Emperor of Ethiopia

The Emperor of Ethiopia (Ge'ez: ንጉሠ

ነገሥት, nəgusä nägäst, "King of Kings") was
the hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian
Empire, until the abolition of the monarchy
in 1975. The Emperor was the head of
state and head of government, with
ultimate executive, judicial and legislative
power in that country. A National
Geographic article called imperial Ethiopia
"nominally a constitutional monarchy; in
fact [it was] a benevolent autocracy".[2]
 Emperor of Ethiopia
IMPERIAL

Imperial Coat of arms

Last to reign
Haile Selassie
2 April 1930 – 12 September 1974

Details

Style His Imperial Majesty

First monarch Menelik I
Last monarch Haile Selassie

Formation c. 980 BC[1]

Abolition 21 March 1975

Residence Menelik Palace

Appointer Hereditary

Pretender(s) Zera Yacob Amha

Selassie

This article contains Ethiopic text.

Without proper rendering support, you
may see question marks, boxes, or other
symbols instead of Ethiopic characters.
Lebna Dengel, nəgusä nägäst (Emperor) of Ethiopia
and a member of the Solomonic dynasty.

Title and style

Emperor Tewodros II (1855-1868)

The title of "King of Kings", often rendered

imprecisely in English as "Emperor", dates
back to ancient Mesopotamia, but was
used in Axum by King Sembrouthes (c.
250 AD). However, Yuri Kobishchanov
dates this usage to the period following
the Persian victory over the Romans in
296–297.[3] Its use, from at least the reign
of Yekuno Amlak onward, meant that both
subordinate officials and tributary rulers,
notably the gubernatorial vassals of
Gojjam (who ranked 12th in the states
non-dynastic protocol as per 1690),
Welega, the seaward provinces and later
Shewa, received the honorific title of
nəgus, a word for "king."

The consort of the Emperor was referred

to as the ətege. Empress Zauditu used the
feminized form nəgəstä nägäst ("Queen of
Kings") to show that she reigned in her
own right, and did not use the title of
ətege.

Succession
At the death of a monarch any male or
female blood relative of the Emperor could
claim succession to the throne: sons,
brothers, daughters and nephews all
inherited at times. Practice favoured
primogeniture but did not always enforce
it. The system developed two approaches
to controlling the succession: the first,
employed on occasion before the 20th
century, involved interning all of the
Emperor's possible rivals in a secure
location, which drastically limited their
ability to disrupt the Empire with revolts or
to dispute the succession of an heir
apparent; the second, used with increasing
frequency, involved the selection of
Emperors by a council of the senior
officials of the realm, both secular and
religious.
Ethiopian traditions do not all agree as to
exactly when the custom started of
imprisoning rivals to the throne on a
Mountain of the Princes. One tradition
credits this practice to the Zagwe king
Yemrehana Krestos (fl. 11th century), who
allegedly received the idea in a dream;[4]
Taddesse Tamrat discredits this tradition,
arguing that the records of the Zagwe
dynasty betray too many disputed
successions for this to have been the
case.[5] Another tradition, recorded by
historian Thomas Pakenham, states that
this practice predates the Zagwe dynasty
(which ruled from ca. 900 AD), and was
first practiced on Debre Damo, which was
captured by the 10th-century queen Gudit,
who then isolated 200 princes there to
death; however, Pakenham also notes that
when questioned, the abbot of the
monastery on Debre Damo knew of no
such tale.[6] Taddesse Tamrat argues that
this practice began in the reign of Wedem
Arad (1299–1314), following the struggle
for succession that he believes lies behind
the series of brief reigns of the sons of
Yagbe'u Seyon (reigned 1285–1294). A
constructivist approach states that the
tradition was used on occasion, weakened
or lapsed sometimes, and was sometimes
revived to full effect after some
unfortunate disputes – and that the
custom started in time immemorial as
Ethiopian common inheritance patterns
allowed all agnates to also succeed to the
lands of the monarchy – which however is
contrary to keeping the country undivided.

