Ali I of Yejju
Ali I of Yejju (died 18 June 1788) was
According to Abir, he founded the town of Debre Tabor, which became the capital of his dynasty.[1] However, from the accounts in the Royal chronicle Ali is never mentioned as dwelling at Debre Tabor, instead he is more closely tied to Filakit Gereger (called Garagara in the Royal chronicle).[2]
Life
One of the first steps in the advancement of Ali's career came in August 1781 when the Emperor
Ali took several steps to consolidate his position and prepare his way to the next rank of power, Ras Betowedded. One was to offer his niece Anqualit to the influential Dejazmach
Eventually Ras Haile Yosaq was able to recruit Dejazmach Wolde Gabriel, the son of Ras Mikael Sehul to join him, and when it appeared Ali (who had managed by that time to obtain a promotion to Ras) was preoccupied with the rebellion of his relative Yasufe in Lasta, proclaimed Baeda Maryam emperor.[10] A peace was quickly patched up with Yasufe, and Ras Ali then turned his attention to this new threat.[11] On the Thursday before Easter 1788, Ras Ali, Dejazmach Hailu Eshte, and the Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I met the allied forces of Ras Haile Yosadiq, Dejazmach Gebre, and Wolde Gabriel in the Battle of Madab. Ras Ali defeated this opponents; Dejazmach Wolde Gabriel was killed in battle and the pretender Baeda Maryam was captured. Only Ras Haile Yosadiq managed to escape the battle back to his territories in Gojjam.[12]
Ras Ali died from an illness at Filakit Gereger, which the writer of the Royal chronicle claims was caused by his heavy drinking, and was buried at Lalibela.[13]
Notes
- ^ Mordechai Abir, Ethiopia: The Era of the Princes; The Challenge of Islam and the Re-unification of the Christian Empire (1769–1855), (London: Longmans, 1968), p. 30
- ^ Herbert Weld Blundell, The Royal chronicle of Abyssinia, 1769–1840 (Cambridge: University Press, 1922), pp. 357–374, passim
- ^ Balambaras originally meant "Gentleman of the Wardrobe", but by this point had become the title of the commissioned officer of a battalion or regimental-sized unit.
- ^ Weld Blundell, Royal chronicle, pp. 269, 292
- ^ Weld Blundell, Royal chronicle, pp. 341f
- ^ Weld Blundell, Royal chronicle, pp. 349, 357, 359
- ^ Weld Blundell, Royal chronicle, pp. 361f
- ^ Weld Blundell, Royal chronicle, p. 365
- ^ As explained by Shiferaw Bekele, "Reflections on the Power Elite of the Wärä Seh Mäsfenate (1786–1853)", Annales d'Éthiopie, 15 (1990), pp. 172f
- ^ Weld Blundell, Royal chronicle, pp. 371ff, 384
- ^ Weld Blundell, Royal chronicle, p. 382
- ^ Weld Blundell, Royal chronicle, pp. 387–390
- ^ Weld Blundell, Royal chronicle, pp. 391f