Yekuno Amlak [SEP] noble family
Yekuno Amlak
Emperor Yekuno Amlak (; throne name Tasfa Iyasus) was an Amhara prince from Bet Amhara province (in today's Wollo region) who became king of kings of Ethiopia following the defeat of the last Zagwe king. He was "nəgusä nägäst" (r. 10 August 1270 – 19 June 1285) of Ethiopia and restorer of the Solomonic dynasty. He traced his ancestry through his father, Tasfa Iyasus, to Dil Na'od, the last King of Axum.
Rise to power.
Much of what is known
more recent chronicler of Wollo history, Getatchew Mekonnen Hasen, flatly states that the last Zagwe king deposed by Yekuno Amlak was none other than Na'akueto La'ab himself.
Reign.
Yekuno Amlak is said to have campaigned against the Kingdom of Damot, which lay south of the Abbay River.
Recorded history affords more certainty as to his relations with other countries. For example, E.A. Wallis Budge states that Yekuno Amlak not only exchanged letters with the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII, but sent to him several giraffes as a gift.