- Gelawdewos of Ethiopia
Gelawdewos (Ge'ez ገላውዴዎስ "galāwdēwōs", modern "gelāwdēwōs", "Claudius"; 1521/
1522 -March 23 ,1559 ) was "IPA|nəgusä nägäst" (throne name Asnaf Sagad I (Ge'ez አጽናፍ ሰገደ "aṣnāf sagad", modern "āṣnāf seged", "to whom the peaks bow";September 3 ,1540 - March 23, 1559) ofEthiopia , and a member of theSolomonic dynasty . He was a younger son of Dawit II bySabla Wengel . [Remedius Proutky states that Gelawdewos had a son, Na'od; this son is not mentioned in his "Royal Chronicle". J.H. Arrowsmith-Brown, translator and editor, "Prutky's Travels to Ethiopia and Other Countries" (London: Hakluyt Society, 1991), p. 112 and note.]His reign was dominated by the struggle with
Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi during theAbyssinian-Adal War , until Ahmad's defeat and death in theBattle of Wayna Daga onFebruary 21 ,1543 . Gelawdewos devoted time and energy to rallying his people against Ahmad, a determination his chronicler credits prevented Ahmad's forcible conversions from being permanent. With Ahmad's death, Gelawdewos was not only able to eject the leaderlessMuslim forces from theEthiopian highlands , but also from the lowlands to the east which includedDawaro and Bale. [Richard Pankhurst, "The Ethiopian Borderlands" (Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1997), pp. 241f.]However, while campaigning against the
Agaw inGojjam (1548),Nur ibn Mujahid once again invaded Ethiopia. Gelawedewos's vassalFanu'el succeeded in repulsing them, but the Emperor followed up with a further attack into Muslim territory, plundering the countryside for six months. At one point he capturedHarar , where SultanBarakat ibn Umar Din of Adal was killed, the last member of theWalasma dynasty . [Pankhurst, "Ethiopian Borderlands", p. 244.]Jesuit missionaries arrived in his realm, attempting to convert Ethiopia to Catholicism. In response to their arguments, he wrote his "Confession", which defended theMiaphysite doctrine of theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church . According to Richard Pankhurst, Gelawdewos' "Confession" helped his fellow Ethiopian Christians to remain "steadfast in their adherence toSabbath observance,circumcision , and the prohibition against pork and other 'unclean' foods." [Richard Pankhurst, "The Ethiopians: A History" (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), p. 95]Ethiopia's access to the outside world was severely crippled during his reign in 1557, when the
Ottoman Empire conqueredMassawa . From that point forward, dignitaries and missionaries to Ethiopia had to travel in disguise to avoidMuslim authorities. This also allowed the Ottomans to block the Ethiopians from importingfirearms .According to a Harari chronicle, Gelawdewos was killed in battle. "Early in the engagement Galawdéwos was hit by a bullet, but continued to fight until surrounded by a score of Harari cavalry, who struck him fatally to the ground with their spears," according to Pankhurst. Emir Nur had the Emperor's head sent to the country of Sa'ad ad-Din, then rode off to plunder Ethiopian territory before returning home. [Pankhurst, "Ethiopian Borderlands", p. 246.]
Notes
Further reading
* Richard K. P. Pankhurst. "The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles". Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967.
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