the Zagwe dynasty

(noun)

A historical kingdom in present-day northern Ethiopia. Centered at Lalibela, it ruled large parts of the territory from approximately 900 to 1270, when the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun was killed in battle by the forces of Yekuno Amlak.

Related Terms

Examples of the Zagwe dynasty in the following topics:

  • Ethiopia and Eritrea

    • Following the ancient kingdom of D'mt and the medieval empire of Aksum, some of current Ethiopia's territory was dominated by the Christian Ethiopian Empire established by the Zagwe dynasty in the 12th century, and later ruled by the Solomonic dynasty until the 20th century.
    • The new Zagwe dynasty established its capital at Roha (also called Lalibela), where they built a series of monolithic churches.
    • The Zagwe dynasty controlled a smaller area than the Aksumites, with its core in the Lasta region.
    • Around 1270, a new dynasty was established in the Abyssinian highlands under Yekuno Amlak, who deposed the last of the Zagwe kings and married one of his daughters.
    • The Dynasty re-established itself in 1270 CE, when when Yekuno Amlak overthrew the last ruler of the Zagwe dynasty.

  • The Qing Dynasty

  • Introduction to the Shang Dynasty

    • The Shang Dynasty existed in the Yellow River Valley during the second millennium BCE.
    • The Shang Dynasty (also called the Yin Dynasty) succeeded the Xia Dynasty, and was followed by the Zhou Dynasty.
    • Jie, the last king of the Xia Dynasty (the first Chinese dynasty), was overthrown c. 1760 BCE by Cheng Tang.
    • The Shang Dynasty is, therefore, generally considered China's first historical dynasty.
    • The Shang Dynasty is the oldest Chinese dynasty supported by archaeological finds.

  • The Second Intermediate Period

    • The Second Intermediate Period (c. 1650-1550 BCE) spanned the Fourteenth to Seventeenth Dynasties, and was a period in which decentralized rule split Egypt between the Theban-based Seventeenth Dynasty in Upper Egypt and the Sixteenth Dynasty under the Hyksos in the north.
    • The capital of this dynasty was likely Avaris.
    • They would also conquer the Sixteenth Dynasty in Thebes and a local dynasty in Abydos (see below).
    • The Abydos Dynasty was a short-lived local dynasty that ruled over part of Upper Egypt and was contemporaneous with the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties c. 1650-1600 BCE.
    • Thebes was the capital of many of the Sixteenth Dynasty pharaohs.

  • The Qing Dynasty and the West

  • The Xia Dynasty

    • The final part of the Mythical Period was under the rule of the legendary Xia Dynasty, which may have been mythological.
    • After the final ruler became corrupt, he was overthrown by Cheng Tang, who founded the Shang Dynasty.
    • According to this history, the last of the great Five Emperors, Emperor Shun, left his throne to Yu the Great, who founded China's First Dynasty, the Xia Dynasty.
    • This led to his overthrow in c. 1760 BCE by Cheng Tang, who founded a new dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, in the Huang River Valley.
    • Many argue that the Zhou Dynasty, which ruled China much later, invented the idea of the Xia Dynasty to support their claim that China could only be, and had always been, ruled by one ruler.

  • Rise of the Tang Dynasty

    • The Tang dynasty (Chinese: 唐朝) was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
    • Decline of the Sui Dynasty and the Founding of the Tang
    • The Sui dynasty was a short-lived imperial dynasty of pivotal significance.
    • The Sui dynasty was succeeded by the Tang dynasty, which largely inherited its foundation.
    • Wu's rule was actually a short break in the Tang dynasty, as she established the short-lived Zhou dynasty; the Tang dynasty was restored after her rule.

  • The Mongol Invasions

    • The Yuan dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borjigin clan.
    • The Yuan dynasty is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and an imperial Chinese dynasty.
    • In official Chinese histories, the Yuan dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song dynasty and preceding the Ming dynasty.
    • In the Proclamation of the Dynastic Name, Kublai announced the name of the new dynasty as Great Yuan and claimed the succession of former Chinese dynasties from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the Tang dynasty.
    • Connect the Mongol invasions to the establishment of the Yuan dynasty

  • Expansion Throughout Eastern Asia

    • Under Genghis Khan and his son Ögedei, the Mongol Empire conquered both the Western Xia Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty to the west.
    • To the east and south was the Jin Dynasty of northern China.
    • The Western Xia Dynasty (also known as the Xi-Xia Dynasty) was located in what is modern-day northern China and sat along the southern border of the Mongol territories.
    • The Xia Dynasty also shared a complex history with the neighboring Jin Dynasty, even serving as a vassal state  to the Jin for a period before the arrival of Mongol forces.
    • The years of war took a heavy toll on the population of the Jin Dynasty, as it had in the Western Xia.

  • Origins of the Song Dynasty

    • The Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and continued until 1279; it succeeded the tumultuous Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and saw many technological and cultural innovations.
    • The Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and continued until 1279.
    • It succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and was followed by the Yuan dynasty.
    • The Song dynasty was divided into two distinct periods, Northern and Southern.
    • The Later Zhou was the last of the Five Dynasties that had controlled northern China after the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907.