Agame (Tigrinya:ዓጋመ,lit. 'fruitful') is aprovince in northernEthiopia. It includes the northeastern corner ofTigray, borders theEritrean province ofAkele Guzai in the north,Tembien,Kalatta Awlalo andEnderta in the south, and theAfar lowlands in the east. This province of Agame consists of the famousDebre Dammo monastery and the city ofAdigrat. In pre-1991, Agame had a total area of about 4,889 square kilometres (1,888 mi2) with an estimated population of 344,800.[1]
Agame is one of the oldest regions of Ethiopia, being part of theKingdom of D'mt in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea that would develop into theKingdom of Aksum. It was a main center of Aksumite culture (second only to Central Tigray, where the capital was located), with a distinct sub-culture that separated the two regions from that of Central Tigray (Axum,Adwa, &Yeha), Central Eritrea (Seraye,Hamasien,Akele Guzai andAdulis), and frontier areas in northern Eritrea.[2][3] Agame is one of the very few place-names identified in theAdulis inscription as early as the 3rd century.[4][5] It is mentioned there as an apparently viable local political entity and it seems that it continued as such from then onwards. The area also appears to have been part of the eastern cultural province of ancient Aksum: to this period dates back the foundation of the monastery ofDebre Damo, which played a major role in Ethiopia's ecclesiastic history throughout the Middle Ages up to the modern times.[1]
The chiefs of Agame would assume the title ofShum Agame (Ge'ez: ሹም ዓጋመ) in medieval times and throughout history. Even though in the 16th century theShum Agame submitted to Ahmad Ibrahim al-Gazi's army, the physical inaccessibility of lowland Agame suited the purpose of providing safe hideouts to various political, religious and social dissidents. It remained the centre of prominent monasteries such asGunda Gunde Maryam, which was established by the Stephanites (Abba Estifanos of Gwendagwende) during the 15th century. Agame was mentioned in the 16th century charter written during the reign of EmperorLebna Dengel.[6] During medieval times, Agame was part of a larger province ofBur in Ethiopia, which also included some northeasternAfar lowlands, and theBuri Peninsula; Agame and Akkele Guzay were part of "Upper" (La'ilay) Bur, while the lowlands were further distinguished as "Lower" (Tahtay).[7]
Agame appears on indigenous maps of the northernHorn of Africa in the 15th century.[8]
Agame had a major role to play in the political ascendancy ofTigray in Christian Ethiopia during the greater part of the first quarter of the 19th century. One of the prominent warlords of northern Ethiopia,DejazmatchSabagadis Woldu, who ruled Tigray in the period 1822–31, had his power base in Agame. His demise at theBattle of Debre Abbay marked a decline in the political importance of Agame in the Tigrayan political arena.[1]
In the period 1896–1936, Agame was led by the descendants of Sabagadis.Dejazmatch Kassa Sebhat was the chief of the area during the Italian war 1935–36. He mobilized the people of Agame and engaged the Italians at the battle of Fagena, in the Afar escarpment east of Addigrat. But he was defeated and ultimately surrendered. During 1941–74 Agame existed as an awraja (in the province of Tigray), having five districts (woreda) under it: Gulo Makeda, Ganta Afshum, Subja Sase, Dallol and Kalatte Balaza. Descendants of the Sabagadis family still governed Agame until the revolution.[1]
Topographically, the Agame area exhibits diverse physical features:mountain massifs, plains, plateaux, deep gorges and river valleys. Archaeological evidence indicates that Agame was one of the earliest places in Ethiopia to adoptploughshare agriculture, but centuries of over-cultivation and maximum utilization of resource turned the area into agriculturally marginal land.[1]
The principal inhabitants of Agame are Tigrayans withAfar &Saho minorities. The Afar-speaking population predominated in the lowlands. The north-eastern and south-eastern sector of the escarpment is principally inhabited by the Saho-speaking Irob and Afar-speakers respectively. Adigrat prevailed as the capital of Agame throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Since the 19th century, Agame has been an enduringbase for Lazarist Catholic evangelization in northern Ethiopia. The legacies of this process are theCatholic Cathedral and the Seminary of Adigrat and the considerable Catholic congregation of Irob-land in the lowlands.
The local noble family had ruled over Agame from the "Era of the Princes" until theDerg deposed EmperorHaile Selassie in 1974. This family retained sufficient power and respect following theItalian conquest in 1936, that the ItalianViceroyPietro Badoglio proposed in a telegram toBenito Mussolini that some of the old Ethiopian ruling class be co-opted intoItalian East Africa: "In the region between Shoa and Eritrea, there were local noble families which it was not convenient to slight because they had exercised command for generations and have authority and prestige which can be valuable for us."[9]
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Ethiopian records traces the origins of this family to the marriage of King Margedir of Rome and Eleni, sister ofKing Solomon. The current lineage of the rulers of Agame is as follows:
| Shum Agame Kumalit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shum Agame Woldu Kumalit r.1802–1815 | Woizero Sabana Giyorgis m.1802 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Woizero Desta | DejazmatchSabagadis Woldu 1770–1831 r.1818–1831 | Fitawrari Gabru Gura | Shum Agame Agus | Shum Agame Sardie | Shum Agame Gabre Medhin | Shum Agame Wolde Tatios | Woizero Biritawit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dejazmatch Kassa Sabagadis | Dejazmatch Wolde Mikael | Dejazmatch Hagos Sabagadis | DejazmatchAregawi Sabagadis r.1831–1859 | Lij Be'algada Araya | Lij Hailu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dejazmatch Desta Aragawi | Dejazmatch Wolde Gabriel Aragawi | Lij Asghedom Aragawi | Dejazmatch Abbaya Aragawi | RasSebhat Aregawi r.1892–1914 | Woizero Shoanesh m.1892 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dejazmatch Asghedom Sebhat | Emebet (Abebech Sbhat) | Woizero Gereda Sebhat | Woizero Lemlem Sebhat | Woizero Hareya Sebhat | Woizero Semret Sebhat | Shum Agame Desta Sebhat −1914 | Woizero Zenebech Sebhat | Ras Kassa Sebhat r.1914–1974 | Dejazmatch Ayele Sebhat | Lij Gebrezgi Sebhat −1935 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| lij Abrha Tesfay | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Woizero Frewoyini Abrha | Woizero Feleg Abrha | Ato Alem Abrha | Ato Gezae Abrha | Woizero WeleteMariam G/wahed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||