The Nile (, , Ancient Egyptian ''Iteru'' or ''Ḥ'pī'', Coptic ⲫⲓⲁⲣⲱ ''Piaro'' or ''Phiaro'', ; transliterated: ʿAbbai, but pronounced ''Abbai'') is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the eleven countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda and Egypt.

The Nile has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. The latter is the source of most of the water and fertile soil. The former is the longer. The White Nile rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, with the most distant source still undetermined but located in either Rwanda or Burundi. It flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile starts at Lake Tana in Ethiopia at and flows into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet near the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

The northern section of the river flows almost entirely through desert, from Sudan into Egypt, a country whose civilization has depended on the river since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan, and nearly all the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt are found along riverbanks. The Nile ends in a large delta that empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

Etymology

In the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called ''Ḥ'pī'' or ''iteru'', meaning "great river", represented by the hieroglyphs shown on the left (literally ''itrw'', and 'waters' determinative) In Coptic, the words ''piaro'' (Sahidic) or ''phiaro'' (Bohairic) meaning "the river" (lit. p(h).iar-o "the.canal-great") come from the same ancient name.

The English name ''Nile'' (; ) is thought to be ultimately derived from the Semitic ''Nahal'' meaning "river" from which the Hebrew ''nachal'' () is derived.

Course

Above Khartoum the Nile is also known as the White Nile, a term also used in a limited sense to describe the section between Lake No and Khartoum. At Khartoum the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia. Both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift, the southern part of the Great Rift Valley.

The drainage basin of the Nile covers , about 10% of the area of Africa. The Nile basin is complex, and because of this, the discharge at any given point along the mainstem depends on many factors including weather, diversions, evaporation and evapotranspiration, and groundwater flow.

Source

The source of the Nile is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has feeder rivers of considerable size. The Kagera River, which flows into Lake Victoria near the Tanzanian town of Bukoba, is the longest feeder, although sources do not agree on which is the longest tributary of the Kagera and hence the most distant source of the Nile itself. It is either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi, or the Nyabarongo, which flows from Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda. The two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border.

Recent exploration says that an exploring party went to a place described as the source of the Rukarara tributary, and by hacking a path up steep jungle-choked mountain slopes in the Nyungwe forest found (in the dry season) an appreciable incoming surface flow for many miles upstream, and found a new source, giving the Nile a length of 4199 miles (= 6757.6 kilometers).

Lost headwaters

Formerly Lake Tanganyika drained northwards along the African Rift Valley into the Albert Nile, making the Nile about longer, until blocked in Miocene times by the bulk of the Virunga Volcanoes.

In Uganda

The Nile leaves Lake Victoria at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda, as the Victoria Nile. It flows for approximately farther, through Lake Kyoga, until it reaches Lake Albert. After leaving Lake Albert, the river is known as the Albert Nile.

In South Sudan

It then flows into South Sudan, where it is known as the Bahr al Jabal ("River of the Mountain"). The Bahr al Ghazal, itself long, joins the Bahr al Jabal at a small lagoon called Lake No, after which the Nile becomes known as the ''Bahr al Abyad'', or the White Nile, from the whitish clay suspended in its waters. When the Nile flooded it left a rich silty deposit which fertilized the soil. The Nile no longer floods annually since the completion of the Aswan Dam in 1970. An anabranch river, the Bahr el Zeraf, flows out of the Nile's Bahr al Jabal section and rejoins the White Nile.

The flow rate of the Bahr al Jebal at Mongalla, South Sudan is almost constant throughout the year and averages . After Mongalla, the Bahr Al Jabal enters the enormous swamps of the Sudd region of South Sudan. More than half of the Nile's water is lost in this swamp to evaporation and transpiration. The average flow rate of the White Nile at the tails of the swamps is about . From here it soon meets with the Sobat River at Malakal. On an annual basis, the White Nile upstream of Malakal contributes about fifteen percent of the total outflow of the Nile River.

The average flow of the White Nile at Malakal, just below the Sobat River, is ; the peak flow is approximately in October and minimum flow is about in April. This fluctuation is due the substantial variation in the flow of the Sobat, which has a minimum flow of about in March and a peak flow of over in October. During the dry season (January to June) the White Nile contributes between 70 percent and 90 percent of the total discharge from the Nile.

In Sudan

Below Renk the White Nile enters Sudan, where it flows north to Khartoum and meets the Blue Nile.

The course of the Nile in Sudan is distinctive. It flows over six groups of cataracts, from the first at Aswan to the sixth at Sabaloka (just north of Khartoum) and then turns to flow southward before again returning to flow north. This is called the Great Bend of the Nile.

In the north of Sudan the river enters Lake Nasser (known in Sudan as Lake Nubia), the larger part of which is in Egypt.

In Egypt

Below the Aswan High Dam, at the northern limit of Lake Nasser, the Nile resumes its historic course.

North of Cairo, the Nile splits into two branches (or distributaries) that feed the Mediterranean: the Rosetta Branch to the west and the Damietta to the east, forming the Nile Delta.

Tributaries

Atbara River

Below the confluence with the Blue Nile the only major tributary is the Atbara River, roughly halfway to the sea, which originates in Ethiopia north of Lake Tana, and is around long. The Atbara flows only while there is rain in Ethiopia and dries very rapidly. During the dry period of January to June, it typically dries up. It joins the Nile approximately north of Khartoum.

Blue Nile

The Blue Nile (Ge'ez ጥቁር ዓባይ ''Ṭiqūr ʿĀbbāy'' (Black Abay) to Ethiopians; ; transliterated: an-Nīl al-Azraq) springs from Lake Tana in the Ethiopian Highlands. The Blue Nile flows about 1,400 kilometers to Khartoum, where the Blue Nile and White Nile join to form the Nile. Ninety percent of the water and ninety-six percent of the transported sediment carried by the Nile originates in Ethiopia, with 59% of the water from the Blue Nile (the rest being from the Tekezé, Atbarah, Sobat, and small tributaries). The erosion and transportation of silt only occurs during the Ethiopian rainy season in the summer, however, when rainfall is especially high on the Ethiopian Plateau; the rest of the year, the great rivers draining Ethiopia into the Nile (Sobat, Blue Nile, Tekezé, and Atbarah) have a weaker flow.

The Blue Nile contributes between approximately eighty to ninety percent of the Nile River discharge. The flow of the Blue Nile varies considerably over its yearly cycle and is the main contribution to the large natural variation of the Nile flow. During the wet season the peak flow of the Blue Nile will often exceed in late August (a difference of a factor of 50). During the dry season the natural discharge of the Blue Nile can be as low as , although upstream dams regulate the flow of the river.

Before the placement of dams on the river the yearly discharge varied by a factor of 15 at Aswan. Peak flows of over would occur during late August and early September and minimum flows of about would occur during late April and early May.

Bahr el Ghazal and Sobat River

The Bahr al Ghazal and the Sobat River are the two most important tributaries of the White Nile in terms of discharge.

The Bahr al Ghazal's drainage basin is the largest of any of the Nile's sub-basins, measuring in size, but it contributes a relatively small amount of water, about annually, due to tremendous volumes of water being lost in the Sudd wetlands.

The Sobat River, which joins the Nile a short distance below Lake No, drains about half as much land, , but contributes annually to the Nile. When in flood the Sobat carries a large amount of sediment, adding greatly to the White Nile's color.

Yellow Nile

The Yellow Nile is a former tributary that connected the Ouaddaï Highlands of eastern Chad to the Nile River Valley c. 8000 to c. 1000 BCE. Its remains are known as the Wadi Howar. The wadi passes through Gharb Darfur near the northern border with Chad and meets up with the Nile near the southern point of the Great Bend.

History

The Nile (''iteru'' in Ancient Egyptian) has been the lifeline of civilization in Egypt since the Stone Age, with most of the population and all of the cities of Egypt resting along those parts of the Nile valley lying north of Aswan. Climate change at the end of the most recent ice age led to the formation of the Sahara desert, possibly as long ago as 3400 BC.

The Eonile

The present Nile is at least the fifth river that has flowed north from the Ethiopian Highlands. Satellite imagery was used to identify dry watercourses in the desert to the west of the Nile. An Eonile canyon, now filled by surface drift, represents an ancestral Nile called the Eonile that flowed during the later Miocene (23–5.3 million years before present). The Eonile transported clastic sediments to the Mediterranean; several natural gas fields have been discovered within these sediments.

During the late-Miocene Messinian salinity crisis, when the Mediterranean Sea was a closed basin and evaporated to the point of being empty or nearly so, the Nile cut its course down to the new base level until it was several hundred feet below world ocean level at Aswan and below Cairo. This created a very long and deep canyon which was filled with sediment when the Mediterranean was recreated. At some point the sediments raised the riverbed sufficiently for the river to overflow westward into a depression to create Lake Moeris.

Lake Tanganyika drained northwards into the Nile until the Virunga Volcanoes blocked its course in Rwanda. The Nile was much longer at that time, with its furthest headwaters in northern Zambia.

The integrated Nile

There are two theories about the age of the integrated Nile. One is that the integrated drainage of the Nile is of young age, and that the Nile basin was formerly broken into series of separate basins, only the most northerly of which fed a river following the present course of the Nile in Egypt and Sudan. Said postulated that Egypt itself supplied most of the waters of the Nile during the early part of its history.

The other theory is that the drainage from Ethiopia via rivers equivalent to the Blue Nile and the Atbara and Takazze flowed to the Mediterranean via the Egyptian Nile since well back into Tertiary times.

Salama suggested that during the Tertiary (65 million to 2.588 million years ago) a series of separate closed continental basins each occupied one of the major parts of the Sudanese Rift System: Mellut rift, White Nile rift, Blue Nile rift, Atbara rift and Sag El Naam rift. The Mellut Rift Basin is nearly deep at its central part. This rift is possibly still active, with reported tectonic activity in its northern and southern boundaries. The Sudd swamps which form the central part of the basin may still be subsiding. The White Nile Rift System, although shallower than the Bahr el Arab rift, is about deep. Geophysical exploration of the Blue Nile Rift System estimated the depth of the sediments to be . These basins were not interconnected until their subsidence ceased, and the rate of sediment deposition was enough to fill and connect them. The Egyptian Nile connected to the Sudanese Nile, which captures the Ethiopian and Equatorial headwaters during the current stages of tectonic activity in the Eastern, Central and Sudanese Rift Systems. The connection of the different Niles occurred during cyclic wet periods. The River Atbara overflowed its closed basin during the wet periods that occurred about 100,000 to 120,000 years ago. The Blue Nile connected to the main Nile during the 70,000–80,000 years B.P. wet period. The White Nile system in Bahr El Arab and White Nile Rifts remained a closed lake until the connection of the Victoria Nile to the main system some 12,500 years ago.

Role in the founding of Egyptian civilization

The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that "Egypt was the gift of the Nile". An unending source of sustenance, it provided a crucial role in the development of Egyptian civilization. Silt deposits from the Nile made the surrounding land fertile because the river overflowed its banks annually. The Ancient Egyptians cultivated and traded wheat, flax and other crops around the Nile. Wheat was a crucial crop in the famine-plagued Middle East. This trading system secured Egypt's diplomatic relationships with other countries, and contributed to economic stability. Far-reaching trade has been carried on along the Nile since ancient times. The Ishango bone is probably an early tally stick. It has been suggested that this shows prime numbers and multiplication, but this is disputed. In the book ''How Mathematics Happened: The First 50,000 Years'', Peter Rudman argues that the development of the concept of prime numbers could only have come about after the concept of division, which he dates to after 10,000 BC, with prime numbers probably not being understood until about 500 BC. He also writes that "no attempt has been made to explain why a tally of something should exhibit multiples of two, prime numbers between 10 and 20, and some numbers that are almost multiples of 10." It was discovered along the headwaters of the Nile (near Lake Edward, in northeastern Congo) and was carbon-dated to 20,000 BC.

Water buffalo were introduced from Asia, and Persians introduced camels in the 7th century BC. These animals were killed for meat, and were domesticated and used for ploughing—or in the camels' case, carriage. Water was vital to both people and livestock. The Nile was also a convenient and efficient means of transportation for people and goods.

