Iyasu I

Iyasu I
Emperor of Ethiopia
Reign	1682–1706
Predecessor	Yohannes I
Successor	Tekle Haymanot I
Born	1654
Died	13 October 1706
House	House of Solomon
Religion	Ethiopian Orthodox

Iyasu I (or Joshua I, Ge'ez ኢያሱ ), also known as Iyasu the Great, was nəgusä nägäst (throne name Adyam Sagad, Ge'ez አድያም ሰገድ, "to whom the confines of the earth bow"), (1654 – 13 October 1706) r. 19 July 1682 – 13 October 1706 of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Yohannes I and Empress Sabla Wangel.

According to G.W.B Huntingford, Iyasu "owed his reputation partly to the mildness of his character, exemplified in his treatment of the princes on Wehni in his first year, and his attention to religious matters, and partly to his abdication, retirement, and murder."

He was serving as governor of Gojjam when his father Yohannes summoned him and made him heir at the age of 20. (However, he did not have himself crowned until 1693.) During the first year of his reign he attended to his brothers and other relatives imprisoned on Wehni, a moment recorded by James Bruce who describes how the Emperor replaced their rags with proper clothing and furnished the starving royals with a banquet.

His reign is noteworthy for the attention he devoted to administration, holding a large number of councils to settle theological and ecclesiastical matters (the first in 1684, in the public square of Gondar), matters of state, and to proclaim laws. In 1698, Iyasu undertook a number of reforms, affecting customs and taxation, which encouraged trade.

In the second year of his reign, he confronted an invasion of the Yejju and Wollo Oromo into Amhara, defeating them at Melka Shimfa. After Qegnazmach Wale of Damot and Tabdan the Hermit proclaimed Yeshaq emperor in his fourth year (1685), Iyasu quickly suppressed this revolt, and captured Yeshaq, then waited a year before marching beyond southern Gojjam in a punitive expedition against the Agaws who had supported the rebels.

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