Sarsa Dengel
| Sarsa Dengel ሠርጸ ድንግል | |
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Ge'ez: ሠርጸ ድንግል śärṣä dəngəl; 1550 – 4 October 1597), also known as Sarsa the Great, was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty . His throne name was throne name Malak Sagad I (መለክ ሰገድ malak sagad).
Sarsa Dengel, the son of Emperor Menas and Empress Admas Mogasa, was elected king at the age of 14. As ruler, he faced several revolts and moved the empire's center from Shewa to Begemder. Sarsa Dengel fought against the Ottomans, defeating regional ruler Bahr Negus Yeshaq and Adal Sultan Muhammad V. He also repelled the Turkish invaders in Debarwa and Hirgigo. In addition, Sarsa Dengel led campaigns against the Oromo tribes who were migrating northward, successfully pushing them back. Despite his military successes, historians argue that his focus on northern campaigns instead of addressing the Oromo expansion in the south ultimately led to the decline of the Ethiopian Empire. BiographyThe son of Emperor Menas and Empress Admas Mogasa, Sarsa Dengel was elected king by the Shewan commanders of the army and the Dowager Empress. He was barely fourteen years old, but was supported by the Amhara aristocracy who feared Tigrayan influence in the person of Yishaq who frequently aligned with the Ottomans. Upon his coming of age, Sarsa Dengel had to put down a number of revolts: such as his cousin Hamalmal in 1563 at the Battle of Endagabatan, and another by his cousin Fasil two years later.[1][2][3] In the 1570s several Fatager.[4] He later learned that the Adal Sultan, Muhammad ibn Nasir, was campaigning in Hadiya. Subsequently, he confronted the Adalite army at the Battle of Webi River, where he decisively defeated them.[5]
When the Yeshaq promptly seized the opportunity to occupy it and forge an alliance with the Turks. Sarsa Dengel, angered by what he perceived as his vassal's arrogance and betrayal, marched against them in 1577. He confronted Yeshaq's army in Tigray in 1578, where he decisively defeated Bahr Negash's forces and killed Yeshaq in battle. The victorious Emperor then advanced on Debarwa whereupon the Turkish garrison surrendered with all its firearms. Sarsa Dengel then seized the vast riches stored by the Turks in Debarwa and ordered the destruction of the mosque and the fort erected during the Ottoman occupation.[6] The chronicler, who was greatly impressed by the Emperor's military victories exclaims: "Who among the kings of Ethiopia has defeated the Turkish army supplied with rifles and cannons? None has seen or heard of the victories of King Malak Sagad!"[7]
Upon defeating the Turks, Sarsa Dengel then held his coronation at Under luba Mul'eta the Borana Oromo crossed the Abay and invaded Gojjam in 1586, it was during this raid that the future Emperor Susenyos I would be captured by the Oromos.[9] Sarsa Dengel then took the initiative against the Oromo in the south, where he forced the Dawé Oromo in Wej to flee south.[10] Bahrey praised Sarsa Dengel's campaign, stating that he "did not act according to the custom of the kings his ancestors, who, when making war were in the habit of sending their troops ahead, remaining themselves in the rear with the pick of their cavalry and infantry, praising those who went forward bravely and punishing those who lagged behind."[11] In 1587, the Turks left the port of Mereb river to repel the Turkish invaders who were pillaging the countryside. He advanced to Debarwa and then continued to Hirgigo where the Turkish commander Kadawred Pasha was killed. The Turks then gave a peace offering to the Emperor and withdrew from Hirgigo, handing it over to a local Balaw chief.[12]
On his final campaign against the Oromo in Damot, his Chronicle records,[13] a group of monks tried to dissuade him from this expedition; failing that, they warned him not to eat fish from a certain river he would pass. Despite their warning, when he passed by the river the monks warned him about, he ate fish taken from this river and grew sick and died.[14][15] His body was interred in Medhane Alem church on Rema Island. When Robert Ernest Cheesman visited the church in March 1933, he was shown a blue-and-white porcelain jar, which his entrails were brought from the place of his death.[16] LegacyAccording to Professor Oromo expansions was a turning point in Ethiopian history. This disastrous decision opened the Ethiopian plateau for the Oromo migration and contributed to the decline of the Ethiopian Empire.[17]
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