The Nile was an important part of ancient Egyptian spiritual life. Hapy was the god of the annual floods, and both he and the pharaoh were thought to control the flooding. The Nile was considered to be a causeway from life to death and the afterlife. The east was thought of as a place of birth and growth, and the west was considered the place of death, as the god Ra, the Sun, underwent birth, death, and resurrection each day as he crossed the sky. Thus, all tombs were west of the Nile, because the Egyptians believed that in order to enter the afterlife, they had to be buried on the side that symbolized death.

As the Nile was such an important factor in Egyptian life, the ancient calendar was even based on the 3 cycles of the Nile. These seasons, each consisting of four months of thirty days each, were called Akhet, Peret, and Shemu. Akhet, which means inundation, was the time of the year when the Nile flooded, leaving several layers of fertile soil behind, aiding in agricultural growth. "Chemical analysis has shown how fertile the Nile mud is. It contains about 0.1 percent of combined nitrogen, 0.2 percent of phosphorus anhydrides and 0.6 percent of potassium."

Peret was the growing season, and Shemu, the last season, was the harvest season when there were no rains.

The search for the source of the Nile

thumb|right|100 px|Pliny the Elder speculated on the source of the Nile thumb|right|100 px|Richard Francis Burton, Victorian explorer thumb|right|100 px|Henry Morton Stanley confirmed the source of the Nile in 1872 Despite the failed attempts of the Greeks and Romans to penetrate the Sudd wetlands in South Sudan, the upper reaches of the Nile remained largely unknown. Various expeditions failed to determine the river's source, thus yielding classical Hellenistic and Roman representations of the river as a male god with his face and head obscured in drapery. Agatharcides records that in the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, a military expedition had penetrated far enough along the course of the Blue Nile to determine that the summer floods were caused by heavy seasonal rainstorms in the Ethiopian Highlands, but no European of antiquity is known to have reached Lake Tana.

The Tabula Rogeriana depicted the source as three lakes in 1154.

Europeans began to learn about the origins of the Nile in the 15th and 16th centuries, when travelers to Ethiopia visited Lake Tana and the source of the Blue Nile in the mountains south of the lake. Although James Bruce claimed to be the first European to have visited the headwaters, modern writers give the credit to the Jesuit Pedro Páez. Páez's account of the source of the Nile is a long and vivid account of Ethiopia. It was published in full only in the early 20th century, although it was featured in works of Páez's contemporaries, including Baltazar Téllez, Athanasius Kircher and by Johann Michael Vansleb.

Europeans had been resident in Ethiopia since the late 15th century, and one of them may have visited the headwaters even earlier without leaving a written trace. The Portuguese João Bermudes published the first description of the Tis Issat Falls in his 1565 memoirs, compared them to the Nile Falls alluded to in Cicero's ''De Republica''. Jerónimo Lobo describes the source of the Blue Nile, visiting shortly after Pedro Páez. Telles also used his account.

The White Nile was even less understood. The ancients mistakenly believed that the Niger River represented the upper reaches of the White Nile. For example, Pliny the Elder wrote that the Nile had its origins "in a mountain of lower Mauretania", flowed above ground for "many days" distance, then went underground, reappeared as a large lake in the territories of the Masaesyli, then sank again below the desert to flow underground "for a distance of 20 days' journey till it reaches the nearest Ethiopians." A merchant named Diogenes reported that the Nile's water attracted game such as water buffalo.

Lake Victoria was first sighted by Europeans in 1858 when the British explorer John Hanning Speke reached its southern shore while traveling with Richard Francis Burton to explore central Africa and locate the great lakes. Believing he had found the source of the Nile on seeing this "vast expanse of open water" for the first time, Speke named the lake after the then Queen of the United Kingdom. Burton, recovering from illness and resting further south on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, was outraged that Speke claimed to have proved his discovery to be the true source of the Nile when Burton regarded this as still unsettled. A very public quarrel ensued, which sparked a great deal of intense debate within the scientific community and interest by other explorers keen to either confirm or refute Speke's discovery. British explorer and missionary David Livingstone pushed too far west and entered the Congo River system instead. It was ultimately Welsh-American explorer Henry Morton Stanley who confirmed Speke's discovery, circumnavigating Lake Victoria and reporting the great outflow at Ripon Falls on the Lake's northern shore.

European involvement in Egypt goes back to the time of Napoleon. Laird Shipyard of Liverpool sent an iron steamer to the Nile in the 1830s. With the completion of the Suez Canal and the British takeover of Egypt in the 1870s, more British river steamers followed.

The Nile is the area's natural navigation channel, giving access to Khartoum and Sudan by steamer. The Siege of Khartoum was broken with purpose-built sternwheelers shipped from England and steamed up the river to retake the city. After this came regular steam navigation of the river. With British Forces in Egypt in the First World War and the inter-war years, river steamers provided both security and sightseeing to the Pyramids and Thebes. Steam navigation remained integral to the two countries as late as 1962. Sudan steamer traffic was a lifeline as few railways or roads were built in that country. Most paddle steamers have been retired to shorefront service, but modern diesel tourist boats remain on the river.

The modern era

The Nile has long been used to transport goods along its length. Winter winds blow south, up river, so ships could sail up river, and down river using the flow of the river. While most Egyptians still live in the Nile valley, the 1970 completion of the Aswan High Dam ended the summer floods and their renewal of the fertile soil, fundamentally changing farming practices. The Nile supports much of the population living along its banks, enabling Egyptians to live in otherwise inhospitable regions of the Sahara. The rivers's flow is disturbed at several points by the Cataracts of the Nile, which are sections of faster-flowing water with many small islands, shallow water, and rocks, which form an obstacle to navigation by boats. The Sudd wetlands in Sudan also forms a formidable navigation obstacle and impede water flow, to the extent that Sudan had once attempted to canalize (the Jonglei Canal) to bypass the swamps.

Nile cities include Khartoum, Aswan, Luxor (Thebes), and the Giza Cairo conurbation. The first cataract, the closest to the mouth of the river, is at Aswan, north of the Aswan Dam. This part of the river is a regular tourist route, with cruise ships and traditional wooden sailing boats known as feluccas. Many cruise ships ply the route between Luxor and Aswan, stopping at Edfu and Kom Ombo along the way. Security concerns have limited cruising on the northernmost portion for many years.

A computer simulation study to plan the economic development of the Nile was directed by H.A.W. Morrice and W.N. Allan, for the Ministry of Hydro-power of the Republic of the Sudan, during 1955–1957 Morrice was their Hydrological Adviser, and Allan his predecessor. M.P. Barnett directed the software development and computer operations. The calculations were enabled by accurate monthly inflow data collected for 50 years. The underlying principle was the use of over-year storage, to conserve water from rainy years for use in dry years. Irrigation, navigation and other needs were considered. Each computer run postulated a set of reservoirs and operating equations for the release of water as a function of the month and the levels upstream. The behaviour that would have resulted given the inflow data was modeled. Over 600 models were run. Recommendations were made to the Sudanese authorities. The calculations were run on an IBM 650 computer. Simulation studies to design water resource systems are discussed further in the article on Hydrology transport models, that have been used since the 1980s to analyze water quality.

Despite the development of many reservoirs, drought during the 1980s led to widespread starvation in Ethiopia and Sudan, but Egypt was nourished by water impounded in Lake Nasser.

Water sharing dispute

The Nile's water has affected the politics of East Africa and the Horn of Africa for many decades. Countries including Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya have complained about Egyptian domination of its water resources. The Nile Basin Initiative promotes peaceful cooperation among these states.

Modern achievements and exploration

The White Nile Expedition, led by South African national Hendrik Coetzee, became the first to navigate the Nile's entire length. The expedition began at the source of the Nile in Uganda on January 17, 2004 and arrived safely at the Mediterranean in Rosetta, four and a half months later.

On April 28, 2004, geologist Pasquale Scaturro and his partner, kayaker and documentary filmmaker Gordon Brown became the first people to navigate the Blue Nile, from Lake Tana in Ethiopia to the beaches of Alexandria on the Mediterranean. Though their expedition included others, Brown and Scaturro were the only ones to complete the entire journey. The team used outboard motors for most of their journey. On January 29, 2005 Canadian Les Jickling and New Zealander Mark Tanner completed the first human powered transit.

A team led by South Africans Peter Meredith and Hendrik Coetzee on April 30, 2005, became the first to navigate the major remote source of the Nile, the Akagera river, which starts as the Ruvyironza in Bururi Province, Burundi.

Crossings

Crossings from Khartoum to the Mediterranean Sea

The following bridges cross the Blue Nile and connect Khartoum to Khartoum North:

Mac Nimir Bridge

Blue Nile Road & Railway Bridge

Burri Bridge

Elmansheya Bridge

Soba bridge

The following bridges cross the White Nile and connect Khartoum to Omdurman:

White Nile Bridge

Fitayhab Bridge

Al Dabbaseen Bridge (under construction) Omhuraz Bridge (proposed)

the following bridges cross from Omdurman: to Khartoum North:

Shambat Bridge

Halfia Bridge

The following bridges cross to Tuti from Khartoum states three cities

Khartoum-tuti Bridge

Omdurman-Tuti Suspension Bridge (proposed) Khartoum North-tuti Bridge (proposed)

Other bridges

Shandi Bridge, Shendi

Atbarah Bridge, Atbarah

Merowe Dam, Merowe

Merowe Bridge, Merowe

Aswan Bridge, Aswan

Luxor Bridge, Luxor

Suhag Bridge, Suhag

Assiut Bridge, Assiut

Al Minya Bridge, Minya

Al Marazeek Bridge, Helwan

First Ring Road Bridge (Moneeb Crossing), Cairo

Abbas Bridge, Cairo

University Bridge, Cairo

Qasr El Nile Bridge, Cairo

6 October Bridge, Cairo

Abu El Ela Bridge, Cairo (removed)

New Abu El Ela Bridge, Cairo

Imbaba Bridge, Cairo

Rod Elfarag Bridge, Cairo

Second Ring Road Bridge, Cairo

Banha Bridge, Banha

Samanoud Bridge, Samanoud

Mansoura 2 Bridges, Mansoura

Talkha Bridge, Talkha

Kafr El Zayat Bridges, Kafr El Zayat

Zefta Bridge, Zefta

Crossings from Rwanda to Khartoum

Nalubaale Bridge, Jinja, Uganda (Formerly Owen Falls Bridge)

Karuma Bridge, Karuma, Uganda

Pakwach Bridge, Uganda

Images and media of the Nile

See also

Bujagali Power Station

Egyptian Public Works

Hydropolitics in the Nile Basin

Kiira Power Station

Merowe Dam

Nalubaale Power Station

Orders of magnitude (length)

References

Further reading

Tvedt, Terje, ed. ''The River Nile in the Post-Colonial Age: Conflict and Cooperation Among the Nile Basin Countries'' (I.B. Tauris, 2010) 293 pages; studies of the river's finite resources as shared by multiple nations in the post-colonial era; includes research by scholars from Burundi, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Annotated bibliography

The following is an annotated bibliography of key written documents for the Western exploration of the Nile.

;17th century

''Historia da Ethiopia'', Pedro Páez (aka Pero Pais), Portugal, 1620

:A Jesuit missionary who was sent from Goa to Ethiopia in 1589 and remained in the area until his death in 1622. Credited with being the first European to view the source of the Blue Nile which he describes in this volume.

''Voyage historique d'Abissinie'', Jerónimo Lobo (aka Girolamo Lobo), Piero Matini, Firenze; 1693

:One of the most important and earliest sources on Ethiopia and the Nile. Jerónimo Lobo (1595-1687), a Jesuit priest, stayed in Ethiopia, mostly in Tigre, for 9 years and travelled to Lake Tana and the Blue Nile, reaching the province of Damot. When the Jesuits were expelled from the country, he too had to leave and did so via Massaua and Suakin. "He was the best expert on Ethiopian matters. After Pais, Lobo is the second European to describe the sources of the Blue Nile and he did so more exactly than Bruce" (transl. from Henze).

