Sebestyanos (reigned c. 1703 - c. 1718) was a ruler of

Shewa Shewa ( am, ሸዋ; , om, Shawaa), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa (''Scioà'' in Italian language, Italian), is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous monarchy, kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The ...

, an important Amhara noble of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. He was one of the sons of

Negasi Krestos Negasi Krestos was the ruling prince of Shewa (reigned c. 1682 — c. 1703), an important Amhara noble of Ethiopia. Although the official account is that his father Lesba Qal (lord of Agancha, in Menz) was a male-line great-grandson of Prince Yaqo ...

. Abir states that he ruled for 15 years, although noting that

William Cornwallis Admiral of the Red Sir William Cornwallis, (10 February 17445 July 1819) was a Royal Navy officer. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British commander at the siege of Yorktown. Cornwallis took part in a n ...

claims states that he ruled for 25 years, and Rochet d'Hericourt 33. According to Donald Levine, Sebestyanos' father, Negasi Krestos, proclaimed in his will that his oldest son Akawa would inherit his "throne". Sebestyanos would receive his spear, silver cutlass, and gilded shield. Land and money would go to his other five sons. However, drought and

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

afflicted Shewa: the nobility deposed Akawa in favor of his younger son Daña. Dreading the fighting that he knew would follow, Sebestyanos fled

Menz Menz or Manz ( am, መንዝ, romanized: ''Mänz'') is a former subdivision of Ethiopia, located inside the boundaries of the modern Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region. William Cornwallis Harris described Menz as lying "westward" of Gedem bu ...

to the safety of Merhabete, where he served the governor. Meanwhile, his relatives grew dissatisfied with his brother Daña, and successfully lured Sebestyanos back to Menz, where his victories over the neighboring Oromo inevitably led him to fight his brother. He defeated Daña and proclaimed himself ruler of Menz. Pankhurst states that during his reign Shewa clearly expanded its boundaries at the expense of their Oromo rivals. As a result, he founded a number of towns, including Doqaqit, 'Ayne, and Eyabar. Although his father Negasi Krestos failed to gain the grant of the title of

Meridazmach 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 ...

from

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), ...

Iyasus I, Sebestyanos assumed the title. He continued the conquests of his father in upper

Yifat Yifat ( he, יִפְעַת, more accurately romanized as "Yif'at") is a kibbutz in Galilee, northern Israel. Located adjacent to the town Migdal HaEmek and short distances from the cities of Afula and Nazareth. It falls under the jurisdiction o ...

. According to Levine, Sebestyanos died "by a curious accident". His son

Qedami Qal Kidane Kale (reigned c. 1718 - c. 1744; literal meaning: "Beginning, Word"), better known as Abuye, was a Meridazmach of Shewa, an important Amhara noble of Ethiopia. He was the son of Sebestyanos. Harold G. Marcus is less definite on this, cal ...

had been rebuilding some of the churches that had been destroyed by

Ahmad Gragn Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi ( so, Axmed Ibraahim al-Qaasi or Axmed Gurey, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ar, أحمد بن إبراهيم الغازي ; 1506 – 21 February 1543) was an imam and general of the Adal Sultana ...

, one of which was in Doqaqit dedicated to St. Michael. Part of the ceremony required the

tabot ''Tabot'' ( Ge'ez ታቦት ''tābōt'', sometimes spelled ''tabout'') is a Ge'ez word referring to a replica of the Tablets of Law, onto which the Biblical Ten Commandments were inscribed, used in the practices of Orthodox Tewahedo Christians ...

in the church in 'Ayne, where his father was living, and it was secretly removed to Doqaqit. Sebestyanos understood this as an act of rebellion, and set forth to capture and discipline his son; however, in the ensuing battle one of Qedami Qal's servants accidentally killed the Meridazmach.Levine, ''Wax and Gold'', p. 33

Notes

Rulers of Shewa 18th-century Ethiopian people Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain {{noble-stub