Amda Seyon I

Lore & Background

Most of his wars were against the Muslim sultanates to the southeast, which he was able to fight and generally defeat, and substantially enlarge his kingdom by gradually incorporating a number of smaller states. His conquests of Muslim borderlands greatly expanded Christian territory and power in the region, which were maintained for centuries after his death. Amda Seyon asserted the strength of the new Solomonic dynasty and therefore legitimized it. These expansions further provided for the spread of Christianity to frontier areas, sparking a long era of proselytization, Christianization, and integration of previously peripheral areas. It is not known how Amda Seyon became Emperor. However, a few pieces of information indicate that he may have been involved in the succession struggle against Wedem Arad. It is argued that sufficient evidence shows that Amda Seyon was the son of Wedem Arad. However, when a deputation of monks led by Basalota Mika’el accused him of incest for marrying Emperor Wedem Arad's concubine Jan Mogassa and threatened to excommunicate him, he claimed to be the biological son of the Emperor's brother Qedma Asgad; this explanation may have had its origins in court gossip. The real cause of the conflict, which continued into the reign of his son Newaya Krestos, remains disputed. On the surface it was provoked by the attempt of ecclesiastics to force the Emperor to abandon old marital customs and follow Christian norms. However, the growing administrative and economic independence of the church and monastic institutions, backed by resistance from local nobility against the emperor's centralising authority, appears to have been the deeper source of tension. His early military campaigns included a successful campaign in 1309 AM (1316/7 AD) against the pagan Damot as well as the Muslim Hadiya Kingdom. The note describes his conquest of Damot, many of whose people he exiled to another area, and then the conquest of Hadiya, to whose people he did likewise. In the same year he also campaigned against the more northerly province of Gojjam. Later, in 1329, the Emperor campaigned in the northern provinces of Semien, Wegera, Tselemt, and Tsegede, in which many had been converting to Judaism and where the Beta Israel had been gaining prominence. He also campaigned along the Red Sea coast in modern Eritrea, stating: "I, King Amdä-ṣiyon, went to the sea of Eritrea [i.e. 'Red Sea']. When I reached there, I mounted on an elephant and entered the sea. I took up my arrow and spears, killed my enemies, and saved my people."

Reader's Guide

Amda Seyon I is significant for his extensive military campaigns that expanded Christian territory and power in the Horn of Africa, which were maintained for centuries after his death. His conquests of Muslim borderlands and incorporation of smaller states substantially enlarged his kingdom. He asserted the strength of the new Solomonic dynasty, thereby legitimizing it, and his expansions provided for the spread of Christianity to frontier areas. The most important source for his military actions is G.W.B. Huntingford's translation of his Ge'ez chronicle, The Glorious Victories, which has come to be the name for his conquests in modern times. However, the chronicle's reliability is disputed: Chekroun notes it was likely composed in the 15th century, after the events it describes, and Hirsch argues it actually describes 15th-century conflicts between kings Dawit I and Yeshaq I against the Sultanate of Awfat, rather than the 14th-century wars of Amda Seyon's own reign. Edward Ullendorff argued the work was clearly written by an eyewitness, citing its vivid depiction of the king's campaigns and its engagingly personal anecdotes about his life. Richard Pankhurst praised the chronicle as a "masterpiece" of historiography. According to Ullendorff, "Amda Seyon was one of the most outstanding Ethiopian kings of any age and a singular figure dominating the Horn of Africa in the fourteenth century."

Around 1320, Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad of the Mamluk Sultanate began persecuting Copts and destroying their churches. Amda Seyon sent a mission to Cairo in 1321-2 threatening to retaliate against the Muslims in his kingdom, and threatened to send a legion in conquest of Egypt after diverting the course of the Nile if the sultan did not end his persecution. Though Al-Nasir Muhammad ignored the envoys, fear of the diversion of the Nile in Egypt would continue for centuries. As a result, Haqq ad-Din I, sultan of Ifat, seized and imprisoned a member of the deputation named Ti'yintay on his way back from Cairo. Haqq ad-Din tried to convert Ti'yintay, killing him when this failed. The Emperor responded by invading Ifat accompanied by, according to his royal chronicler, only seven horsemen, and killed many of the sultan's soldiers. Part of the army then followed him and destroyed the province's capital, Ifat, and Amda Seyon took much of its wealth in the form of gold, silver, bronze, lead, and clothing. He continued his reprisals throughout all of the provinces of Ifat as well as Harla Kingdom, pillaging Kwelgora, Biqulzar, Gidaya, Hubat, Fedis, Qedsé, Hargaya, and Shewa, taking livestock, killing many inhabitants, destroying towns and mosques, as well as taking prisoners.

Did You Know?

• Amda Seyon's throne name Gebre Mesqel means 'Servant of the Cross' in Ge'ez.
• The most important source for his military actions is G.W.B. Huntingford's translation of his Ge'ez chronicle, The Glorious Victories.
• In 1321-2, Amda Seyon threatened to divert the course of the Nile to conquer Egypt if the Mamluk sultan did not stop persecuting Copts.
• He invaded Ifat accompanied by, according to his chronicler, only seven horsemen.
• During a campaign along the Red Sea, Amda Seyon stated he 'mounted on an elephant and entered the sea' to kill his enemies.