Yohannes IV (Tigrinya: ዮሓንስ ፬ይ Rabaiy Yōḥānnes; horse name Abba Bezbiz also known as Kahśsai; born Lij Kahssai Mercha; 11 July 1837 – 10 March 1889) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1871 until his death in 1889 at the Battle of Gallabat, and king of Tigray from 1869 to 1871. During his reign, he repelled a large-scale Egyptian invasion and consolidated imperial authority over northern Ethiopia.

In his earlier years, he rebelled against Tewodros II; having risen to power in the 1860s, he maintained the policy of Tewodros of continued unification and also implemented a policy of touring regions and meeting with governors. He assisted the British during their expedition to Abyssinia, which ended in Tewodros' suicide, and was rewarded with ammunition and artillery.He regarded Islam as a threat to national unity and implemented a policy of forced conversion of Muslims, which he justified as reversing the Islamization carried out by Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Gragn) four centuries earlier. In foreign policy, he had disagreements and military conflicts with both Isma'il Pasha of the Khedivate of Egypt and Muhammad Ahmad during the latter's Mahdist War.

Origin and early life

On the side of his father, Mercha Wolde Kidan, Yohannes descended from the ruling family of Tembien where both his father and grandfather bore the traditional title of šum Tembien, while his mother, Silas Dimtsu, was a daughter of balgäda Demtsu of Enderta and Tabotu Woldu of Agame, hence a niece of Sabagadis Woldu. He thus descended from the ruling families of Tembien, Agame, and Enderta. Yohannes's Solomonic lineage is through his paternal grandmother Woizero Workewoha KaleKristoss of Adwa, the granddaughter of Ras Mikael Sehul and his wife Aster Iyasu, daughter of Empress Mentewab and Melmal Iyasu, who was a Solomonic prince and nephew of Emperor Bakaffa. He also had important connubial connections with notables who came to his aid: his cousin Amläsu Arʾaya Śǝllase married Ras Alula Éngéda, who remained loyal to Yohannes throughout his life; another cousin, Alṭaš Wahǝd, married Ras Wäldä Mikaʾel Sälomon, who fought on his side in the 1860s. His sister Dǝnqǝnäš was married first to Gobäze (later emperor Tekle Giyorgis II) and later to Ras Gäbrä Kidan, one of his leading supporters.

The first half of his life is poorly documented, with the date of his birth given between 1831 and 1837. The available sources indicate that he was the youngest of his siblings, that he had a seriously ailing childhood, that he received some church education, and that he was initiated to manhood after killing some wild animals (lions and/or elephants) for trophies. The first mention of his appearance in the political arena comes up in connection with his visit to the imperial court of Tewodros II in 1864–1865 in the company of his brothers, Gugsa and Maru. Gugsa was given the title of däjazmač, and Maru that of fit'awrari. The lowest title, of balambaras, was bestowed upon Kaśa, who was subsequently assigned to administer a sub-district within the governorship of his elder brother, Gugsa.

Rise to power

The imperial ambitions of Yohannes are consolidated towards the end of the reign of Tewodros II; as early as 1867, he presented himself, during a correspondence with the British, as ruler of Ethiopia. During the same year, a diplomatic dispute between Tewodros and the British government led the expedition to Abyssinia in order to free the European captives imprisoned there by Tewodros. By the time the British expedition to Abyssinia arrived in the region, Kaśa had attained full control of most of the then province of Tigray as well as of the Christian highlands of Eritrea. He had also begun to conquer the regions west of the Täkkäze including Ṣällämt, Wälqayt, Tsegedeand parts of Sǝmen. Yohannes officially agreed to help Napier, facilitating the provisioning of the troops by installing markets near the main camp sites.</blockquote>

Internal policy

thumb|The conquests of Yohannes IV, Emperor [[Menelik II|Menelik and general Ras Alula in 1879–1889]]

The principle of Yohannes's internal policy was to continue the legacy of Tewodros II by trying to unite Ethiopia. To ensure the realization of this policy, he toured each region and meeting appointed governors, usually from the local nobility, regardless of their former attitudes toward him, as long as they submitted and expressed to him their unflinching loyalty. He thus managed, as the contemporary English vice-consul put it, "to hold the scales of justice with a firm and even hand"; "it was in 1884 the boast of King Yohannes that a child could pass through his dominions unharmed".

It is estimated that by 1880 some 50,000 Jebertis (Tigrinya speaking Muslims) and 500,000 Oromos had been forced to convert to Christianity.

Foreign policy

War with Ottoman Egypt

thumb|left|Yohannes IVThroughout his reign, Yohannes was embroiled in military struggles on his northern frontiers. First was from Khedive Isma'il Pasha of Egypt, who sought to bring the entire Nile River basin under his rule. The Egyptians flirted with encouraging Menelik of Shewa against the King, but earned Menelik's enmity by marching from the port of Zeila and occupying the city-state of Harar on 11 October 1875. Both Menelik and Yohannes had regarded Harar as a renegade province of Ethiopia, and Egyptian seizure of the Emirate was not welcomed by either of them. The Egyptians then marched into northern Ethiopia from their coastal possessions around the port of Massawa.

