Mikael Sehul
Encyclopedia
Mikael Sehul was a Ras or governor of Tigray
1748–71 and again from 1772 until his death. He was a major political figure from the reign of Emperor
Iyasu II, and his successors until almost the time of his death.
The Scottish explorer James Bruce
met him during his stay in Ethiopia, and recorded this description of the Ras when he granted Bruce an audience:
. Both of his parents claimed descent from the Solomonic dynasty
through his ancestor Ras Faris the Great, and his father used the title Abeto, a prince of imperial cadet line. His first official wife was Woizero Walatta Gabr'el (died at Adwa
after 1766); his second was Woizero Aster, daughter of Empress Mentewab
.
He first enters history as having a part in some of the difficulties that was experienced by the delegation sent to Cairo
to obtain a new Abuna
for the empire in 1745. On their outbound trip, the party had been held up at Massawa
by the local Naib
for six months, and only released them after they gave him half of their funds. On the return trip, Abuna Yohannes was held for ransom at Arqiqo until the abbot of the monastery of Debre Bizen
helped him to escape. This affront was too serious to be overlooked, and the then Dejazmach Mikael was subjected to a punitive campaign by the Emperor Iyasu II. However Dejazmach Mikael remained too powerful, and he was soon forgiven.
Dejazmach Mikael was offended by the behavior of his superior Ras Anda Haymanot during a hunting expedition, and returned to Adwa which he fortified, and rebelled from Anda Haymanot. Eventually Mikael fought, captured, then executed his one-time master in 1759. Adwa was located at a strategic point on the trade route between Massawa and Gondar
, and from the fees and duties he extracted he was able to recruit an army of 8000 men and arm them with musket
s.
In the reign of Iyasu II's successor Iyoas I
, Dejazmach Mikael found himself the beneficiary of two dynastic ties to the Imperial house
: Empress Mentewab in 1769 married him to her daughter Aster, and Mikael's son, Wolde Hayawrat, was married to another daughter of the Empress, Altash. It was at this time that Mikael was granted the title of Ras.
Upon the death of Iyasu II, his son Iyoas took the throne and rivalry exploded between the mother of the late Emperor, and his widow. Empress Mentewab had been crowned co-ruler when her then underage son had succeeded her husband. Now that her son was gone, she believed that she was entitled to remain as co-ruler. However, Iyasu's widow, Welete Bersabe (known as Wubit) of the Oromo
, strongly believed that it was her turn to take the leading role at the court of her son Iyoas as her mother-in-law had done during the previous reign. The young Emperor took the side of his mother against his grandmother. Empress Mentewab gathered her relatives from her native Qwara
and their forces flooded into Gondar to support her claims. When news of the arrival of the Qwaran troops arrived, Welete Bersabe also summoned her relatives from Yejju, and throngs of Oromo soldiers arrived from that district to uphold her claims. The city of Gondar was swamped by these two tense armies, and a bloodbath seemed imminent.
To resolve the standoff, Empress Mentewab looked to her son-in-law Ras Mikael to intervene. Mikael Sehul arrived with an army of 26,000 promising to mediate the dispute between the two queens and their followers. He took control of the capital city of Gondar and assumed an increasingly dominant role.
On 22 January 1768, Mikael was made Ras Bitwodad and Enderase of the Empire. His growing power alarmed Emperor Iyoas, and after secretly exchanging messages with Fasil the Emperor ordered Ras Mikael to return to Tigray. The Ras disobeyed and defeated Fasil's army. He returned to Gondar and demanded an assembly of the nobility so Ras Mikael Sehul could show his proof that the Emperor Iyoas had plotted to have him killed while he was defending his throne for him.
