Battle of Dodota
| Battle of Dodota | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Arsi Oromo |
 Shewa | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Leenjiso Diga | Negus Menelik II | ||||||
The Battle of Dodota, also known as the Battle of Doddota, was a military engagement fought in December 1883 [1] between the Arsi Oromo under Leenjiso Diga and Shewan forces under Negus Menelik II. This occurred during Menelik II's second campaign to obtain the Arsi people’s submission. The Shewan army suffered a crushing loss, and the successful Arsi Oromo captured Menelik II's "negarit". (The royal drum, which is used to announce the emperor's arrival as he travels throughout the country).
Background
Menelik believed that he had dispersed the Arsi resistance and did not expect to meet considerable forces on his way back to Shoa. But Leenjiso Diga, the major leader of this resistance, and his forces surprised him at Dodota, about 20 km south of Awash.[2]
Battle
Leenjiso confronted the Shoan forces[3] during the second campaign when he encircled them at Doddota, south of Awash, and annihilated Menelik II's soldiers after fierce fighting and captured the Negarit, the royal drum.[4] They succeeded in crushing practically the whole royal force. The king himself narrowly escaped death and was pursued on horseback up to the present day Modojo. The extent to which this encounter put the emperor in extreme jeopardy is evidenced by the fact that the Arsi warriors captured the royal drum (negarit).[5][2][6]
Aftermath
The negarit was taken to Burkunte, present day Dera,[5] the habitat of the Sabiro clan, where they celebrated their success and took an oath to continue the struggle. [2] The Arsi celebrated this remarkable victory, took an oath to continue the struggle up to the end, and Leenjiso became an undisputed leader (father) of Arsi resistance from this time onwards, he dedicated his life to the struggle and at the head of determined fighters, he fought the enemy in most parts of the present Arsi region although his principal base was Doddota, where his usual strategic retreat was. That was why the Amhara called it "Doddota ya wond bota" (Doddota place of men or heroes).[4]
References
- ↑ Tibebu, Teshale (1995). The Making of Modern Ethiopia: 1896-1974. The Red Sea Press. p. 20. ISBN 9781569020012. Search this book on
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Gnamo, Abbas (23 Jan 2014). Conquest and Resistance in the Ethiopian Empire, 1880 - 1974: The Case of the Arsi Oromo. BRILL. p. 150. ISBN 978-90-04-25813-6. Search this book on
- ↑ G. Marcus, Harold (1994). New Trends in Ethiopian Studies: Humanities and human resources. Red Sea Press (published September 1994). p. 538. ISBN 1569020124. Search this book on
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Haji, Abbas. ""Arsi Oromo Political and Military Resistance Against the Shoan Colonial Conquest (1881-6)"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-25.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Doale, Druski. "Local history of Ethiopia : Doale - Druksi" (PDF).
- ↑ Berhane-Selassie, Tsehai (October 19, 2018). Ethiopian Warriorhood: Defence, Land and Society 1800-1941. James Currey. p. 200. ISBN 9781847011916. Search this book on
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