Atse Mininik II
Emperor Menelik II was the son of King Haile Melekot of Shewa,
and Woizero Ijigayehu. King Haile Melekot was the son of the first king of Shewa, King Sahle
Selassie and his wife Bezabish. Woizero Ijigayehu was a woman in the service of Zenebework,
the mother of King Sahle Selassie, and grandmother of King Haile Melekot. She is said to have
been from Gondar, and may have been one of the people brought to Ankober, to help structure
the Shewan court in accordance to the practices of the Gondar court, training young princesses
in proper etiquette and behavior.
Woizero Ijigayehu never married King Haile Melekot, but King
Sahle Selassie legitimized Menelik by giving his recognition to Menelik being his grandson,
and Haile Melekot, upon becoming King recognized Menelik as his heir. Until Menelik became
King of Shewa, he was more commonly referred to by his baptismal name, which was Sahle Mariam.
The royal family of Shewa was decended from Abeto Yaqob, the son of the 16th century Emperor
Libne Dingel, who had taken refuge in Shewa during the religious wars of Ahmed Gragn.
Yakob's son Geram Fasil was the father of Emperor Susneyos the Catholic, and the ancestor
of the Gondar line of the Imperial dynasty.
Abeto Yakob's other son, Segwe Qal was the one
who would found the House of Shewa. Segwe Qal fathered Werede Qal, who fathered Libse Qal,
who fathered Negassi (Negassi Christos), who was recognized as the first ruler of Shewa by
the various Shewan nobles and the Emperor Eyasu the Great in Gondar. All of Negassi's
ancestors had held the title of Abeto. Negassi's son Abeto Sibiste (Sebastian) succeeded his
father, and declaired that he was to be refered to as Merid Azmatch, his new title.
The rulers of Shewa bore the additional title of Ras.
Sibiste was succeeded by Abuye,
who was succeeded by his son Amhayes (Amha Yesus), who was succeeded by his son Asfaw Wossen,
who was succeded by his son Wossen Seged. Wossen Seged's son however, did not assume the
title of Merid Azmatch upon the death of his father, but instead proclaimed himself King Sahle Selassie of Shewa. He was succeded by his son King Haile Melekot, the father of Menelik.
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