1. Lij Iyasu was the designated Emperor of Ethiopia from 1913 to 1916.
41 Facts About Lij Iyasu
1. 2.
Ethiopian emperors traditionally chose their regnal name on the day they were crowned, and since he was never crowned, he is usually referred to as Lij Iyasu, "Lij" meaning child, especially one born of royal blood.
3.
Lij Iyasu was born on 4 February 1895 in the city of Dessie, in the Wollo province of Ethiopia.
4.
Lij Iyasu's father was Ras Mikael, Governor of Wollo and longstanding friend of Menelik.
5.
On 15 May 1909 Menelik informed his ministers that Lij Iyasu would succeed him.
6.
Until Lij Iyasu came of age, the elder statesman Ras Tessema Nadew would be Regent Plenipotentiary.
7.
In May 1909, shortly before the Emperor made this decision, Lij Iyasu was married to Woizero Romanework Mengesha, the daughter of Ras Mengesha Yohannes, granddaughter of Emperor Yohannes IV, and the niece of Empress Taitu.
8.
Subsequently, in April 1910, Lij Iyasu married Seble Wengel Hailu, the daughter of Ras Hailu Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam.
9.
Not long after his decision that Lij Iyasu would succeed him, Emperor Menelik succumbed to further strokes.
10.
On 10 April 1911, Tessema Nadew died and, when the council met to appoint a successor as Enderase, Lij Iyasu demanded a role in the process.
11.
Lij Iyasu was bright, but impulsive, cruel, lascivious, prone to depressions and egocentricities, and politically inept.
12.
At this point, Lij Iyasu decided to leave the capital, ostensibly on a military expedition against the Afar, but he simply traveled through eastern Shewa and into Wollo, meeting with the common people.
13.
Lij Iyasu had promised to return to Addis Ababa in May 1912, but instead visited Debre Libanos, then Addis Alem, before joining Dajazmach Kabbada's expedition into southwest Ethiopia.
14.
The conflict began when Lij Iyasu expressed his wish to the ministers that the incapacitated Emperor be removed from the Imperial Palace so that Lij Iyasu himself could take up residence there.
15.
Taitu had however been informed that Lij Iyasu was intent on moving into the Imperial Palace, and defiantly refused to move either herself or her husband from the Palace.
16.
Angrily, Lij Iyasu ordered the palace complex surrounded by his soldiers and only allowed in enough food for the Emperor himself.
17.
Lij Iyasu angrily declared that neither she nor the Emperor would be going anywhere and returned to her rooms.
18.
Lij Iyasu was thwarted, but demanded vengeance against the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard.
19.
Lij Iyasu indulged in a lavish celebration, which led the European diplomats to conclude "that he was purposely neglecting urgent business and impeding the ministers from carrying out their duties".
20.
Lij Iyasu left the capital after little more than a month, and during this time engaged in a raid upon the Afar, who had reportedly massacred 300 of the Karayu Oromo at the village of Sadimalka on the Awash River.
21.
Lij Iyasu showed a pronounced lack of interest in the day-to-day running of the government, leaving most of the work for the ministers to deal with.
22.
Lij Iyasu lacked the diplomatic skill and the refined sense of discretion that came naturally to Tafari.
23.
In 1914, Lij Iyasu assigned Abdullahi Sadiq with the governorship of Ogaden, a decision that was vehemently opposed by the British.
24.
In February 1915, Lij Iyasu travelled to Harar with Abdullahi Sadiq, who had become his constant companion, and went to the largest mosque of the city, the Jamia Mosque, for a three-hour service.
25.
Rumors circulated that, in return for Lij Iyasu invading the Sudan with 50,000 soldiers, he would be rewarded with the strategic port of Djibouti.
26.
On 27 September 1916, while at the city of Harar, Lij Iyasu was deposed in favor of his aunt, Zewditu.
27.
Lij Iyasu sent an army to attack Addis Ababa, which was met at Mieso and turned back.
28.
On 18 July 1917, Lij Iyasu slipped through the siege lines and rallied the peasantry of Wollo to revolt.
29.
On 11 January 1921, Lij Iyasu was captured and taken into custody by Gugsa Araya Selassie.
30.
Lij Iyasu was handed over to the custody of his cousin Ras Kassa Haile Darge.
31.
Empress Zewditu I, who in spite of having been treated harshly by her nephew seems to have had considerable sympathy for Lij Iyasu's fate, is said to have tried to have him handed over to her personal custody in order that he "be brought back to Christ and salvation" under her guidance.
32.
Ras Kassa adhered to this policy for as long as Lij Iyasu was in his custody, so the terms of Lij Iyasu's imprisonment were not particularly harsh.
33.
Lij Iyasu had an elder half-sister, Woizero Sehin Mikael, married to Jantirar Asfaw, Lord of Ambassel, whose daughter would eventually become Empress Menen Asfaw, wife of Emperor Haile Selassie.
34.
Lij Iyasu's only legitimate child was a daughter born in 1916 to him and Seble Wengel Hailu, Alem Tsahai Iyasu, who was granted the title of Emebet-hoy by Emperor Haile Selassie.
35.
Lij Iyasu made the fuqaha construct a genealogy deriving his ancestry on his father's side from the Prophet.
36.
Lij Iyasu made prolonged stays in Harar where he adopted Muslim dress and customs.
37.
Lij Iyasu put away his Christian wife, Romane-Warq, and started a harim by marrying the daughters of 'Afar and Oromo chiefs, including a daughter and niece of Abba Jifar of Jimma.
38.
Lij Iyasu sent similar flags to his own Muslim chiefs and promised to lead them to the jihad.
39.
Lij Iyasu entered into negotiations with Muhammed ibn 'Abd Allah, the Mahdi of the Ogaden, and sent him rifles and ammunition.
40.
Lij Iyasu then issued a summons to all Somalis, some of whom regarded him as true Mahdi, to follow him in a jihad against the Christians, and went to Jigjiga to collect an army.
41.
Tekle Hawariat concludes that Lij Iyasu was completely unsuited for the throne, and that his deposing was necessary for the survival of the Empire and the good of the people.