Jantirar (

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

: ጃንጥራር) was a title of the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...

given to the ruler of Amba Geshen.

Overview

Jantirar is borne historically by the head of the family holding the mountain fortress of Ambassel in

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 ...

; similar to

Wagshum 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 ...

, the hereditary ruler of the province of Wag, and unlike other aristocratic titles like ''meridazmach'' or ''ras''. While that artistocratic family is said to be one of the most noble in Ethiopian history, they never ruled any larger realm than their own district. Menen Asfaw,

empress consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but historically she does not formally ...

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

, was a daughter of Jantirar Asfaw. The meaning of the title Jantirar makes it unique. The element ''Jan'' is the same as the ''Jan'' in ''Janhoye'' or "

Jan Amora Jan Amora (Amharic language, Amharic: ጃን አሞራ ''jān āmōrā'', meaning "Royal eagle") is one of the Districts of Ethiopia, woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Jan Amora is bordered on the south by M ...

", meaning "great" but often translated as "royal" and another word used to refer to the

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 ...

. Also, both words after Jan have almost similar meaning in

. ''Hoye'' or ''hoyi'' can be roughly translated into "hear me, hear my call", while ''tirar'' is a form of ''Tira'', which means "call" or "calling". However, the claim that 'they never ruled any larger realm than their own district' can be challenged in many fronts. For example, while the mother of

Yekuno Amlak Yekuno Amlak (); throne name Tesfa Iyasus (; died 19 June 1285) was Emperor of Ethiopia, from 1270 to 1285, and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, which lasted until 1974. He was a ruler from Bete Amhara (in parts of modern-day Wollo and ...

was from Sagarat in the Dessie Zuria, his father came from the highlands of Ambassel. All the local folk histories and some remnants of the

Kingdom of Aksum The Kingdom of Aksum, or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom in East Africa and South Arabia from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, based in what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, and spanning present-day Djibouti and Sudan. Emerging ...

, even before the

Zagwe dynasty The Zagwe dynasty () was a medieval Agaw monarchy that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It ruled large parts of the territory from approximately 1137 to 1270 AD, when the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun was killed in battle by the ...

appears in history (around

Lake Hayq Lake Hayq (Amharic: ሐይቅ ሐይቅ, ) is a freshwater lake of Ethiopia. It is located north of Dessie, in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region. The town of Hayq is to the west of the lake. Lake Hayq is 6.7 km long and 6 km w ...

of Ambassel with a church that was founded in the 8th century), suggest that Ambassel and the immediate surrounding Amhara regions were well prepared to produce a king and a legend as it suits its kingdom. It is arguable that their Jantirar can not be so without some connection of their being the origin of Yekuno Amlak.

References

Ethiopian Empire Titles of national or ethnic leadership {{Ethiopia-hist-stub