Everything about Dawit I Of Ethiopia totally explained
Dawit I (
Ge'ez ዳዊት
dāwīt, "David") was
nəgusä nägäst (
1382 -
6 October 1413) of
Ethiopia, and a member of the
Solomonic dynasty. He was the younger son of
Newaya Krestos.
Taddesse Tamrat discusses a tradition that early in his reign Dawit campaigned against
Egypt, reaching as far north as
Aswan; in response the Emir forced the
Patriarch of Alexandria,
Matthew I, to send a deputation to Dawit to persuade him to retire back to his kingdom. Taddesse concludes, "There seems to be little or no doubt that, on the eve of the advent of the
Burji dynasty of
Mamluk Egypt, King Dawit had in fact led his troops beyond the northern frontiers of his kingdom, and created much havoc among the Muslim inhabitants of the area who had been within the sphere of influence of Egypt since the thirteenth century." He apparently had a much friendlier relationship with the Sultan's successor, for according to the medieval historian
al-Makrizi Dawit sent 22 camels laden with gifts to
Berkuk, the first Sultan of the Burji dynasty.
The Emperor Dawit was an enthusiastic
Christian. He dealt with a revolt of the
Beta Israel in
Tigray, and encouraged missionary work in
Gojjam. According to
E. A. Wallis Budge, during his reign a piece of the
True Cross arrived in Ethiopia.
During his reign, two surviving examples of illustrated manuscripts were produced. One is a translation of the
Miracles of Mary which had been written in
Arabic, done at the command of Emperor Dawit; this is the oldest surviving illustrated book commissioned by an Ethiopian Emperor. The other, described as "one of the most beautiful illustrated books of the period" is a copy of the
gospels, which is now at the monastery of Saint Gabriel on Kebran island in
Lake Tana.
He confronted the problem of raids from the
Muslim kingdoms on his eastern border with numerous counter attacks on those kingdoms. According to
al-Maqrizi, in
1403 Emperor Dawit pursued the Sultan of
Adal,
Sa'ad ad-Din II to
Zeila where he killed Sa'ad ad-Din, and sacked Zeila; however, another contemporary source dates the death of Sa'ad ad-Din to
1415, and gives the credit to Emperor
Yeshaq.
A noted horseman, Dawit was killed when he was kicked in the head by one of his
horses. His body was interred in the
monastery of St. Stephen on
Daga Island in
Lake Tana.
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