Tekle Haymanot II.

Tekle Haymanot II. ( Ethiop . ተክለ ሃይማኖት , "plant of faith", throne name Admas Sagad III. አድማስ ሰገድ , "before whom the horizon bows") (* 1754 ; † September 7, 1777 ) was from October 18, 1769 to on April 13, 1777 Negus Negest ( Emperor ) of Ethiopia and a member of the Solomon dynasty . He was the son of John II and Woizero Sancheviyar in the imperial prison on Wehni .

Tekle Haymanot became emperor at the age of 15 after John II was murdered by Ras Mikael Sehul . He was primarily a figurehead of the elderly warlord from Tigray . For a short time in 1770 he had to cede the crown to Sissinios II , who was promoted to the throne by three generals Ras Mikaels. When the Ras returned to the capital Gondar on December 23 of the same year , however, he was able to regain his position.

After marching into the city, Mikael Sehul had a traveling drama troupe slaughtered that had performed a satire about him. Some former insurgents who defected handed over several prisoners to him, including the Abuna Abba Salama . After a show trial, Mikael Sehul brutally executed her. In the days that followed, Mikael Sehul took revenge on all those who had opposed him. The Scottish explorer James Bruce , who was in Ethiopia from September 1769 to November 1771, wrote:

“Fifty-seven people died publicly by the hand of the executioner in the course of a few days; many disappeared, and were either murdered privately, or sent to prisons, no one knew where. The bodies of those killed by the sword were hewn to pieces and scattered about the streets, being denied burial. I was miserable, and almost driven to despair, at seeing my hunting dogs, twice let loose by the carelessness of my servants, bringing into the courtyard the head and arms of slaughtered men ... the quantity of carrion, and the stench of it, brought down the hyaenas in hundreds from the neighboring mountains; and, as few people in Gondar go out after dark, they enjoyed the streets to themselves, and seemed ready to dispute the possession of the city with the inhabitants. "

“57 people died publicly within a few days at the hands of the executioners, many disappeared and were either murdered in secret or sent to prisons; nobody knew where. Those who died by the sword were hacked into pieces and scattered on the streets. They were not allowed to be buried. I felt miserable and almost desperate as I watched my hunting dogs, twice released due to the carelessness of my servants, bring back into the courtyard a head and arms of slaughtered men ... the amount of carrion and the stench of them attracted them Hyenas come by the hundreds from the neighboring mountains. Since few people in Gonder left the house after dark, they had the streets to themselves, and it seemed as if they were fighting with the residents over the possessions of the city. "

In May of the following year, Ras Mikael Sehul was defeated in three battles by the insurgents near Sarbakusa and had to retreat to Gonder, where he surrendered to Wall Bewossen on June 4, 1771. Wand Bewossen had Mikael Sehul imprisoned for a year and then sent him back to Tigray to end his last years as governor of this province. As a result, Ras Gusho took over the role of Mikael as the actual ruler behind the throne. When Tekle Haymanot, who was captured in Dagola with Ras Mikael Sehul in 1771, tried to assert his independence, he was forced to resign by Wand Bewossen. Tired of the constant power struggles with his governors, he turned from the throne on April 13, 1777. He lived in exile in Waldeba , where he died a few months later.

Despite the political turmoil, art and science flourished in Gonder. Pankhurst acknowledges the construction of seven churches within or near the city during his reign. The most important of these is Baeta Maryam, from 1775, which originally had a large bronze cross on its roof that loomed over the entire city of Gonder. The other churches are Qeddus Qirqos (consecrated to St. Cyriacus), Qeddus Peros Pawlos (Saints Peter and Paul), Ferta Ledata ("Birth of Mary") in Ferta , Walda Nagwadgwad Yohannes (St. John the Evangelist), Abageale Tekle Haymanot ( St. Tekle Haymanot ), and Debre Tebab ("Mountain of Knowledge").

supporting documents

1. ↑ quoted in EA Walis Budge: A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia . 1928 Anthropological Publications (Oosterhout, Netherlands 1970), p. 473. Bruce's report is an important contemporary witness document on the reign of Tekle Haymanot.
2. ^ Richard PK Pankhurst: History of Ethiopian Towns . Franz Steiner Verlag (Wiesbaden 1982), pages 178f.

predecessor	Office	successor
John II	Emperor of Ethiopia 1769–1777	Solomon II