Gelawdewos of Ethiopia

Gelawdewos (Ge'ez ገላውዴዎስ "galāwdēwōs", modern "gelāwdēwōs", "Claudius"; 1521/1522 - March 23, 1559) was "IPA|nəgusä nägäst" (throne name Asnaf Sagad I (Ge'ez አጽናፍ ሰገደ "aṣnāf sagad", modern "āṣnāf seged", "to whom the peaks bow"; September 3, 1540 - March 23, 1559) of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was a younger son of Dawit II by Sabla Wengel. [Remedius Proutky states that Gelawdewos had a son, Na'od; this son is not mentioned in his "Royal Chronicle". J.H. Arrowsmith-Brown, translator and editor, "Prutky's Travels to Ethiopia and Other Countries" (London: Hakluyt Society, 1991), p. 112 and note.]

His reign was dominated by the struggle with Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi during the Abyssinian-Adal War, until Ahmad's defeat and death in the Battle of Wayna Daga on February 21, 1543. Gelawdewos devoted time and energy to rallying his people against Ahmad, a determination his chronicler credits prevented Ahmad's forcible conversions from being permanent. With Ahmad's death, Gelawdewos was not only able to eject the leaderless Muslim forces from the Ethiopian highlands, but also from the lowlands to the east which included Dawaro and Bale. [Richard Pankhurst, "The Ethiopian Borderlands" (Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1997), pp. 241f.]

However, while campaigning against the Agaw in Gojjam (1548), Nur ibn Mujahid once again invaded Ethiopia. Gelawedewos's vassal Fanu'el succeeded in repulsing them, but the Emperor followed up with a further attack into Muslim territory, plundering the countryside for six months. At one point he captured Harar, where Sultan Barakat ibn Umar Din of Adal was killed, the last member of the Walasma dynasty. [Pankhurst, "Ethiopian Borderlands", p. 244.]

Jesuit missionaries arrived in his realm, attempting to convert Ethiopia to Catholicism. In response to their arguments, he wrote his "Confession", which defended the Miaphysite doctrine of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. According to Richard Pankhurst, Gelawdewos' "Confession" helped his fellow Ethiopian Christians to remain "steadfast in their adherence to Sabbath observance, circumcision, and the prohibition against pork and other 'unclean' foods." [Richard Pankhurst, "The Ethiopians: A History" (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), p. 95]

Ethiopia's access to the outside world was severely crippled during his reign in 1557, when the Ottoman Empire conquered Massawa. From that point forward, dignitaries and missionaries to Ethiopia had to travel in disguise to avoid Muslim authorities. This also allowed the Ottomans to block the Ethiopians from importing firearms.

According to a Harari chronicle, Gelawdewos was killed in battle. "Early in the engagement Galawdéwos was hit by a bullet, but continued to fight until surrounded by a score of Harari cavalry, who struck him fatally to the ground with their spears," according to Pankhurst. Emir Nur had the Emperor's head sent to the country of Sa'ad ad-Din, then rode off to plunder Ethiopian territory before returning home. [Pankhurst, "Ethiopian Borderlands", p. 246.]

Notes

Further reading

* Richard K. P. Pankhurst. "The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles". Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967.