Sahle Selassie - Achievements As Ruler of Shewa

Achievements As Ruler of Shewa

Despite his many reverses against his political rivals inside Shewa and out, considered against any other period of history, Negus Sahle Selassie was a progressive and benevolent ruler. A contemporary British visitor, Charles Johnston, commented that the

contemplation of such a prince in his own land is worth the trouble and the risk of visiting it ... his character for justice and probity has spread far and wide, and the supremacy of political excellence is without hesitation given to the Negoos of Shoa throughout the length and breadth of the ancient empire of Ethiopia. To be feared by every prince around, and loved by every subject at home, is the boast of the first government of civilized Europe, and strangely enough this excellence of social condition is paralleled in the heart of Africa, where we find practically carried out the most advantageous policy of a social community that one of the wisest of sages could conceive -- that of arbitrary power placed in the hands of a really good man.

Abir provides several examples of Sahle Selassie's interest in the well-being of his subjects:

In time of famine he opened the royal granaries to the population. When a plague carried off most of the work-animals of the farmers, he distributed oxen and mules. He kept enormous stores of salt so that his people would not lack this important commodity should the roads to the coast be cut.

Further examples of Sahle Selassie's skill in administration is his reform of the laws of his domain. Courts during the reign of his predecessors Asfa Wossen and Wossen Seged followed both the Fetha Negest, the traditional Ethiopian legal code, as well as customary practices, which Abir states "was extremely cruel. Death sentences, severance of limbs and branding with hot iron were very common." The Negus limited executions to extreme cases of treason, sacrilege and murder, and even then required approval from the Negus. Whenever possible, Sahle Selassie reduced a death sentence to life imprisonment or forfeiture of property; in the case of a murder conviction, where the traditional Ethiopian penalty was to hand the murderer over to the relatives of the victim, who would then exact their own punishment, the Negus worked to convince the relatives to accept blood money instead of killing the convicted man.

His reforms extended beyond criminal law and included administrative reforms. He developed a new structure of taxation that was not only fairer to his subjects, but brought in a more substantial and reliable revenue; it is estimated that around 1840 his revenue in cash alone was between 80,000 and 300,000 Maria Theresa Thalers. Legends circulated in Shewa about the storehouses of gold, silver, and ivory the Negus had not only in his palaces in Doqaqit, Har Ambit and Ankober, but also hidden in mountain caves. "All in all," concludes Abir, "Showa can be considered, in a way, an archaic example of a welfare state."

Sahle Selassie also worked to modernize his country, and like his contemporaries Goshu of Gojjam and Wube Haile Maryam of Tigray, he made contacts with European countries like France and Great Britain in hope of gaining craftsmen, educators, and above all firearms. Like his contemporaries, he understood the value of firearms, and increased the number in his armories from a few score when he took office to 500 in 1840, and doubled that number again by 1842. He signed treaties of friendship with both France (16 November 1841) and Great Britain (7 June 1841). The Negus also encouraged foreigners to settle in Shewa, and offered considerable incentives to them, such as the revenue from a large village he granted a Greek mason by the name of Demetrios. As a result, at one point a number of foreigners were present in Shewa, who included a number of Greeks, at least one Armenian, and several traders from Eastern lands.

"Despite his understanding of the value of foreign technology and the need for craftsmen from abroad Sahla Sellase had no desire for foreign missionaries," Pankhurst notes, and although the arrival of two Protestant missionaries in 1837 led to a diplomatic mission from Britain by William Cornwallis Harris, both men were gently but firmly expelled in 1842.