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Eskender
Eskender ( gez, እስክንድር, "Alexander"; 15 July 1471 – 7 May 1494) was Emperor of Ethiopia and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was Kwestantinos II (Ge’ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He was the son of Emperor Baeda Maryam I by his wife Queen Romna. His early years would see the jostling for power between the nobility and the ecclesiastical elite. During his reign, he was involved with several battles with the Adal Sultanate. At the age of 22, his death led to civil war between the supporters of his son, Amda Seyon II and his half-brother Na'od. It was during Eskender's reign that the famed Portuguese envoy Pedro de Covilham visited his court and was later forced to stay as an advisor. Background Due to his young age, his authority required a regent. Therefore, a council was formed of his mother Queen Romna, Tasfa Giyorgis (the abbot of the monastery of Lake Hayq), and the Bitwoded Amda Mikael. However, Queen Romna withdrew from this a ...
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Amda Seyon II
Amda Seyon II ( gez, ዐምደ ጽዮን) was Emperor of Ethiopia briefly during 1494, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the infant son of Eskender, and a second wife of Eskender's father Baeda Maryam I. Amda Seyon quickly became the pawn in the struggle for control of the throne, which ended in his death, and the ascension of Na'od. As Taddesse Tamrat Taddesse Tamrat ( am, ታደሰ ታምራት; 4 August 1935 – 23 May 2013) was an Ethiopian historian and scholar of Ethiopian studies. He is best known as the author of ''Church and State in Ethiopia 1270–1520'' (1972, Oxford University Pre ... writes, "Amda-Seyon's reign lasted for only six months, and even the hagiographer betrays a sense of great relief at the announcement of his death."Taddesse Tamrat, ''Church and State in Ethiopia'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 293. Notes 1487 births 1494 deaths 15th-century monarchs in Africa 15th-century emperors of Ethiopia Solomonic dynasty ...
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Baeda Maryam I
Baeda Maryam I ( gez, በእደ ማርያም; Bäˀəda Maryam, meaning "He who is in the hand of Mary"; 1448 – 8 November 1478), otherwise known as Cyriacus was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1468 to 1478, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His reign was characterized by a number of military campaigns, most notably against the Dobe'a who lived along the western escarpment of the Ethiopian Highlands. Early years Born at Debre Berhan, he was the son of Zara Yaqob by Seyon Mogesa. Towards the end of Zara Yaqob's life, the Emperor became increasingly convinced that members of his family were plotting against him, and had several of them beaten. Baeda Maryam I's mother died from this mistreatment in 1462, and Baeda Maryam I buried her in secret in the church of Maqdesa Maryam, near Debre Berhan, and donated incense and other gifts to support the church. Zara Yaqob then directed his anger at Baeda Maryam I, until members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church repaired the rift between the ...
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Adal Sultanate
The Adal Sultanate, or the Adal Empire or the ʿAdal or the Bar Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate, ''Adal ''Sultanate'') () was a medieval Sunni Muslim Empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din II after the fall of the Sultanate of Ifat. The kingdom flourished circa 1415 to 1577.. The sultanate and state were established by the local inhabitants of Zeila. or the Harar plateau. At its height, the polity under Sultan Badlay controlled the territory stretching from Somaliland to the port city of Suakin in Sudan. The Adal Empire maintained a robust commercial and political relationship with the Ottoman Empire. Etymology Adal is believed to be an abbreviation of Havilah. Eidal or Aw Abdal, was the Emir of Harar in the eleventh century. In the thirteenth century, the Arab writer al-Dimashqi refers to the Adal Sultanate's capital, Zeila, by its Somali name "Awdal" ( so, "Awdal"). The modern Awdal region of Somaliland, which was p ...
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Atronsa Maryam
Atronsa Maryam ( Ge'ez: አትሮንሰ ማርያም, "Throne of St Mary") is one of the oldest churches in South Wollo, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The church sits on small hill near the mighty river of Walaqa and about 5 km from the town of Woin Amba. The original name of this area was Kelanto. It is also very close to the famous church of Mekane Selassie. The church was first built by Emperor Baeda Maryam in about 1468, where he would also reinter Yekuno Amlak's body. Construction Originally, the idea of building a church in the vicinity of Kelanto was initiated by Emperor Newaya Krestos, also called Sayfa Ara'ad (1344-1372). The place where this church was built is a private property of Emperor Newaya Krestos who bought it with his own money to build a church on it. Unfortunately, he died before he build one. The original name of the place was Kelanto; also called Sako Malza, apparently a name of the district where Kelanot was. Several years later, fulfilling the ambi ...
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Mahfuz
Mahfuz (or Mohammed) ( Harari: መሕፉዝ, ar, محفوظ; died July 1517) was a Harari Garad, Emir of Harar and Governor of Zeila in the Adal Sultanate. Life and reign Mahfuz led raids into the provinces of Abyssinia for a number of years. He selected the season of Lent for his attacks, when the defenders were weakened by their fasts. He invaded the Amhara, Shewa, and Fatagar provinces south of the Awash River. According to Portuguese explorer Francisco Álvares, Mahfuz exclusively targeted Abyssinian soldiers capturing them however left civilians unharmed. Sources differ over the number of years Mahfuz raided Abyssinia. Francisco Álvares states that his raids began during the reign of Eskender, and lasted 25 years. However, Beckingham and Huntingford note that the Ethiopian ''Paris Chronicle'', which draws on contemporary Ethiopian records, dates the beginning of these raids to the ascension of Dawit II (Lebna Dengel) in 1508. Mahfuz is reported to have caused the death ...