The potential royal rivals were incarcerated

at Amba Geshen until Ahmed Gragn
captured that site in 1540 and destroyed it;
then, from the reign of Fasilides (1632–
1667) until the mid-18th century, at Wehni.
Rumors of these royal mountain
residences were part of the inspiration for
Samuel Johnson's short story, Rasselas.
Although the Emperor of Ethiopia had
theoretically unlimited power over his
subjects, his councillors came to play an
increasing role in governing Ethiopia,
because many Emperors were succeeded
either by a child, or one of the incarcerated
princes, who could only successfully leave
their prisons with help from the outside.
As a result, by the mid-18th century the
power of the Emperor had been largely
transferred to his deputies, like Ras Mikael
Sehul of Tigray (ca. 1691 – 1779), who
held actual power in the Empire and
elevated or deposed Emperors at will.

Ideology
The Emperors of Ethiopia derived their
right to rule based on two dynastic claims:
their descent from the kings of Axum, and
their descent from Menelik I, the son of
Solomon and Makeda, Queen of Sheba.

The claim to their relationship to the Kings

of Axum derives from Yakuno Amlak's
claim that he was the descendant of Dil
Na'od, through his father, although he
defeated and killed the last Zagwe king in
battle. His claim to the throne was also
helped by his marriage to that king's
daughter, even though Ethiopians
commonly do not acknowledge claims
from the distaff side. The claim of descent
from Menelik I is based on the assertion
that the kings of Axum were also the
descendants of Menelik I; its definitive and
best-known formulation is set forth in the
Kebra Nagast. While the surviving records
of these kings fail to shed light on their
origins, this genealogical claim is first
documented in the 10th century by an
Arab historian. Interpretations of this claim
vary widely. Some (including many inside
Ethiopia) accept it as evident fact. At the
other extreme, others (mostly interested
non-Ethiopians) understand this as an
expression of propaganda, attempting to
connect the legitimacy of the state to the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Some
scholars take an approach in the middle,
attempting to either find a connection
between Axum and the South Arabian
kingdom of Saba, or between Axum and
the pre-exilic Kingdom of Judah. Due to
lack of primary materials, it is not possible
as of 2006 to determine which theory is
the more plausible.

History

The Solomonic dynasty …

The Conquering Lion of Judah, a title of the Ethiopian
Emperor and a national symbol of Ethiopia.

The restored Solomonic dynasty, which

claimed descent from the old Aksumite
rulers, ruled Ethiopia from the 13th century
until 1974, with only a couple of usurpers.
The Amhara (Amara) warrior turned
Emperor, Kassa of Quara, Gonder, in 1855
took complete control over Ethiopia and
was crowned Tewodros II. After him, one
of the many rebels leaders that helped the
British in their expedition into Abyssinia
was Dejazmatch Kassai, he was rewarded
with articles of war for his services and
went on to assume power through his
claim of Solomonic decedent by his
mothers from the Gondar branch and was
crowned Yohannes IV. Menelik of Shewa,
who descended from Solomonic Emperors
but a slave woman, in the direct male line
(junior only to the Gondar line), ascended
the imperial throne following Yohannis IV's
death, thus purporting to restore the male-
line Solomonic tradition.

The Emperor Theodore (Tewodros) spent

his youth fighting with invading Egyptians
and 'Turks', then unifying the Empire after
the dark ages of 'Zemane Mesafint' (time
of Judges). Emperor Menelik II achieved a
major military victory against Italian
invaders in March 1896 at the Battle of
Adwa. Menelik signed a treaty allowing the
Italians to take Eritrea and sold Djubouti to
France. After Menelik, all monarchs were
of distaff descent from Solomonics. The
male line, through the descendants of
Menelik's cousin Dejazmatch Taye Gulilat,
still existed, but had been pushed aside
largely because of Menelik's personal
distaste for this branch of his family.
Menelik's Solomonic successors ruled the
country until the military coup in 1974.

Italian occupation of Ethiopia …

Coat of arms of the Emperor of Ethiopia during the
Italian occupation

In 1936, with the occupation of Ethiopia,

Emperor Haile Selassie was forced to flee
abroad to defend the Italian aggression
and the invasion of Ethiopia before the
League of Nations. As a result, Mussolini
declared Eritrea and Italian Somalia, part
of a colonial empire called Italian East
Africa.
During the summer of 1936 Victor
Emmanuel III of Italy proclaimed himself
Emperor of Ethiopia, a title that was
considered illegitimate by the Soviet Union
and that declined with the World War II.
The title lasted almost five years, until
1941. Victor Emmanuel III later officially
renounced the title at the end of 1943.