18th century

''Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile in the Years – 1768, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773'', James Bruce of Kinnaird. J. Ruthven for G. GJ. and J. Robinson et al., Edinburgh, 1790 (5 Volumes)

:With time on his hands and at the urging of a friend, Bruce composed this account of his travels on the African continent, including comments on the history and religion of Egypt, an account of Indian trade, a history of Abyssinia, and other material. Although Bruce would not be confused with "a great scholar or a judicious critic, few books of equal compass are equally entertaining; and few such monuments exist of the energy and enterprise of a single traveller" (DNB). "The result of his travels was a very great enrichment of the knowledge of geography and ethnography" (Cox II, p. 389.) Bruce was one of the earliest westerners to search for the source of the Nile. In November of 1770 he reached the source of the Blue Nile, and though he acknowledged that the White Nile was the larger stream, he claimed that the Blue Nile was the Nile of the ancients and that he was thus the discoverer of its source. The account of his travels was written twelve years after his journey and without reference to his journals, which gave critics grounds for disbelief, but the substantial accuracy of the book has since been amply demonstrated.

1800–1850

''Egypt And Mohammed Ali, Or Travels In The Valley of The Nile'', James Augustus St. John, Longman, London, 1834

:St. John traveled extensively in Egypt and Nubia in 1832–33, mainly on foot. He gives a very interesting picture of Egyptian life and politics under Mohammed Ali, a large part of volume II deals with the Egyptian campaign in Syria.

''Travels in Ethiopia Above the Second Cateract of the Nile; Exhibiting the State of That Country and Its Various Inhabitants Under the Dominion of Mohammed Ali; and Illustrating the Antiquities, Arts, and History of the Ancient Kingdom of Meroe'', G. A.Hoskins. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, London; 1835.

''Modern Egypt and Thebes: Being a Description of Egypt; Including Information Required for Travellers in That Country'', Sir Gardner Wilkinson, John Murray, London, 1843

:The first known English travelers guide to the Lower Nile Basin.

1850–1900

''Lake Regions of Central Equatorial Africa, with Notices of The Lunar Mountains and the Sources of the White Nile; being The Results of an Expedition Undertaken under the Patronage of Her Majesty's Government and the Royal Geographical Society of London, In the Years 1857–1859'', Sir Richard Burton. W. Clowes, London; 1860

:Sir Richard Burton's presentation of his expedition with John Speke. Ultimately, Burton's view of the sources of the Nile failed and Speke's prevailed.

''Travels, researches, and missionary labours, during eighteen years' residence in eastern Africa. Together with journeys to Jagga, Usambara, Ukambani, Shoa, Abessinia, and Khartum; and a coasting voyage from Mombaz to Cape Delgado. With an appendix respecting the snow-capped mountains of eastern Africa; the sources of the Nile; the languages and literature of Abessinia And eastern Africa, etc. etc.'', Rev Dr. J. Krapf, Trubner and Co, London; 1860; Ticknor and Fields, Boston; 1860

:Krapf went to East Africa in the service of the English Church Missionary Society, arriving at Mombasa, Kenya in 1844 and staying in East Africa until 1853. While stationed there he was the first to report the existence of Lake Baringo and a sighting of the snow-clad Kilimanjaro. Krapf, during his travels, collected information from the Arab traders operating inland from the coast. From the traders Krapf and his companions learned of great lakes and snow-capped mountains, which Krapf claimed to have seen for himself, much to the ridicule of English explorers who could not believe the idea of snow on the equator. However, Krapf was correct and had seen Mounts Kilimanjaro and Kenya, the first European to do so.

''Egypt, Soudan and Central Africa: With Explorations From Khartoum on the White Nile to the Regions of the Equator, Being Sketches from Sixteen Years' Travel'', John Petherick. William Blackwood, Edinburgh; 1861

:Petherick was a well known Welsh traveler in East Central Africa where he had adopted the profession of mining engineer. This work describes sixteen years of his travel throughout Africa. In 1845, he entered the service of Mehemet Ali, and was employed in examining Upper Egypt, Nubia, the Red Sea coast and Kordofan in an unsuccessful search for coal. In 1848, he left the Egyptian service and established himself at El Obeid as a trader and was, at the same time made British Consul for the Sudan. In 1853, he removed to Khartoum and became an ivory trader. He traveled extensively in the Bahr-el-Ghazal region, then almost unknown, exploring the Jur, Yalo and other affluents of the Ghazal and in 1858 he penetrated the Niam-Niam country. Petherick's additions to the knowledge of natural history were considerable, being responsible for the discovery of a number of new species. In 1859, he returned to England where he became acquainted with John Speke, then arranging for an expedition to discover the source of the Nile. While in England, Petherick married and published this account of his travels. He got the idea to join Speke in his travels, and in this volume is an actual subscription and list of subscribers to raise money to send Petherick to join Speke. His subsequent adventures as a consul in Africa were published in a later work.

''Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile'', John Hanning Speke. William Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1863; Harper & Brothers, New York; 1864

:Speke had previously made an expedition with Sir Richard Burton under the auspices of the Indian government, during which Speke was convinced that he had discovered the source of the Nile. Burton, however, disagreed and ridiculed Speke's account. Speke set off on another expedition, recounted here, in the company of Captain Grant. During the course of this expedition he not only produced further evidence for his discoveries but also met up with Sir Samuel Baker and provided him with essential information which helped Baker in his discovery of the Albert Nyanza. The importance of Speke's discoveries can hardly be overestimated. In discovering the source reservoir of the Nile he succeeded in solving the problem of all ages; he and Grant were the first Europeans to cross Equatorial Eastern Africa and gained for the world a knowledge of about of a portion of Eastern Africa previously totally unknown.

External links

A Fact File about the Nile River

Comparison between the Nile and Amazon Rivers

Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law

Information and a map of the Nile's watershed

Essay: The Inscrutable Nile at the Beginning of the New Millennium

A Struggle Over the Nile – slideshow by ''The New York Times''

BBC: Amazon river 'longer than Nile'

John Feeney, ''The Last Nile Flood'', 2006, Saudi Aramco World

Category:Hebrew Bible rivers Category:International rivers of Africa * Category:Rivers of Egypt Category:Rivers of Sudan Category:Rivers of South Sudan Category:Rivers of Uganda Category:River regulation Category:Water transport in Egypt Category:Articles containing video clips

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Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
name	Michael Palin
birth name	Michael Edward Palin
birth date	May 05, 1943
birth place	Broomhill, Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
spouse	Helen Gibbins(married 1966 – present)
known for	Monty Python and Travel documentaries
occupation	Actor, writer, television presenter, comedian
years active	1965–present
website	Palin's Travels
children	3 }}

Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS (born 5 May 1943) is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries. Palin wrote most of his comedic material with Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows such as ''The Ken Dodd Show'', ''The Frost Report'' and ''Do Not Adjust Your Set''. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "Argument Clinic", "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", and "The Spanish Inquisition".

Palin continued to work with Jones after Python, co-writing ''Ripping Yarns''. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam and made notable appearances in other films such as ''A Fish Called Wanda'', for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In a 2005 poll to find ''The Comedian's Comedian'', he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

After Python, he began a new career as a travel writer and travel documentarian. His journeys have taken him across the world, including the North and South Poles, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and, most recently, Eastern Europe. In 2000 Palin was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to television.

Early life and career

Palin was born in Broomhill, Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, the second child and only son of Mary Rachel Lockhart (née Ovey) and Edward Moreton Palin. His father was an engineer working for a steel firm. He started his education at Birkdale Preparatory School, Sheffield, and later Shrewsbury School. His sister Angela was nine years older than he was. Despite the age gap the two had a close relationship until her suicide in 1986.

When he was five years old, Palin had his first acting experience at Birkdale playing Martha Cratchit in a school performance of ''A Christmas Carol''. At the age of 10, Palin, still interested in acting, made a comedy monologue and read a Shakespeare play to his mother while playing all the parts. After his school days in 1962 he went on to read modern history at Brasenose College, Oxford. With fellow student Robert Hewison he performed and wrote, for the first time, comedy material at a university Christmas party. Terry Jones, also a student in Oxford, saw that performance and began writing together with Hewison and Palin. In the same year Palin joined the Brightside and Carbrook Co-Operative Society Players and first gained fame when he won an acting award at a Co-Op drama festival. He also performed in the Oxford Revue with Jones.

In 1966 he married Helen Gibbins, whom he first met in 1959 on holiday in Southwold in Suffolk, where he has returned in recent years to live. This meeting was later fictionalised in Palin's play ''East of Ipswich''. The couple have three children and a grandchild. His youngest child, Rachel (b.1975) is a BBC TV director, whose work includes Masterchef: The Professionals, shown on BBC2 throughout October and November 2010. While still a baby, his son William briefly appeared in ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' as "Sir Not-appearing-in-this-film". His nephew is the theatre designer Jeremy Herbert.

After finishing university in 1965 Palin became a presenter on a comedy pop show called ''Now!'' for the television contractor Television Wales and the West. At the same time Palin was contacted by Jones, who had left university a year earlier, for assistance in writing a theatrical documentary about sex through the ages. Although this project was eventually abandoned, it brought Palin and Jones together as a writing duo and led them to write comedy for various BBC programmes, such as ''The Ken Dodd Show'', ''The Billy Cotton Bandshow'', and ''The Illustrated Weekly Hudd''. They collaborated in writing lyrics for an album by Barry Booth called Diversions. They were also in the team of writers working for ''The Frost Report'', whose other members included Frank Muir, Barry Cryer, Marty Feldman, Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett, Dick Vosburgh, and future Monty Python members Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Eric Idle. Although the members of Monty Python had already encountered each other over the years, ''The Frost Report'' was the first time all the British members of Monty Python (its sixth member, Terry Gilliam, was at that time an American citizen) worked together. During the run of ''The Frost Report'' the Palin/Jones team contributed material to two shows starring John Bird: ''The Late Show'' and ''A series of Bird's''. For ''A series of Bird's'' the Palin/Jones team had their first experience of writing narrative instead of the short sketches they were accustomed to conceiving.

Following ''The Frost Report'' the Palin/Jones team worked both as actors and writers on the show ''Twice a Fortnight'' with Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Jonathan Lynn, and the successful children's comedy show ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' with Idle and David Jason. The show also featured musical numbers by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, including future Monty Python musical collaborator Neil Innes. The animations for ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' were made by Terry Gilliam, who joined the cast on Cleese's recommendation and began working with the Palin/Jones team for the first time. Eager to work with Palin sans Jones, Cleese later asked him to perform in ''How to Irritate People'' together with Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor. The Palin/Jones team were reunited for ''The Complete and Utter History of Britain''.

During this period Cleese contacted Palin about doing the show that would ultimately become ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. On the strength of their work on ''The Frost Report'' and other programmes, Cleese and Chapman had been offered a show by the BBC, but Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, among them Chapman's reputedly difficult personality. At the same time the success of ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' had led Palin, Jones, Idle, and Gilliam to be offered their own series and, while it was still in production, Palin agreed to Cleese's proposal and brought along Idle, Jones, and Gilliam. Thus the formation of the Monty Python troupe has been referred to as a result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold.

''Monty Python''

In ''Monty Python'', Palin played various roles, which ranged from manic enthusiasm (such as the lumberjack of the Lumberjack Song, or host of the game show "Blackmail") to unflappable calmness (such as the Dead Parrot vendor, Cheese Shop proprietor, or Postal Clerk). As a straight man he was often a foil to the rising ire of characters portrayed by John Cleese. He also played timid, socially inept characters such as Arthur Putey, the man who sits idly by as a marriage counsellor (Eric Idle) makes love to his wife (Carol Cleveland), and Mr. Anchovy, a chartered accountant who wants to become a lion tamer. He also appeared as the "It's" man at the beginning of most episodes.

