Balabat (original) (raw)

Balabat (Amharic: ባላባት, romanized: balabat or balebat, lit: 'with father' compare with English Patrician) was a largely traditional Ethiopian social class of wealthy land owners who lived on rent collected from their tenant framers (gebbars). Balabats were below the Mesafint (hereditary nobility "princes") and equal to the Mekwanint (appointed nobility "officers") in the class hierarchy. They were closely related to, commonly married to, and had the same economic base on land as the Mesafints and Mekwanints. Balabats officially ceased to exist when feudalism was abolished in 1975.