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46-422: Debre Birhan was founded by Emperor Zara Yaqob , in response to a miraculous light that was seen in the sky at the time. Believing this was a sign from God showing his approval for the death by stoning of a group of heretics 38 days before, the emperor ordered a church built on the site, and later constructed an extensive palace nearby, and a second church, dedicated to Saint Cyriacus . Zara Yaqob spent 12 of

92-548: A hunting lodge for its surrounding plains, and used it as a riding place. His son Sahle Selassie rebuilt Debre Birhan after it had been ravaged by Abichu Oromo at the beginning of his reign, and built a church dedicated to the Selassie (" Trinity ") in this capital. When then Negus Menelik submitted to Emperor Yohannes IV in the treaty of Wadara of 1878, it was also stipulated that the capital of Shewa would be moved from Liche to Debre Birhan. The Debre Birhan market in

138-463: A word for "king." The consort of the emperor was referred to as the ətege . Empress Zewditu used the feminized form nəgəstä nägäst ("Queen of Kings") to show that she reigned in her own right, and did not use the title of ətege . On the death of a monarch any male or female descendant of the various dynastic lines could claim succession to the throne. Though in many cases the practice favoured primogeniture for at least one subsequent succession to

184-582: Is Mount Megezez . Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 120,283, of whom 60,288 are men and 59,995 are women; 7,308 or 6.08% of its population are urban dwellers, which is less than the Zone average of 11.8%. With an estimated area of 992.35 square kilometers, Angolalla Terana Asagirt has an estimated population density of 121.2 people per square kilometer, which

230-516: Is conquered. Only Tigray , Begemder and Gojjam are left... Shall we march against them, or shall we stay on in this region for a year until we have settled it down?" then led them into the Ethiopian highlands . The village regained importance in the reign of Asfaw Wossen (1775–1808), Meridazmach of Shewa , who built a palace there, and divided his time amongst this town, Ankober and Angolalla. The succeeding Meridazmaches prized Debre Birhan as

276-587: Is less than the Zone average of 134.37. The 1994 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 88,117 in 17,091 households, of whom 44,375 were men and 43,744 were women; 4,220 or 4.79% of its population were urban dwellers. The two largest ethnic groups reported in Angolalla Terana Asagirt were the Amhara (80.61%), and the Oromo (18.33%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.06% of

322-482: Is no historical evidence supporting the legends or Yekuno Amlak's ancestry. There is no credible basis to the claims that the Aksumite royal house was descended from Solomon (or that any Aksumite king even claimed such an ancestry) or that Yekuno Amlak was descended from the Aksumite royal house. Solomon is dated to the 10th century BCE, hundreds of years before the founding of Aksum. Historian Harold G. Marcus describes

368-553: The 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia confirmed the abolition of the monarchy. Angolalla Terana Asagirt Angolalla Terana Asagirt was one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia . It is named in part after one of the capitals of the former principality of Shewa , Angolalla . Located at the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands in the Semien Shewa Zone , Angolalla Terana Asagirt

414-483: The All-Amhara People's Organization was one of the "bandits" killed in the fire exchange. Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this town has a total population of 65,231, of whom 31,668 are men and 33,563 women. The majority of the inhabitants practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity , with 94.12% reporting that as their religion, while 3.32% of

460-551: The Atse ( Amharic : ዐፄ , "emperor"), was the hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire , from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor was the head of state and head of government , with ultimate executive , judicial and legislative power in that country. A National Geographic article from 1965 called Imperial Ethiopia "nominally a constitutional monarchy ; in fact it

506-599: The League of Nations , but aid from the League was not forthcoming. Italy added Ethiopia to its already existing colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somalia, creating the new dependent state of Italian East Africa and was the first to associate Ethiopia as part of the Horn of Africa . On 9 May 1936, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy proclaimed himself emperor of Ethiopia, replacing Haile Selassie. Victor Emmanuel's claim to emperorship

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552-489: The 13th century until 1974. The Amhara warrior turned emperor, Kassa of Qwara , Gonder , in 1855 took complete control over Ethiopia and was crowned Emperor Tewodros II . Of the valley nobility, he claimed paternal descent from Emperor Fasilides, by way of one of the aforementioned emperor's daughters. After Emperor Tewodros' reign, one of the many rebels leaders that helped the British in their expedition into Abyssinia