Palin frequently co-wrote sketches with Terry Jones, including "The Lumberjack Song" and "Spam". Palin also initiated the "Spanish Inquisition sketch", which included the catchphrase "''Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

Other work

After the ''Monty Python'' television series ended in 1974, the Palin/Jones team worked on ''Ripping Yarns'', an intermittent television comedy series broadcast over three years from 1976. They had earlier collaborated on the play ''Secrets'' from the BBC series ''Black and Blue'' in 1973. He starred as Dennis the Peasant in Terry Gilliam's 1977 film ''Jabberwocky''. Palin also appeared in ''All You Need Is Cash'' (1978) as Eric Manchester (based on Derek Taylor), the press agent for The Rutles.

In 1980, Palin co-wrote ''Time Bandits'' with Terry Gilliam. He also acted in the film.

In 1982, Palin wrote and starred in ''The Missionary'', co-starring Maggie Smith. In it, he plays the Reverend Charles Fortescue, who is recalled from Africa to aid prostitutes.

In 1984, he reunited with Terry Gilliam to appear in ''Brazil''. He appeared in the comedy film ''A Fish Called Wanda'', for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Cleese reunited the main cast almost a decade later to make ''Fierce Creatures''.

After filming for ''Fierce Creatures'' finished, Palin went on a travel journey for a BBC documentary and, returning a year later, found that the end of ''Fierce Creatures'' had failed at test screenings and had to be reshot.

Apart from ''Fierce Creatures'', Palin's last film role was a small part in ''The Wind in the Willows'', a film directed by and starring Terry Jones. Palin also appeared with John Cleese in his documentary, ''The Human Face''. Palin was in the cast of ''You've Got Mail'', the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan romantic comedy as a subplot novelist, but his role was eventually cut entirely.

He also assisted Campaign for Better Transport and others with campaigns on sustainable transport, particularly those relating to urban areas, and has been president of the campaign since 1986.

Palin has also appeared in serious drama. In 1991 Palin worked as producer and actor in the film ''American Friends'' based upon a real event in the life of his great grandfather, a fellow at St John's College, Oxford. In that same year he also played the part of a headmaster in Alan Bleasdale's Channel 4 drama series ''G.B.H.''.

Palin also had a small cameo role in Australian soap opera ''Home and Away''. He played an English surfer with a fear of sharks, who interrupts a conversation between two main characters to ask whether there were any sharks in the sea. This was filmed while he was in Australia for the ''Full Circle'' series, with a segment about the filming of the role featuring in the series.

Television documentaries

Travel

Palin's first travel documentary was part of the 1980 BBC Television series ''Great Railway Journeys of the World'', in which, humorously reminiscing about his childhood hobby of train spotting, he travelled throughout the UK by train, from London to the Kyle of Lochalsh, via Manchester, York, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Edinburgh and Inverness. At the Kyle of Lochalsh, Palin bought the station's long metal platform sign and is seen lugging it back to London with him.

In 1994, Palin travelled through Ireland for the same series, entitled "Derry to Kerry". In a quest for family roots, he attempted to trace his great grandmother – Brita Gallagher – who set sail from Ireland 150 years ago during the Great Famine (1845–1849), bound for a new life in Burlington, New Jersey. The series is a trip along the Palin family line.

Starting in 1989, Palin appeared as presenter in a series of travel programmes made for the BBC. It was after the veteran TV globetrotter Alan Whicker and journalist Miles Kington turned down presenting the first of these, ''Around the World in 80 Days'', that gave Palin the opportunity to present his first and subsequent travel shows. These programmes have been broadcast around the world in syndication, and were also sold on VHS tape and later on DVD:

''Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days'' (Travel 1988; Programme release 1989): travelling as closely as possible the path described in the famous Jules Verne story without using aircraft.

''Pole to Pole'' (Travel 1991; Programme release 1992): travelling from the North Pole to the South Pole, following as closely as possible the 30 degree line of longitude, over as much land as possible, i.e., through Europe and Africa.

''Full Circle with Michael Palin'' (Travel 1996/97; Programme release 1997): in which he circumnavigated the lands around the Pacific Ocean counter-clockwise; a journey of 80,000 kilometres starting on Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait and taking him through Asia, Oceania and the Americas.

''Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure'' (1999): retracing the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway through the United States, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean.

''Sahara with Michael Palin'' (Travel 2001/02; Programme release 2002): in which he trekked around and through the world's largest desert.

''Himalaya with Michael Palin'' (Travel 2003/04; Programme release 2004): in which he travels through the Himalaya region.

''Michael Palin's New Europe'' (Travel 2006/07; Programme release 2007): in which he travels through Central and Eastern Europe.

Following each trip, Palin wrote a book about his travels, providing information and insights not included in the TV programme. Each book is illustrated with photographs by Basil Pao, the stills photographer who was on the team. (Exception: the first book, ''Around the World in 80 Days'', contains some pictures by Pao but most are by other photographers.)

All seven of these books were also made available as audio books, and all of them are read by Palin himself. ''Around the World in 80 Days'' and ''Hemingway Adventure'' are unabridged, while the other four books were made in both abridged and unabridged versions, although the unabridged versions can be very difficult to find.

For four of the trips a photography book was made by Pao, each with an introduction written by Palin. These are large coffee-table style books with pictures printed on glossy paper. The majority of the pictures are of various people encountered on the trip, as informal portraits or showing them engaged in some interesting activity. Some of the landscape photos are displayed as two-page spreads.

Palin's travel programmes are responsible for a phenomenon termed the "Palin effect": areas of the world that he has visited suddenly become popular tourist attractions – for example, the significant increase in the number of tourists interested in Peru after Palin visited Machu Picchu. In a 2006 survey of "15 of the world's top travel writers" by ''The Observer'', Palin named Peru's Pongo de Mainique (canyon below the Machu Picchu) his "favourite place in the world".

He is currenly working on a new TV travel series and book about Brazil which is expected to be broadcast in four parts in Autumn 2012.

Art and history

In recent years, Palin has written and presented occasional documentary programmes on artists that interest him. The first, on Scottish painter Anne Redpath, was ''Palin on Redpath'' in 1997. In ''The Bright Side of Life'' (2000), Palin continued on a Scottish theme, looking at the work of the Scottish Colourists. Two further programmes followed on European painters; ''Michael Palin and the Ladies Who Loved Matisse'' (2004) and ''Michael Palin and the Mystery of Hammershøi'' (2005), about the French artist Henri Matisse and Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi respectively. The DVD ''Michael Palin on Art'' contains all these documentaries except for the Matisse programme.

In November 2008, Palin presented a First World War documentary about Armistice Day, 11 November 1918, when thousands of soldiers lost their lives in battle after the war had officially ended. Palin filmed on the battlefields of northern France and Belgium for the programme, called ''The Last Day of World War One'', produced for the BBC's ''Timewatch'' series.

Activism

In July 2010, Palin sent a message of support for the Dongria Kondh tribe of India, who are resisting a mine on their land by the company Vedanta Resources. Palin said, "I’ve been to the Nyamgiri Hills in Orissa and seen the forces of money and power that Vedanta Resources have arrayed against a people who have occupied their land for thousands of years, who husband the forest sustainably and make no great demands on the state or the government. The tribe I visited simply want to carry on living in the villages that they and their ancestors have always lived in".

On 2 January 2011 Palin became the first person to sign the UK-based Campaign for Better Transport's Fair Fares Now campaign.

Recognition

Each member of Monty Python has an asteroid named after him. Palin's is Asteroid 9621 Michaelpalin.

In honour of his achievements as a traveller, especially rail travel, Palin has two British trains named after him. In 2002, Virgin Trains' new £5m high speed Super Voyager train number 221130 was named "Michael Palin" – it carries his name externally and a plaque is located adjacent to the onboard shop with information on Palin and his many journeys. Also, National Express East Anglia have named a British Rail Class 153 (unit number 153335) after him. In 2008, he received the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society in Dublin.

Palin was instrumental in setting up the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children in 1993.

In recognition of his services to the promotion of geography, Palin was awarded the Livingstone Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in March 2009, along with a Fellowship to the Society.

In June 2009 Palin was elected for a three-year term as President of the Royal Geographical Society.

Because of his self-described "amenable, conciliatory character" Michael Palin has been referred to as unofficially "Britain's Nicest Man."

Bibliography

Travel books

''Around the World in 80 Days'' (1989) ISBN 0-563-20826-0

''Pole to Pole'' (1992) ISBN 0-563-37065-3

''Full Circle'' (1997) ISBN 0-563-37121-8

''Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure'' (1999) ISBN 0-297-82528-3

''Sahara'' (2002) ISBN 0-297-84303-6

''Himalaya'' (2004) ISBN 0-297-84371-0

''New Europe'' (2007) ISBN 0-297-84449-0

All his travel books can be read at no charge, complete and unabridged, on his website.

Autobiography (contributor)

''The Pythons'' Autobiography by The Pythons (2003) ISBN 0-7528-5293-0

Diaries

''Diaries 1969–1979''. 2006. ISBN 0-297-84436-9

''Diaries 1980–1988: Halfway to Hollywood – The Film Years''. London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2009. ISBN 978-0-297-84440-2

Fiction

''Hemingway's chair'' (1995) ISBN 0-7493-1930-5

''Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls'' w/Terry Jones, illus Martin Honeysett, Frank Bellamy et al. (1974) ISBN 0-413-32740-X

''Dr Fegg's Encyclopaedia of all world knowledge'' (1984) (expanded reprint of the above, with Terry Jones and Martin Honeysett) ISBN 0-8722-6005-4

Children's books

''Small Harry and the Toothache Pills'' (1982) ISBN 0-416-23690-1

''Limerics'' or ''The Limerick Book'' (1985) ISBN 0-09-161540-2

''Cyril and the House of Commons'' (1986) ISBN 1-85145-078-5

''Cyril and the Dinner Party'' (1986) ISBN 1-85145-069-6

''The Mirrorstone'' with Alan Lee and Richard Seymour (1986) ISBN 0-224-02408-6

Plays

''The Weekend'' (1994) ISBN 0-413-68940-9

Selected filmography

''And Now for Something Completely Different'' (1971)

''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975)

''Three Men in a Boat'' (1975)

''Jabberwocky'' (1977)

''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979)

''Time Bandits'' (1981)

''Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' (1982)

''The Missionary'' (1982)

''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' (1983)

''A Private Function'' (1984)

''Brazil'' (1985)

''A Fish Called Wanda'' (1988)

''American Friends'' (1991)

''The Wind in the Willows'' (1996)

''The Willows in Winter'' (1996)

''Fierce Creatures'' (1997)

''Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)'' (2010)

Television

''Now!'' (October 1965 – middle 1966)

''The Ken Dodd Show''

''Billy Cotton Bandshow''

''The Illustrated Weekly Hudd''

''The Frost Report''. (10 March 1966 – 29 June 1967)

''The Late Show'' (15 October 1966 – 1 April 1967)

''A Series of Bird's'' (1967) (3 October 1967 – 21 November 1967 screenwriter (guest stars)

''Twice a Fortnight'' (21 October 1967 – 23 December 1967)

''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' (26 December 1967 – 14 May 1969)

''Broaden Your Mind'' (1968)

''How to Irritate People'' (1968)

''Marty (TV series)'' (1968)

''The Complete and Utter History of Britain'' (1969)

''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (5 October 1969 – 5 December 1974)

''Saturday Night Live'' (Hosted 27 January 1979) with Musical Guests The Doobie Brothers

''Ripping Yarns'' (1976–1979)

''Great Railway Journeys of the World'', episode title "Confessions of a Trainspotter" (1980)

''East of Ipswich'' (1987) writer

''Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days'' (1989)

''GBH'' (1991)

''Pole to Pole'' (1992)

''Great Railway Journeys'', episode title "Derry to Kerry" (1994)

''Full Circle with Michael Palin'' (1997)

''Palin On Redpath'' (1997)

''Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure'' (1999)

''Michael Palin On... The Colourists'' (2000)

''Sahara with Michael Palin'' (2002)

''Life on Air'' (2002)

''Himalaya with Michael Palin'' (2004)

''Michael Palin's New Europe'' (2007)

''Around the World in 20 Years'' (30 December 2008)

Awards

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films

1982 Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Writing for ''Time Bandits'' (shared with Terry Gilliam)

Evening Standard British Film Awards

1986 Won – "Peter Sellers Award for Comedy"

Writers' Guild of Great Britain

1991 Won – Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for "Film – Screenplay" for ''American Friends'' (shared with Tristram Powell)

DVD Exclusive Awards

2001 Nominated – "Video Premiere Award for Best Audio Commentary" for ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (shared with John Cleese and Eric Idle)

British Comedy Awards

2002 Won – British Comedy Award for "Lifetime Achievement"

BAFTA Awards

1984 Nominated – BAFTA Award for "Best Original Song" (the award was discontinued after the 1985 ceremonies) for Every Sperm is Sacred from ''The Meaning of Life'' (shared with André Jacquemin, Dave Howman and Terry Jones)

1989 Won – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for ''A Fish Called Wanda'' (as ''Ken Pile'')

1992 Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for ''G.B.H.''

