Hailu Tekle Haymanot - Biography - Shum of Gojjam

Shum of Gojjam

On 10 January 1901, at the death of Negus Tekle Haymanot Tessemma, three of his sons fought over who would succeed him as ruler of his province. However, instead of any of them succeeding him, Nəgusä Nägäst Menelik II partitioned the province into three parts and appointed his own governors over each part. Menelik thus effectively removed the sons of Tekle Haymanot Tessemma from power in Gojjam.

Around 1906, Menelik became incapacitated and Itege Taytu Betul became the de facto power behind the throne. In 1907, Tekle Haymanot Tessemma successfully used the influence of the Taytu Betul to be appointed Shum of Gojjam. In 1908, Menelik's grandson and heir, Lij Iyasu married Sabla Wangel Hailu, the daughter of Hailu Tekle Haymanot. In this way, Iyasu became Hailu's son-in-law. In 1913, Nəgusä Nägäst Menelik died and Iyasu should have succeeded him. However, the leading nobles of Ethiopia did not feel Iyasu was ready and his coronation was delayed. While sometimes referred to as "Emperor Iyasu V," Iyasu was never formally crowned Nəgusä Nägäst.

In 1916, Iyasu was deposed after forces loyal to him were defeated in the Battle of Segale. Iyasu was replaced by Menelik's daughter, Leult Zewditu. Zewditu was proclaimed Nigiste Negest and her cousin Ras Tafari Makonnen was named Crown Prince and Enderase. After his being deposed, Iyasu and a small band of followers roamed the Afar Depression for five years. On 11 January 1921, he was captured and taken into custody by Ras Gugsa Araya Selassie of eastern Tigray Province. Gugsa Araya Selassie then handed Iyasu over to Ras Kassa Haile Darge of Shewa Province.

In his book Ethiopia, Power and Protest: Peasant Revolts in the Twentieth Century, Gebru Tareke described Shum Hailu Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam as " an avaricious taste for power and wealth." Tareke goes on to describe how Ras Hailu "introduced new forms of taxation, auctioned political and church offices, nearly monopolized provincial trade by controlling the export side of it, transacted obligatory labor into monetary rents, and, though little is known about them, enlarged his estates with a manifest arrogant disregard for the customary judicial process of land allocation." These actions earned him the nickname birru (or "dollars") Hailu.