Content analysis of the chronicle of Bäkaffa (1721-1730)

Abstract

Ethiopia is unique among sub-Saharan Africa in its ancient tradition of written culture and its own literary language, Ge’ez. Since the fourth century AD, numerous religious, and secular, texts have been translated into Ge’ez from Greek, Syriac, and Arabic. Many local works, including hagiographies, chronicles, and other texts, were also composed in Ge’ez. The chronicle of King Bäkaffa (r.1721-1730) is an important genre in Ethiopian historiography, which was composed by Azzaž Sinoda and Kenfä Michael in the 18^th  century. Guidi (1903) edited it in Latin and Ge’ez. Accordingly, the researcher accessed Ms-A, D’ Abbadie Mss Collection (Eth.167) from France, Ms-NL, National Archive and Library Agency (NL.513) from Ethiopia, and Ms-B, Aeth. 32 Oxoniensis Mss Collection (Bodl. Aeth. 32) from England, through the digital camera. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the content of the chronicle of Bäkaffa. The study has employed a qualitative research approach. Manuscripts’ descriptions are made using philological tools. It discusses the history of the King, and his social, economic, religious and cultural contributions, including his military expedition against rebellious provinces. The content of the chronicle, the subject matter (historical, religious and judicial) of the chronicle, language use in the chronicle, intertextuality, linguistic problems, and some Amharic loanwords are also analyzed. Finally, the study concludes that chronicles are among the important literary genres for studying the philology, history, literature and culture of the past and that they need further research.