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HaileSelassie's Band of Armenian Orphans

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HaileSelassie's Band of Armenian Orphans A bond forged through a common Orthodox faith left a lasting imprint on Ethiopia’s music Irina Costache |  October 10, 2025 The 40 Armenian orphans with their leader, Kevork Nalbandian , in the middle holding a violin. (From the archives of St. George Armenian Apostolic Church in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia) In the spring of 1924, Ras Tafari Makonnen , Ethiopia’s crown prince, regent plenipotentiary and de facto ruler, embarked on a diplomatic world tour. His country had just become the first African nation admitted to the League of Nations , and the prince (later to become Emperor Haile Selassie ) wanted to thank the countries that had supported Ethiopia’s candidacy, display his country’s modernity and ensure its sovereignty would be respected. Before continuing toward Europe, Tafari made a stop in Jerusalem. Back home, the Ethiopian Church questioned the prince’s religious devotion, so the visit was meant to be a symbolic demonst...
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The Prince and the Maharaja

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What Punjab’s last Maharaja and an Ethiopian Prince had in common Maharaja Duleep Singh and Prince Alemayehu did not have an easy time in England despite their royal lineage and “imperial” benefactor. And their remaining there was also a consequence of geopolitics—protecting British commercial and political interests The connection between India and Ethiopia—once called Abyssinia—goes back a long way. Thanks to more recent dissemination of information (particularly via social media, not textbooks) many Indians now know not only about Razia Sultan’s Abyssinian lover Jamaluddin Yaqut but about the Ethiopian mercenaries who came to India to fight battles for many kingdoms in the Deccan including Malik Ambar and Ikhlas Khan. But there’s a more recent link.      This week there’s news that Britain has turned down yet another request from Ethiopia to return the remains of their young Prince Alemayehu, who lies buried among many British monarchs, aristocrats and clergy inside St...
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Home of the Shy

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Home of the Shy, Land of the Brave By Mitiku Adisu Ethiopians are often portrayed as "shy" people. We are told that athlete Kenenisa is not quite the marketable commodity that Usain Bolt is because he is 'shy’ or to be more precise, ‘diminutive and shy’. It is not surprising that the world has little patience for the long distance; instant gratification is what really mattered. Farm life agrees with "this shy Ethiopian girl." Or "a shy and beautiful Bodi woman from Ethiopia"; "A shy Borana girl from Ethiopia"; "Two shy girls from Aksum." We don’t want to take the "shy thing’ too far, but according to Ortolani et al., most dogs observed in four Ethiopian villages surveyed "are shy and prefer to avoid human contact." Not to confuse men with dogs, "Ethiopian men are generally shy"; "Birdlife abounds and indigenous animals, from the rare Walis Ibex (sic) to the shy wild ass, roam free just as nature i...
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