Ali II of Yejju (c.1819 - c.1866) was a Ras of Begemder and Enderasse (Regent) of the Emperor of Ethiopia. He was the son of Alula of Yejju, sometime governor of Damot and then of Gojjam, and Mennen Liben Amede, later Empress of Ethiopia. And a grandson of Gugsa of Yejju (ras of Begemder 1799-1825), of his fourth wife, Amata Selassie, a daughter of Emperor Takla Giyorgis II. Events and Trends Nationalistic independence movements helped reshape the world during this decade: Greece declares independence from the Ottoman Empire (1821). ... // Events and trends Technology The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States is built in the six year period between 1863 and 1869. ... Ethiopian aristocratic and religious titles used in Ethiopia until the end of the Monarchy in 1974. ... Begemder was a province in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Gondar. ... The Emperor of Ethiopia (Amharic ንጉሠ ነገሥት, niguse negest, King of Kings) was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. ... Alula of Yejju (c. ... Gojjam, or Gojam, was a province in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debra Markos. ...

After the death of his grand-uncle, Lord Maru of Yejju, the adolescent Ali was appointed Ruler of Begemder and Imperial Regent at the age of 12 in a meeting of the chief nobles of the Yejju Oromo at the dynastic capital of Debre Tabor in July 1831,¹ - and for himself, a minor, a council of regents was appointed from these nobles. Ras Ali was officially a Christian, but his contemporaries doubted the sincerity of his faith and suspected that he was a secret Muslim; some modern scholars consider him as indifferent to religion as he was to the problems of ruling his portion of Ethiopia, although Trimingham observes that he attempted to revive the cult of Ahmad Gragn by requiring pilgrimages to his tomb.² In any case, the morale of the Ethiopian Church reached its lowest point in the 1840s and 1850s. Debre Tabor is a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia, about 100 kilometers southeast of Gondar, and 50 kilometers E of Lake Tana. ... 1831 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also spelled Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. ... Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi (c. ... The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church is an Oriental Orthodox church in Ethiopia that was part of the Coptic Church until it was granted its own Patriarch by Cyril VI, the Coptic Pope, in 1959. ... // Events and Trends Technology First use of anaesthesia in an operation, by Crawford Long War, peace and politics First signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi New Zealand. ... // Events and Trends Technology Production of steel revolutionised by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transatlantic telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Science Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, putting forward the theory of evolution...

For much his reign Ras Ali was constantly at war, either putting down rebellions in his core territories, or defending his territory from rival warlords. In one of these continual campaigns, Ras Ali II plundered the imperial capital Gondar in 1838.³ Gondar (less commonly spelled Gonder) was the old imperial capital of Ethiopia and the historic Begemder province, now part of the Amhara region. ... 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Ras Ali made Sahle Dengel Emperor in 1832, but the clergy of Azazo disapproved of the new Emperor's religious beliefs, and convinced Ras Ali to remove him. Sahle Dengel was sent to Zengaj, and Ras Ali recalled Gebre Krestos from Mesraha, an island in Lake Tana, and restored him as Emperor. However, Gebre Krestos died after three months, and Sahle Dengel convinced Ras Ali to make him Emperor once again (October, 1832). Sahle Dengel was negus negusti of Ethiopia intermittently between 1832 and 11 February 1855. ... 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Gebre Krestos was negus negusti (18 March 1832 - 8 June 1832) of Ethiopia. ... Lake Tana from space, April 1991 Lake Tana (also spelled Tana; older spellings include Tsana and Dambea) is the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia. ...

Ras Ali married Hirut, the daughter of Dejazmach Wube Haile Maryam, sometime lord of Semien and of Tigray; when he placed her in the church of Mahdere Maryam for her safety before the Battle of Debre Tabor (6 February 1842), his opponents violated the refuge of the church and kidnapped her. Ethiopian aristocratic and religious titles used in Ethiopia until the end of the Monarchy in 1974. ... Map of Ethiopia highlighting the Tigray region. ... The Battle of Debre Tabor was a conflict initiated by Dejazmach Wube Haile Maryam to overthrow Ras Ali II as Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia and gain control of Ethiopia. ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Their only daughter Tewabech (1831-58) was married 1848 to Lord Kassa Hailu of Qwara, who in 1854 proclaimed himself a Negus (king) and in 1855 after capturing and deposing Emperor Sahle Dengel, was enthroned as King of Sion, Elect of God, King of Kings (Negus Negesti), Emperor of Ethiopia as Tewodros II (1818-68), whereby Tewabech became his first Empress. She did not have surviving issue. Tewodros II (also known as Theodore II) (born Kassa Hailu) (1818-1868) was an emperor of Ethiopia. ...

Ali II was decisively defeated by his son-in-law Dejazmach Kassa (who later assumed the throne name of Tewodros II) in the Battle of Ayshal on 29 June 1853. He was deposed of the regentship and his territories. At first he fled to safety at a local church, then a few days later fled to the territories of his kinsmen in Wollo province, where he disappeared to history. However both Protky⁴ and Trimngham⁵ give the date of 1866 for his death, without further details. Tewodros II (also known as Theodore II) (1818 - 1868) was an Emperor of Ethiopia (1855 - 1868). ... The Battle of Ayshal was fought on June 29, 1853, between the forces of Kassa Hailu and the forces of Ras Ali II. Kassas forces won the battle. ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Wollo was a province in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Dessye. ...

Notes

1. Mordechai Abir, The Era of the Princes: the Challenge of Islam and the Re-unification of the Christian Empire, 1769-1855 (London: Longmans, 1968), p. 38.
2. J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 111
3. Abir, Era of the Princes, p. 111f
4. Chris Proutky, Empress Taytu and Menelik II: Ethiopia 1883-1910 (Trenton: The Red Sea Press, 1986), p. 27n
5. Trimingham, Islam, p. 110