Haile Melekot
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Haile Malakot (1824–9 November 1855) was Negus of Shewa, a historical region of Ethiopia, from 12 October 1847 until his death. He was the older son of Negus Sahle Selassie and his wife Woizero Bezabish Wolde.
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[edit] Rise to power
His first wife was Woizero Ijigayehu (whom he married in 1844 and divorced in 1845), whose background is disputed. Some believe she was of Oromo origin, others insist that she was among the ladies who were brought from the Imperial court at Gondar to Ankober to instruct the royal women of Shewa on court etiquette so that the Shewan branch of the dynasty could adopt the same court practices as the elder Gondar branch. In May 1845 he married his second wife, Woizero Tideneqialesh, who was a former wife of a court official.
Haile Melekot was known as Lij Besha Warad before he became king. It was well known that Sahle Selassie favored his younger son, Seife Selassie, and it was widely rumored that he would make his younger son his heir; however, on his deathbed, he publicly announced that Haile Melekot would inherit the kingdom.
Nonetheless, in Mordechai Abir's words, Sahle Selassie's death "was a signal for a blood bath which surpassed anything that ever occurred in the annals of Showa."[1] The Abichu Oromo rose in open revolt, attempting to recover control of the district of Tegulet and came close to capturing the capital of Ankober. Only the loyalty of some of the other Oromo chiefs and the Shewan supply of firearms saved the capital. Haile Melekot afterwards managed to persuade the meet with him at Angolalla, where he persuaded them to end their revolt. By the beginning of 1848, he was firmly in control of his kingdom, and even organized a campaign against the Arsi Oromo, who had been raiding the south-western parts of Shewa for years.
[edit] Reign
He attempted to repeat his fathers diplomatic efforts, opening contacts with the Europeans in hope of obtaining artisans, munitions, and financial aid. These efforts were not successful.
Inevitably, his semi-independent kingdom (the Emperor of Ethiopia in Gondar was still nominally the leige lord of the King of Shewa) came to the attention of Tewodros II, who was successfully concluding the process of defeating the remaining warlords of Ethiopia and reuniting Ethiopia. Haile Melekot allied himself with the Oromo in the province Wollo, which lay between him and Tewodros, but as Abir notes, he "was not made of the same stuff his father was, and could not provide the same inspiring leadership which had made Showa strong in the past."[2] The Shewan army failed to provide any effective help to the Oromo leaders in Wollo, and with an army of 50,000 men, Tewodros crushed his divided opposition. After a pause for the rainy season, Tewodros then entered northern Shewa in 1855.
By this point Haile Melekot was discouraged and gravely sick. His brother Seife Selassie, dissatisfied with his indecision, led the army south from Wollo to Menz then to Tegulet, abandoning Haile Melekot. The local governors were no match for the Emperor, and either were defeated or (like the governor of Efrata) went over to Tewodros' side. Rebellious Oromo burned Angolalla. The King of Shewa was horrified to learn that his mother Bezabish and his grandmother Zenebework (respectively widow and mother of the late Sahle Selassie) had crossed the lines and paid homage to Tewodros II in exchange for a guarantee that their personal lands would not be touched. A dispondent Haile Melekot made a few skirmishes against Tewodros' forces, then destroyed his food stores and his capital of Ankober to keep it out of Tewodros' hands. He died of his illness on 9 November 1855 in the town of Atakelt, and was hastily buried at Debre Gage in Tara.
A handful of Shewan nobles fought on, until a final battle in Bulga, where they were completely defeated, and forced to deliver Menelik, the son and heir of Haile Melekot, to Tewodros. With this act, the independent kingdom of Shewa came to an end.
[edit] Aftermath
In an interesting postcript, Tewodros II is said to have disbelieved that Haile Melekot was really dead and demanded that his body be disinterred. When he saw the body of the dead king, the Emperor is said to have wept for him, saying it was a shame that illness should deny a brave man such as the King of Shewa, the honor of falling in battle. He ordered that Haile Melekot be re-buried with all the pomp and ceremony due to a king.[citation needed]
Tewodros then turned his attention to the stunningly beautiful widow of Haile Melekot, Tidenekialesh. Recently widowed himself, the Emperor commanded her to accompany him back to Gondar. Tidenekialesh agreed to come, but asked for permission to first visit the Cathedral of St. Mary of Zion at Axum, which she had never visited, before she arrived at Gondar. Tewodros gave his permission, upon which Tidenekialesh traveled to Axum, prayed at the shrine, then promptly fled to the coast, where after much difficulty, she was able to board a ship bound for the Holy Land, where she entered the Ethiopian convent in Jerusalem, and died there several years later, as a nun. Upon learning this, Tewodros marveled at the loyalty of the widow of Haile Melekot in contrast to the betrayal of the late king's mother and grandmother.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Mordechai Abir, Ethiopia: the Era of the Princes (London: Longmans, 1968), p. 178.
- ^ Abir, Ethiopia, p. 180.
| Preceded by Sahle Selassie |
Rulers of Shewa | Succeeded by Sahle Mariam |