The two armies met at Gundet (also called Guda-gude) on the morning of 16 November 1875. The Egyptians were tricked into marching into a narrow and steep valley and were wiped out by Ethiopian gunners surrounding the valley from the surrounding mountains. Virtually the entire Egyptian force, along with its many officers of European and North American background, were killed. A new Egyptian force was assembled and defeated again at the Battle of Gura (7–9 March 1876), where the Ethiopians were led again by the Emperor, and his loyal general, the capable (and future Ras) Alula Engida. This victory was followed by Menelik's submission to Yohannes on 20 March 1878, and in return, Yohannes recognized Menelik's hereditary right to the title of King (Negus) of Shewa, and re-crowned him on 26 March. Yohannes took this opportunity to tie the Shewan King more closely to him by arranging for Menelik's daughter Zewditu (the future Empress of Ethiopia in her own right), to be married to his own son and heir, Ras Araya Selassie.

Emperor Yohannes also convened a general council of the Ethiopian Church at Boru Meda later in 1878. Non-Christians were forbidden from participating in the government unless they converted and were baptized. Ras Mohammed of Wollo became disobedient of the tax rules and was conspiring with the Ottoman Empire; after confrontation he chose to become a Christian, receiving the name (later Negus) Mikael of Wollo, with the Emperor standing as his godfather at his baptism. The new convert was given Menelik of Shewa's daughter, Shewarega Menelik, as his wife. Yohannes requested that Patriarch Cyril send four bishops to serve Ethiopia, who arrived in 1881 led by Abuna Petros as Archbishop. It was the first time that the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria had appointed four Bishops for Ethiopia.

War with Sudan

thumb|left|World heads of state in 1889. Yohannes is first from the left.

alt=|thumb|[[Ras (title)|Ras Alula Engida, Grand General of Yohannes IV, participated in the Egyptian-Ethiopian War, the Mahdist War, and the First Italo-Ethiopian War.]]

When Muhammad Ahmad proclaimed himself the Mahdi, his followers successfully drove Egyptian garrisons out of Sudan and isolated the rest. Yohannes agreed to British requests to allow the Egyptian soldiers to evacuate through his lands, in exchange for British support of his claims to important ports like Massawa on the Red Sea. This was formalized in a treaty signed with the British at Adwa known as the Hewett Treaty of 1884. Under the treaty, Yohannes was promised the right to import weapons through the port of Massawa and to take over certain territories under Egyptian control, provided that he granted safe conduct to the Egyptian garrisons threatened by the Mahdists.

In February 1887 Ras Alula, the governor of the Eritrean highlands (Märäb Mǝllaš), attacked an Italian army contingent that had intruded at Dogʿali, killing over 400 of its soldiers. Great Britain then proposed the cession of certain coastal territories and an apology from Yohannes for the attack. Yohannes refused, stating that he saw no reason to apologize for fighting the invaders of his country, and that the cession of territories, regardless of their size or importance, could not be a point of discussion.

On 2 May of the same year 1889, Emperor Menelik signed the Treaty of Wuchale with the Italians which later led to the Battle of Adwa.

Legacy

Yohannes undoubtedly had his weaknesses; they were not his own making, but rather imposed on him either by external pressure or inherited by his deep-seated values and traditional norms. During the eighteen years of his reign, he was preoccupied with defending his country against external aggressions perpetrated by the Egyptians, the Italians, and the Mahdists. He preferred peaceful negotiation to war, repeatedly writing to his enemies and to European powers to settle impending conflicts by diplomacy; yet at crucial moments he maintained his composure and remained steadfast in battle. The records scarcely reveal any exercise of vengeance against vanquished enemies, with the blinding of Kaśa Golǧa and the life imprisonment of Ras Wäldä Mikaʾel Sälomon of Hamasien being the principal exceptions. The way he shared his authority with Menelik and Tekle Haymanot eventually resulted in undermining his own authority, but it contributed greatly to accelerating the process of reunification of the Ethiopian Empire.

In Ethiopian memory

thumb|Photograph of Yohannes IV (left) with his son and heir, [[Araya Selassie Yohannes (right)]]

Yohannes has been remembered in Ethiopia as one of the great leaders of the country, though his history received little scholarly attention until the second half of the 20th century. Thirty years after his death, Ḫǝruy Wäldä Śǝllase noted in his biographical dictionary that "wishing that God counts him among the martyrs, aṣe Yoḥannǝs is being praised until today for sacrificing his blood on behalf of his country and religion."

References

Further reading

  • Yohannes IV
  • Imperial Ethiopia Homepages – Emperor Yohannes IV

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