2005 Won – BAFTA Special Award

2009 Won – BAFTA Special Award as part of the Monty Python team for outstanding contribution to film and television

References

Further reading

Novick, Jeremy (2001), ''Life of Michael: an Illustrated Biography of Michael Palin'' Headline Publishing (a division of Hodder Headline) ISBN 0747235295

Ross, Robert (1997). ''Monty Python Encyclopedia'' B.T. Batsford Ltd, London ISBN 1-57500-036-9

Wilmut, Roger (1980). ''From Fringe to Flying Circus: Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980'' Eyre Methuen Ltd ISBN 0-413-50770-X

Jones, Mark (2010), ''The Famous Charisma Discography'' The Record Press/Bristol Folk Publications ISBN 978-0-9563531-1-5 – discography of Monty Python's record label, includes foreword by Michael Palin

External links

Michael Palin – BBC Guide to Comedy

Michael Palin – Comedy Zone

Palin's Travels – official website for the travel series

Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children

Michael Palin: A Life in Pictures – BAFTA event at Ely Cathedral

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Category:Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:English comedians Category:English comedy writers Category:English diarists Category:English film actors Category:English screenwriters Category:English television actors Category:English television presenters Category:English television writers Category:English travel writers Category:Honorary Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford Category:Monty Python members Category:Old Salopians Category:Old Birkdalians Category:People from Sheffield Category:People from Suffolk Category:Sheffield Legends

an:Michael Palin bg:Майкъл Пейлин ca:Michael Palin cs:Michael Palin cy:Michael Palin da:Michael Palin de:Michael Palin es:Michael Palin eu:Michael Palin fr:Michael Palin hr:Michael Palin it:Michael Palin he:מייקל פאלין hu:Michael Palin mk:Мајкл Палин nl:Michael Palin ja:マイケル・ペイリン no:Michael Palin pl:Michael Palin pt:Michael Palin ro:Michael Palin ru:Пейлин, Майкл sq:Michael Palin simple:Michael Palin sk:Michael Palin sh:Michael Palin fi:Michael Palin sv:Michael Palin tr:Michael Palin

Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
name	Augustus Pablo
background	non_performing_personnel
birth name	Horace Swaby
birth date	June 21, 1954
death date	May 18, 1999
origin	St. Andrew, Jamaica
instrument	Keyboard, melodica
genre	Roots reggae, dub
occupation	Record producer, instrumentalist
years active	1970s–1999
associated acts	Now Generation
notable instruments	}}

Horace Swaby (June 21, 1954 – May 18, 1999), better known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer, melodica player and keyboardist, active from the 1970s onwards. He popularized the use of the melodica (an instrument at that time primarily used to teach children music in the Jamaican public schools) in reggae music. He was a committed Rastafarian.

Biography

He was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica and learned to play the organ at the Kingston College School. It was at that point an unnamed girl lent him the melodica. Fascinated by the instrument, Pablo rarely put it down. He also met Herman Chin Loy, who after working at his cousin Leslie Kong's ''Beverley's'' record shop, had set up his own ''Aquarius'' store in Half Way Tree. Swaby recorded early tracks including "Higgi Higgi", "East of the River Nile", "Song of the East", and "The Red Sea" between 1971 and 1973 for Chin-Loy's Aquarius Records. Chin Loy had previously used the name Augustus Pablo generically for keyboard instrumentals recorded by Lloyd Charmers and Glen Adams, and Swaby took the name for this recording.

"East of the River Nile", a unique blend of East Asian and Jamaican sounds, became a moderate hit. He soon joined Now Generation (Mikey Chung's band) and played the keyboard with them while his friend Clive Chin began his own career as a record producer. Pablo and Chin recorded "Java" (1972) together, as soon as Pablo quit Now Generation and Clive was able to get the studio time. This instrumental was a massive hit and launched Pablo's solo career. He recorded with Chin and various others, including Leonard Chin, his uncle, and Lee Perry. He scored another smash hit with "My Desire" (John Holt).

Pablo formed the labels Hot Stuff, Message and Rockers (named after his brother's soundsystem, Rockers), and released a steady stream of well-received instrumentals, mostly versions of older hits from Studio One. In spite of his success with Rockers, Pablo's 1974 album, ''This Is Augustus Pablo'' was recorded with Clive and Pat Chin. This was followed by a collaboration with the legendary reggae engineer King Tubby, 1975's ''Ital Dub''.

In the later 1970s, Pablo produced a steady stream of hits, including the hit "Black Star Liner" (Fred Locks). He also worked with Dillinger, Norris Reid, I-Roy, Jacob Miller, Te -Track, The Immortals, Paul Blackman, Earl Sixteen, Roman Stewart, Lacksley Castell, The Heptones, Bob Marley, Ricky Grant, Delroy Wilson, Junior Delgado, Horace Andy and Freddy McKay. This period was eventually commemorated with critically acclaimed LPs including ''King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown'' (1976) and Hugh Mundell's classic ''Africa Must be Free by 1983''. This was followed by ''East of the River Nile'' (1978), ''Original Rockers'' (1979) and ''Rockers Meets King Tubby in a Firehouse'', another acclaimed hit album.

In the 1980s, Pablo's career slowed significantly. In 1980, he appeared on the soundtrack of the documentary ''D.O.A''. He had begun to establish an American audience and released ''Rising Sun'' in 1986 to good reviews and sales. Pablo also produced memorable hits, including "Ragamuffin Year" (Junior Delgado), "Humble Yourself" (Asher & Tremble) and "Far Far Away" (Ricky Grant). In addition, he toured extensively throughout the world, making a memorable live album in Tokyo in 1987. That same year, ''Rockers Come East'' re-established his career and he began to release a series of critically acclaimed though somewhat inaccessible albums in the 1990s, including ''Blowing With the Wind'' and also producing several, such as "Night & Day" (single)'' (Dawn Penn) and "Jah Made Them All" (Yami Bolo).

Augustus Pablo died as a result of a collapsed lung on 18 May 1999. He had been suffering for some time from the nerve disorder Myasthenia gravis.

Selected discography

''This Is...Augustus Pablo'' (1974)

''Thriller'' (1974)

''Ital Dub'' (1974)

''King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown'' (1976)

''East of the River Nile'' (1977)

''Original Rockers'' (1979)

''Africa Must Be Free by... 1983 Dub'' (1979)

''Rockers Meets King Tubby in a Firehouse'' (1980)

''Authentic Golden Melodies'' (1980)

''Earth's Rightful Ruler'' (1982)

''King David's Melody'' (1983)

''Rising Sun'' (1986)

''Rebel Rock Reggae'' (1986)

''Rockers Come East'' (1987)

''Eastman Dub'' (1988)

''Presents Rockers Story'' (1989)

''Blowing with the Wind'' (1990)

''Presents Rockers International Showcase'' (1991)

''Meets King Tubby at the Control in Roots Vibes'' (1996)

''Red Sea'' (1998)

''Valley of Jehosaphat'' (1999)

''El Rocker's'' (2000)

''The Great Pablo'' (2000)

''Dubbing with the Don'' (2001)

''Jah Inspiration'' (2001)

''Skanking with Pablo: Melodica for Hire 1971–77'' (2002)

''In Fine Style: 7" & 12" Selection 1973–79'' (2003)

''The Essential Augustus Pablo'' (2005)

''Augustus Pablo Meets Lee Perry & the Wailers Band (Rare Dubs 1970–1971)'' (2006)

''The Mystic World of Augustus Pablo: The Rockers Story'' (2008)

References

External links

Category:1953 births Category:1999 deaths Category:Dub musicians Category:Keyboardists Category:Melodica players Category:People from Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica Category:Jamaican reggae musicians Category:Jamaican record producers Category:Jamaican Rastafarians Category:Deaths from respiratory failure

de:Augustus Pablo es:Augustus Pablo eu:Augustus Pablo fr:Augustus Pablo it:Augustus Pablo ht:Augustus Pablo hu:Augustus Pablo nl:Augustus Pablo nds-nl:Augustus Pablo ja:オーガスタス・パブロ no:Augustus Pablo pl:Augustus Pablo pt:Augustus Pablo sl:Augustus Pablo sv:Augustus Pablo

Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
name	The Riot
director	Mack Sennett
starring	Fatty Arbuckle
released	11 August, 1913
country
language	SilentEnglish intertitles
followed by	}}

''The Riot'' is a 1913 short comedy film directed by Mack Sennett and starring Fatty Arbuckle.

Cast

Phyllis Allen

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Alice Davenport

Hank Mann

Charles Murray

Mabel Normand

Ford Sterling

Al St. John

See also

List of American films of 1913

Fatty Arbuckle filmography

References

External links

Category:1913 films Category:American films Category:1910s comedy films Category:Short films Category:Silent films Category:Black-and-white films Category:Films directed by Mack Sennett

Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
name	Haile Selassie I
religion	Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
reign	2 November 1930–12 September 1974 ()
coronation	2 November 1930
titles	Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Lord of Lords, King of Kings of Ethiopia and Elect of God
full name	Ras Tafari Makonnen
succession	Emperor of Ethiopia
predecessor	Zewditu I
successor	''De jure'' Amha Selassie I (crowned in exile)
succession1	Head of State of Ethiopia
predecessor1	Zewditu I
successor1	Aman Andom (as Chairman of the Derg)
spouse	Empress Menen
issue	Princess Romanework Princess Tenagnework Asfaw Wossen Princess Zenebework Princess Tsehai Prince Makonnen Prince Sahle Selassie
house	House of Solomon
father	Ras Makonnen Woldemikael Gudessa
mother	Weyziro Yeshimebet Ali Abajifar
birth date	July 23, 1892
birth place	Ejersa Goro, Ethiopia
death date	August 27, 1975
death place	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia }}

Name	Haile Selassie
Order	1st & 5th
Office	Chairman of the Organization of African Unity
Term start	25 May 1963
Term end	17 July 1964
Successor	Gamal Abdel Nasser
Term start2	5 November 1966
Term end2	11 September 1967
Predecessor2	Joseph Arthur Ankrah
Successor2	Joseph-Désiré Mobutu }}

Haile Selassie I (Ge'ez: , "Power of the Trinity") (23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975), born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. The heir to a dynasty that traced its origins to the 13th century, and from there by tradition back to King Solomon and Queen Makeda, Empress of Axum, known in the Abrahamic tradition as the Queen of Sheba. Haile Selassie is a defining figure in both Ethiopian and African history.

At the League of Nations in 1936, the Emperor condemned the use of chemical weapons by Italy against his people. His internationalist views led to Ethiopia becoming a charter member of the United Nations, and his political thought and experience in promoting multilateralism and collective security have proved seminal and enduring. His suppression of rebellions among the nobles (''mekwannint''), as well as what some perceived to be Ethiopia's failure to modernize adequately, earned him criticism among some contemporaries and historians.

Haile Selassie is revered as the returned Messiah of the Bible, God incarnate, among the Rastafari movement, the number of followers of which is estimated between 200,000 and 800,000. Begun in Jamaica in the 1930s, the Rastafari movement perceives Haile Selassie as a messianic figure who will lead a future golden age of eternal peace, righteousness, and prosperity. He himself remained an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian throughout his life.