The assembly was presented with testimony, and agreed that it was a grievous crime, deserving of death. However, Ethiopian law stated that a monarch could not be killed, so they merely confined the Emperor to his palace. Mikael Sehul then ordered the Emperor killed; as it was considered wrong to pierce the heir of Solomon with a spear, cut him with a sword, or to strike him with bullets, Mikael Sehul ordered the Emperor strangled with a length of silk in imperial red in January 1769. This murder of Emperor Iyoas I devastated both dowager queens, Empresses Mentewab and Welete Bersabe, and Mentewab secluded herself at her palace at Qusquam where she buried her grandson with much pomp and grandeur, never again participating in state affairs which she had run since the death of her husband Emperor Bakaffa
. Empress Welete Bersabe retired to Yejju in her grief, but her Yejju relatives would later return to prominence seizing the regency in subsequent reigns. Some historians date the beginning of the "Zemene Mesafint" era of the decline of the monarchy and the rise of the regional aristocracy and the fragmentation of state power, to the murder of Emperor Iyoas I at the order of Mikael Sehul.
Ras Mikael then appointed the next two emperors: Yohannes II
, who proved to be a nonentity and was quickly gotten rid of; then Tekle Haymanot II
. Despite his power over the throne, the populace rebelled; Ras Mikael responded with a reign of terror over Gondar (1770), but failed to control the countryside where the armies of Fasil, Goshu of Amhara, and Wand Bewossen
of Begemder
allied to fight him. The parties met south of Teda in the Three battles of Sarbakusa; Ras Mikael was defeated and surrendered to Wand Bewossen on 4 June 1771. Wand Bewossen imprisoned Mikael Sehul for a year, then either sent him back to Tigray to live out his last years as governor of that province, or Ras Mikael voluntarily retired to that province.
He was succeeded, each briefly, by his son Wolde Samuel of Tigray, then by his grandson Wolde Gabriel, and by his nephew Gabre Maskal who lost to Ras Wolde Selassie
of Enderta
.
Ras Mikael intervened in the Ethiopian Church, and was a champion of the Karva Haymanot doctrine.
Tigray Province
Tigray was a province of Ethiopia. The Tigray Region superseded the province with the adoption of the new constitution in 1995. The province of Tigre merged with its neighboring provinces, including Semien, Tembien, Agame and the prominent Enderta province and towards the end of 19th century it...
1748–71 and again from 1772 until his death. He was a major political figure from the reign of Emperor
Emperor of Ethiopia
The Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country...
Iyasu II, and his successors until almost the time of his death.
The Scottish explorer James Bruce
James Bruce
James Bruce was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia, where he traced the origins of the Blue Nile.-Youth:...
met him during his stay in Ethiopia, and recorded this description of the Ras when he granted Bruce an audience:
We went in, and saw the old man sitting upon a sofa; his white hair was dressed in many short curls. He appeared to be thoughtful, but not displeased; his face was lean, his eyes quick and vivid, but seemed to be a little sore from exposure to the weather. he seemed to be about six feet high, though his lameness made it difficult to guess with accuracy. His air was perfectly free from constraint, what the French call degagée. In face and person he was liker my learned and worthy friend, the Count de BuffonGeorges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de BuffonGeorges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopedic author.His works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier...
, than any two men I ever saw in the world. They must have been bad physiognomists that did not discern his capacity and understanding by his very countenance. Every look conveyed a sentiment with it: he seemed to have no occasion for other language, and indeed spoke little.
Biography
Mikael was born to Abeto Hezeqeyas Wolde Hawaryot and Woizero Ishate Mariam, the daughter of Azzaz Yakub in the district of Na'ederNaeder Adet
Naeder Adet is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Mehakelegnaw Zone, Naeder Adet is bordered on the south by the Wari River which separates it from Kola Tembien, on the west by Mi'irabawi Zone, on the northwest by Tahtay Maychew, on the northeast by La'ilay...
