Joas I.

The bones of Mentewab, Iyasu II and Joas I kept in Kuskwam ( Gonder ).

Iyoas I. ( Ethiop . ኢዮዋስ , also Joas I , throne name Adyam Sagad አድያም ሰገድ , "before whom the borders of the world bow down") (* 1755 ; † 14 May 1769 ) was from June 26, 1755 to 7. May 1769 Negus Negest ( Emperor ) of Ethiopia and a member of the Solomon dynasty .

He was the child of Iyasu II and Wubit (Welete Bersabe), the daughter of an Oromo chief from the Yejju district . Since he ascended the throne as a toddler, the Empress Mentewab , his grandmother, acted as regent.

After the death of Iyasu, the empire was financially at an end and also suffered from regional conflicts between areas that had been part of the empire for centuries: the Agau , Gondere , Shoa and Tigray as well as the newly added Oromo . Mentewab tried to strengthen the bond between the monarchy and the Oromo by marrying her son to the daughter of an Oromo chief. However, this step ultimately backfired. Iyasu II gave his mother preference over his wife Wubit and gave her all the privileges of an equal crowned ruler. Wubit waited until her own son took office before declaring her claims to power that had so long been in the hands of Mentewab and her Qwara relatives . When Iyoas ascended the throne after the sudden death of his father, the hereditary nobility of Gonder was amazed, as he spoke Oromo better than Amharic . They therefore preferred his mother's relatives from Yejju to his grandmother's qwaran. As an adult, Iyoas reinforced these Oromo privileges. He set up a royal guard of 3,000 Oromo and appointed his Oromo uncles Brulhe and Lubo to lead them. After the death of Ras of Amhara, he tried to make his uncle governor of that province. The outcry that followed caused his advisor Walda Nul to change his mind.

At that time, Ras Mikael Sehul from Tigray was first mentioned in history. In the royal chronicles of Iyao's reign, he is positively represented by the emperor. It is believed that the power struggle between the Qwaran under the Empress Mentewab and the Yejju-Oromo under the Emperor's mother, Wubit, was on the verge of a military conflict. Mentewab called Ras Mikael, her future son-in-law, to mediate between her powers and her daughter-in-law's camp. The Ras was also an opponent of the invaded Oromo and a ruler over the traditionally Christian Tigray. The Empress Mentewab therefore believed that he would show understanding for her situation. In a skilful way, however, he succeeded in sidelining the two forces and making claims on power himself. Mikael soon became leader of the Christian Amharen and Tigray camp.

He entered the capital Gondar and convinced Iyoas exiled King of Sennar , Badi abu Shalukh support. Iyoas appointed Badi as governor of Ras al-Fil on the border with Sannar. Walda Nul advised Badi not to leave his kingdom. However, the king was lured back to Sannar and secretly murdered there.

From then on, Joas' term of office was marked by the battle between the mighty Ras Mikael Sehul and the Oromo from the Joas family. The closer he got to Oromo leaders like Fasil , the worse his relationship with Mikael Sehul deteriorated. Finally, Mikael Sehul dethroned Emperor Joas on May 7, 1769. A week later he had him murdered. The exact circumstances of his death are controversial, but the outcome is not: for the first time in Ethiopian history an emperor had not lost his throne through natural death, death in battle, or voluntary renunciation. Mikael Sehul had compromised the emperor's power. From then on it was increasingly in the hands of the great nobles and military commanders.

Edward Ullendorff writes:

It is this period, from 1769 to the beginning of Theodore's reign in 1855, that is called by Ethiopian tradition the time of the masafent ("judges"), for it resembled very closely the era of the Old Testament judges when "there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes ”.

This period, from 1769 to the beginning of Theodor II's reign in 1855, is referred to in Ethiopian traditions as the time of the masafent (“judges”), as it is very similar to the Old Testament period of judges: “In those days there was none in Israel King; everyone did what he liked. "( Ri 17.6  EU )

literature

1. ↑ partially translated by Richard KP Pankhurst in: The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles . Oxford University Press (Addis Ababa 1967).
2. ↑ annotated in EA Walis Budge: A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia . 1928 Anthropological Publications (Oosterhout, The Netherlands 1970), pages 459-468.
3. ^ Edward Ullendorff : The Ethiopians , second edition, Oxford University Press (London 1965), p. 82

predecessor	Office	successor
Iyasu II.	Emperor of Ethiopia 1755 - 1769	Yohannes II