Sahle Selassie
| Sahle Selassie | |
|---|---|
| Meridazmach | |
 |
|
| Negus of Shewa | |
| Reign | 12 June 1813 - 22 October 1847 |
| Predecessor | Wossen Seged |
| Successor | Haile Melekot |
| Born | 1795 |
| Died | 22 October 1847 (aged 51–52), Debra Berhan |
| Issue |
Haile Melekot Seyfe Sahle Selassie Darge Tenagnework Ayahilush Wossenyelesh Birkinesh Tinfelesh. |
| Father | Wossen Seged |
| Mother | Zenebework |
| Religion | Ethiopian Orthodox |
Sahle Selassie (c. 1795 – 22 October 1847) was a Meridazmach (and later Negus) of Shewa (1813–1847), an important noble of Ethiopia. He was a younger son of Wossen Seged. Sahle Selassie was the father of numerous sons, among them Haile Melekot, Haile Mikael, Seyfe Sahle Selassie, and Darge Sahle Selassie; his daughters included Tenagnework, Ayahilush, Wossenyelesh, Birkinesh, and Tinfelesh.
When their father had been murdered, Oromo rebels in Marra Biete kept Sahle Selassie's older brother Bakure from promptly marching to their father's capital at Qundi to claim the succession. Although still a teenager, Sahle Selassie seized this chance at rule by rushing from the monastery at Sela Dingay where he was a student "and probably with the support of his mother Zenebework's Menzian kinsmen was proclaimed the Ras and Meridazmach of Shewa." Bakure belatedly arrived at Qundi only to be imprisoned in the state prison at Gonchu with his other brothers and some of his supporters.
Once securely in control, Sahle Selassie turned his attention to the rebels, both Amhara and Oromo. He used diplomacy to win over the Abichu Oromo, who badly needed his help against their neighbors the Tulama Oromo, whom he defeated in the early 1820s. He followed this victory by rebuilding Debre Berhan, which had been burned in an Oromo raid, as well as a number of other towns and consolidated his hold by founding a number of fortified villages, like Angolalla, in the Abichu territory. He extended the frontier of Shewa into Bulga and Karayu, to the southeast into Arsi, and as far south as the territories of the Gurage.
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