History

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Browsing History by Author "Bekele, Shiferaw (Professor)"

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    A History of the Betii Rist (Private Domain) Office of Emperor Haile Selassie I: A Study in Royal Property Management, 1941-1975.
    (Addis Ababa University, 2016-06) Bogale, Wagaw; Bekele, Shiferaw (Professor)
    This thesis is an institutional histOlY of the Beld Rist Office established in 1941 by Haile Selassie for the management of his property. This dissertation is, therefore, a study of the history of royal property administration and spans the years from 1941 to 19741'75. With the help mainly of archival materials 1 have tried to examine the following major themes of historical significance within the context of Ihe Betd Rist Office: a) establishment and structure of the Office; b) the property of the monarch and the several mechanisms of acquiring them; c) the kind of economic investment that the Office made; d) land grants and land sales together with the concomitant income that the Office generated out of it: e) the nature of royal tenancy and the ways in which the Office handled the cases of tenants as compared, and in contrast, to previous assumptions On landlord-tenant relationships: j) the kind of social investment that the monarch made especially on the care for and rehabilitation of the aged, the blind, the olphaned, the oulcasts as well as destitute people in general. An at/empt is also made to examine the extent to which the Emperor was ready to use some of his wealth for the promotion of public health and higher educational institutions. The Beld Rist had its Head Office in Addis Ababa and branch offices in the provinces. It represented a highly organized end centrally directed property management institution that exhibited a strict financial control system. This was particularly true to the period ./i'om 1949 to 1972 during which it registered much success. The major economic sectors in which the Ofjke expended substantial alllount of money are partially mechanized farming; development of real estate; and the manufacturing sector. In the social sphere, the Emperor demonstrated great concern for the rehabilitation of the aged, disabled, orphaned, and other people who suffered from health disorders. The role that the Emperor played in rehabilitation and in the promotion of public health and higher educational institutions is best revealed in connection with the history of the management system. Around 19611 '62, however, the Emperor decided to close it for he gave out huge amount of land which was under the administration of the Betd Rist to his children. But the fact that he still possessed property both in urban and rural areas ensured the continuation of the office until the collapse of the regime in 1974. The nationalization of the property in 1975 by the military regime formally marked the end of the institution.