. Both of his parents claimed descent from the Solomonic dynasty
Solomonic dynasty
The Solomonic dynasty is the Imperial House of Abyssinia. Its members claim lineal descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the latter of whom tradition asserts gave birth to the first King Menelik I after her Biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem .-Overview:The dynasty, a...
through his ancestor Ras Faris the Great, and his father used the title Abeto, a prince of imperial cadet line. His first official wife was Woizero Walatta Gabr'el (died at Adwa
Adwa
Adwa is a market town in northern Ethiopia, and best known as the community closest to the decisive Battle of Adowa fought in 1896 with Italian troops. Notably, Ethiopian soldiers won the battle, thus being the only African nation to thwart European colonialism...
after 1766); his second was Woizero Aster, daughter of Empress Mentewab
Mentewab
Mentewab , was Empress of Ethiopia, consort of Emperor Bakaffa, mother of Iyasu II and grandmother of Iyoas I. She was also known officially by her baptismal name of Welete Giyorgis...
.
He first enters history as having a part in some of the difficulties that was experienced by the delegation sent to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
to obtain a new Abuna
Abuna
Also see Leaders of ChristianityAbun is the honorific title used for any bishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church as well as of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church...
for the empire in 1745. On their outbound trip, the party had been held up at Massawa
Massawa
Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...
by the local Naib
Naib
Naib is an Arabic term for a local leader in some parts of the Ottoman Empire and eastern Caucasus.Naib or NAIB may also refer to:*National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics...
for six months, and only released them after they gave him half of their funds. On the return trip, Abuna Yohannes was held for ransom at Arqiqo until the abbot of the monastery of Debre Bizen
Debre Bizen
Debre Bizen is the best-known monastery of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church. Located at the top of Debre Bizen the mountain near the town of Nefasit in Eritrea. Its library contains many important Ge'ez manuscripts.-History:...
helped him to escape. This affront was too serious to be overlooked, and the then Dejazmach Mikael was subjected to a punitive campaign by the Emperor Iyasu II. However Dejazmach Mikael remained too powerful, and he was soon forgiven.
Dejazmach Mikael was offended by the behavior of his superior Ras Anda Haymanot during a hunting expedition, and returned to Adwa which he fortified, and rebelled from Anda Haymanot. Eventually Mikael fought, captured, then executed his one-time master in 1759. Adwa was located at a strategic point on the trade route between Massawa and Gondar
Gondar
Gondar or Gonder is a city in Ethiopia, which was once the old imperial capital and capital of the historic Begemder Province. As a result, the old province of Begemder is sometimes referred to as Gondar...
, and from the fees and duties he extracted he was able to recruit an army of 8000 men and arm them with musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
s.
In the reign of Iyasu II's successor Iyoas I
Iyoas I of Ethiopia
Iyoas I or Joas I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...
, Dejazmach Mikael found himself the beneficiary of two dynastic ties to the Imperial house
Solomonic dynasty
The Solomonic dynasty is the Imperial House of Abyssinia. Its members claim lineal descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the latter of whom tradition asserts gave birth to the first King Menelik I after her Biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem .-Overview:The dynasty, a...
: Empress Mentewab in 1769 married him to her daughter Aster, and Mikael's son, Wolde Hayawrat, was married to another daughter of the Empress, Altash. It was at this time that Mikael was granted the title of Ras.
Upon the death of Iyasu II, his son Iyoas took the throne and rivalry exploded between the mother of the late Emperor, and his widow. Empress Mentewab had been crowned co-ruler when her then underage son had succeeded her husband. Now that her son was gone, she believed that she was entitled to remain as co-ruler. However, Iyasu's widow, Welete Bersabe (known as Wubit) of the Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
, strongly believed that it was her turn to take the leading role at the court of her son Iyoas as her mother-in-law had done during the previous reign. The young Emperor took the side of his mother against his grandmother. Empress Mentewab gathered her relatives from her native Qwara
Qwara Province
Qwara was a province in Ethiopia, located between Lake Tana and the frontier with Sudan, and stretcing from Agawmeder in the south as far north as Metemma...
and their forces flooded into Gondar to support her claims. When news of the arrival of the Qwaran troops arrived, Welete Bersabe also summoned her relatives from Yejju, and throngs of Oromo soldiers arrived from that district to uphold her claims. The city of Gondar was swamped by these two tense armies, and a bloodbath seemed imminent.
