Yohannes IV

Yohannes IV (Tigrinya: ዮሓንስ ፬ይ, romanized: 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.^[1][2]

In his earlier years, he rebelled against Tewodros II;^[3] 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.^[4] He assisted the British during their expedition to Abyssinia, which ended in Tewodros' suicide, and was rewarded with ammunition and artillery.^[5][6]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.^[7][8] 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.^[9][10]

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.^[11][12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14]

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.^[14]

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 Abuna Salama III who in 1867 wrote from prison to many notables condemning his perceived injustices of Tewodros. In any case, for some time he (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.^[14]

Returning to the highlands, he raised more men and began his military campaign: in the years 1864–1867, he consecutively defeated šum seraye 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 sides of the Mareb River. 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.^[15]

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.^[16] 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.^[14] Thus, the British needed his permission to cross his territory and reach Mäqdäla.

From February 1868, Yohannes came into contact with British officers, including the commander of the expedition, Sir Robert Napier.^[17] Yohannes officially agreed to help Napier, facilitating the provisioning of the troops by installing markets near the main camp sites.^[17] After the Mäqdäla expedition, the British expressed their gratitude by giving him weapons: "a battery of mountain guns and mortars and sufficient smooth-bore muskets for one regiment."^[14]

Following the death of Tewodros, Gobeze Gebre Medhin had himself crowned as nəgusä nägäst Tekle Giyorgis II. Kaśa, however, refused to acknowledge the new emperor and kept the new metropolitan abunä Atnatewos II sent from Alexandria in June 1869 in his dominion. Finally, on 11 July 1871, Täklä Giyorgis confronted Kaśa in the battle of ʿAssäm in the vicinity of ʿAdwa, but was defeated and confined to Ǝnda Abba Sälama, Tembien, where he would die two years later. On 21 January 1872, Yohannes was crowned at Aksum as Yohannes IV.^[14] His seal changed on coronation from "head of the notables" to King of Zion, King of Kings of Ethiopia, the Solomonic formula that asserted his full imperial legitimacy.^[14] A French explorer described him as:

The Negus of Ethiopia is a man of great strength of body, and energy of mind, as well as force of will. He is about forty years of age, of middle height, but sinewy and muscular; with most aristocratic hands and feet, although, like his subjects, he marches with bare feet, placing only his great toe in the stirrup, when on horseback, in Abyssinian fashion. His face is oval, with high forehead, large restless eyes, an aquiline nose and wide mouth. His skin is not black, but of a dark olive tint; his hair plaited in an infinite number of small tresses, carefully knotted together at the nape of the neck with a silken cord. He looks more like a Greek or Portuguese than an African. In anger his eyes blaze like burning coals. In speech he is brief, clear and persuasive.^[18]

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".^[14] 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 kings.^[14]

For the first ten years of his reign Yohannes had no fixed capital, intentionally reviving the medieval Ethiopian tradition of a mobile imperial court. Three centres were most frequently used: ʿAdwa, where he usually celebrated Mäsqäl; Amba Čara; and Sämära (Däbrä Tabor). In the early 1880s, however, he chose Määlä in Ǝndärta as his permanent centre, where he had a palace erected by the Italian craftsman Giacomo Naretti.^[14]

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.^[14]

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 tried to defend their respective doctrines: Karra (predominant in the north), Sägga or Śost Lədät (prevalent in Begemeder and Shewa) and Qəbat (based in Gojjam and Lasta). The discussion was doomed to be biased, and some of the prominent ecclesiastical masters were brought in chains to the council.^[14] Yohannes 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. All those who did not adhere to the doctrine of Alexandria were punished with mutilation of the tongue or were forced into exile in Jerusalem and Rome. The policy transcended Yohannes's reign, though there were indications that the suppressed tenets had by no means been eradicated.^[14]

Immediately following the council of Boru Meda, Yohannes appointed church scholars to conduct the Christianization of Muslim Wollo. He had Muḥammad Ali, the governor of Wärrä Himano, baptized under the name of Mikaʾel (later nǝguś), standing as his godfather himself. In the same year, a coercive decree was issued obliging Muslims to convert to Christianity. Yohannes justified the measure by arguing that Ahmad Grañ had Islamized the country by the power of the sword, and that he was therefore entitled to apply force to Christianize the people in return.^[14] The consequences were severe: many Muslims emigrated to Sudan; foreign trade, which was predominantly in Muslim hands, sharply declined; several imperial dignitaries refused to enforce the decree; and it attracted criticism from foreign powers, damaging Yohannes's diplomatic position. Two years later the project was abandoned, and Yohannes began to deny in correspondence that any application of force had ever taken place.^[14]

We are your apostles. All this [Wollo and the central highlands] used to be Christian land until Gragn ruined and misled it. Now let all, whether Muslim or Galla [Oromo], believe in the name of Jesus Christ! If you wish to live in peace and preserve your belongings, become Christians.^[19]

It is estimated that by 1880 some 50,000 Jebertis (Tigrinya speaking Muslims) and 500,000 Oromos had been forced to convert to Christianity.^[20]

Throughout 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.^[21]

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.^[22] 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.^[23]

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.^[14] Yohannes fulfilled his obligations, but Great Britain then conceded the occupation of Massawa to Italy, a non-signatory of the treaty.

