Gelawdewos
Galawdewos (Ge'ez: ገላውዴዎስ, 1521/1522 – 23 March 1559) also known as Mar Gelawdewos[3] (Amharic: ማር ገላውዴዎስ), was Emperor of Ethiopia from 3 September 1540 until his death in 1559, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was Asnaph Sagad I (Ge'ez: አጽናፍ ሰገድ). A male line descendant of medieval Amhara kings, he was a younger son of Dawit II and Seble Wongel.[4][5]
| Galawdewos ገላውዴዎስ | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Negusa Nagast Defender of the Faith | |||||||||
Mural depicting Gelawdewos jabbing legendary centuar Sobäd’at with his spear at Narga Selassie Church, Ethiopia | |||||||||
| Emperor of Ethiopia | |||||||||
| Reign | 3 September 1540 – 23 March 1559 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Dawit II | ||||||||
| Successor | Menas | ||||||||
| Born | 1521/1522 Amhara, Ethiopian Empire[1] | ||||||||
| Died | 29 March 1559 (aged 37–38) Fatagar, Ethiopian Empire | ||||||||
| Issue | Sabana Giyorgis[2] Mashihawit[2] | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Dynasty | House of Solomon | ||||||||
| Father | Dawit II | ||||||||
| Mother | Seble Wongel | ||||||||
| Religion | Ethiopian Orthodox | ||||||||
Reign
His reign was dominated by the struggle with Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi during the Ethiopian–Adal War until Ahmad's defeat and death in the Battle of Wayna Daga on 21 February 1543. Gelawdewos devoted time and energy to rallying his people against Ahmad, a determination his chronicler credits prevented Ahmad's forcible conversions from being permanent. With Ahmad's death, Gelawdewos was not only able to eject the leaderless Muslim forces from the Ethiopian Highlands, but also from the lowlands to the east, which included the Sultanate of Dawaro and Bale.[6] He also turned his attention to the numerous Ethiopians who had crossed over to the Imam's side, either to further themselves or out of self-preservation. While some presented themselves to Gelawdewos expecting to be pardoned only to be executed, to many others he granted his safe conduct, according to Miguel de Castanhoso, "for there were so many [who had joined Imam Ahmad] that had he ordered all to be killed, he would have remained alone."[7]
Campaigns
In early 1548, Gelawdewos led his army in campaign in the western fringes of the Empire, perhaps in Bizamo, beyond the province of Damot, which was then inhabited by pagans. The campaign lasted six months and ended in victory.[8] When Ahmed Gragn died one of his generals, Garad Abbas, invaded Fetegar against his orders. He would invade many kingdoms, but his campaign was stopped by the Emperor.[9] After the death of Garad Abbas, Gelawdewos invaded all of the Muslim provinces and kingdoms except for Harar. Among the kingdoms he conquered were Dawaro, Fetegar, Bali, and Hadiya. The Ethiopian king then focused on the southwestern side of Ethiopia.
Whilst Gelawdewos was campaigning in the west, Nur ibn Mujahid once again invaded. Gelawdewos's vassal Fanu'el succeeded in repulsing them. In 1550 Ras Fanu'el followed up with a further attack into Muslim territory, plundering the countryside for six months. He further pushed the campaign into Adal, destroying castles and capturing livestock.[10]
After this campaign in the east, a number of revolts were suppressed, in Gumär, and Gambo provinces. During the Ottoman conquest of Habesh, the Ottomans under Özdemir Pasha attacked seized Massawa, Arqiqo and Dahlak in 1557. Gelawdewos relied on the resistance of the population. In the area of Bur, the farmers killed troops and a commander named Yeshaq, and sent the latter's head to the Emperor.[11]
In 1559, Nur ibn Mujahid invaded Fatagar with a force comprising 1800 horsemen and 500 riflemen, and numerous sword and bow-wielding troops.[12] To face that threat, Gelawdewos ordered Ras Hamalmal of Kambata and Ras Fasil to lead two armies against Harar, which they successfully took.[13] Galawdewos then led his own troops, hastily assembled. On 23 March 1559, the imperial army met Nur ibn Mujahid force in the Battle of Fatagar at a place named Nech Sar,[14] where, according to a Harari chronicle, Gelawdewos was killed in battle. "Early in the engagement Galawdéwos was hit by a bullet, but continued to fight until surrounded by a score of Harari cavalry, who struck him fatally to the ground with their spears," according to Pankhurst. Around the same time as the battle, Barakat ibn Umar Din the last member of the Walasma dynasty was killed defending Harar from Dejazmatch Hamalmal.[15][16]
Emir Nur had the Emperor's head sent to the country of Sa'ad ad-Din II, then rode off to plunder Ethiopian territory before returning home.[17] The explorer Richard Francis Burton tells a slightly different account, adding that Gelawdewos had been supervising the restoration of Debre Werq when he received a message from Emir Nur challenging him to combat. When the Emperor met the Emir, a priest warned that the angel Gabriel had told him Gelawdewos would needlessly risk his life—which caused most of the Ethiopian army to flee.[18]
According to G. W. B. Huntingford, Gelawdewos' body was buried at Tadbaba Maryam near Sayint and his head, which was brought back to Ethiopia by some traders, was buried in Ensaqya (now in Antsokiyana Gemza) in the Tomb of Saint Gelawdewos.[19]
Foreign relations
The first problem of foreign relations Gelawdewos had to deal with following his victory at Wayna Daga was João Bermudes, a Portuguese priest whom his father had sent abroad as his ambassador to secure help from Portugal. Bermudes had represented himself in Europe as the properly appointed Patriarch of Ethiopia (or Abuna), and once he returned to Ethiopia, he claimed he had been appointed by Pope Paul III as Patriarch of Alexandria. A surviving letter dated 13 March 1546 from John III of Portugal to Emperor Gelawdewos, translated by Whiteway, is a response to a lost letter wherein the Ethiopian ruler asked, in essence, "Who is this João Bermudes fellow? And why does he behave so irresponsibly?" King John's answer was frank:
As to what João Bermudes has done there, whom the King your father sent to me as his Ambassador, I disapprove greatly, for they are things very contrary to the service of Our Lord, and by reason of them it is clear that he cannot be given any help or assistance, nor do I know more of him than that he is a mere priest. Of the powers which he says the Holy Father granted him I know nothing; from the letters of His Holiness you will learn better what has passed in the matter; although for this he merits very severe punishment, it appears to me that you should not inflict it, except in such a way that, his life being saved, he may be punished according to his errors.[20]
According to Bermudes' own account of his time in Ethiopia, early in the reign of Gelawdewos he was banished to Gafat south of the Blue Nile (Amharic Abbay), the first of several exiles that ended when Bermudes left Ethiopia. This banishment probably followed Gelawdewos' receipt of King John's letter.