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Emperor Of Ethiopia
The emperor of Ethiopia ( gez, ንጉሠ ነገሥት, nəgusä nägäst, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse ( am, ዐፄ, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive power, executive, judicial power, judicial and legislative power in that country. A ''National Geographic'' article from 1965 called imperial Ethiopia "nominally a constitutional monarchy; in fact [it was] a benevolent dictatorship, benevolent autocracy". Title and style The title "King of Kings", often rendered imprecisely in English as "emperor", dates back to ancient Mesopotamia, but was used in Aksumite Empire, Axum by King Sembrouthes (c. 250 AD). However, Yuri Kobishchanov dates this usage to the period following the Persian Empire, Persian victory over the Roman Empire, Romans in 296–297. The most notabl ...
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Na'od
Na'od ( gez, ናዖድ) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1494 to 31 July 1508, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His reign was marked by internal tension between territories with the assistance of Queen Eleni. He began construct an extravagant church in Amhara province, called Mekane Selassie. The church was completed by his successor Dawit II in 1530. Reign Na'od was the second son of Baeda Maryam I and his second wife Kalyupe (also called "Calliope"), and was born at Gabarge. Like Eskender before him, he relied on the counsel of the Queen Mother Eleni. Despite her help, his reign was marked by internal dissension. Na'od was very talented in Amharic and Ge'ez poetry. He was also a notable author who wrote a number of religious books. Na'od began construction on a lavish church in the Amhara province, which was decorated with gold leaf and known as Mekane Selassie. However, he died before it was completed, and he was buried in a tomb inside the church. His son Emperor Lebn ...
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Eleni Of Ethiopia
Eleni ( Ge’ez: እሌኒ, "Helena"; died April 1522) also known as Queen of Zeila was Empress of Ethiopia by marriage to Zara Yaqob (r. 1434–1468), and served as regent between 1507 and 1516 during the minority of emperor Dawit II. She played a significant role in the government of Ethiopia during her lifetime, acting as de facto co-regent or advisor to a number of emperors; one testimony of this is the manuscript Bruce 88, which states that she had been in the palace of three illustrious Emperors: Zara Yaqob; his son by another wife, Baeda Maryam I (r. 1468–1478), and Na'od (r. 1494–1505). Life The daughter of the King of Hadiya, Eleni's kingdom was invaded by Emperor Zara Yaqob for refusing to pay the annual tribute, leading to her capture, forceful conversion to Christianity, and marriage to Zara Yaqob. Hadiya rulers later appealed to the Adal Sultanate for assistance, which lead to the climax of conflict in the region during the Ethiopian-Adal war. Although the Portug ...
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Richard Pankhurst (academic)
Richard Keir Pethick Pankhurst OBE (3 December 1927 – 16 February 2017) was a British-Ethiopian scholar, founding member of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, and former professor at the University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. His books have been reviewed in scholarly journals, with Edward Ullendorff calling his ''The Ethiopians'' as another testimony to his "remarkable diligence and industry in the service of Ethiopian studies". He is known for his research on economic history and socio-cultural studies on Ethiopia. Early life and education Pankhurst was born in 1927 in Woodford Green to left communist and former suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst and Italian anarchist Silvio Corio. His maternal grandparents were Emmeline and Richard Pankhurst. Pankhurst studied at Bancroft's School in Woodford, then at the London School of Economics,
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Zeila
Zeila ( so, Saylac, ar, زيلع, Zayla), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland. In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila (or Hawilah) with the Biblical location of Havilah. Most modern scholars identify it with the site of Avalites mentioned in the 1st-century Greco-Roman travelogue the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' and in Ptolemy, although this is disputed. The town evolved into an early Islamic center with the arrival of Muslims shortly after the Hijrah. By the 9th century, Zeila was the capital of the early Adal Kingdom and Ifat Sultanate in the 13th century; and also a capital for its successor state the Adal Sultanate, it would attain its height of prosperity a few centuries later in the 16th century. The city subsequently came under Ottoman and British protection in the 18th century. Up until recently Zeila was surrounded by a large wall with five gates: Bab al Sahil and B ...
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Richard Francis Burton
Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke twenty-nine languages. Burton's best-known achievements include: a well-documented journey to Mecca in disguise, at a time when non-Muslims were forbidden access on pain of death; an unexpurgated translation of ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (commonly called ''The Arabian Nights'' in English after early translations of Antoine Galland's French version); the publication of the ''Kama Sutra'' in English; a translation of ''The Perfumed Garden'', the "Arab ''Kama Sutra''"; and a journey with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. His works and letters extensively criticised colonial policies of the B ...
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Maya (Ethiopia)
The Maya are an extinct ethnic group native to the old Wej province in Ethiopia. They were renowned for their skilled archers, the services of which were available as mercenaries. The Maya were primarily pastoralists and their livelihood was with their cattle. Futuh al-Habash Maya archers initially formed the core of the southern armies of Abyssinian Emperor Lebna Dengel in resisting the Conquest of Abyssinia (Futuh al-Habash) by the forces of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Gurey or Gran), Imam of the Adal Sultanate. However, after the fall of their homeland to Ahmed Gurey's armies, in true mercenary fashion, the Maya bowmen switched sides. Maya bowmen were armed with spears. They tipped their arrows with ouabain, a poison which caused death by cardiac arrest or respiratory failure. Oromo migrations The Maya homeland of Wej was one of the first lands to be invaded by the Oromo migrations. The Maya repelled the weight of the Oromo for years due to their skill with the bow, until the ...
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