Yohannes IV

Lij Kassa Mercha was born on 11 July 1837 at May Baha in Tembien, in the Tigray region of the Ethiopian Empire. Rising through the nobility of Tigray, he became a formidable regional lord and, in the years after the death of Emperor Tewodros II at Magdala in 1868, was recognized as King of Tigray. He did not inherit the imperial throne at once; the crown first passed to Wagshum Gobeze, who reigned as Tekle Giyorgis II.

In 1871 Kassa defeated Tekle Giyorgis II in battle, and on 21 January 1872 he was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia under the name Yohannes IV. He governed as a devout Orthodox Christian sovereign who sought to strengthen the unity and faith of his realm, later establishing Mekele as a capital and drawing the powerful lords of the north into his service.

His reign was defined by the defense of Ethiopian sovereignty against foreign powers. When Khedivial Egypt invaded, his armies, with Ras Alula Engida among his commanders, crushed the invaders at the Battle of Gundet in 1875 and again at Gura in 1876. He also contended with the rising ambitions of Italy and the growing power of Menelik of Shewa, holding the empire together through diplomacy and force.

In his final campaign Yohannes IV marched against the Mahdist forces threatening Ethiopia's western frontier. At the Battle of Gallabat, near Metemma, on 9-10 March 1889, his army was winning when he was struck by a gunshot and mortally wounded, dying on 10 March 1889. He fell as he had ruled: a shield of his people and a defender of his faith, honored still as an emperor who gave his life for Ethiopia.