Ethiopian Monarchs
A history of Ethiopian monarchs.
Kingdom of Aksum
The kingdom of Aksum, sometimes referred to as the Aksumite Empire, emerged around the Red Sea in the 1st century. The state stabilized the region and encouraged trade stretching from the Romans to Ceylon.
Kings of Aksum were titled negus. Some Aksumite rulers, such as Ezana, also claimed the title negusa nagast (king of kings; alternatively negesta nagastat, queen of queens).
The kingdom was overthrown in the 10th century by Gudit, whose exact identity has become obscured over time.
Zagwe Dynasty
From the Lasta region, an Agaw kingdom emerged under Mara Takla Haymanot. He also claimed descent and legitimacy from the Aksumite kings.
This kingdom kingdom is identified only by the dynastic name Zagwe, which may be nothing more than a mutation of Agaw invented outside of the region.
Ethiopian Empire
The Amhara ruler of the region around Lake Hayq, Yekuno Amlak, rose to oppose the last Zagwe king, whose name appears to have been purposefully erased from records. He was supported by the Orthodox Church and the neighboring sultanate of Shewa. He also claimed descent and legitimacy from the Aksumite kings, and sepcifically claimed to restore the dynasty of Solomon.
The new Ethiopian Empire consolidated the Orthodox Christian peoples in the region. Concurrently, the sultanate of Ifat conquered Shewa.
For significant portions of history, Ethiopia was referred to as Abyssinia in the European and Arab worlds.
Inspired by diplomatic tension between Ethiopia and the Mamluk Sultanate in the 14th century, Haqq ad-Din I of Ifat raided the Amhara region. This began a series of raids and counter-raids, occupations, and campaigns of religious persecution that would last decades and see the Muslim population of Shewa severely reduced. Ultimately the sultanate was conquered. While Sabr ad-Din II was killed in combat, his family fled to Yemen.
His son, Sabr ad-Din III, would eventually return from exile and establish the Adal Sultanate in Dakkar on the Harar plateau. The sultanate was largely preoccupied with conquest of Ethiopia, and saw the greatest extent of success under Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. However, once a Portuguese force arrived to aid him, Gelawdewos was able to quickly restore the empire.
In the 16th century, the Ottomans conquered and occupied port cities with the intent of controlling trade on the Red Sea. These territories were organized as the Habesh eyalet, named for Abyssinia.
In the 18th century, many ras (dukes) became powerful enough to oppose the emperor. This period is known as Zemene Mesafint (Princes Era) and was characterized by decentralization of power and religious conflict.
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Italy invaded in 1935.
TODO: learn some history!
In the 1960s, the Ethiopian Student Movement emerged as a powerful political organization. It sought to abolish the monarchy and generally advocated for Marxist policies, such as land reform.
The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police and Territorial Army, colloquially the Derg, was established among the Ethiopian officer corps in June 1974. They elected Mengistu as their chair, demanded the arrest of political leaders including Aklilu and Endelkachew, and finally staged a coup in September. Selassie is formally the last emperor.
Note that the Derg attempted to prop up Amha Selassie, son of Selassie, as a puppet. He rejected this proclamation, but did proclaim himself emperor-in-exile from London years later. He emigrated then to McLean, Virginia where he died in 1997. His son, Zera Yacob Amha Selassie, maintains a claim to the imperial house.
Dynasties