Michael Sehul

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Michael Sehul ( Tigrinya "Michael the wise"; his birth name was Blatta Michael ; * around 1691; † 23 June 1779 ) was Ras or Governor of Tigray from 1748 to 1771 and again from 1772 until his death . He played an important political role in the period from the reign of Emperor Iyasu II through his successor to his own death.

The Scottish explorer James Bruce met him during his stay in Ethiopia and recorded his impressions of an audience with Ras as follows:

“We went in and saw the old man seated on a sofa, his white hair in lots of short curls. He seemed thoughtful, but not disgruntled. His face was gaunt, his eyes clear and lively, but his eyes seemed to be aching from the weather. He might be six feet tall, but his lameness was difficult to estimate. His appearance was completely free of inhibitions; in France it was called degagée . In outward appearance and as a person, he resembled my learned honorable friend, Count de Buffon , more so than any other person I had seen in the world. It didn't take a good physiognomist to recognize his competence and intelligence in this face. Every look expressed a feeling. He didn't seem to have any reason to speak another language and, in fact, spoke little. "

biography

Michael was a son of Abeto Hezeqeyas Wolde Hawaryot and Woizero Ishate Mariam, daughter of Azzaz Yakub. They claimed through Ras Faris the Great to be descendants of the Solomonic dynasty . His father used the title Abeto, which was due to a prince of the imperial line. The first official marriage came about with Woizero Walatta Gabr'el, but she died after 1766 in Adwa . Later the Ras Woizero married Aster.

He first appeared in the history books when a delegation was sent to Cairo in 1745 with the aim of winning a new Abuna for the Empire. On their journey there, they are held in Massaua by the Naib for six months and only released when they give him half of their funds. On the way back, Abuna Yohanes is arrested in Arqiqo with demands for ransom , until the abbot of Debre Bizan monastery helps him escape. This affront was too serious to be overlooked, so the emperor undertook a punitive expedition against Michael, who at the time bore the title Dejazmach . Dejazmach Michael, however, remained powerful and was soon forgiven.

Since he was already a powerful lord in Tigray, he succeeded his father on September 20, 1748 as Dejazmach of Tigray and as such from Semien on October 8, 1757. On September 13, 1759 he was promoted to Ras and as governor of Tigray, Semien, Seggada, Walgat and 44 other districts confirmed. He established Adwa as his capital.

During the reign of Joas I , Iyasu's successor, Dejazmach Michael suddenly benefited from two connections to the imperial family . On the one hand, the Empress Mentewab married him to her daughter Aster in 1769, and Michael's son Wolde Hayawrat had married another daughter of the Empress.

At that time Michael was given the title of Ras. Ras Michael interfered in the Ethiopian Church and was an advocate of the Karva Haymanot doctrine.

Annoyed by the behavior of his master, Ras Anda Haymanot , during a hunting expedition, he returned to Adwa, which he reinforced and rebelled against Anda Haymanot. Finally there was a fight between the two, in which Ras Michael captured his former master and later had him executed (1759). Adwa was in a strategic position on the trade route between Massaua and Gonder . From the taxes and duties he received, he was able to raise an army of 8,000 men and equip them with muskets .

After the death of Iyasus II, his son Joas took over the throne and there was a violent argument between the mother and the widow of the previous emperor. The Empress Mentewab had been made co-ruler when her underage son succeeded her husband on the throne. Even without her son, she believed she could assert claims to this position. The widow Iyasus, who came from the Oromo , Welete Bersabe (also known as Wubit), for her part, now saw herself entitled to take on the leadership role at court that her mother-in-law had previously assumed. The young emperor sided with his mother and thus against his grandmother. Mentewab gathered her relatives Qwara and invaded Gonder with them to assert their claims. When the arrival of the Qwaran troops became known, Welete Bersabe in turn called her relatives from Yejju to help and the Oromo warriors from this district came to Gondar to support them. The city was inundated by these two tense armies and a bloodbath seemed inevitable.

To resolve this stalemate, the Empress Mentewab switched on her son-in-law, Ras Michael. He came with an army of 26,000 men and promised to mediate in the conflict between the two queens and their supporters. He took control of the capital Gondar and began to play an increasingly dominant role.

On January 22nd, 1768 Michael was appointed Ras Bitwodad and Enderase (Viceroy) of the Empire. Troubled by Michael's increasing power, the Emperor Joas - after secret correspondence with Fasil - sent Ras Michael back to Tigray. The Ras resisted and defeated Fasil's army. He returned to Gonder and called a meeting of the nobility to prove that the Emperor Joash had planned an attack against him while Michael was defending him on his throne.

Evidence was presented to the congregation and it was agreed that it was a serious crime that deserved the death penalty. However, since a monarch could not be killed, he was simply locked in his palace. Michael Sehul then gave the order to kill the emperor. Since it was considered wrong to execute or shoot an heir of Solomon with a spear or sword, Michael Sehul demanded in January 1769 that the emperor be strangled by a silk ribbon in imperial red. This frightened the two queen widows, Empress Mentewab and Welete Bersabe, and Mentewab retired to her palace in Qusquam , where she buried her grandson with great pomp and dignity.

Ras Michael appointed the following two emperors: Yohannes II , who turned out to be an insignificant figure and who was soon got rid of and replaced by Tekle Haymanot II . Despite his power over the throne, the population rebelled. Ras Michael responded with a reign of terror over Gonder (1770). However, he did not succeed in asserting his control over the country, as the armies of Fasils, Goshus and Wand Bewossens from Begemder allied against him there. The parties met in Sarbakusa . Ras Michael was finally defeated and finally surrendered on June 4, 1771 Wand Bewasan. This imprisoned Michael Sehul for a year and then sent him back to Tigray as governor. It is possible that Ras Michael withdrew to this province voluntarily.

He was replaced for a short time first by his son, Wolde Samuel von Tigray, and then by his grandson, Wolde Gabriel, before his nephew, Gabre Maskal, finally took up this post.

Remarks

  1. Bruce: Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile , selected and with an introduction by CF Beckingham University Press (Edinburgh 1964), p. 66
  2. The misadventures of the embassy are recorded in the royal chronicles of the reign of Iyasus II . These can be found translated into English in Richard RK Pankhurst: The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles . Oxford (Addis Ababa, 1967), pages 125-9. J. Spencer Trimingham ( Islam in Ethiopia . (Oxford: University Press, 1952), p. 105) claims that Ras Michael was held responsible and punished.
  3. ^ Pankhurst: Royal Chronicles . Pp. 133f, and Paul B. Henze: Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia . Palgrave (New York 2000), p. 121.
  4. ^ Mordechai Abir: The era of the princes: the challenge of Islam and the re-unification of the Christian empire, 1769-1855 . Longmans (London 1968), p. 40.
  5. ^ Richard RK Pankhurst: History of Ethiopian Towns . Franz Steiner Verlag (Wiesbaden 1982), p. 194.
  6. This narrative is based in part on Richard RK Pankhurst: An Introduction to the Economic History of Ethiopia . Lalibella House (London 1961), pages. 88f, while the details from Harold G. Marcus: A History of Ethiopia . University Press (Berkeley 1994), pages 46f and 51f.