Name

Haile Selassie was born Lij Tafari Makonnen (Amharic ; Amharic pronunciation ''lij teferī mekōnnin''). "Lij" translates literally to "child", and serves to indicate that a youth is of noble blood. He would later become Ras Tafari Makonnen; "Ras" translates literally to "head" and is the equivalent of "duke", though it is often rendered in translation as "prince". ''Tafari'', his given name, in Amharic means "one who is respected", while ''Haile'' literally means in Ge'ez "Power of" and Selassie means trinity (i.e. Haile Selassie "Power of the Trinity") his coronation name in 1930 (''Haile Selassie'' was also his Christian baptismal name as an infant). In 1916 during the reign of the Empress Zauditu, she gave him the position of a regent and in 1928 this position was elevated, as she granted him the throne of Shoa, his title was then elevated to Negus, "King".

On November 2, 1930, after the death of Empress Zauditu, Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned emperor, upon his ascension to Emperor, he took as his regnal name "Haile Selassie", meaning "Power of the Trinity". Haile Selassie's full title in office was "His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and Elect of God" (Ge'ez ; ''''). This title reflects Ethiopian dynastic traditions, which hold that all monarchs must trace their lineage back to Menelik I, who in the Ethiopian tradition was the offspring of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

To Ethiopians Haile Selassie has been known by many names, including Janhoy, Talaqu Meri, and Abba Tekel. The Rastafari employ many of these appellations, also referring to him as HIM, Jah, and Jah Rastafari.

Biography

Early life

Haile Selassie I's royal line (through his father's mother) originated from the Amhara people, but he also had Oromo, Tigray people, and Gurage roots. He was born on 23 July 1892, in the village of Ejersa Goro, in the Harar province of Ethiopia. His mother was Woizero ("Lady") Yeshimebet Ali Abajifar, daughter of the renowned Oromo ruler of Wollo province Dejazmach Ali Abajifar. Haile Selassie's father was Ras Makonnen Woldemikael Gudessa, the governor of Harar; Ras Makonnen served as a general in the First Italo–Ethiopian War, playing a key role at the Battle of Adwa. He inherited his imperial blood through his paternal grandmother, Woizero Tenagnework Sahle Selassie, who was an aunt of Emperor Menelik II, and daughter of Negus Sahle Selassie of Shewa, and as such asserted direct descent from Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of ancient Israel.

Ras Makonnen arranged for Tafari as well as his first cousin, Ras Imru Haile Selassie to receive instruction in Harar from Abba Samuel Wolde Kahin, an Ethiopian capuchin monk, and from Dr. Vitalien, a surgeon from Guadeloupe. Tafari was named Dejazmach (literally "commander of the gate", roughly equivalent to "count") at the age of 13, on 1 November 1905. Shortly thereafter, his father Ras Makonnen died at Kulibi, in 1906.

Governorship

Tafari assumed the titular governorship of Selale in 1906, a realm of marginal importance but one that enabled him to continue his studies. In 1907, he was appointed governor over part of the province of Sidamo. It is alleged that during his late teens, Haile Selassie was married to ''Woizero'' Altayech, and that from this union, his daughter Romanework Haile Selassie was born.

Following the death of his brother Yelma in 1907, the governorate of Harar was left vacant, and its administration was left to Menelik's loyal general, ''Dejazmach'' Balcha Safo. Balcha Safo's administration of Harar was ineffective, and so during the last illness of Menelik II, and the brief reign of Empress Taitu Bitul, Tafari was made governor of Harar in 1910 or 1911.

On 3 August he married Menen Asfaw of Ambassel, niece of heir to the throne Lij Iyasu.

Regency

The extent to which Tafari Makonnen contributed to the movement that would come to depose Iyasu V is unclear. Iyasu V, or Lij Iyasu, was the designated but uncrowned Emperor of Ethiopia from 1913 to 1916. Iyasu's reputation for scandalous behavior and a disrespectful attitude towards the nobles at the court of his grandfather, Menelik II, damaged his reputation. His flirtation with Islam was considered treasonous among the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian leadership of the empire. On 27 September 1916, Iyasu was deposed.

Contributing to the movement that deposed Iyasu were conservatives such as ''Fitawrari'' Habte Giyorgis, Menelik II's longtime Minister of War. The movement to depose Iyasu preferred Tafari, as he attracted support from both progressive and conservative factions. Ultimately, Iyasu was deposed on the grounds of conversion to Islam. In his place, the daughter of Menelik II ( the aunt of Iyasu) was named Empress Zewditu and made Regent for Tafari during his minority. Tafari was elevated to the rank of ''Ras'' and was made heir apparent and Crown Prince. In the power arrangement that followed, Tafari accepted the role of Regent Plenipotentiary (''Balemulu 'Inderase'') and became the ''de facto'' ruler of the Ethiopian Empire (''Mangista Ityop'p'ya''). Zewditu would govern while Tafari would administer.

While Iyasu had been deposed on 27 September 1916, on 8 October the ''coup d'etat'' went awry. Iyasu managed to escape into the Ogaden Desert and his father, ''Negus'' Mikael of Wollo, had time to come to his aid. On 27 October, ''Negus'' Mikael and his army met an army under ''Fitawrari'' Habte Giyorgis loyal to Zewditu and Tafari. During the Battle of Segale, ''Negus'' Mikael was defeated and captured. Any chance that Iyasu would regain the throne was ended and he went into hiding. On 11 January 1921, after avoiding capture for about five years, Iyasu was taken into custody by Gugsa Araya Selassie.

On 11 February 1917, the coronation for Zewditu took place. She pledged to rule justly through her Regent, Tafari. While Tafari was the more visible of the two, Zewditu was far from an honorary ruler. Her position required that she arbitrate the claims of competing factions. In other words, she had the last word. Tafari carried the burden of daily administration but, because his position was relatively weak, this was often an exercise in futility for him. Initially his personal army was poorly equipped, his finances were limited, and he had little leverage to withstand the combined influence of the Empress, the Minister of War, or the provincial governors. but without effect: the internationally scorned practice persisted well into Haile Selassie's reign.

Travel abroad

In 1924, ''Ras'' Tafari toured Europe and the Middle East visiting Jerusalem, Cairo, Alexandria, Brussels, Amsterdam, Stockholm, London, Geneva, and Athens. With him on his tour was a group that included ''Ras'' Seyum Mangasha of western Tigre Province, ''Ras'' Hailu Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam Province, ''Ras'' Mulugeta Yeggazu of Illubabor Province, ''Ras'' Makonnen Endelkachew, and ''Blattengeta'' Heruy Welde Sellase. The primary goal of the trip to Europe was for Ethiopia to gain access to the sea. In Paris, Tafari was to find out from the French Foreign Ministry (''Quai d'Orsay'') that this goal would not be realized. However, failing this, he and his retinue inspected schools, hospitals, factories, and churches. Although patterning many reforms after European models, Tafari remained wary of European pressure. To guard against economic imperialism, Tafari required that all enterprises have at least partial local ownership. Of his modernization campaign, he remarked, "We need European progress only because we are surrounded by it. That is at once a benefit and a misfortune."

Throughout ''Ras'' Tafari's travels in Europe, the Levant, and Egypt, he and his entourage were greeted with enthusiasm and fascination. He was accompanied by Seyum Mangasha and Hailu Tekle Haymanot who, like Tafari, were sons of generals who contributed to the victorious war against Italy a quarter century earlier at the Battle of Adwa. Another member of his entourage, Mulugeta Yeggazu, actually fought at Adwa as a young man. The "Oriental Dignity" of the Ethiopians and their "rich, picturesque court dress" were sensationalized in the media; among his entourage he even included a pride of lions, which he distributed as gifts to President Alexandre Millerand and Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré of France, to King George V of the United Kingdom, and to the Zoological Garden (''Jardin Zoologique'') of Paris. As one historian noted, "Rarely can a tour have inspired so many anecdotes". In return for two lions, the United Kingdom presented ''Ras'' Tafari with the imperial crown of Emperor Tewodros II for its safe return to Empress Zewditu. The crown had been taken by Robert Napier during the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia.

In this period, the Crown Prince visited the Armenian monastery of Jerusalem. There, he adopted 40 Armenian orphans (አርባ ልጆች ''Arba Lijoch'', "forty children"), who had lost their parents in Ottoman massacres. ''Ras'' Tafari arranged for the musical education of the youths, and they came to form the imperial brass band.

King and Emperor

In 1928, the authority of ''Ras'' Tafari Makonnen was challenged when ''Dejazmatch'' Balcha Safo went to Addis Ababa with a sizeable armed force. When Tafari consolidated his hold over the provinces, many of Menilek's appointees refused to abide by the new regulations. Balcha Safo, Governor (''Shum'') of coffee-rich Sidamo Province was particularly troublesome. The revenues he remitted to the central government did not reflect the accrued profits and Tafari recalled him to Addis Ababa. The old man came in high dudgeon and, insultingly, with a large army. The ''Dejazmatch'' paid homage to Empress Zewditu, but snubbed ''Ras'' Tafari. On 18 February, while Balcha Safo and his personal bodyguard were in Addis Ababa, ''Ras'' Tafari had ''Ras'' Kassa Haile Darge buy off his army and arrange to have him displaced as the ''Shum'' of Sidamo Province by Birru Wolde Gabriel who himself was replaced by Desta Damtew. In September, a group of palace reactionaries including some of the courtiers of the Empress, made a final bid to get rid of Tafari. The attempted ''coup d'état'' was tragic in its origins and comic in its end. When confronted by Tafari and a company of his troops, the ringleaders of the coup took refuge on the palace grounds in Menilek's mausoleum. Tafari and his men surrounded them only to be surrounded themselves by the personal guard of Zewditu. More of Tafari's khaki clad soldiers arrived and, with superiority of arms, decided the outcome in his favor. Popular support, as well as the support of the police, remained with Tafari. Ultimately, the Empress relented and, on 7 October 1928, she crowned Tafari as ''Negus'' (Amharic: "King").

The crowning of Tafari as King was controversial. He occupied the same territory as the Empress rather than going off to a regional kingdom of the empire. Two monarchs, even with one being the vassal and the other the Emperor (in this case Empress), had never occupied the same location as their seat in Ethiopian history. Conservatives agitated to redress this perceived insult to the dignity of the crown, leading to the rebellion of ''Ras'' Gugsa Welle. Gugsa Welle was the husband of the Empress and the ''Shum'' of Begemder Province. In early 1930, he raised an army and marched it from his governorate at Gondar towards Addis Ababa. On 31 March 1930, Gugsa Welle was met by forces loyal to ''Negus'' Tafari and was defeated at the Battle of Anchem. Gugsa Welle was killed in action. News of Gugsa Welle's defeat and death had hardly spread through Addis Ababa when the Empress died suddenly on 2 April 1930. Although it was long rumored that the Empress was poisoned upon the defeat of her husband, or alternately that she died from shock upon hearing of the death of her estranged yet beloved husband, it has since been documented that the Empress succumbed to a flu-like fever and complications from diabetes.

With the passing of Zewditu, Tafari himself rose to Emperor and was proclaimed ''Neguse Negest ze-'Ityopp'ya'', "King of Kings of Ethiopia". He was crowned on 2 November 1930, at Addis Ababa's Cathedral of St. George. The coronation was by all accounts "a most splendid affair", and it was attended by royals and dignitaries from all over the world. Among those in attendance were George V's son Prince Henry, Marshal Franchet d'Esperey of France, and the Prince of Udine representing Italy. Emissaries from the United States, Egypt, Turkey, Sweden, Belgium, and Japan were also present. British author Evelyn Waugh was also present, penning a contemporary report on the event, and American travel lecturer Burton Holmes shot the only known film footage of the event. One newspaper report suggested that the celebration may have incurred a cost in excess of $3,000,000. Many of those in attendance received lavish gifts; in one instance, the Christian Emperor even sent a gold-encased Bible to an American bishop who had not attended the coronation, but who had dedicated a prayer to the Emperor on the day of the coronation.

