Reign
Demetros was elevated as Emperor by Dejazmach Gugsa and his brother Alula, who put his predecessor Emperor Salomon III in chains. Four days later he made Gugsa Dejazmach over Begemder, and five days after that Demetros appointed Alula Kenyazmach. [2] However, in March of the next year, Tekle Giyorgis returned to Gondar, supported by Ras Wolde Selassie, and while Tekle Giyorgis made a point of not entering the palace, Demetros is commonly considered to have been deposed at that point. [3]
The re-establishment of Demetros was not a somber event. According to the Royal Chronicle of Abyssinia, Demetros was taken against his will to the Royal Palace where he was crowned king when Tekle Giyorgis was away from Gondar warring in the provinces. "After that they turned him out and bringing in Takla Giyorgis King of Kings made him King over the other and even yet a third time drove him out of the Royal Palace when he had done nothing." [4]
On this rapid succession of emperors at the will of the powerful warlords, the writer of The Royal Chronicle lamented,
- I indeed am sad and stricken on account of this persecution of those revered kings. Who shall restore the dominion of the kingdom to you as of old he restored the kingdom from the Zagwe to the house of David, through the prayer of Iyasus Mo'a, [5] and the covenant of Abuna Takla Haymanot, may he grant us this day that he restore the Kingdom. Amen. [6]
The Royal Chronicle records his death late in 1802. He was buried at Ba'ata. [7]
Yohannes I, also known as Yohannes the Righteous, throne name A'ilaf Sagad was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1667 to 1682, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the fourth son of Fasilides.
Tekle Giyorgis II was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1868 to 1871. After being crowned, he linked himself to the last independent emperors of the Gondar line through his mother and sought support from the Ethiopian Church to strengthen his right to rule. He was wounded when fighting during the 1871 Battle of Adwa, leading to the demoralization of his troops and capture of his generals which would later lead to the unification policy and effective rule of Yohannes IV.
Tekle Haymanot II, throne name: Admas Sagad III was Emperor of Ethiopia from 18 October 1769 to 13 April 1777, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Yohannes II by Woizero Sancheviyar, at the Imperial prison of Mount Wehni.
Susenyos II was Emperor of Ethiopia from August 1770 to December 1770. His name at birth was Wolde Giyorgis; he was the son of a noble woman who had lost her fortune and made her living by carrying jars of water, while it was rumored that he was the illegitimate son of the deceased ruler Iyasu II. The Scottish traveller James Bruce, who was living in the capital city of Gondar at the time, described him as "a drunkard, a ruffian, and a profligate".
Tekle Giyorgis I, throne name Feqr Sagad, was Emperor of Ethiopia intermittently between 20 July 1779 and June 1800, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the youngest son of Yohannes II and Woizoro Sancheviyer, and the brother of Tekle Haymanot II.
Salomon II was Emperor of Ethiopia from 13 April 1777 to 20 July 1779. He was the son of Abeto Adigo. He may be identical with the Emperor Solomon whom the traveler Henry Salt lists as one of the Emperors still alive at the time of his visit in 1809/1810.
Iyasu III was Emperor of Ethiopia from 16 February 1784 to 24 April 1788, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Abeto Azequ, and the grandson of Iyasu II.
Tekle Haymanot was proclaimed Emperor from February 1788 to 1789 by the Emperor Baede Maryam's courtiers. He established his palace in Gondar, and ruled there for around a year. He may be identical with the Emperor "Haimanot" mentioned by Henry Salt, who ruled for a year between Iyasu III and Hezqeyas and had died before 1810.
Hezqeyas was Emperor of Ethiopia from 26 July 1789 to January 1794, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Iyasu III.
Baeda Maryam II was Emperor of Ethiopia from 15 April to December 1795. He may have been the son of Salomon II. Although E. A. Wallis Budge, in his book A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia, notes some authorities believe Baeda Maryam was the same person as Salomon III, Nathaniel Pearce, who met the former Emperor when he visited Ras Wolde Selassie 20 January 1813, states that he had been Emperor only once, for nine months.
Salomon III was Emperor of Ethiopia intermittently between 1796 and 1797, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Tekle Haymanot II. He may be identical with the Emperor Solomon whom the traveler Henry Salt lists as one of the Emperors still alive at the time of his visit in 1809/1810. E. A. Wallis Budge notes some authorities believe he was the same person as Baeda Maryam II.
Yonas was Emperor of Ethiopia from 18 August 1797 to 4 January 1798, and a member of Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Letezum, and the grandson of the Emperor Fasilides.
Egwale Seyon, throne name Newaya Sagad, was Emperor of Ethiopia from June 1801 to 12 June 1818, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Hezqeyas.
Yimam of Yejju was a Ras of Begemder and Enderase (regent) of the Emperor of Ethiopia. He was the son of Gugsa of Yejju.
Aligaz of Yejju was Ras of Begemder, and Inderase (regent) of the Emperor of Ethiopia. He was the son of Abba Seru Gwangul and brother of Ali I of Yejju; he became both Ras and Inderase following Ali's death. Aligaz had four sons: Dejazmach Birru, Dejazmach Gobeze, Dejazmach Faris, and Dejazmach Gojjee.
Ali I of Yejju was Ras of Begemder, and following the death of Ras Mikael Sehul, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia. He was the son of Abba Seru Gwangul, chieftain of the Yejju, and Woizero Gelebu Faris, daughter of Ras Faris of Lasta.
Wolde Selassie was Ras of the Tigray province between 1788 and 1816, and Regent of the Ethiopian Empire between 1797 and 1800. John J. Halls, in his Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt, preserves a description of this powerful warlord, as "small in stature, and delicately formed, quick in his manner, with a shrewd expression, and considerable dignity in his deportment." Nathaniel Pearce also notes that Ras Wolde was an avid chess player, and "would play at from morning till night".
Semien Province was a historical province of northwest Ethiopia, often called Gondar. It was located south and west of the Tekezé River, and north of Lake Tsana. It was south of Tigray Province, west of Tembien Province, and east of the Sudan. To some extent it covered the northern parts of the former Begemder and Wolkait now known as the Semien Gondar Zone. While its borders varied considerably over time.
Gebre Tasfa better known as Gebre of Semien was the governor of Semien, Tsegede, Welkait and Wogera during the late 18th and early 19th century in Ethiopia. He held the title of Ras, and had an unusually long reign spanning 44 years during the tumultuous Zemene Mesafint when lords of each province and district continuously fought each other for supremacy. Ras Gebre was the primary backer of his son-in-law Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I claims to the throne.
Fesseha Krestos served as the commander of the royal guard regiment under Iyasu I, he was one of the closest confidants of the Emperor.
