of the word: Asmara. The men accepted, hence the name Arbaete Asmera. These clans fought each other until the women of each clan decided that to preserve peace, the four clans should unite. Originally, there were four clans living in the Asmara area on the Kebessa plateau: the Gheza Gurtom, the Gheza Shelele, the Gheza Serenser, and the Gheza Asmae. ![]() The Tigrinya and Tigre people live around there. Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, was an Italian built colonial city whose origins date back to 800 BC and 400 BC. Ever since I was a child, I always loved the sound of the name ‘ Asmara,’ not knowing that it was feminine by nature (which might explain my fascination with it). ![]()
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