598-515: The 16th century, the first time as a mustering center by Emperor Lebna Dengel against the invading armies of Ahmad Gragn . After he had defeated Lebna Dengel at the Battle of Amba Sel , Ahmad mustered his troops twice in Debre Birhan before leading them on campaigns deeper into Ethiopian territory. At the second mustering in 1535, he proclaimed before his followers, "Thanks be to God, Abyssinia

644-439: The 1880s was considered important for mules and horses. The Selassie church was rebuilt by Emperor Menilek in 1906 and contains many mural paintings. David Buxton believes that it was inevitable that Debre Berhan would regain importance, "Although a somewhat cold and inhospitable place," he writes about the town, "it has an obvious advantage as commanding what must always have been an important focus of routes. Even in modern times it

690-629: The Debre Birhan Wool Factory was among 14 textile enterprises to be fully nationalised. Debre Birhan is also a famed center of rug making . Debre Berhan University is located in Debre Berhan city. Amhara Region, Ethiopia. It is one of thirteen new universities which were established in 2007 by the Ethiopian government. Despite its historical importance, none of the buildings Emperor Zara Yaqob built exist today due to

736-635: The Derg – refused to return to Ethiopia to rule. The Derg abolished the monarchy on 21 March 1975. In April 1989, Amha Selassie was proclaimed emperor in exile at London, with his succession backdated to the date of Haile Selassie's death in August 1975 rather than his deposition in September 1974. In 1993 a group called the " Crown Council of Ethiopia ", which included several descendants of Haile Selassie, affirmed Amha as emperor and legal head of Ethiopia. However,

782-466: The Ethiopian sense of nationhood. This and the dynasty's continued propagation of the myth was reflected in the 1955 Ethiopian constitution , which declared that the emperor "descends without interruption from the dynasty of Menelik I, son of Queen of Ethiopia, the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Jerusalem". The Solomonic dynasty , which claimed descent from the old Aksumite rulers, ruled Ethiopia from

828-478: The Zagwe dynasty (which ruled from c.  900 AD ), and was first practiced on Debre Damo , which was captured by the 10th-century queen Yodit or " Gudit ", who then isolated 200 princes there to death; however, Pakenham also notes that when questioned, the abbot of the monastery on Debre Damo knew of no such tale. Taddesse Tamrat argues that this practice began in the reign of Wedem Arad (1299–1314), following

874-460: The constitutions adopted during the reign of Selassie: the one adopted on July 16, 1931 ; and the revised one of November 1955 . Haile Selassie was the last Solomonic monarch to rule Ethiopia. He was deposed by the Derg , the committee of lower-ranking military and police officials on September 12, 1974. The Derg offered the throne to Selassie's son Amha Selassie , who – understandably mistrustful of

920-459: The coolest cities found in the subtropical zone of Ethiopia. The city has a typical subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb). The average annual temperature of the city during day and night hour is 20.7 °C and 8.2 °C respectively with precipitation 964mm. Debre Birhan is located along Ethiopian Highway 2 , which connects Addis Abeba with the north of the country. The gravel road between Debre Birhan and Ankober, 42 kilometers in length,

966-507: The country who supported their claim to the Imperial throne; the combined military and religious strength would use their influence to contain and put down any competing claims. The second involved interning all of the emperor's possible rivals in a secure location, which drastically limited their ability to disrupt the empire with revolts or to dispute the succession of an heir apparent . Ethiopian traditions do not all agree as to exactly when

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1012-589: The custom started of imprisoning rivals to the throne on a "Mountain of the Princes". One tradition credits this practice to the Zagwe king Yemrehana Krestos (fl. 11th century), who allegedly received the idea in a dream; Taddesse Tamrat discredits this tradition, arguing that the records of the Zagwe dynasty betray too many disputed successions for this to have been the case. Another tradition, recorded by historian Thomas Pakenham , states that this practice predates

1058-514: The emperor of Ethiopia had theoretically unlimited power over his subjects, his councillors came to play an increasing role in governing Ethiopia, because many emperors were succeeded either by a child, or one of the incarcerated princes, who could only successfully leave their prisons with help from the outside. As a result, by the mid-18th century the power of the emperor had been largely transferred to his deputies, like Ras Mikael Sehul of Tigray ( c.  1691 – 1779), who held actual power in

