Amha Iyasus Kidane Kale, better known as Ammehayes (reigned c. 1744 – c. 1775), was a

Meridazmach Until the end of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( , modern transcription , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary royal nobility, formed the upper ...

Shewa Shewa (; ; Somali: Shawa; , ), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at it ...

, an important Amhara noble of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. He was the son of

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

, and a sister of Goshu of Amhara. The Meridazmach made a diplomatic visit to the Emperor's court at

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 ...

in 1771, during the first decades of the chaotic

Zemene Mesafint The Zemene Mesafint ( Ge'ez: ) variously translated "Era of Judges", "Era of the Princes," "Age of Princes," etc.; taken from the biblical Book of Judges) was a period in Ethiopian history between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries when the cou ...

("Era of The Princes"), where the Scots explorer

James Bruce James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who physically confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North and East Africa and in 1770 became the fir ...

met him. Calling him "Yasous", Bruce describes Amha Iyasus as "the son of the governor of Shoa", "a man from twenty-six to twenty-eight years of age, tall, and of a just degree of corpulence, with arms and legs finely made; he had a very beautiful face, small features, and the most affable manners."

Reign

The reign of Amha Iyasus was long and prosperous. New lands were conquered, new settlements founded, new churches built. Mordechai Abir writes, "It was during the reign of Ammehayes that the reconquest of the territories held by the Galla really seriously began." He imported a number of firearms from the northern parts of Ethiopia, and used them to assert his primacy over his neighboring

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

states including

Tegulet Termaber (var. Tarmaber; Amharic: ጠርማበር) is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. It includes a homonymous mountain pass and road tunnel. Located at the eastern edge of the Ethiopian Highlands in the Semien Shewa Zone, Termaber is border ...

Menz Menz or Manz (, romanized: ''Mänz'') is a former Subdivisions of Ethiopia, subdivision of Ethiopia, located inside the boundaries of the modern Semien Shewa Zone (Amhara), Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region. William Cornwallis Harris describe ...

Efrata Efrat (), or previously officially Efrata (), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established in 1983 in the Judean Mountains. Efrat is located south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron, east of the Green Line, at the Palestinia ...

and Bulga. He moved his capital to Doqaqit in Ifat, whence he raided the lands of the Afar to the east. He renewed the war with the

Karayu Oromo The ''Karrayyu'' are an Oromo people clan inhabiting the Awash Valley banks of Abadir and Merti area in central Ethiopia. They are pastoralists. Karrayyu neighbor the Afar and Argobba people. It is believed the extinct Harla ethnicity were assimi ...

, but had more success with the

Abichu Oromo The Abbichu Oromo were a subclan of the Tulama Tulama who lived in the Shewa province of Ethiopia. In 1841 William Cornwallis Harris Major Sir William Cornwallis Harris (baptised 2 April 1807 – died 9 October 1848) was an English milit ...

, conquering their tribes as far west as the Chia Chia river near Angolalla. According to British travelor

, Amha was also in conflict with the leaders of the

Harar Emirate The Emirate of Harar was a Muslim kingdom founded in 1647 when the Harari people refused to accept Imām ʿUmardīn Ādam as their ruler and broke away from the Imamate of Aussa to form their own state under `Ali ibn Da`ud. The city of Harar G ...

. Amha Iyasus was the creator of the policy, followed by the rulers of Shewa into the middle of the next century, of avoiding being drawn into the struggles around control of the

Imperial throne Imperial is that which relates to an empire, Emperor, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania ...

. An important part of this policy was leaving the district of

Wollo Wollo (Amharic: ወሎ) was a historical province of northern Ethiopia. During the Middle Ages this province name was Bete Amhara and it was the centre of the Solomonic emperors. Bete Amhara had an illustrious place in Ethiopian political and ...

between the Geshen and Samba Rivers untouched as buffer between Shewa and the territories of Ethiopia controlled from Gondar.Abir, ''Era of the Princes'', p. 148. Abir notes that upon his arrival at Gondar, he was received "more like an honoured ally than a vassal" by the then 17-year-old Emperor Takla Haymanot II. According to Bruce, the Meridazmach led a thousand horsemen in support of the Emperor Tekle Haymanot 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 Seh ...

Legacy

When Amha Iyasus died, he left his son Asfaw Wossen what had by then become the vast principality of a new

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amha Iyasus Rulers of Shewa 18th-century Ethiopian people Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown