Yohannes IV

On the side of his father, Mercha Wolde Kidan, Yohannes descended from the ruling dynasty of Tembien where both his father and grandfather bore the traditional title of šum Tembien, while his mother, Silass Dimtsu, was a daughter of balgäda Demsu 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.[3][4] He also had connubial connections with some notables who came to his aid in the early stages: his cousin, Amlasu Araya Selassie, married ras Alula Engida who remained loyal to Yohannes throughout his life, another cousin Altash Wahad married ras Woldemichael Solomon who fought on his side in the second half of the 1860s, though later he became his opponent.[5] His sister, Dinqnesh, was married first to Gobez (later atse Tekle Giyorgis) who supported his rebellion against atse Tewodros II in the late 1860s and later to ras bitwädäd Gebre Kidan, one of the leading supporters of Yohannes. His chroniclers further remotely connect him genealogically to the branches of the Solomonic dynasty in Gondar and Shewa. All these relationships contributed toward Yohannes's rise to power in the 1860s and 70s.[6]

The story of the first half of his life is poorly documented. Even the date of his birth is uncertain; various sources place it between 1831 and 1837. The available sources merely 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 in 1864-65 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.[2]

An Ethiopian portrait of Emperor Yohannes IV.

Shortly after their return to Tigray, Kaśa rebelled against the rule of Tewodros. What prompted his rebellion is not well established. Often two explanations, which are not essentially contradictory, are forwarded by the sources: the first is related to his dissatisfaction with the rank and function given to him by the sovereign, while the second interprets his rebellion as a response to the appeal of abunä Salama who in 1867 wrote from prison to many notables condemning the injustices of Tewodros. In any case, for some time his (together with his followers) retired to the eastern lowlands and found refuge among the Afar, from which ethnic group he married a Muslim after she had been baptized with the name Tebaba Sellasie.[2] Reurning to the highlands, he raised more men and began his military campaign: in the years 1864-67, he consecutively defeated šum serye Gebre Mikael, däjazmač Barya'u Gebre Sadeq of Adwa and däjazmač Tekle Giyorgis Qalos of Shire. Barya'u transferred his allegiance to Kaśa whom he served faithfully until he was killed in a battle some ten years later. Tekle Giyorgis (who had killed Kaśa's mother, Silass) fell in battle, and Kaśa subsequently assumed his title of däjazmač. Kaśa then formed an alliance with wag šum Gobez Gebre Medhin of Lasta against Tewodros and began to harass the imperial representatives on both side of the Mareb. He defeated the governors of Selewa and Kilte Awulaelo. In Hamasien, däjazmač Haylu Tewolde Medhen, who contemplated resistance, was confined and replaced with däjazmač (later ras) Woldemichael Solomon who had actively participated in Kaśa's military campaign against the imperial officials in Tigray.[7]

By the time the British Napier expedition against Tewodros 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.[8] He had even begun to conquer the regions west of the Tekezé including Tselemt, Wolqayt, Tsegede and parts of Semien. Thus, the British needed his permission to cross his territory and reach Maqdala. Kaśa allowed them free passage as well as the privilege to purchase provisions from the local markets on condition that they left the country immediately after the mission.[2] Upon their return from the Maqdala expedition, the British expressed their gratitude by giving him weapons for a present: "a battery of mountain guns and mortars and sufficient smooth-bore muskets for one regiment".

Following the death of Tewodros, his brother-in-law Gobeze Gebre Medhin had himself crowned as nəgusä nägäst Tekle Giyorgis II.[9] He successfully suppressed rebellions of ras Wolde Maryam of Begemender and Fares Ali of Yejju, and reached a peace agreement with Menelik of Shewa (future atse Menelik II). Kaśa, however, refused to acknowledge the new metropolitan abunä Atnatyos sent from Alexandria in June 1869, and kept him in his dominion.[10] Finally, on 11 July 1871, Tekle Giyorgis confronted Kaśa in a battle in the Battle of Assem, but was defeated and confined to Enda Abba Selama, Tembien, where he would die two years later. Upon vanquishing the rebellions of Wolde Iyasus in Azebo and Kaśa Golja on the northern peripheries, on 21 January 1872 Yohannes was crowned in Aksum as Yohannes IV by abunä Atnatyos (becoming the first emperor crowned in Axum since Fasilides in 1632).[11] His seal also changed from "...nəgusä mäkanənt" ('head of the notables') to "...nəgusä Səyon, nəgusä nəguśt zä Ityopya" ('King of Zion, King of Kings of Ethiopia').

The conquests of Yohannes IV, Negus Menelik and general Ras Alula in 1879-1889

The principle of Yohannes's internal policy was to unite and aggrandize Ethiopia, a traditional ideal which had been revived by Tewodros II after almost a century of dissension and decline. To ensure the realization of this policy, he toured each region and 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 Johannes that a child could pass through his dominions unharmed".[2] In the first six years of his reign, he succeeded in achieving the unity of the predominantly Christian provinces, including Wag and Lasta, Semien and Begemder, Sayint, Gojjam, Wollo and Shewa. He crowned Menelik King of Shewa in 1878 and Tekle Haymanot King of Gojjam and Kaffa in 1881 and encouraged them to expand their empire to the south, east, and west. However, this advice created rivalry between the two regional kings, which came to a climax in the Battle of Embabo in June 1882. Yohannes reprimanded both of them for fighting without his permission, punished them by taking away a province from the jurisdiction of each of them and defined the direction of territories to be conquered by each of the two kinds.[2]

In the first ten years Yohannes had no fixed capital for his empire. He camped for about two and half months in Aksum at the time of his coronation, but there is no indication that he would make it the imperial capital.[2] It seems that he intended to revive the tradition of a mobile capital of medieval Ethiopia. There were, nonetheless, three centers which he frequented: Adwa where he usually celebrated Meskel, Amba Chara and Semera, both of which were located in Begemder. In the early 1880s, however, he chose Mek'ele as his center where he had a palace erected by an Italian craftsman, Giacomo Naretti.[2]

Religious policy

Yohannes inherited the empire encumbered with three religious questions which provoked him to seek a solution: the internal dissensions of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOC), Islam, and Christian foreign missionary activities. He regarded all of them as menaces to the unity and stability of the state.[2]

By 1878, Yohannes was ready to tackle the problems by summoning a council at Boru Meda, Wollo. Most of the high dignitaries and notables of Ethiopia were present at the council. The leading theologians of the three major disputing groups of the EOC — Karra (predominant in the north), Sägga or Śost Lədät (prevalent in Begemeder and Shewa) and Qəbat (based in Gojjam and Lasta) — tried to defend their respective doctrines. Yohannes readily accepted corrections made by a notable on procedural mattes. Apparently, he had a long-prepared plan for the council, as he had a letter from the patriarch of Alexandria read out at the end of the disputation which endorsed the imperial tenet. The policy transcended Yohannes's reign, through there were indications that the suppressed tenets had by no means been eradicated.[2]

Yohannes IV.

Victor of the Ethiopian-Egyptian War and undisputed Neguse Negest, in 1878 Yohannes was at the high point of his reign.

An Amharic inscription remembering Yohannes IV's call to arms.

Yohannes was killed by Mahdist Sudanese at the Battle of Gallabat that took place on 9-10 March 1889 in Metemma near the Sudanese border. Evidence suggests that Emperor Yohannes had acted rashly and had made himself vulnerable, going beyond enemy lines in a range of enemy shots as victory was going to his side. Mortally wounded from a gunshot, he had been carried to his tent, where he announced that his nephew Ras Mengesha was actually his natural son, and named him his heir (his elder son Ras Araya Selassie had died a few years earlier). He died hours later. Although the Ethiopian army had almost annihilated their opponents in this battle, hearing that their ruler had been slain shattered their morale and allowed the Mahdists to counterattack, scattering the Ethiopian forces.

Yohannes's body was carried back to Tigray guarded by a small party, who were overtaken by the Mahdist troops of Zeki Tummal near the Atbara River, who captured the sovereign's body. Augustus B. Wylde, who claimed to have heard the story from a priest who managed to escape the slaughter, wrote how Yohannes' uncle Ras Areya stood beside the body of his dead master with "a few of his soldiers and the bravest of the king's servants, who had lost their all, and had no more prospects to live for".

Ras Areya was last seen standing alongside the box containing the king's body, after having expended all his ammunition, with his shield and sword in his hands, defending himself, till at last he was speared by a Dervish from behind, and died fighting gamely, "like the fine old warrior that he was".[17]

According to Wylde, as he saw death come Ras Areya announced "that he was now old and done for, that his time had come, and it was useless at his age to serve another master that he knew little about, and it was better to die like a man fighting unbelievers, than like a mule in a stable."[17] The Mahdists brought the Emperor's body back to their capital at Omdurman, where the head was put on a pike and paraded through the streets.

Emperor Yohannes IV with his son and heir, Ras Araya Selassie Yohannes.

Although a group of Tigrean nobles led by Ras Alula attempted to promote the claim of Ras Mengesha Yohannes (the "natural" son of Yohannes) as Emperor, many of the dead monarch's other relatives on both the Enderta and Tembien sides of his family objected and went into open rebellion against Mengesha. Many refused to accept Ras Mengesha as the son of Yohannes, having long known him as his nephew. Tigray was torn assunder by the rebellions of various members of the Emperor's family against Mengesha and each other. Menelik of Shewa took advantage of Tigrean disorder, and after the Italians occupied Hamasien, (a district Yohannes IV had bestowed upon Ras Alula) he was proclaimed Emperor of Ethiopia as Menelik II. The death of Yohannes reduced the influence of Tigrayans in the Ethiopian government and opened the way for Italians to occupy more districts previously held by Tigrayan nobles. The seizures made by the Italians at this time ultimately resulted in the creation of the colony of Eritrea and the defeat of Italy at the Battle of Adwa at the hands of Emperor Menelik II. The Tigrean nobility retained influence at the Imperial court of Menelik and his successors, although not at the level they enjoyed under Yohannes IV. The descendants of Yohannes ruled Tigray as hereditary Princes until the Ethiopian Revolution and the fall of the monarchy in 1974 ended their rule.

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 defending his country against external aggressions perpetrated by the Egyptians, the Italians, and the Mahdists. Yohannes succeeded to a large extent in pacifying the country and expanding the empire by the device of power-sharing and accommodation. Guiding principles of his administration were patience, tolerance, and forgiveness, as well as a tendency to preserve the status quo. Above all, his concerna were focused on promoting peace the external threats rather than promoting his own personal or dynastic gain.

The way he shared his authority with Menelik and Tekle Haymanot eventually resulted in undermining his own authority, but it contributed greatly in accelerating the process of reunification of the Ethiopian Empire. By preserving the status quo in the regional administration, the uncertainty and fear which were prevalent under previous reigns due to constant changes, were reduced. The self-confidence and charitable attitude he displayed toward his vanquished enemies and rivals earned him the high esteem of his subjects.

Early in his career after he defeated and seized Dejazmatch Gabre Mikael of Tsrae, who was responsible for the death of his own mother Woizero Silas Dimtsu, not only did he forgive him, but within a year, Gabre Mikael was reinstated as councilor and appeared as one of the important dignitaries during the mission of Major Grant to Adwa, in February 1868. Subsequently, Gabre Mikael's son, Dejazmach Birru, also held important posts. Ras Adal of Gojjam, after he killed his own cousin, Ras Desta Tedla Guala, the newly appointed governor by Yohannes and submitted to Yohannes and asked for forgiveness, not only was he forgiven but he was given the command over Gojjam and eventually elevated as King of Gojjam and Kefa, under the name of Tekle Haymanot.

Yohannes' monument in Axum

King Menelik's ambition to seize the imperial crown was clearly evident since his escape from Mäqdalä and return to Shoa, in 1865. The submission of Menelik to Yohannes was not effected until 1878 after Yohannes gained substantial advantage over his rivals in terms of quality and quantity of firearms as a result of the booty gathered in his successive victories over the Egyptian army at Gundet Gurae, in 1875 and 1876, respectively. This advantage remained on Yohannes's side throughout his reign. Despite a repeated pressure from his advisers on two occasions, in 1878, at the time of Menelik's submission and in 1881, after his two vassal kings, Menelik and Teklé Haymanot fought against each other at Embabo, to remove Menelik and replace him if need be, by one of his cousins, such as Meshesha Seifu, Yohannes refused to yield on grounds that he was not going to destroy an effective power, which Menelik diligently built up for the sake of eliminating a possible threat to himself.Finally, Yohannes heard that both his vassal kings have defected and during his campaign in Gojjam, Tekle Haymant confessed that they had concluded an agreement to help one another and rebel against the authority of the Emperor. At this juncture, the temptation was great to cross the Abbay River to Showan territory and eliminate the internal threat. Yohannes's priority, however, was to avert the external threat and he decided to face the Mahdists who had penetrated twice as far as Gonder and burnt the churches, pillaged the country, and enslaved people.

Throughout his reign, Yohannes demonstrated selfless devotion to the defense of the territorial integrity of Ethiopian Empire against successive waves of external aggression, by Egyptians, Italians, and Mahdists Sudan. He also strove within the parameters of what was possible in his day to promote the welfare of his people. His devotion to his country and people culminated in the supreme sacrifice of his life at the border of his empire, in the Battle of Metemma.

"His Imperial Majesty John IV, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, za'imnaggada yīhūda, nigūsa TSion, nigūsa nagast za'ītyōṗṗyā, siyūma 'igzī'a'bihēr").[18][19]

• Gabre-Sellassie, Zewde (1975). Yohannes IV of Ethiopia: A Political Biography (1st ed.). Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
• Rubenson, Sven (1976). The Survival of Ethiopian Independence. Heinemann Educational Books.
• Tafla, Bairu. Chronicle of Emperor Yohannes IV (1872-89) (in Geez and English).
• Henze, Paul B. (2000). "Yohannes IV and Menelik II: The Empire Restored, Expanded, and Defended". Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-22719-1.
• Lewis, David Levering (1987). "Pawns of Pawns". The Race to Fashoda. New York: Olympic Marketing Corp. ISBN 1-55584-058-2.

• Yohannes IV
• Ethiopian Treasures – Emperor Yohannes IV, Battle of Metema – Ethiopia
• Imperial Ethiopia Homepages – Emperor Yohannes IV