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Araya Selassie Yohannes

RasAraya Selassie Yohannes(Tigrinya:አርአያ ስላሴ ዮሓንስaraya səllase yohannəs;"horse name"Abba Deblaq) (1869/70 – 10 June 1888) was a son ofEmperorYohannes IVfrom his wife Masitire Selassie, a daughter of a MuslimAfarchieftain whom he married after she was Christened. Araya was nominated Crown Prince.[1]

Araya Selassie Yohannes
Cropped image of Arya Selassie
King ofTigray(disputed)
Reign1872–1888
SuccessorGugsa Araya Selassie
Born1869/70
Enderta,Tigray,Ethiopia
Died10 June 1888
Mekelle,Tigray,Ethiopia
Burial
Medhane Alem Church,Mekelle
SpouseLeult Zewditu
Emet Negest Sendek
IssueGugsa Araya Selassie
HouseHouse of Solomon(Tigrayan Branch)
FatherEmperor Yohannes IV
ReligionEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo

Araya was the first husband ofZewditu(later Empress), the daughter ofatseMenelik II,having married her in January 1883. He was given the command ofWolloprovince at the time of his wedding. Because of a revolt raised in Wollo due to the death ofdejazmachAmda Sadiq, chief of Tekaledere, in a quarrel with Araya's followers, Yohannes IV decided to appointrasMikael Ali, the traditional claimant to the lordship of Wollo.[2]RasAraya was transferred toBegemderandDembayain May 1886. In 1887–88, when the country was facing the Italian threat, he was commander of 40,000 troops near Adwa.

Araya died in his youth fromsmallpox,when the Emperor was returning from a campaign against the Italians at Seati (Battle of Dogali). His only son, by aweyzeroNegesit, a lady from Wollo, wasleul rasGugsa Araya.[3]

Biography

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Early life

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Leul[nb 1]Araya Selassie Yohannes was born inEnderta,a part ofTigrayin Ethiopia in 1869/70, the legitimate son ofEmperorYohannes IV of Ethiopia.Mengesha Yohanneswas his illegitimate half brother. He was granted the title ofRasin 1872 and was the governor of Enderta from 1872 to 1882.[4]

Rise to Power

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Araya Selassie Yohannes (right) with his father,EmperorYohannes IV(left).

On 24 October 1882, the fifteen-year-oldLeulAraya Selassie Yohannes married six-year-oldLeult[nb 2]Zewditu,eldest daughter ofNegus[nb 3]MenelikofShewa.The marriage was political, having been arranged when Menelik agreed to submit to Yohannes' rule. In 1882RasAraya was granted the title ofNegusof Tigray and Wollo. In 1883, Araya Selassie Yohannes was madeShum[nb 4]ofWollo Province[5]and, in 1886, he was madeShumofBegemderandDembiya.

In 1885, Araya Selassie Yohannes fathered a son,Gugsa Araya Selassie.The mother's identity is unknown.

Death

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On 10 June 1888, while inMek'elegathering an army for his father, Araya Selassie Yohannes died ofsmallpox.He was buried at Medhane Alem Church.

Honors

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Grand Collar of theOrder of the Seal of Solomon(1875)

Legacy

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Familial rivalry between the two lines of descent from Emperor Yohannes IV proved to be a difficult issue for Emperor Menelik II and his successors.Tigray Provincewas divided betweenRasGugsa Araya Selassie, the son ofRasAraya Selassie Yohannes, andRasSeyum Mangasha,the son ofRasMangasha Yohannes.Gugsa Araya Selassie ruled the eastern half of Tigray and Seyum Mangasha ruled the western half.

See also

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Notes

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Footnotes
  1. ^Roughly equivalent toPrince.
  2. ^Roughly equivalent toPrincess.
  3. ^Roughly equivalent toKing.
  4. ^Roughly equivalent toGovernor.
Citations
  1. ^Gebre-Selassie, Zewde (2003). "Araya Selassie Yohannes".Encyclopaedia Aethiopica.Vol. 1. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 314.
  2. ^Tafla, Bairu (1977).A Chronicle of Emperor Yohannes IV.Wiesbaden. p. 155.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^Gebre-Selassie, Zewde (1975).Yohannes IV of Ethiopia: a Political Biography.Oxford. p. 247.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^Shinn,Historical dictionary of Ethiopia,p.35
  5. ^Marcus,A History of Ethiopia,p. 80

References

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