About the Book

State and Land in Ethiopian History focuses on the relationship between the State and land tenure problems to the exclusion of many other significant aspects of customary land tenure in Ethiopia. The student of Ethiopian affairs cannot but fail to be impressed by the major role played by the monarchy in the system of land holdings over the long span of the country’s recorded history. It is important to remember, however, that the powers of the Emperors were not static but fluctuated greatly in the last half millennium or so for which we possess relatively good historical records. This had a significant effect on land tenure.

This book traces the changing fortunes of the monarchy as well as to examine the theoretical basis of its authority as formulated in contemporary writings. It also examines the manner in which the State affected the system of land tenure from Aksumite times to the eve of the Italian invasion of 1935. A chronological approach has been attempted wherever possible with a view to explaining the significant changes as well as the continuity which has characterized the history of Ethiopian land tenure.

This book also covers a number of distinct though related matters: the allocation of land by the sovereigns to the nobility, provincial governors and other officers of State; land grants to churches and monasteries; the operation of royal farms; the establishment of State capitals and their effect on systems of land tenure; land ownership by foreigners and minority groups; taxation, tribute, labor service and other obligations based on or related to the holding of land as well as landlord tenant relations generally.

Consideration is also paid to land problems related to the developments of the Menilek-Haile Sellassie period, including of roads and the railways, and in the case of Eritrea, the impact of foreign rule, as well as to the legislation of the period which witnessed the foundations of a modern State.

About the Editors

Richard Pankhurst, the founder and first Director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa (formerly Haile Sellassie I) University, has lived in Ethiopia for over thirty years. He is currently Chair of the Society of Friends of the Institute, as well as a founder member of the Committee for the Return of the Aksum Obelisk and of AFROMET: the Association for the Return of Maqdala Ethiopian Treasures. His published writings include numerous monographs, among them An Introduction to the Economic History of Ethiopia (1961), Economic History of Ethiopia (1968). The History of Ethiopian Towns (1982, 1984), A Social History of Ethiopia (1990), An Introduction to the Medical History of Ethiopia(1990), History of the Ethiopian Borderlands (1997), and Sylvia Pankhurst: Counsel for Ethiopia (2003).