| Fasilides ዓፄ ፋሲለደስ | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Negusa Nagast | |||||||||
 Mural depicting Emperor Fasilides atUra Kidane Mehret Church, Ethiopia | |||||||||
| Emperor of Ethiopia | |||||||||
| Reign | 1632 – 18 October 1667 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Susenyos I | ||||||||
| Successor | Yohannes I | ||||||||
| Born | (1603-11-20)20 November 1603 Bulga,Shewa,Ethiopian Empire | ||||||||
| Died | 18 October 1667(1667-10-18) (aged 63) Azezo, Ethiopian Empire | ||||||||
| Burial | |||||||||
| Issue | Four sons and one daughter, includingYohannes I and David[1] | ||||||||
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| Dynasty | House of Solomon | ||||||||
| Father | Susenyos I | ||||||||
| Mother | Sahle Work | ||||||||
| Religion | Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo | ||||||||
Fasilides (Ge'ez: ፋሲለደስ;Fāsīladas; 20 November 1603 – 18 October 1667), also known asFasil,[2]Basilide,[3] or Basilides (as in the works ofEdward Gibbon), wasEmperor of Ethiopia from 1632 to his death on 18 October 1667, and a member of theSolomonic dynasty. His throne name wasAlam Sagad (Ge'ez: ዓለም ሰገድ).
Renowned as the founder ofGondar, the capital of theEthiopian Empire, Fasilides ushered in theGondarine period. Notably, he confiscated and exiled theJesuits, while also establishing security alliances with neighboring Islamic sultanates. Additionally, he played a crucial role in leading the campaign against theAgaw rebels. In 1666, following his son Dawit's rebellion, Fasilides had him imprisoned inWehni. The emperor himself died a year later and was buried in a monastery onDaga Island inLake Tana.
Being ofAmhara descent,[4] he was the son of EmperorSusenyos I and Empress Sahle Work (Ge'ez: ሣህለወርቅ) (throne name) ለ (name) of Wagda Katata andMerhabete. His mother Sahle Work's family were ofMuslim origin.[5] Emperor Fasilides was born at Magezez, Bulga in theShewa region. His paternal grandfather's name was also Fasilides. He was builder of the Fasil palace.
Fasilides was proclaimed emperor in 1630 during a revolt led bySarsa Krestos, but did not reach the throne until his father abdicated in 1632. Once he became emperor, Fasilides immediately restored the official status of the traditionalEthiopian Orthodox Church. He sent for a newabuna from thepatriarch of Alexandria, restoring the ancient relationship that had been allowed to lapse. He confiscated the lands of theJesuits at Dankaz and elsewhere in the empire and exiled them toFremona. When he heard that the Portuguese bombardedMombasa, Fasilides assumed thatAfonso Mendes, theRoman Catholicprelate, was behind the act, and banished the remaining Jesuits from his lands. Mendes and most of his followers made their way back toGoa, being robbed or imprisoned several times on the way. In 1665, he ordered the "Books of the Franks"—the remaining religious writings of the Catholics—burnt.
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Fasilides is commonly credited with founding the city ofGondar in 1636, establishing it as Ethiopia's capital.[6] Whether or not a community existed here before he made it his capital is unknown. Amongst the buildings he had constructed there are the beginnings of the complex later known asFasil Ghebbi, as well as some of the earliest of Gondar's fabled 44 churches: Adababay Iyasus, Adababay Tekle Haymanot, Atatami Mikael, Gemjabet Mariyam, Fit Mikael, and Qeddus Abbo.[7] He is also credited with building seven stone bridges in Ethiopia, notably theSebara Dildiy bridge (11°13′3.64″N37°52′36.41″E / 11.2176778°N 37.8767806°E /11.2176778; 37.8767806); as a result all old bridges in Ethiopia are often commonly believed to be his work.[8]
Emperor Fasilides also built the Cathedral Church ofSt Mary of Zion atAxum. Fasilides' church is known today as the "Old Cathedral" and stands next to a newer cathedral built by EmperorHaile Selassie.
The rebellion of theAgaw inLasta, which had begun under his father, continued into his reign and for the rest of his reign he made regular punitive expeditions into Lasta. The first, in 1637, went badly, for at theBattle of Libo his men panicked before the Agaw assault and their leader, Melka Kristos, entered Fasilides' palace and took the throne for himself. Fasilides quickly recovered and sent for help toQegnazmach Dimmo, governor ofSemien, and his brother Gelawdewos, governor ofBegemder. These marched on Melka Kristos, who was still at Libo, where he was killed and his men defeated. The next year Fasilides marched into Lasta; according toJames Bruce, the Agaw retreated to their mountain strongholds, and "almost the whole army perished amidst the mountains; great part from famine, but a greater still from cold, a very remarkable circumstance in these latitudes."[9]
Soon after he took the throne from his father, Fasilides ended all forms of contact between Ethiopia and Europe, expelling all European Jesuits and their missionaries while forming security pacts with the surrounding Islamic sultanates and initiating diplomatic relations with Islamic kingdoms such as theSafavids,Ottomans,Mughals and the Imams of Yemen. This isolation of the Ethiopian empire from Europe lasted more than two centuries.[10]
Fasilides tried in 1642–7 to establish diplomatic relations withAl-Mutawakkil Isma'il, the Zaydi Imam of Yemen. WhenMassawa was occupied by theOttoman Empire, the Ethiopian Emperor Fasilides attempted to develop a new trade route viaBeylul. His choice fell on Beylul, because this port was beyond the Ottoman sphere of control and directly opposite the harbor of Mocha in Yemen. In 1642 he sent a message to the Imam of Yemen al-Mu'ayyad Mohammed to gain his support for this project. Since al-Mu'ayyad Mohammed and his sonal-Mutawakkil Isma'il assumed that Fasilides was interested in a conversion to Islam, a Yemeni embassy was sent toGondar in 1646. However, when the Yemenis understood Fasilides' actual motives, their enthusiasm sank and the project was abandoned.[11]
He also dispatched an envoy toIndia in 1664–5, extending congratulations toAurangzeb for his ascension to theMughal Empire throne. The delegation reportedly presented several valuable offerings to the Mughal Emperor, such as slaves, ivory, horses, zebras, a set of intricately adorned silver pocket pistols, and various other exotic gifts.[12]
In 1666, after his son Dawit rebelled, Fasilides had him incarcerated atWehni, reviving the ancient practice of confining troublesome members of the Imperial family to a mountaintop, as they had once been confined atAmba Geshen.
Fasilides died atAzezo in 1667, 8 kilometres (5 miles) south of Gondar, and his body was interred atSt. Stephen's, a monastery onDaga Island inLake Tana. When Nathaniel T. Kenney was shown Fasilides' remains, he saw a smaller mummy also shared the coffin. A monk told Kenney that it was Fasilides' seven-year-old son Isur, who had been smothered in acrush of people, had come to pay homage to the new king.[13]
Fasilides had three sons (of which two died before coming of age) and three daughters.[14]
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| Preceded by | Emperor of Ethiopia 1632–1667 | Succeeded by |
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