File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎31r] (70/834)

— 457 —
maintained that his decisions ought to be referred to them for
sanction before being carried into effect. So long as Fitaurari
Hapta Giorgis was at the capital all went smoothly enough ; but,
on his departure and after the fall of Bituaded Haili Giorgis,
the leadership of the council passed to Dejaz Igazu who at once
began to intrigue with the Empress against Ras Taffari with the
idea of getting all the power into his own hands. It was an easy
matter for him to persuade the Empress that the Ras was
exceeding his powers and was reducing her to the position of a
mere puppet on the throne and, at the same time, to spread the
rumour that Ras Taffari w 7 as selling his country to the Europeans,
thereby creating a hostile atmosphere among the lesser officers
and ignorant soldiery and preparing the way for a coup d'etat.
The execution of the plot was timed for Mascal, the principal
religious feast of the year, when the national and religious
feelings of the population can most easily be stirred, and Dejaz
Igazu counted on the support of his god-father, Ras Demisie,
and of the Mahal Safari, the latter being a composite body of
some 30,000 men made up of the imperial bodyguard and of all
the servants, artizans and hangers-on in the palace, and dependent
solely on the Emperor of the time. Ras Taffari, by ordering, as
already reported, Ras Demisie to proceed at once to his country,
by collecting in Adis Abeba 5,000 of his Harrar army, and by
granting a district in the Arussi to the Mahal Safari, succeeded for
the moment in disorganizing the plot and the feast of Mascal
seems to have passed off quietly.
The main point remains however untouched, and the
question for the future is whether Ras Taffari or Dejaz
Igazu is to exercise the powers of government under the
Empress. While it is probable that Ras Taffari must win
in the end, there is no denying that Dejaz Igazu has for the
moment many points in his favour. The Empress tacitly supports
him, and his followers are concentrated in the Ghebi, while the
adherents of the Ras, as well as his troops, are scattered in the
town. Taffari himself, however, is obliged to live in the Ghebi ;
if Dejaz Igazu, therefore, ever feels himself strong enough, it
would be an easy matter to arrest and chain Taffari up before
any support could reach him. It is doubtful that Dejaz Igazu
would dare to attempt such a stroke now that the strength of the
rival parties is fairly evenly balanced, and probably no decision
will be come to until Fitaurari Hapta Giorgis returns to Adis
Abeba. If no incident occurs before then to precipitate a crisis,
it is believed that the Ras intends to make the Fitaurari Bituaded
and Prime Minister with full powers to re-organize the govern
ment ; and the first step to this end would probably be the
dissolution of the Council of Ministers—a measure which would
put an end to Dejaz Igazu’s influence.