1104-510: The empire and elevated or deposed emperors at will. The emperors of Ethiopia derived their right to rule based on two dynastic claims: their descent from the kings of Axum , and their descent from Menelik I , the legendary son of Solomon and Makeda, Queen of Sheba . The claim to their relationship to the Kings of Axum derives from Yakuno Amlak's claim that he was the descendant of Dil Na'od , through his father, although he defeated and killed

1150-492: The fact that the sixteenth century Adal leader Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi ordered their destruction, and no obvious 19th century construction is visible. The present church, although located on the site of the 15th century church, was built in 1906 at the orders of Emperor Menelik II . Debre Birhan is twinned with (sister city of) Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia ( Ge'ez : ንጉሠ ነገሥት , romanized:  nəgusä nägäst , " King of Kings "), also known as

1196-408: The imperial court and army—who numbered in the thousands—for firewood and food was so burdensome that, "it could not remain in any one locality for more than four months, nor return to the same place in less than 10 years due to the resultant shortage of food", which prevented the growth of any capital city in this period. While little more than a large village, Debre Birhan is mentioned a few times in

1242-431: The imperial throne, it often, as in the case of Emperor Yohannes IV of Tigray's claim to the throne after the death of Emperor Tewodros II from Gondar , would leave the direct lineage of one royal family in favor of another. The system developed two approaches to controlling the succession: the first involved the selection of emperors by a council of vassal regional royals and powerful clergy members from throughout

1288-504: The lands of the monarchy – which however is contrary to keeping the country undivided. The potential royal rivals were incarcerated at Amba Geshen until the site was destroyed in 1540 during the Ethiopian-Adal war ; then, from the reign of Fasilides (1632–1667) until the mid-18th century, at Wehni . Rumors of these royal mountain residences were part of the inspiration for Samuel Johnson 's short story, Rasselas . Although

1334-456: The last 14 years of his life in Debre Birhan. Historian Richard Pankhurst offers the date of 1456 for the date of the founding of this church, providing a plausible argument that the light in the sky was Halley's Comet , which could have been seen in Shewa that year, although the traditional dates (10th day of the month of Maggabit, i.e. 6 or 7 March) do not coincide with the days that the comet

1380-474: The last Zagwe king in battle. His claim to the throne was also helped by his marriage to that king's daughter, even though Ethiopians commonly do not acknowledge claims from the distaff side. The claim of descent from Menelik I is based on the assertion that the kings of Axum were also the descendants of Menelik I; its definitive and best-known formulation is set forth in the Kebra Nagast . However, there

1426-524: The male-line Solomonic tradition, for which he adopted the throne name of Menelik II. The Emperor Tewodros spent his youth fighting with invading Ottoman Egyptians (termed 'Turks' by the Ethiopians), then unifying the empire after the dark age of the ' Zemene Mesafint ' (Era of the Princes). Emperor Yohannes IV defeated an invading Egyptian army in modern day Eritrea and died while working to address

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1472-594: The population said they were Muslim and 2.15% were Protestants . The 1994 national census reported a total population for Debre Birhan of 38,717 in 8,906 households, of whom 17,918 were men and 20,799 were women. The five largest ethnic groups reported in the town were the Amhara (90.12%), the Oromo (3.94%), the Tigrayan (1.81%), the Gurage (1.60%), and the Argobba (1.20%); all other ethnic groups made up 1.33% of

1518-402: The population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 93.81%, Oromiffa was spoken by 3.04%, and 1.50% spoke Tigrinya ; the remaining 1.65% spoke all other primary languages reported. The majority of the inhabitants practised Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity , with 94.59% reporting that as their religion, while 4.05% were Muslim , and 1.02% reported as Protestant . Debre Birhan is one of

1564-723: The situation regarding the Mahdist presence in Ethiopia. Emperor Menelik II achieved a major military victory against Italian invaders in March 1896 at the Battle of Adwa and conquered the modern borders of Ethiopia. Italy under Benito Mussolini attacked Ethiopia in 1935, starting the Second Italo-Ethiopian War . Italian successes in the war caused the emperor Haile Selassie to be voted into exile by his nobles in 1936; he pled Ethiopia's case against Italy before

1610-518: The stories of the Kebra Nagast as a "pastiche of legends" created to legitimize Yekuno Amlak's seizure of power. David Northrup notes that the Kebra Nagast's imaginative and emotive account of a line of descent from Solomon and Sheba to the kings of Aksum and the new Solomonic dynasty is highly improbable and unsupported by evidence. It is a myth. Although the story originated as a medieval political myth, it nevertheless became embedded in

