Hamid Idris Awate (; 10 April 1910 – 28 May 1962) was an Eritrean revolutionary and prominent guerrilla commander, and a symbol of the

Eritrean War of Independence The Eritrean War of Independence was an War, armed conflict and insurgency aimed at achieving self-determination and independence for Eritrea from Ethiopian rule. Starting in 1961, Eritrean insurgents engaged in guerrilla warfare to liberate ...

and independence struggle.

Early life in Italian Eritrea

Awate was born in 1910 in Gerset, located between Tessenei and Golluj in southwestern

Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea (, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Società di Navigazione Rubattino, Rubattino Shippin ...

. His father, a peasant, trained him as early as childhood in the use of guns. Hamid was of Beni-Amer descent. In 1935, Hamid was conscripted by the

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

to serve in the colonial army of the Eritrean Ascari. Beside his fluency in Arabic, Tigre, Tigrinya, Nara, Hedareb, and Kunama, Hamid learned the

Italian language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

very well within a short period of time and was sent to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

for a course in military intelligence. After returning from Italy, he was appointed as a security officer in western Eritrea. Shortly after, he served as deputy chief (Mayor) of the city of

Kassala Kassala (, ) is the capital of the state of Kassala (state), Kassala in eastern Sudan. In 2003 its population was recorded to be 530,950. Built on the banks of the Mareb River, Gash River, it is a market city and is famous for its fruit gardens. ...

(Sudan) and its surroundings during the brief Italian occupation of that city in 1940/1941 at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. As Mayor of Kassala he promoted the political union of that city to his country,

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

, but Allied offensives at the end of January 1941 forced him to renounce to it. He fought as an Eritrean ascari in the

Battle of Keren The Battle of Keren () took place from 3 February to 27 March 1941. Keren was attacked by the British during the East African Campaign of the Second World War. A force of Italian regular and colonial troops defended the position against troop ...

during

and participated in the Italian guerrilla campaign in Eritrea against Allied forces with the cavalrymen of Ali Gabre. After the Italians were completely pushed out of Eritrea, Hamid settled in western Eritrea but eventually recruited an army of 50 people and began to raid the Kunama and

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

tribes from 1942 to 1948. His actions eventually attracted the attention of the British authorities, who offered a considerable award for his capture, dead or alive. Afterwards, Hamid and his armed faction surrendered to British in 1951 after they agreed not to prosecute him for his crimes.

Resistance against Ethiopia

In 1958 a group of Eritrean exiles in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

founded the Eritrean Liberation Movement under Hamid's leadership. In July 1960, in the city of Cairo, a group of young Eritrean students and intellectuals held a meeting and formed the

Eritrean Liberation Front The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF; ; ; ), colloquially known as Jebha, was the main Eritrean War of Independence, independence movement in Eritrea Province, Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and the ear ...

(ELF). The group consisted of the following men: Idris Mohammed Adem (the president of the National Assembly of Eritrea); Idris Osman Galaydos (a graduate of law school of Cairo University); Mohammed Saleh Hummed (a graduate of law school of Cairo University); Said Hussian (a student of Al-Az'har University in Cairo); Adem Mohammed Akte (a graduate from University of Cairo) and Taha Mohammed Noor (a graduate from Italy) Back home, the Eritrean authorities were suspicious of Hamid's movements and activities and were watching him closely. Eritrean police forces planned to arrest Hamid in his village in August 1961. Turki explains that the Ethiopians deployed a large amount of police forces but their plans were foiled by an Eritrean Muslim within the Eritrean police who informed Hamid earlier of that plan. Hamid then fled to Mount Adal located to the west of

Agordat Agordat (also spelled Akordat or Ak'ordat) is a city in Gash-Barka, Eritrea. It was the capital of the former Barka Province, which was situated between the present-day Gash-Barka and Anseba regions. History Agordat was historically a key ce ...

. Hamid's decision to begin armed resistance was reached after a period of long deliberations with other Muslims. In an interview with ''Eritrea Al-haditha'', issue #75, second year, pioneer Mohammed Al-Hassan Dohen, a long time friend of Hamid and Hamid's assistant when he was district chief, says: "In the year 1960, Idris Mohammed Adem sent a message to Hamid. Hamid Awate told me that Idris Mohammed Adem was asking him to declare the armed struggle; but he was not ready for it at that time. After four months, Mohammed Al-Shiekh Daood came and asked Hamid to declare the revolution. Hamid agreed to lead the armed struggle and declare the revolution but asked for money and weapons as long as he was notorious Outlaw. Mohammed Al-Shiekh Daood braved Hamid with old arms, three five bullet rifles "abu khamsa" and gave him 3 Birr with sugar and tea all was provided throw Egyptian Muslims. In addition, Ibrahim Mohammed Ali brought two rifles. On 1 September 1961, eleven freedom fighters led by Hamid attacked police posts in the west of Eritrea include one on Mount Adal. A fierce battle ensued between Hamid's and Eritrean police forces, lasting 30 minutes ending in a stalemate.

Death

On May 27 1962, Awate told his unit that he was not feeling well. His condition began to deteriorate quickly. It is said that Awate called pioneer Kiboob Hajaj and gave him his beloved gun emphasizing on the continuation of the revolution. On the morning of next day, Awate died; his companions buried him secretly and did not reveal his death until four years later. A statue was erected by the Government of Eritrea on 1 September 1994 at his grave site. Even in Italy Hamid is celebrated by the Italo-Eritrean associations.

References

External links

From the Experiences of the ELA

Ascari: I Leoni di Eritrea/Ascari: The Lions of Eritrea
a website in honor of the Eritrean Ascari
"In Memory of Awate the History Maker"
by Taher Indoul
"Seeing the image of an Eritrean Hero"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Awate, Hamid Idris 1910 births 1962 deaths Collaborators with Fascist Italy Eritrean People's Liberation Front members People of former Italian colonies Eritrean soldiers Italian military personnel of World War II People from Gash-Barka region