Haile Maryam Gebre

Haile Maryam Gebre of Semien, Horse name: Abba Dammana (lit: Father of the Cloud) was an early 19th century governor of Semien, Welkait and Wogera. Haile Maryam tried to hold his hereditary possessions in the face of continuous pressure from rival lords during Ethiopia's Zemene Mesafint era. He is remembered as the guardian of Waldeba monastery.

Haile Maryam's family originated from the Semien mountains and belonged to the Orthodox Christian Amharas. His mother was Sahlitu Kefle Iyesus; and his father was Ras Gebre of Semien, the ruler of Semien, Tsegede, Welkait and Wogera.

His sister Teshen Gebre was one of the wives of Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I.

Yejju invasion

In 1812 according to Nathaniel Pearce's journal, Ras Gugsa of Yejju ordered his head general Ackly Marro to wage war against Haile Maryam's father, Ras Gebre of Semien. However, Ras Gugsa's expansionist drive to subdue Semien came to an end when Haile Maryam defeated his retainer Woldi Comfu in Welkait.

Invasion from Tigray

On the accounts of Nathaniel Pearce (serving in the court of Ras Wolde Selassie) documented that in February 1813 Ras Wolde Selassie forces invaded Welkait which Haile Maryam governed in the name of his father Gebre as chief. After the Tigrayans suffered severe losses on February 20, a month later Wolde Selassie's forces were victorious on March 19. Pearce noted that ‘‘Haile Maryam fought very bravely’’ but that the Tigrayan muskets were decisive. His brother Batri Gebre, and Asgas Sedit, the chief of Arbarcholo, his women, servants, and a great number of horses were captured. The battle left four hundred dead.

Succession 1815

In 1815 Haile Maryam succeeded his father as governor. He struggled against his rival Dejazmach Maru of Dembiya from the competing house of Fenja.

May-June raids into Tigray

In May 1817 Haile Maryam encamped near the Tekeze river and had his forces raid Abergele and other Tigrayan districts under the control of Ras Gebre Mikael of Tembien, a descendant of Ras Mikael Sehul. On June 9, Haile Maryam crossed the Tekeze, and burned and plundered Abergele and several other villages.

The death of the regent Ras Gugsa in 1825 ushered in another period of frenetic political warfare. Haile Maryam forged an alliance with his rival Maru of the house Fenja, against the new Ras Yimam, Gugsa's successor. However, Maru sided with Yimam the following year, after Haile Maryam briefly deposed Emperor Gigar in Gondar and replaced him with a figurehead of his choice; Baeda Maryam III. Haile Maryam fought the coalition forces of Yimam's and Maru in a pitched battle near Waldeba that lasted over three days and was defeated. Gravely injured, Haile Maryam succumbed to his wounds and died in his mountain stronghold in Semien.

Haile Maryam was laid to rest in the monastery of Waldeba, the sanctuary for which he known as the protector during his lifetime.

Haile Maryam's official wife was Hirut Gugsa, the daughter of regent Gugsa of Yejju and Amete Selassie, the daughter of Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I. She had Merso, Betul and Yewub-dar.

• Merso Haile Mariam was the oldest son of Haile Maryam Gebre and Hirut Gugsa.
• Betul Haile Maryam was the second son of Haile Maryam Gebre and Hirut Gugsa. Betul was the father of Empress Taytu Betul, spouse of Emperor Menelik II
• Yewub-dar Haile Maryam was the daughter of Haile Maryam Gebre and Hirut Gugsa. Yewub-dar was one of the wives of Sabagadis Woldu.

Haile Maryam had a liaison with Mintaye, a peasant woman from Jan Amora. She gave birth to Wube

• Wube Haile Maryam became one of the most prominent figures of the Zemene Mesafint era.