Ras Alula Engida defeated an invading Mahdist army at the Battle of Kufit on 23 September 1885. About the same time, Italy took control of the port of Massawa, frustrating Ethiopian hopes and angering Yohannes.^[24]

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.^[14] Nonetheless, the Italians occupied the greater part of Eritrea two years later, when Yohannes was forced to mobilize his armies westward against the Mahdists.

Yohannes attempted to work out some kind of understanding with the Italians, so he could turn his attention to the more pressing problem of the Mahdists, although Ras Alula took it upon himself to attack Italian units that were on both sides of the ill-defined frontier between the two powers. Domestic problems increased when the Neguses of both Gojjam and Shewa rebelled against Yohannes, and the Emperor had to turn his attention from the encroaching Italians to deal with his rebellious vassals. Yohannes brutally crushed the Gojjam rebellion, but before he could turn his attention to Shewa, news arrived that the Mahdist forces had sacked Gondar and burned its holy churches. He marched north from Gojjam to confront the armies of the Mahdi.

Yohannes was killed by the Mahdists 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, and was mortally wounded by a gunshot. He died on 10 March 1889. Although the Ethiopian army had almost annihilated their opponents in this battle, hearing that their ruler had been slain shattered their morale and they were scattered by the nearly beaten Sudanese army. The Mahdists cut off Yohannes's head and brandished it in Khartoum.^[14]

The question of succession is disputed by the sources. One account alleges that the dying emperor summoned Mängäša and nominated him as his successor, with some sources claiming he obliged his councillors to swear obedience to Mängäša. A second version alleges that Yohannes had actually called for Ras Ḫaylä Maryam, an elder brother of Mängäša, not knowing that he had already fallen in battle; told that Ḫaylä Maryam was wounded, Yohannes assumed he was dead and nominated Mängäša instead. In either case, the sovereign was primarily interested in bequeathing the throne rather than acknowledging a natural son. Most sources record that the dying emperor used the traditional Amharic expression "my son and friend" when nominating Mängäša. Foreign observers interpreted this as an acknowledgement of paternity, while Ethiopians understood it as a conventional polite expression regularly used by elderly speakers regardless of biological relationship (Empress Ṭaytu used the same phrase in her letters to Mängäša, though she was by no means his mother).^[14]

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 wrote how Yohannes' uncle Ras Araya Dimtsu 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 Araya 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".^[25]

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.^[26]

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.^[14]

Yohannes succeeded to a large extent in pacifying the country and expanding the empire by the device of power-sharing and accommodation.^[27] 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.^[28]

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."^[14] Quite a few poems of various types and historical anecdotes reflecting Yohannes's character have been transmitted by word of mouth, many of them related to his courage and skill in hunting, his military successes, and his religious faith and practice. His victories at Gundet and Guraʿ over the Egyptian army, as well as his expeditions to Begemder, Gojjam and Shewa, are repeatedly celebrated in verse. Even his fighting at the front at Mätämma, in which his life was sacrificed, is regarded in Ethiopian tradition as an expression of his bravery.^[14]

Among the poems collected by Ḫǝruy Wäldä Śǝllase, one underlines Yohannes's personal discipline in abstaining from alcoholic drink, while another, from an unpublished collection of Conti Rossini, admires his consistent avoidance of sexuality after the death of his wife. He lived in celibacy after the death of Ṭǝbäbä Śǝllase, mother of his only son Ras Araya Selassie, whose sudden death in 1888 at the age of 18 caused him inexpressible grief. In general, he was inclined to disciplinary self-denial and is remembered as an emperor who sought to preserve the lives of his subjects and the integrity of his empire above personal gain.^[14]

Following Yohannes's death, Mängäša declared himself in his new seal "The Son of Yoḥannǝs, King of Zion, King of Kings of Ethiopia" in an attempt to mobilize the people of Tigray, but was unable to rally all dignitaries of his predecessor, including some of his close kinsmen. Menelik of Shewa took advantage of Tigrean disorder and was proclaimed Emperor of Ethiopia as Menelik II.^[14]

"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").^[29]

• 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.
• Uhlig, Siegbert (2014). Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: Volume 5: Y-Z. Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 73–79.

• Yohannes IV
• Imperial Ethiopia Homepages – Emperor Yohannes IV

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