Mikael Sehul (born Blatta Mikael; 1692 – 1784) was a nobleman who ruled Ethiopia for a period of 25 years as regent of a series of weak emperors. He was also a
Ras
Ras or RAS may refer to:
Arts and media
* RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label
* Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service
* Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station
* Rás 2, an Icelandic radio stati ...
or governor of
Tigray 1748–71 and again from 1772 until his death. He was a major political figure during the reign of
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Iyasu II
Iyasu II (Ge'ez: ኢያሱ; 21 October 1723 – 27 June 1755), throne name Alem Sagad (Ge'ez: ዓለም ሰገድ), was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1730 to 1755, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Emperor Bakaffa and Empres ...
and his successors until almost the time of his death.
The Scottish explorer
James Bruce
James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia and in 1770 became the first Eur ...
met Mikael during his stay in Ethiopia, and recorded the following 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 Buffon, 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
![Princess Aster00](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Princess_Aster00.jpg)
Mikael was born to ''Abeto'' Hezeqeyas Wolde Hawaryot and ''Woizero'' Ishate Mariam, the daughter of Azzaz Yakub in the district of
Na'eder. Both of his parents claimed descent from the
Solomonic dynasty
The Solomonic dynasty, also known as the House of Solomon, was the ruling dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire formed in the thirteenth century. Its members claim lineal descent from the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Tradition asserts ...
through his ancestor ''Ras''
Faris the Great, and his father used the title ''Abeto'', a prince of imperial
cadet line. Mikael's first official wife was ''Woizero'' Walatta Gabr'el (died at
Adwa
Adwa ( ti, ዓድዋ; amh, ዐድዋ; also spelled Aduwa) is a town and separate woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the site of the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Ethiopian soldiers defeated Italian ...
after 1766); his second was Princess
Aster
Aster or ASTER may refer to:
Biology
* ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants
** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English
* Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...
, daughter of Empress
Mentewab
Mentewab ( Ge'ez: ምንትዋብ; c. 1706 – 27 June 1773) 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 Walatta Giyorgis (Ge'ez: ወ ...
.
Sehul first enters history as having played a part in some of the difficulties that were experienced by the delegation sent to
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
to obtain a new ''
Abuna
Abuna (or Abune, which is the Construct state, status constructus form used when a name follows: Ge'ez alphabet, Ge'ez አቡነ ''abuna''/''abune'', 'our father'; Amharic language, Amharic and Tigrinya language, Tigrinya) is the honorific titl ...
'' (bishop) 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
Arkiko ( ar, حرقيقو, Afar and Saho: ''Hirg-Higo'', alternately Archigo, Arqiqo, Ercoco, Hirgigo, Hargigo or Harkiko) is a town in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea. Situated on the Red Sea, it lies on the mainland across from the city ...
until the abbot of the monastery of
Debre Bizen
Debre Bizen is an Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church monastery. Located at the top of Debre Bizen (mountain), Debre Bizen the mountain (2460 meters) near the town of Nefasit in Eritrea. Its library contains many important Ge'ez manuscripts.
His ...
helped him to escape. This affront was too serious to be overlooked, and the then ''
Dejazmach
Until the end of the Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( gez, መሳፍንት , modern , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary nobility, ...
'' 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
Anda or ANDA may refer to:
Places China
*Anda, Heilongjiang, a city in Heilongjiang, China
*Anda railway station, a railway station in Anda, China
Iran
* Anda, Iran, a village in Fars Province, Iran
Norway
* Anda, Norway, an island in Øksnes m ...
king of
Midre Bahri 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, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...
, and from the fees and duties he extracted he was able to recruit an army of 8000 men and arm them with
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
s.
During the reign of Iyasu II's successor
Iyoas I
Iyoas I ( Ge'ez: ኢዮአስ; died 14 May 1769), throne name Adyam Sagad (Ge'ez: አድያም ሰገድ) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 27 June 1755 to 7 May 1769, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the infant son of Iyasu II and Wubit ...
, ''Dejazmach'' Mikael found himself the beneficiary of two dynastic ties to the
Imperial house
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...
: Empress Mentewab in 1769 married him to her daughter Aster, and Mikael's son,
Wolde Hayawrat
Wolde is a municipality in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country i ...
, 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), 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
Yejju Oromo people are a sub clan of the Barento branch of Oromo people. They are one of the northernmost communities of Oromo people residing in Ethiopia.
During the 17th century, the Yejju dynasty, more specifically, the Warra Sheik, or sons o ...
, and throngs of 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
Until the end of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( gez, መሳፍንት , modern , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary nobility, formed the upper ...
'' 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 ( Ge'ez: በካፋ) birth name: Missah; throne name Aṣma Giyorgis (Ge'ez: ዐፅመ ጊዮርጊስ), later Masih Sagad (Ge'ez: መሲሕ ሰገድ) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 18 May 1721 to 19 September 1730, and a member of the ...
. 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 ( Ge'ez: ዳግማዊ ዮሐንስ; 1699 – 18 October 1769) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Iyasu I, and brother of Emperors Tekle Haymanot I, Dawit III, and Bakaffa.
Reign
Accor ...
, who proved to be a nonentity and was quickly gotten rid of; then
Tekle Haymanot II
Tekle Haymanot II ( Ge'ez: ተክለ ሃይማኖት), throne name: Admas Sagad III (Ge'ez: አድማስ ሰገድ; 1754 – 7 September 1777) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 18 October 1769 to 13 April 1777, 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
Dejazmach Wand Bewossen (died 10 December 1777) was a prominent figure in Ethiopian history. He was governor of Lasta and later Begemeder. He was on the losing side in the Battle of Nefas Mewcha (1769), but one of the victorious generals in the T ...
of
Begemder
Begemder ( amh, በጌምድር; also known as Gondar or Gonder, alternative name borrowed from its 20th century capital Gondar) was a province in northwest Ethiopia.
Etymology
A plausible source for the name ''Bega'' is that the word means " ...
allied to fight him. The parties met south of
Teda in the
Three battles of Sarbakusa
The three battles of Sarbakusa were three military engagements in Ethiopia during the Zemene Mesafint that took place in May 1771. They pitted Wand Bewossen and Fasil of Damot against the forces of Emperor Tekle Haymanot II and Ras Mikael Se ...
; 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 (; c.1736 - 28 May 1816) was Ras of the Tigray province between 1788-1816, and Regent of the Ethiopian Empire between 1797-1800. John J. Halls, in his ''Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt'', preserves a description of this power ...
of
Enderta.
Ras Mikael intervened in the
Ethiopian Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
, and was a champion of the
Karva Haymanot doctrine.
[Mordechai Abir, ''The era of the princes: the challenge of Islam and the re-unification of the Christian empire, 1769-1855'' (London: Longmans, 1968), p. 40]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sehul, Mikael
Warlords of the Zemene Mesafint
18th-century Ethiopian people
1692 births
1784 deaths