Wolde Selassie

Wolde Selassie (Amharic: ዎልደ ሰላስሴ; b. Antalo, Enderta, c.1745Henry Salt estimated his age at 64 when he visited him in 1809. A Voyage to Abyssinia and Travels into the Interior of that Country (London: Frank Cass, 1958), p. 325 - 28 May 1816) was an Overlord of Tigray and a Ras of Ethiopia. He was the second son of Dejazmach Kefla Iyasus Amdamikael, hereditary chief of Enderta. In his "Life in Abysinia" book, the 19th century British traveler Mansfield Parkyns writes that, "the family of Dejazmach Kefla Iyasus and Wolde Selassie were of distinguished origin and came from Antalo (Hintalo) in Enderta of which place they were chiefs."Mansfield Parkyns, Life in Abyssinia, vol. 2 p. 93. His brothers included Dejazmach Bilaten-Geta Mennase and Dejazmach Debbab who is the great grand father of Emperor Yohannes IV. And his wives included Mentewab (died 1812 from smallpox), the sister of Emperor Egwale Seyon; and Sahin, the daughter of Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I.Richard K.P. Pankhurst, History of Ethiopian Towns (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1982), vol. 1 p. 206.

John J. Halls, in his Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt, preserves a description of this powerful warlord, as "small in stature, and delicately formed, quick in his manner, with a shrewd expression, and considerable dignity in his deportment."John J. Halls, Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt,...
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