Kawo Tona Gaga

Kawo Tona Gaga was the last and most powerful king of the Kingdom of Wolaita. Tona Gaga was the 17th Kawo, or monarch, of the Tigre dynasty, the final Wolayta family to maintain its independence.

He soon established links with the Kingdom of Jimma, a tributary of the Ethiopian Empire, after succeeding his grandpa in 1890 by marrying the daughter of Abba Jifar II. He, however, declined to honor Shewa (unlike his predecessors, who were more diplomats than warriors.) The client claims that he then attempted to encircle the smaller Omotic Kullo and Konta, but Menelik's cousin Wolde Gyorgis was able to successfully campaign through both.

After six unsuccessful protectorate attempts, Emperor Menelik II marched two weeks from Addis Abeba to the frontier of Wolaita and pleaded with the monarch to pay tribute or risk having his kingdom destroyed. Tona built his defenses and rejected offers of compromise. Tona Gaga was eventually forced out of his strong point and caught between the Ethiopians and Oromo auxiliaries sent by Abba Jifar II, who had betrayed Tona Gaga, who had skillfully created defensive trenches and mounds to thwart the initial onslaught. The former monarch was christened Tekle Haymanot and appointed the governor of his former realm following his arrest in 1894. Later, he would support Menelik II in numerous campaigns.

(1889 - 1913)