1656-444: The struggle for succession that he believes lies behind the series of brief reigns of the sons of Yagbe'u Seyon (reigned 1285–1294). A constructivist approach states that the tradition was used on occasion, weakened or lapsed sometimes, and was sometimes revived to full effect after some unfortunate disputes – and that the custom started in time immemorial as Ethiopian common inheritance patterns allowed all agnates to also succeed to

1702-530: The throne, with most combat in Ethiopia ending in 1941. The Armistice of Cassibile was signed in September 1943 with the Kingdom of Italy's surrender, and Victor Emmanuel III officially renounced his title as emperor of Ethiopia in November 1943. In January 1942, Haile Selassie was officially reinstated to power in Ethiopia. The position of the emperor and the line of succession were strictly defined in both of

1748-480: The town. By 1958 it was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as First Class Township. On 2 July 1994 it was broadcast that nine people were killed and eleven captured in an exchange of fire with security forces in Asagirt woreda. The people were alleged to have broken into the Debre Berhan prison before that, setting a number of prisoners free. According to the police, Andale Melaklu, the Debre Berhan representative of

1794-573: Was Dejazmatch Kassa, he was rewarded with articles of war for his services and went on to assume power through his claim of Solomonic descent from his mothers Gondarian ancestry and was crowned Emperor Yohannes IV . Sahle Maryam of Shewa, who descended from Solomonic emperors directly paternally through the Shewan Branch (junior only to the Gondar line), ascended the imperial throne following Emperor Yohannes IV's death and thus, purporting to restore

1840-625: Was a benevolent autocracy ". The title " King of Kings ", often rendered imprecisely in English as " emperor ", dates back to ancient Mesopotamia , but was used in Axum by King Sembrouthes ( c.  250 AD ). However, Yuri Kobishchanov dates this usage to the period following the Persian victory over the Romans in 296–297. The most notable pre-Solomonic usage of the title "Negusa Nagast"

1886-586: Was bordered on the southwest by Hagere Mariamna Kesem , on the west by the Oromia Region , on the north by Basona Werana , on the northeast by Ankober , and on the southeast by Berehet . Angolalla Terana Asagirt was divided for Angolalla Tera and Asagirt woredas. The administrative center of this woreda was Chacha ; other towns in Angolalla Terana Asagirt included Choki and Gina Ager . Elevations in this woreda range from 1000 to 2100 meters above sea level. The highest point in Angolalla Terana Asagirt

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1932-483: Was by Ezana of Axum; despite this, prior to the beginning of the Solomonic Dynasty , most Axumite and Zagwe rulers went by negus . Its use meant that both subordinate officials and tributary rulers, notably the gubernatorial vassals of Gojjam (who ranked 12th in the states non-dynastic protocol as per 1690), Welega , the seaward provinces and later Shewa , received the honorific title of nəgus ,

1978-574: Was inevitable that the Asmara road should be brought through this easy passage, avoiding the impassable gorges on the other." Debre Berhan received electricity in 1955 when a 90 kW hydro-electric power station was put into service; by 1965, the installed electrical capacity in the town was 125 kVA and annual production 103,000 kWh. On 26 April 1957, Emperor Haile Selassie opened the Community Teacher Training School in

2024-410: Was most visible (13 through 17 June). While his son Baeda Maryam did spend the first part of his reign in Debre Birhan, eventually Baeda Maryam returned to the established itinerant practice of living in a permanent encampment that was constantly on the move through the realm. The departure of the court led to a decline in the population and importance of this town. Pankhurst explains that the needs of

2070-909: Was not entirely accepted, with the Soviet Union never considering the Italian conquest legitimate, and Haile Selassie continuing to contest the occupation from exile in the United Kingdom. With Italy's entry on the side of the Axis Powers in World War II , the African part of the British Empire aided Haile Selassie and anti-Italian Ethiopian forces in the East African campaign . Italy was defeated and Selassie restored to

2116-474: Was overhauled in May 2009. The Debre Birhan Wool Factory, the first wool factory in Ethiopia, started production was 1 January 1965 with 120 spindles and 6 looms, having the capacity to process one metric ton of wool daily. In its first six months, the factory produced 7,065 blankets in a single-shift operation with a labor force of about 200, of whom 45% were women. The Derg government announced 3 February 1975 that

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