To resolve the standoff, Empress Mentewab looked to her son-in-law Ras Mikael to intervene. Mikael Sehul arrived with an army of 26,000 promising to mediate the dispute between the two queens and their followers. He took control of the capital city of Gondar and assumed an increasingly dominant role.
On 22 January 1768, Mikael was made Ras Bitwodad and Enderase of the Empire. His growing power alarmed Emperor Iyoas, and after secretly exchanging messages with Fasil the Emperor ordered Ras Mikael to return to Tigray. The Ras disobeyed and defeated Fasil's army. He returned to Gondar and demanded an assembly of the nobility so Ras Mikael Sehul could show his proof that the Emperor Iyoas had plotted to have him killed while he was defending his throne for him.
The assembly was presented with testimony, and agreed that it was a grievous crime, deserving of death. However, Ethiopian law stated that a monarch could not be killed, so they merely confined the Emperor to his palace. Mikael Sehul then ordered the Emperor killed; as it was considered wrong to pierce the heir of Solomon with a spear, cut him with a sword, or to strike him with bullets, Mikael Sehul ordered the Emperor strangled with a length of silk in imperial red in January 1769. This murder of Emperor Iyoas I devastated both dowager queens, Empresses Mentewab and Welete Bersabe, and Mentewab secluded herself at her palace at Qusquam where she buried her grandson with much pomp and grandeur, never again participating in state affairs which she had run since the death of her husband Emperor Bakaffa
Bakaffa
Bakaffa was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...
. Empress Welete Bersabe retired to Yejju in her grief, but her Yejju relatives would later return to prominence seizing the regency in subsequent reigns. Some historians date the beginning of the "Zemene Mesafint" era of the decline of the monarchy and the rise of the regional aristocracy and the fragmentation of state power, to the murder of Emperor Iyoas I at the order of Mikael Sehul.
Ras Mikael then appointed the next two emperors: Yohannes II
Yohannes II of Ethiopia
Yohannes II or John II was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Iyasu I, and brother of Emperors Tekle Haymanot, Dawit III and Bakaffa....
, who proved to be a nonentity and was quickly gotten rid of; then Tekle Haymanot II
Tekle Haymanot II of Ethiopia
Tekle Haymanot II was as Admas Sagad III of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...
. Despite his power over the throne, the populace rebelled; Ras Mikael responded with a reign of terror over Gondar (1770), but failed to control the countryside where the armies of Fasil, Goshu of Amhara, and Wand Bewossen
Wand Bewossen
Wand Bewossen is a military figure in Ethiopian history. He was on the losing side in the Battle of Nefas Mewcha , but one of the victorious generals in the Three battles of Sarbakusa...
of Begemder
Begemder
Begemder was a province in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. There are several proposed etymologies for this name...
allied to fight him. The parties met south of Teda in the Three battles of Sarbakusa; Ras Mikael was defeated and surrendered to Wand Bewossen on 4 June 1771. Wand Bewossen imprisoned Mikael Sehul for a year, then either sent him back to Tigray to live out his last years as governor of that province, or Ras Mikael voluntarily retired to that province.
He was succeeded, each briefly, by his son Wolde Samuel of Tigray, then by his grandson Wolde Gabriel, and by his nephew Gabre Maskal who lost to Ras Wolde Selassie
Wolde Selassie
Wolde Selassie He was an Overlord of Tigray-Mereb Milash and a Ras Bitwoded of Ethiopia. He was the second son of Dejazmach Kefla Iyasus Amdamikael, hereditary chief of Enderta...
of Enderta
Enderta
Enderta may refer to:* Enderta province, a historic subdivision of Ethiopia* Enderta, a woreda within the Tigray Region of Ethiopia...
.
Ras Mikael intervened in the Ethiopian Church, and was a champion of the Karva Haymanot doctrine.