Haile Melekot - Rise To Power

Rise To Power

His first wife was Woizero Ejigayehu (whom he married in 1844 and divorced in 1845); their one child, baptised Sahle Mariam, was renamed Menelik by Negus Sahle Selassie. Her background is disputed; some believe she was of Oromo origin, others insist that she was among the ladies who were brought from the Imperial court at Gondar to Ankober to instruct the royal women of Shewa on court etiquette so that the Shewan branch of the dynasty could adopt the same court practices as the elder Gondar branch. In May 1845 he married his second wife, Woizero Tideneqialesh, who was a former wife of a court official.

Haile Melekot was known as Lij Besha Warad before he became king. It was well known that Sahle Selassie favored his younger son, Seyfe Sahle Selassie, and it was widely rumored that he would make his younger son his heir. However, he publicly announced that Haile Melekot would inherit the kingdom, had Seyfe swear to abide by this decision, and although mortally ill shortly before his death travelled to Debre Berhan where he asked his vassal Oromo lords to remain loyal to Haile Melekot.

Nonetheless, in Mordechai Abir's words, Sahle Selassie's death "was a signal for a blood bath which surpassed anything that ever occurred in the annals of Showa." The Abichu Oromo rose in open revolt, attempting to recover control of the district of Tegulet and came close to capturing the capital of Ankober. Only the loyalty of some of the other Oromo chiefs and the Shewan supply of firearms saved the capital. Haile Melekot afterwards managed to persuade the meet with him at Angolalla, where he persuaded them to end their revolt. By the beginning of 1848, he was firmly in control of his kingdom, and even organized a campaign against the Arsi Oromo, who had been raiding the south-western parts of Shewa for years.