Haile Selassie introduced Ethiopia's first written constitution on 16 July 1931, providing for a bicameral legislature. The constitution kept power in the hands of the nobility, but it did establish democratic standards among the nobility, envisaging a transition to democratic rule: it would prevail "until the people are in a position to elect themselves." The constitution limited the succession to the throne to the descendants of Haile Selassie, a point that met with the disapprobation of other dynastic princes, including the princes of Tigrai and even the Emperor's loyal cousin, Ras Kassa Haile Darge.

In 1932, the Kingdom of Jimma was formally absorbed into Ethiopia following the death of King Abba Jifar II of Jimma.

Conflict with Italy

Ethiopia became the target of renewed Italian imperialist designs in the 1930s. Benito Mussolini's fascist regime was keen to avenge the military defeats Italy had suffered to Ethiopia in the First Italo-Abyssinian War, and to efface the failed attempt by "liberal" Italy to conquer the country, as epitomised by the defeat at Adowa. A conquest of Ethiopia could also empower the cause of fascism and embolden its rhetoric of empire. Ethiopia would also provide a bridge between Italy's Eritrean and Italian Somaliland possessions. Ethiopia's position in the League of Nations did not dissuade the Italians from invading in 1935; the "collective security" envisaged by the League proved useless, and a scandal erupted when the Hoare-Laval Pact revealed that Ethiopia's League allies were scheming to appease Italy.

Mobilization

Following the December, 5th, 1934 Italian invasion of Ethiopia at Walwal, Ogeden Province. Haile Selassie joined his northern armies and set up headquarters at Desse in Wollo province. He issued his famous mobilization order on 3 October 1935:

On 19 October 1935, Haile Selassie gave more precise orders for his army to his Commander-in-Chief, Ras Kassa: # When you set up tents, it is to be in caves and by trees and in a wood, if the place happens to be adjoining to these―and separated in the various platoons. Tents are to be set up at a distance of 30 cubits from each other. # When an aeroplane is sighted, one should leave large open roads and wide meadows and march in valleys and trenches and by zigzag routes, along places which have trees and woods. # When an aeroplane comes to drop bombs, it will not suit it to do so unless it comes down to about 100 metres; hence when it flies low for such action, one should fire a volley with a good and very long gun and then quickly disperse. When three or four bullets have hit it, the aeroplane is bound to fall down. But let only those fire who have been ordered to shoot with a weapon that has been selected for such firing, for if everyone shoots who possesses a gun, there is no advantage in this except to waste bullets and to disclose the men's whereabouts. # Lest the aeroplane, when rising again, should detect the whereabouts of those who are dispersed, it is well to remain cautiously scattered as long as it is still fairly close. In time of war it suits the enemy to aim his guns at adorned shields, ornaments, silver and gold cloaks, silk shirts and all similar things. Whether one possesses a jacket or not, it is best to wear a narrow-sleeved shirt with faded colours. When we return, with God's help, you can wear your gold and silver decorations then. Now it is time to go and fight. We offer you all these words of advice in the hope that no great harm should befall you through lack of caution. At the same time, We are glad to assure you that in time of war We are ready to shed Our blood in your midst for the sake of Ethiopia's freedom..."

Compared to the Ethiopians, the Italians had an advanced, modern military which included a large air force. The Italians would also come to employ chemical weapons extensively throughout the conflict, even targeting Red Cross field hospitals in violation of the Geneva Convention.

Progress of the war

Starting in early October 1935, the Italians invaded Ethiopia. On 6 October, Italian honor was avenged when Adwa fell. But, by November, the pace of invasion had slowed appreciably and Haile Selassie's northern armies were able to launch what was known as the "Christmas Offensive". During this offensive, the Italians were forced back in places and put on the defensive. However, by early in 1936, the First Battle of Tembien stopped the progress of the Ethiopian offensive and the Italians were ready to continue their offensive. Following the defeat and destruction of the northern Ethiopian armies at the Battle of Amba Aradam, the Second Battle of Tembien, and the Battle of Shire, Haile Selassie took the field with the last Ethiopian army on the northern front. On 31 March 1936, he launched a counterattack against the Italians himself at the Battle of Maychew in southern Tigray. The Emperor's army was defeated and retreated in disarray. As Haile Selassie's army withdrew, the Italians attacked from the air along with rebellious Raya and Azebo tribesmen on the ground, who were armed and paid by the Italians. Haile Selassie made a solitary pilgrimage to the churches at Lalibela, at considerable risk of capture, before returning to his capital. After a stormy session of the council of state, it was agreed that because Addis Ababa could not be defended, the government would relocate to the southern town of Gore, and that in the interest of preserving the Imperial house, the Emperor's wife Menen Asfaw and the rest of the Imperial family should immediately depart for Djibouti, and from there continue on to Jerusalem.

Exile debate

After further debate as to whether Haile Selassie should go to Gore or accompany his family into exile, it was agreed that Haile Selassie should leave Ethiopia with his family and present the case of Ethiopia to the League of Nations at Geneva. The decision was not unanimous and several participants, including the nobleman Page (''Blatta'') Tekle Wolde Hawariat, objected to the idea of an Ethiopian monarch fleeing before an invading force. Haile Selassie appointed his cousin Ras Imru Haile Selassie as Prince Regent in his absence, departing with his family for Djibouti on 2 May 1936.

On 5 May, Marshal Pietro Badoglio led Italian troops into Addis Ababa, and Mussolini declared Ethiopia an Italian province. Victor Emanuel III was proclaimed as the new Emperor of Ethiopia. However, on the previous day, the Ethiopian exiles had left Djibouti aboard the British cruiser HMS ''Enterprise.'' They were bound for Jerusalem in the British Mandate of Palestine, where the Ethiopian royal family maintained a residence. The Imperial family disembarked at Haifa and then went on to Jerusalem. Once there, Haile Selassie and his retinue prepared to make their case at Geneva. The choice of Jerusalem was highly symbolic, since the Solomonic Dynasty claimed descent from the House of David. Leaving the Holy Land, Haile Selassie and his entourage sailed for Gibraltar aboard the British cruiser HMS ''Capetown.'' From Gibraltar, the exiles were transferred to an ordinary liner. By doing this, the government of the United Kingdom was spared the expense of a state reception.

Collective security and the League of Nations, 1936

Mussolini, upon invading Ethiopia, had promptly declared his own "Italian Empire"; because the League of Nations afforded Haile Selassie the opportunity to address the assembly, Italy even withdrew its League delegation, on 12 May 1936. It was in this context that Haile Selassie walked into the hall of the League of Nations, introduced by the President of the Assembly as "His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Ethiopia" (''Sa Majesté Imperiale, l'Empereur d'Ethiopie''). The introduction caused a great many Italian journalists in the galleries to erupt into jeering, heckling, and whistling. As it turned out, they had earlier been issued whistles by Mussolini's son-in-law, Count Galeazzo Ciano. Haile Selassie waited calmly for the hall to be cleared, and responded "majestically" with a speech sometimes considered among the most stirring of the 20th century.

Although fluent in French, the working language of the League, Haile Selassie chose to deliver his historic speech in his native Amharic. He asserted that, because his "confidence in the League was absolute", his people were now being slaughtered. He pointed out that the same European states that found in Ethiopia's favor at the League of Nations were refusing Ethiopia credit and matériel while aiding Italy, which was employing chemical weapons on military and civilian targets alike.

It was at the time when the operations for the encircling of Makale were taking place that the Italian command, fearing a rout, followed the procedure which it is now my duty to denounce to the world. Special sprayers were installed on board aircraft so that they could vaporize, over vast areas of territory, a fine, death-dealing rain. Groups of nine, fifteen, eighteen aircraft followed one another so that the fog issuing from them formed a continuous sheet. It was thus that, as from the end of January 1936, soldiers, women, children, cattle, rivers, lakes, and pastures were drenched continually with this deadly rain. In order to kill off systematically all living creatures, in order to more surely poison waters and pastures, the Italian command made its aircraft pass over and over again. That was its chief method of warfare.

Noting that his own "small people of 12 million inhabitants, without arms, without resources" could never withstand an attack by a large power such as Italy, with its 42 million people and "unlimited quantities of the most death-dealing weapons", he contended that all small states were threatened by the aggression, and that all small states were in effect reduced to vassal states in the absence of collective action. He admonished the League that "God and history will remember your judgment."

The speech made the Emperor an icon for anti-Fascists around the world, and ''Time Magazine'' named him "Man of the Year". He failed, however, to get what he most needed: the League agreed to only partial and ineffective sanctions on Italy, and several members even recognized the Italian conquest.

Exile

Haile Selassie spent his exile years (1936–1941) in Bath, United Kingdom, in Fairfield House, which he bought. The Emperor and Kassa Haile Darge took morning walks together behind the high walls of the 14-room Georgian house. Haile Selassie's favorite reading was "diplomatic history." But most of his serious hours were occupied with the 90,000-word story of his life which he was laboriously writing in Amharic.

Prior to Fairfield House, he briefly stayed at Warne's Hotel in Worthing and in Parkside, Wimbledon A bust of Haile Selassie is in nearby Cannizaro Park to commemorate this time and is a popular place of pilgrimage for London's Rastafarian community. Haile Selassie stayed at the Abbey Hotel in Malvern in the 1930s and his granddaughters and daughters of court officials were educated at Clarendon School in North Malvern. During his time in Malvern he attended services at Holy Trinity Church, in Link Top. A blue plaque, commemorating his stay in Malvern, was unveiled on Saturday, June 25, 2011. As part of the ceremony, a delegation from the Rastafari movement gave a short address and a drum recital.

Haile Selassie's activity in this period was focused on countering Italian propaganda as to the state of Ethiopian resistance and the legality of the occupation. He spoke out against the desecration of houses of worship and historical artifacts (including the theft of a 1,600-year old imperial obelisk), and condemned the atrocities suffered by the Ethiopian civilian population. He continued to plead for League intervention and to voice his certainty that "God's judgment will eventually visit the weak and the mighty alike", though his attempts to gain support for the struggle against Italy were largely unsuccessful until Italy entered World War II on the German side in June 1940.

The Emperor's pleas for international support did take root in the United States, particularly among African American organizations sympathetic to the Ethiopian cause. In 1937, Haile Selassie was to give a Christmas Day radio address to the American people to thank his supporters when his taxi was involved in a traffic accident, leaving him with a fractured knee. Rather than canceling the radio appearance, he proceeded in much pain to complete the address, in which he linked Christianity and goodwill with the Covenant of the League of Nations, and asserted that "War is not the only means to stop war":

With the birth of the Son of God, an unprecedented, an unrepeatable, and a long-anticipated phenomenon occurred. He was born in a stable instead of a palace, in a manger instead of a crib. The hearts of the Wise men were struck by fear and wonder due to His Majestic Humbleness. The kings prostrated themselves before Him and worshipped Him. 'Peace be to those who have good will'. This became the first message.

[...] Although the toils of wise people may earn them respect, it is a fact of life that the spirit of the wicked continues to cast its shadow on this world. The arrogant are seen visibly leading their people into crime and destruction. The laws of the League of Nations are constantly violated and wars and acts of aggression repeatedly take place... So that the spirit of the cursed will not gain predominance over the human race whom Christ redeemed with his blood, all peace-loving people should cooperate to stand firm in order to preserve and promote lawfulness and peace.

During this period, Haile Selassie suffered several personal tragedies. His two sons-in-law, Ras Desta Damtew and Dejazmach Beyene Merid, were both executed by the Italians. The Emperor's daughter, Princess Romanework, wife of Dejazmach Beyene Merid, was herself taken into captivity with her children, and she died in Italy in 1941. His daughter Tsehai died during childbirth shortly after the restoration in 1942.

After his return to Ethiopia, he donated Fairfield House to the city of Bath as a residence for the aged, until modified in the 1990s where it is now used as a residential meeting centre.

1940s and 1950s

British forces, which consisted primarily of Ethiopian-backed African and South African colonial troops under the "Gideon Force" of Colonel Orde Wingate, coordinated the military effort to liberate Ethiopia. The Emperor himself issued several imperial proclamations in this period, demonstrating that, while authority was not divided up in any formal way, British military might and the Emperor's populist appeal could be joined in the concerted effort to liberate Ethiopia.

