Day #10 of BHM: Mahbuba or Machbuba (1825-1840) was an Oromo slave-girl from Ethiopia. She was captured in 1837 during the middle of war, in which the rest of her family was killed. She was sent to a slave market in Cairo. 1/
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Hermann von Pückler-Muskau purchased her at the age of 12, He traveled with her and another slave-girl. She accompanied him during his journey across the Middle East, including Sudan, Jerusalem, Palestine, Lebanon, Turkey, etc. He took her as his concubine. 2/
He taught her Italian and interviewed her about her people's understanding of God. In 1839, they arrived in Vienna and Pückler introduced her as an "Ethiopian Princess" to prominent figures. 3/
Some of those figures were Austrian stateman Prince Metternich, the Hungarian nobleman Prince Esterhazy, and the financier Baron Rothschild. She also communicated in Arabic with a few Austrian orientalists. 4/
Pückler took her to a Bohemian health resort after she suffered from a tapeworm and consumption. She then was at the Pückler estate in Muskau. There, her health connected to fail. But she did meet another Ethiopia ex-slave Oču Aagaa who was a student of Tutschek. 5/
She was introduced to Tutschek and helped him with his linguistic studies of Ethiopian poems. Pückler was concerned for his reputation due to rumors surrounding his relationship with Machbuba. 6/
So he distanced himself from her. Pückler wrote about her in his popular travel books. He described her daily activities, her grace, her quest for knowledge, and her ability to learn languages, among other things. 7/
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