In the same letter, King John promised to send priests more worthy than Bermudes, and during his reign two different groups of Jesuit missionaries arrived in Ethiopia. The first group arrived 7 February 1555 to determine the state of the country and whether the Ethiopians would properly receive a Patriarch anointed by the Catholic Church. Gelawdewos received them, but gave them no overt encouragement.[21] The second group landed in March 1557, and was headed by Andrés de Oviedo, who had been made titular bishop of Nice. Gelawdewos received them just before leaving to campaign against Nur ibn Mujahid but did not make any promises.[22]
In response to their arguments, Gelawdewos wrote his Confession, which defended the Miaphysitism of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. According to Richard Pankhurst, Gelawdewos' Confession helped his fellow Ethiopian Christians to remain "steadfast in their adherence to Sabbath observance, circumcision, and the prohibition against pork and other 'unclean' foods."[23]
Ethiopia's access to the outside world was severely crippled during his reign in 1557 when the Ottoman Empire conquered Massawa. From that point forward, dignitaries and missionaries to Ethiopia had to travel in disguise to avoid Muslim authorities. This also allowed the Ottomans to block the Ethiopians from importing firearms.
Family
Gelawdewos had no sons, but had two daughters named Sabana Giyorgis and Mashihawit.[2]
References
- ^ Cozelman. p. 135.
{{cite book}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ a b c Budge, E. A. Wallis (1928). A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia (Volume 2). London: Methuen & Co. p. 356.
- ^ Cozelman. p. 135.
{{cite book}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Danver, Steven L (2015). Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues. Routledge. p. 16. ISBN 9781317464006.
- ^ Remedius Prutky states that Gelawdewos had a son, Na'od; this son is not mentioned in his Royal Chronicle. J. H. Arrowsmith-Brown, translator and editor, Prutky's Travels to Ethiopia and Other Countries (London: Hakluyt Society, 1991), p. 112 and note.
- ^ Richard Pankhurst, The Ethiopian Borderlands (Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1997), pp. 241f.
- ^ R.S. Whiteway, editor and translator, The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1441-1543, 1902. (Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus Reprint, 1967), p. 86
- ^ Solomon Gebreyes Beyene, The Chronicle of King Gälawdewos (1540-1559): A Critical Edition with Annotated Translation, p. 218, Chap. 33, https://d-nb.info/1116605163/34
- ^ Ethiopian Borderlands. Library of congress: Pankhurst. 1997. p. 201.
- ^ Solomon, The Chronicle, p. 220, Chap. 38
- ^ Solomon, The Chronicle, p. 237, Chap. 66
- ^ Solomon , The Chronicle, p. 246, Chap. 84
- ^ History of the Oromo - Aṣma Giyorgis and his Work. History of the Gāllā and the Kingdom of Šawā. Edited and translated by Bairu Tafla. http://ethioobserver.net/Kambata2.htm
- ^ Solomon, The Chronicle, p. 248, Chap. 87
- ^ History of Harar and Hararis (PDF). Harar Tourism Bureau. p. 81.
- ^ Hassan, Mohammad. Oromo of Ethiopia 1500 (PDF). University of London. p. 184.
- ^ Pankhurst, Ethiopian Borderlands, p. 246.
- ^ Richard Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa (New York: Praeger, 1966), pp. 183f
- ^ George Wynn Brereton Huntingford, The historical geography of Ethiopia from the first century AD to 1704, (Oxford University Press: 1989), p. 135
- ^ Whiteway 1902, p. 111.
- ^ Balthasar Tellez, The Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia, 1710 (LaVergue: Kessinger, 2010), pp. 133f
- ^ Tellez, Travels, pp. 137–140
- ^ Richard Pankhurst, The Ethiopians: A History (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), p. 95
Works cited
- Whiteway, Richard (1902). The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541–1543 as Narrated by Castanhoso. Hakluyt Society.
Further reading
- Richard K. P. Pankhurst. The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles. Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967.