Iyasu I.

Iyasu I. ( Ethiop . ኢያሱ, also Jesus I , Iyasu the Great , throne name Adiam Sagad አድያም ሰገድ "before whom the boundaries of the earth bend"; † October 13, 1706 ), was from July 19, 1682 to May 13. October 1706 Negus Negest ( Emperor of Ethiopia ). He was the son of Yohannes I and Empress Sabla Wangel of the ruling Solomonids dynasty .

Life

According to GW Huntingford, Iyasu's obituary is composed of the mildness of his character, which was reflected in the treatment of the princes held at Wehni in his first year, the attention he paid to religious matters, and also his abdication, his retreat in the Retirement and his assassination.

Before he was given government authority by Yohannes at the age of 20, he had served as the governor of Gojam . However, it was not until 1693 that he should be crowned. In the fourth year of his tenure, General Walle and the hermit Tabdan jointly proclaimed Yeshaq emperor. However, Iyasu reacted quickly to this revolt and captured Yeshaq.

He went on campaigns against the Shanqella . During the time of his reign, individual Oromo found employment at the imperial court for the first time. His chronicle reports how the Ottoman Naib of Massaua tried to collect a tax on Iyasu's goods that had arrived in Massaua. The latter reacted by blocking the town on an island until the Naib finally gave way.

His rule is noteworthy for the attention he paid to the administration. He held a large number of councils to deal with theological and ecclesiastical affairs. At first this happened in the public square of Gonder . State affairs were dealt with and laws passed at these meetings. In 1698 he made a number of reforms that affected tariffs and taxes and stimulated trade.

A French doctor, Charles Poncet , was invited to the Empire to treat himself and one of his sons . Poncet came to Gonder on July 21, 1699 and stayed there until September 1700. After his return he published a report of his visit in Paris in 1704. It also contains his personal impressions of Iyasus the Great. (please refer:)

While he was fighting the Oromo in Gojam, he heard the news of the death of his favorite concubine Malekotawit. Struck by grief, he withdrew to an island in Lake Tana . Some of the officials, following the case of King Ella Asbeha and supported by Queen Malakotawit, ruled that Iyasu had resigned and then crowned his son Tekle Haymanot as emperor. According to some accounts, this was not the intention of Iyasus, who marched in protest from his hermitage in Lake Tana towards Gonder. In any case, he fell ill on the way and was murdered on the orders of Tekle Haymanot. Iyasu's death caused much suffering in the capital; especially among the priests of the Debre Birhan Selassie church in Gonder, who publicly displayed the gifts he had received and mourned their dead monarch for a month.

His brother, Theophilus , had Iyasus canonized on his accession to the throne.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ George W. Huntingford: The Historical Geography of Ethiopia. From the first century AD to 1704 (Fontes Historiae Africanae / Varia; Vol. 4). The British Academy, London 1989, ISBN 0-19-726055-1 , p. 201.
2. ↑ partially translated by Richard K. Pankhurst in: The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles . Oxford University Press, Addis Ababa 1967.
3. ^ William Foster (Ed.): The Red Sea and Adjacent Countries ( Works issued by the Hakluyt Society / 2; Vol. 100). Kraus Reprint, Nendeln 1967 (reprint of the London 1949 edition), pp. 130f.
4. ^ Richard P. Pankhurst: History of Ethiopian Towns. From the middle ages to the early 19th century (Ethiopian research; Vol. 8). Franz Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden 1982, ISBN 3-515-03204-5 , pp. 142f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Yohannes I.	Emperor of Ethiopia 1682 - 1706	Tekle Haymanot I.