Senfa Ared IV was nəgusä nägäst (1294–1295) of Ethiopia.
Hezba Asgad was nəgusä nägäst (1295–1296) of Ethiopia.
Qedma Asgad was nəgusä nägäst (1296–1297) of Ethiopia.
Jin Asgad was nəgusä nägäst (1297–1298) of Ethiopia.
Saba Asgad was nəgusä nägäst (1298–1299) of Ethiopia.
These five men ruled Ethiopia between Yagbe'u Seyon and Wedem Arad. Although all of the primary sources agree that Yagbe'u Seyon and Wedem Arad were sons of Yekuno Amlak, sources disagree about how these five are related to each other and the previous two Emperors. Both James Bruce and the traditions collected by Antoine d'Abbadie state that these were the sons of Yekuno Amlak, yet the oldest surviving list of Ethiopian kings lists four of these five (omitting Saba Asgad) without any mention of their filial relationship. The Gadla of Saint Basalota Mikael, however, does state that Qedma Asgad was the son of Yekuno Amlak.[1]
Historians disagree over the situation that his successors experienced. Paul B. Henze states that Yagbe'u Seyon could not decide which of his sons should inherit his kingdom, and instructed that each would rule in turn for a year.[2] Tadesse Tamrat, on the other hand, records that his reign was followed by dynastic confusion, during which each of his sons held the throne.[3] E.A. Wallis Budge adds the tradition that Jin Asgad initiated the use of Amba Geshen as a royal prison for troublesome relatives of the Emperor, when he was forced to imprison his treacherous brother Saba Asgad; at the same time he imprisoned his other three brothers and his own sons in Amba Geshen.[4]
Whatever the situation truly was, it came to an end when Wedem Arad seized the throne.
Preceded by Yagbe'u Seyon |
Emperor of Ethiopia | Succeeded by Wedem Arad |