Return of Haile Selassie …

Imperial Standard of Haile Selassie (obverse)

Imperial Standard of Haile Selassie (reverse)

Haile Selassie returned to power during

World War II. In January 1942 he was
officially reinstated to power in Ethiopia.

The position of the Emperor and the line of

succession were strictly defined in both of
the constitutions adopted during the reign
of Haile Selassie: the one adopted on July
16, 1931; and the revised one of November
1955.
End of the monarchy …

Haile Selassie was the last Solomonic

monarch to rule Ethiopia. He was deposed
by the Derg, the committee of lower-
ranking military and police officials on
September 12, 1974. The Derg offered the
throne to Haile Selassie's son Amha
Selassie, who – understandably
mistrustful of the Derg – refused to return
to Ethiopia to rule. The Derg abolished the
monarchy on 21 March 1975. In April
1989, Amha Selassie was proclaimed
Emperor in exile at London, with his
succession backdated to the date of
Emperor Haile Selassie's death in August
1975 rather than his deposition in
September 1974. In 1993 a group called
the "Crown Council of Ethiopia", which
included several descendants of Haile
Selassie, affirmed Amha as Emperor and
legal head of Ethiopia. However, the 1995
Constitution of Ethiopia confirmed the
abolition of the monarchy.

List of Emperors of Ethiopia …

Family tree
Legend
EMPEROR (bold, capital letters)

Marriage

Descent

Uncertain/purported/legendary descent
 MARA
TAKLA
HAYMANOT
(1)

ZAGWE DYNASTY

TATADIM JAN SEYUM G

(2) (3)
 GEBRE
Y
KEDUS HARBE MESQEL
(6) LALIBELA
(7)

NA'AKUETO LA'AB YETBARAK

(8) (9)
 Zagwe
Dynasty[7]
 Y
(

HEZBA
SENFA ARED IV Q
ASGAD
1294–1295
1295–1296
TEWODROS I YESHAQ I TA
1413–1414 1414–1429

ANDREYAS SA
1429–1430
GELAWDEWOS MENAS
1540–1559 1559–1563

GO
 Prince
SARSA DENGEL Lesana Pr
1563–1597 Krestos

YAQOB
ZA DENGEL S
1597–1603
1603–1604
1604–1606
 Y

Princess Amlakawit

TEKLE
Delba Iyasus
HAYMANOT
Dejazmatch of Tigray
I
1706–1708
 YOSTOS
1711–1716

Prince
Prince Adigo
Atsequ

SALOMON II IYASU III EG

 1777–1779 1784–1788

(alleg

BAEDA MARYAM II SUSENYO

1795 1770
BAEDA MARYAM III
TIGRAY
(1826)
DYNAST
(unknown parentage)

Mirtcha Wo
Kidane
Shum of Tem

ZAGWE DYNASTY
(RESTORED)

Empress
TEKLE GIYORGIS II Dinqinesh Y
1868–1872

A
K
See also
History of Ethiopia
Fetha Nagast
List of emperors of Ethiopia
Monarchies of Ethiopia

Notes
1. "The Ark of the Covenant: The
Ethiopian Tradition" . Retrieved
2013-02-16.
2. Nathaniel T. Kenney, "Ethiopian
Adventure", National Geographic, 127
(1965), p. 555.
3. Yuri M. Kobishchanov, Axum,
translated by Lorraine T. Kapitanoff,
and edited by Joseph W. Michels
(University Park: University of
Pennsylvania State Press, 1979), p.
195. ISBN 0-271-00531-9.
4. Francisco Álvares, The Prester John of
the Indies, translated by Lord Stanley
of Alderley, revised and edited with
 additional material by C.F. Beckingham
and G.W.B. Huntingford, (Cambridge:
The Hakluyt Society, 1961), p. 237ff.
5. Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in
Ethiopia (1270–1527) (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 275, n. 3.
ISBN 0-19-821671-8.
. Thomas Pakenham, The Mountains of
Rasselas (New York: Reynal & Co.,
1959), p. 84. ISBN 0-297-82369-8.
7. Zagwe Dynasty continued to rule in
Lasta for centuries; restored to
imperial throne in 1868.

External links
 Rasta Ites – List of Ethiopian Kings
Friesian – Emperors of Ethiopia
Crown Council of Ethiopia

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Emperor_of_Ethiopia&oldid=964530363"

Last edited 1 month ago by 27.104.223.181

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.