Wolde Selassie

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Wolde Selassie
Governor of the
Tigray province
Reign1788 – 18 May 1816
PredecessorMikael Sehul
SuccessorSabagadis Woldu
Born1736
Enderta, Tigray Province, Ethiopian Empire
Died28 May 1816(1816-05-28) (aged 79–80)
Antalo, Enderta, Tigray Province, Ethiopian Empire
Burial
Selassie Monastery, Chalaqot, Tigray Province
FatherDejazmach Kefla Iyasus

Wolde Selassie (

Regent of the Ethiopian Empire between 1797 and 1800.[1] John J. Halls, in his Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt, preserves a description of this powerful warlord, as "small in stature, and delicately formed, quick in his manner, with a shrewd expression, and considerable dignity in his deportment."[2] Nathaniel Pearce also notes that Ras Wolde was an avid chess player, and "would play at from morning till night".[3]

Life

Wolde Selassie, who descended from the nobility of

Wollo and Gojjam.[5]

Bitwoded of the Abyssinian empire in 1790.[7]

Wolde Selassie made his seat of government in

Enderase
till his death in 1816.

Wolde Selassie, a conservative Christian who greatly valued Ethiopia's monarchical traditions, hated the Yeju parvenus. He hit out at them by effectively conquering the Azebo and Raya and by taking control over all the important passes in Lasta leading to Tigray. He then turned his attention to the coast, slowly but surely imposing his suzerainty over the Muslim authorities there until he finally could control and tax their trade inland; he used the revenues, to train, reform and re-equip his army and when the 19th century opened, Wolde Selassie was by far Abyssinia's leading figure and certainly the main champion of the Solomonic tradition.[10] Ras Wolde Selassie was known to have had wielded the most power during his reign, exceeding formidable rases such as Ras Aligaz of Yejju, Ras Gugsa of Gojam and the Yejju chieftain Gojje; and throughout his vast provinces and districts, all kinds of crimes, grievances, rebellions, disputes and inheritances were directly referred to him and most wars were carried by himself in person.[11]

According to

Paul Henze, Ras Wolde Selassie was the first ruler of this period to have close contact with Europeans, hosting three British diplomats, George Annesley, Viscount Valentia, his secretary Henry Salt
, and Pearce. Salt's arrival in Abyssinia culminated in the signing of a treaty of friendship with Wolde Selassie representing Abyssinia and the former representing Great Britain in 1805. Henry Salt also proposed inaugurating trade with Britain; Wolde Selassie was quick to see possible advantages in relations with Britain and promised to encourage such commerce with every means in his power. Revealing himself a realist, and speaking, Salt says, with "great sincerity", he nevertheless expressed the fear that his country might not be able to supply any quantity of valuable commodities sufficient to recompense our merchants for engaging in so precarious a trade; more especially as the Abyssinians were not much acquainted with commercial transactions...Could any plan, however, be arranged for obviating these difficulties...he would most readily concur in carrying it into effect.

Wolde Selassie also touched on a major obstacle that the Ethiopians had faced, the Egyptians had control over the port of Massawa which they acquired from the Ottoman Empire and reminded King George that with their "naval superiority in the red sea" Abyssinia might find it difficult to gain access to the port.[12] Wolde-Sillasie's effort however, did bear fruit in the long term when his successors Dejazmatch Wube of Semien and Tigray and Emperor Yohannes of Ethiopia followed up on the treaty that was struck between him and the kingdom of Britain.

Nathaniel Pearce lived with Ras Wolde from about 1808 and the warlord's death. Pearce's diary of his stay is not only valuable for the history of this period, but also provides enormous detail about daily life in Ethiopia.[13]

After a period of internal wars in

Tigray province, a non-Tigrayan the Saho speaking Irob warlord Sabagadis Woldu was victorious and became the new lord of the province in 1822.[14]

Reputation

At the effort of Ras Wolde Selassie, Ethiopia received its first Abuna, or titular religious leader, from Egypt since the death of Yosab in 1804: Qerellos III (1816–1828), who made his residence in Antalo.

The British diplomat Henry Salt described Wolde-Sillasie as "distinguished still more for his intrepidity and firmness than by the policy with which he has uniformly ruled the country under his command; having been successfully engaged in upwards of forty battles, and having evinced on these occasions even too great a disregard of his own personal safety in action."[15] Another British traveller, Mansfield Parkyns adds, “Wolde Selasie reigned for twenty-five years, and during this long period obtained and maintained for himself the character of a good and wise prince”.[16]

Family and descendants

Ras Wolde Selassie was the son of

Emperor Yohannes IV, and Ato Gabre Massea (youngest brother of Wolde Selassie, and son of Kefla Iyasus, by another wife).[citation needed
]

The Ras died at the age of 80 due to natural causes at his residence in Hintalo, Enderta.

Notes

  1. ISBN 9783643908926
    .
  2. ^ John J. Halls, Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt, (London, 1834), vol. 1 p. 114
  3. ^ Nathaniel Pearce, The Life and Adventures of Nathaniel Pearce, J.J. Halls. ed. (London, 1831), vol. 2 p. 92
  4. ^ Mansfield Parkyns, Life in Abyssinia, vol. 2 p. 93.
  5. ^ Pearce, The Life and Adventures, vol. 2 pp. 87f
  6. ^ Pearce, The Adventures, vol. 2 p. 88
  7. ^ Henry Salt, A voyage to Abyssinia, p. 252
  8. ^ Pankhurst, History, pp. 201f.
  9. ^ 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. 31
  10. ^ Harold G. Marcus, A history of Ethiopia (University of California press: 2002), p. 53
  11. ^ Salt, A Voyage to Abyssinia, p. 109
  12. ^ Salt H., A Voyage to Abyssinina (London, 1814)
  13. ^ Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time, A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 122
  14. ISBN 9783447047999
    .
  15. ^ Salt, A Voyage, pp. 252f
  16. ^ Mansfield Parkyns, Life in Abyssinia, vol. 2 p. 109.
  17. ^ Richard K.P. Pankhurst, History of Ethiopian Towns (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1982), vol. 1 p. 206.
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