Iyasu III was

Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia (, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse (, "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 w ...

from 16 February 1784 to 24 April 1788, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was Ba'ala Segab. He was the son of ''Abeto'' Azequ, and the grandson of

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 Em ...

. H. Weld Blundell, ''The Royal chronicle of Abyssinia, 1769-1840'' (Cambridge: University Press, 1922), p. 342

Reign

He was set upon the throne by a number of high nobles, and after the generals swore their allegiance to him in the presence of the

Abuna Abuna (or Abune, which is the status constructus form used when a name follows: Ge'ez አቡነ ''abuna''/''abune'', 'our father'; Amharic and Tigrinya) is the honorific title used for any bishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church as w ...

Yosab and the

Ichege Ethiopian ecclesiastical titles refers to the offices of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a hierarchical organization. Some of the more important offices are unique to it. Titles Ethiopian ecclesiastical titles include: *Patriarch we Re'e ...

, Iyasu made a number of promotions foremost of which were: ''

Qegnazmach 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 ...

'' Tsadalu was made ''Ras Betwodded'', '' Ras''

Haile Yosadiq Haile may refer to: Personal names As a Ge'ez name, it means 'the power of'. Please note that some names in this list may be other, homonymous, names. Given name * Haile Selassie (1892–1975), Emperor of Ethiopia * Haile Gerima (born 1946), E ...

governor of

Gojjam Gojjam ( ''gōjjām'', originally ጐዛም ''gʷazzam'', later ጐዣም ''gʷažžām'', ጎዣም ''gōžžām'') is a historical provincial kingdom in northwestern Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Markos. During the 18th century, G ...

and the

Agaw The Agaw or Agew (, modern ''Agew'') are a Cushitic ethnic group native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, also known as the Central Cushitic languages, which belong to the Cushitic bran ...

, ''

Balambaras 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 ...

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

Dejazmach 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 ...

'' of

Begemder Begemder (; also known as Gondar or Gonder) was a province in northwest Ethiopia. The alternative names come from its capital during the 20th century, Gondar. Etymology A plausible source for the name ''Bega'' is that the word means "dry" in t ...

, and ''Dejazmach''

Wolde Gabriel 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea ...

was released from his chains and made ''Dajazmach'' of

Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

. His reign of four years was disrupted by feuds between

Wolde Selassie Wolde Selassie (; c.1736 – 28 May 1816) was Ras of the Tigray province between 1788 and 1816, and Regent of the Ethiopian Empire between 1797 and 1800. John J. Halls, in his ''Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt'', preserves a description of ...

, ''Ras'' Haile Yosadiq, and others. According to

E.A. Wallis Budge Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (27 July 185723 November 1934) was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East. He made numerous trips t ...

, one of the governors deposed Iyasu, who shortly afterwards died from

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

. However, according to the contemporary account of the ''Royal chronicle'', not long after ''Dejazmach'' Ali brought

Tekle Giyorgis I Tekle Giyorgis I (; c. 1751 – 12 December 1817), throne name Feqr Sagad, was Emperor of Ethiopia intermittently between 20 July 1779 and June 1800, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the youngest son of Yohannes II and Woizoro Sanc ...

back from exile at

Ambassel Ambassel () is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, and an '' amba'', or mountain fortress, located in the woreda. The word Ambasel is derived from two words "Amba" from the Amharic word for plateau, and “Asel” from the Arabic language, which ...

and restored him to the throne, ''Ras'' Haile Yosadiq marched from

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 ...

, intending to restore Iyasu. Although ''Ras'' Haile entered the city with his candidate, Tekle Giyorgis having carefully fled beforehand, when ''Dejazmach'' Ali responded by marching on Gondar, ''Ras'' Haile abandoned Iyasu, and ''Dejazmach'' Guebra was forced to escort Iyasu to safety in Tigray. After the defeat of ''Ras'' Haile Yosadiq's alliance at Madab later in 1788, one of the individuals captured by the victorious ''Dejazmach'' Ali was Iyasu. In any case, according to Henry Salt, Iyasu had died by 1810.Henry Salt, ''A Voyage to Abyssinia and Travels into the Interior of that Country'', 1814 (London: Frank Cass, 1967), p. 474.

Notes

18th-century emperors of Ethiopia 18th-century monarchs in Africa Deaths from smallpox Solomonic dynasty Infectious disease deaths in Ethiopia {{Ethiopia-royal-stub