Abba Seru Gwangul

Abba Seru Gwangul (died 1778) was a chieftain of the Yejju Oromo, an ethnic group of Ethiopia. He came to control Begemder and parts of Wollo, and his heirs were significant warlords of the Zemene Mesafint. Abba Seru Gwangul claimed to be a descendant of an Arab named Omar, who had served in the armies of Ahmad Gragn. [Chris Proutky, "Empress Taytu and Menelik II: Ethiopia 1883-1910" (Trenton: The Red Sea Press, 1986), p. 28n]

The Scottish explorer James Bruce met him in 1770, and recorded a vivid description of this man in his account of travels in Ethiopia. [J. Spencer Trimingham, "Islam in Ethiopia" (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 110 n.2]

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