Za Dengel

Za Dengel ( Ethiop . ዘድንግል, throne name: Asnaf Sagad II. Or Asnaf Seged or Atsnaf Seged አፅናፍ ሰገድ; † October 24, 1604 ) was Negus Negest ( Emperor ) of Ethiopia from 1603 to 1604 . He was the son of Lesana Krestos, the brother of Sarsa Dengel of the ruling Solomonids dynasty .

Za Dengel may have married 'Woizero' Wangelawit, the eldest daughter of his second cousin, Prince Sissinios (later Emperor) and Dame Wolde Saala von Walaqa and Marabete (later Empress Sultan Mogassa).

Sarsa Dengel was convinced that the ongoing war needed an adult on the imperial throne. Since he was late in worrying about offspring, his own children were too young, and so he wanted to make Za Dengel his heir. However, this plan was thwarted by the influence in particular of the Empress Sena Maryam, stepmother of the emperor's eldest surviving son, Prince Jacob . He came to power instead of Za Dengel.

Za Dengel was sent into religious seclusion on the island of Daq in Lake Tana . He fled and found shelter in Gojam.

In 1603 Za Dengel was elevated to the imperial throne by Ras Za Sellase as a supposed figurehead. He was crowned Asnaf Segad ("to whom the horizons bow down"). Za Dengel, however, called the Jesuit Pedro Páez to his court in Dankaz . Through his persuasion he turned to Catholicism .

After this conversion, Za Sellase not only withdrew his support, but also began to take active action against him and initiated an uprising in Gojam . Za Dengel met the rebels on the Bartcho plain to put down the revolt. Despite the support of 200 Portuguese musketeers , Za Dengel was killed in battle on October 24, 1604.

literature

• EA Wallis Budge: A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia , 1928. Anthropological Publications (Oosterhout, The Netherlands 1970). The sections about Za Dengel and his cousin Jakob can be found on pages 375–383.

predecessor	Office	successor
Jacob	Emperor of Ethiopia 1603 - 1604	Jacob