On 18 January 1941, during the East African Campaign, Haile Selassie crossed the border between Sudan and Ethiopia near the village of Um Iddla. The standard of the Lion of Judah was raised again. Two days later, he and a force of Ethiopian patriots joined Gideon Force which was already in Ethiopia and preparing the way. Italy was defeated by a force of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations, Free France, Free Belgium, and Ethiopian patriots. On 5 May 1941, Haile Selassie entered Addis Ababa and personally addressed the Ethiopian people, five years to the day since his 1936 exile:

Today is the day on which we defeated our enemy. Therefore, when We say let us rejoice with our hearts, let not our rejoicing be in any other way but in the spirit of Christ. Do not return evil for evil. Do not indulge in the atrocities which the enemy has been practicing in his usual way, even to the last.

Take care not to spoil the good name of Ethiopia by acts which are worthy of the enemy. We shall see that our enemies are disarmed and sent out the same way they came. As St. George who killed the dragon is the Patron Saint of our army as well as of our allies, let us unite with our allies in everlasting friendship and amity in order to be able to stand against the godless and cruel dragon which has newly risen and which is oppressing mankind.

After World War II, Ethiopia became a charter member of the United Nations. In 1948, the Ogaden, a region disputed with Somalia, was granted to Ethiopia. On 2 December 1950, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 390 (V), establishing the federation of Eritrea (the former Italian colony) into Ethiopia. Eritrea was to have its own constitution, which would provide for ethnic, linguistic, and cultural balance, while Ethiopia was to manage its finances, defense, and foreign policy.

Despite his centralization policies that had been made before World War II, Haile Selassie still found himself unable to push for all the programs he wanted. In 1942, he attempted to institute a progressive tax scheme, but this failed due to opposition from the nobility, and only a flat tax was passed; in 1951, he agreed to reduce this as well. Ethiopia was still "semi-feudal", and the Emperor's attempts to alter its social and economic form by reforming its modes of taxation met with resistance from the nobility and clergy, which were eager to resume their privileges in the postwar era. Where Haile Selassie actually did succeed in effecting new land taxes, the burdens were often passed by the landowners to the peasants. Despite his wishes, the tax burden remained primarily on the peasants.

Between 1941 and 1959, Haile Selassie worked to establish the autocephaly of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church had been headed by the ''abuna'', a bishop who answered to the Partriarchate in Egypt. Haile Selassie applied to Egypt's Holy Synod in 1942 and 1945 to establish the independence of Ethiopian bishops, and when his appeals were denied he threatened to sever relations with the See of St. Mark. Finally, in 1959, Pope Kyrillos VI elevated the Abuna to Patriarch-Catholicos. The Ethiopian Church remained affiliated with the Alexandrian Church. In addition to these efforts, Haile Selassie changed the Ethiopian church-state relationship by introducing taxation of church lands, and by restricting the legal privileges of the clergy, who had formerly been tried in their own courts for civil offenses.

In keeping with the principle of collective security, for which he was an outspoken proponent, he sent a contingent under General Mulugueta Bulli, known as the Kagnew Battalion, to take part in the Korean War by supporting the United Nations Command. It was attached to the American 7th Infantry Division, and fought in a number of engagements including the Battle of Pork Chop Hill. In a 1954 speech, the Emperor spoke of Ethiopian participation in the Korean War as a redemption of the principles of collective security:

Nearly two decades ago, I personally assumed before history the responsibility of placing the fate of my beloved people on the issue of collective security, for surely, at that time and for the first time in world history, that issue was posed in all its clarity. My searching of conscience convinced me of the rightness of my course and if, after untold sufferings and, indeed, unaided resistance at the time of aggression, we now see the final vindication of that principle in our joint action in Korea, I can only be thankful that God gave me strength to persist in our faith until the moment of its recent glorious vindication.

During the celebrations of his Silver Jubilee in November 1955, Haile Selassie introduced a revised constitution, whereby he retained effective power, while extending political participation to the people by allowing the lower house of parliament to become an elected body. Party politics were not provided for. Modern educational methods were more widely spread throughout the Empire, and the country embarked on a development scheme and plans for modernization, tempered by Ethiopian traditions, and within the framework of the ancient monarchical structure of the state.

Haile Selassie compromised when practical with the traditionalists in the nobility and church. He also tried to improve relations between the state and ethnic groups, and granted autonomy to Afar lands that were difficult to control. Still, his reforms to end feudalism were slow and weakened by the compromises he made with the entrenched aristocracy. The Revised Constitution of 1955 has been criticized for reasserting "the indisputable power of the monarch" and maintaining the relative powerlessness of the peasants.

Haile Selassie Charity Experience

His Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I had sent aid to the British Government in 1947 when Britain was affected by heavy flooding. In a letter sent written by His Imperial Majesty addressed to Lord Meork National Distress Fund London,He said, "even though We are busy of helping our people who didn't recover from the crises of the war, we heard that your fertile and beautiful country is devastated by the unusually heavy rain, and your request for aid. "Therefore, We are sending small amount of money, about one thousand pounds through our embassy to show our sympathy and cooperation." Source: Addis Zemen Newspaper, October 3, 1947.

1960s

Haile Selassie contributed Ethiopian troops to the United Nations Operation in the Congo peacekeeping force during the 1960 Congo Crisis, to consolidate Congolese integrity and independence from Belgian troops, per United Nations Security Council Resolution 143. On 13 December 1960, while Haile Selassie was on a state visit to Brazil, his Imperial Guard forces staged an unsuccessful coup, briefly proclaiming Haile Selassie's eldest son Asfa Wossen as Emperor. The coup d'état was crushed by the regular Army and police forces. The coup attempt lacked broad popular support, was denounced by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and was unpopular among the Army, Air and Police forces. Nonetheless, the effort to depose the Emperor had support among students and the educated classes. The coup attempt has been characterized as a pivotal moment in Ethiopian history, the point at which Ethiopians "for the first time questioned the power of the king to rule without the people's consent". Student populations began to empathize with the peasantry and poor, and to advocate on their behalf. The coup spurred Haile Selassie to accelerate reform, which manifested in the form of land grants to military and police officials.

The Emperor continued to be a staunch ally of the West, while pursuing a firm policy of decolonization in Africa, which was still largely under European colonial rule. The United Nations conducted a lengthy inquiry regarding the status of Eritrea, with the superpowers each vying for a stake in the state's future. Britain, the administrator at the time, suggested the partition of Eritrea between Sudan and Ethiopia, separating Christians and Muslims. The idea was instantly rejected by Eritrean political parties, as well as the UN.

A UN plebiscite voted 46 to 10 to have Eritrea be federated with Ethiopia, which was later stipulated on 2 December 1950 in resolution 390 (V). Eritrea would have its own parliament and administration and would be represented in what had been the Ethiopian parliament and would become the federal parliament. However, Haile Selassie would have none of European attempts to draft a separate Constitution under which Eritrea would be governed, and wanted his own 1955 Constitution protecting families to apply in both Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 1961 the 30-year Eritrean Struggle for Independence began, followed by Haile Selassie's dissolution of the federation and shutting down of Eritrea's parliament.

In 1961, tensions between independence-minded Eritreans and Ethiopian forces culminated in the Eritrean War of Independence. The Emperor declared Eritrea the fourteenth province of Ethiopia in 1962. The war would continue for 30 years, as first Haile Selassie, then the Soviet-backed junta that succeeded him, attempted to retain Eritrea by force.

In 1963, Haile Selassie presided over the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity, with the new organization establishing its headquarters in Addis Ababa. As more African states won their independence, he played an important role as Pan-Africanist, and along with Modibo Keïta of Mali was successful in negotiating the Bamako Accords, which brought an end to the border conflict between Morocco and Algeria. Also in 1963, on October 6, Selassie addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations, referring in his address to his earlier speech to the League of Nations:

Twenty-seven years ago, as Emperor of Ethiopia, I mounted the rostrum in Geneva, Switzerland, to address the League of Nations and to appeal for relief from the destruction which had been unleashed against my defenceless nation, by the Fascist invader. I spoke then both to and for the conscience of the world. My words went unheeded, but history testifies to the accuracy of the warning that I gave in 1936. Today, I stand before the world organization which has succeeded to the mantle discarded by its discredited predecessor. In this body is enshrined the principle of collective security which I unsuccessfully invoked at Geneva. Here, in this Assembly, reposes the best — perhaps the last — hope for the peaceful survival of mankind.

On 25 November 1963, the Emperor was among other heads-of-state, including French President Charles de Gaulle, who traveled to Washington D.C. and attended the funeral of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

In 1966, Haile Selassie attempted to create a modern, progressive tax that included registration of land, which would significantly weaken the nobility. Even with alterations, this law led to a revolt in Gojjam, which was repressed although enforcement of the tax was abandoned. The revolt, having achieved its design in undermining the tax, encouraged other landowners to defy Haile Selassie. Student unrest became a regular feature of Ethiopian life in the 1960s and 1970s. Marxism took root in large segments of the Ethiopian intelligentsia, particularly among those who had studied abroad and had thus been exposed to radical and left-wing sentiments that were becoming popular in other parts of the globe. Resistance by conservative elements at the Imperial Court and Parliament, and by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, made Haile Selassie's land reform proposals difficult to implement, and also damaged the standing of the government, costing Haile Selassie much of the goodwill he had once enjoyed. This bred resentment among the peasant population. Efforts to weaken unions also hurt his image. As these issues began to pile up, Haile Selassie left much of domestic governance to his Prime Minister, Aklilu Habte Wold, and concentrated more on foreign affairs.

1970s

Outside of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie continued to enjoy enormous prestige and respect. As the longest serving head of state in power, Haile Selassie was often given precedence over other leaders at state events, such as the state funerals of John F. Kennedy and Charles de Gaulle, the summits of the Non-Aligned Movement, and the 1971 celebration of the 2,500 years of the Persian Empire. His high profile and frequent travels around the world raised Ethiopia's international image.

Wollo Famine

Famine mostly in Wollo, northeastern Ethiopia, as well as in some parts of Tigray is estimated to have killed 40,000 to 80,000 Ethiopians between 1972 and 1974. Although the region is infamous for recurrent crop failures and continuous food shortage and starvation risk, this episode was remarkably severe. It led to the 1973 production of the ITV programme ''The Unknown Famine'' by Jonathan Dimbleby. Dimbleby's report suggested a far higher death toll than was borne out by the facts, stimulating a massive influx of aid while at the same time destabilizing Haile Selassie's regime.

Some reports suggest that the Emperor was unaware of the extent of the famine, while others assert that he was well aware of it. In addition to the exposure of attempts by corrupt local officials to cover up the famine from the Imperial government, the Kremlin's depiction of Haile Selassie's Ethiopia as backwards and inept (relative to the purported utopia of Marxism-Leninism) contributed to the popular uprising that led to its downfall and the rise of Mengistu Haile Mariam. The famine and its image in the media undermined popular support of the government, and Haile Selassie's once unassailable personal popularity fell.

The crisis was exacerbated by military mutinies and high oil prices, the latter a result of the 1973 oil crisis. The international economic crisis triggered by the oil crisis caused the costs of imported goods, gasoline, and food to skyrocket, while unemployment spiked.

Revolution

In February 1974, four days of serious riots in Addis against a sudden economic inflation left five dead. The Emperor responded by announcing on national television a rollback of gasoline prices and a freeze on the cost of basic commodities. This calmed the public, but the promised 33% military wage hike was not substantial enough to pacify the army, which then mutinied, beginning in Asmara and spreading throughout the empire. This mutiny led to the resignation of Prime Minister Aklilu Habte Wold on 27 February 1974. Haile Selassie again went on television to agree to the army's demands for still greater pay, and named Endelkachew Makonnen as his new Prime Minister. However, despite Endalkatchew's many concessions, discontent continued in March with a four-day general strike that paralyzed the nation.

Imprisonment

The Derg, a committee of low-ranking military officers and enlisted men, set up in June to investigate the military's demands, took advantage of the government's disarray to depose Haile Selassie on 12 September 1974. General Aman Mikael Andom, a Protestant of Eritrean origin, served briefly as provisional head of state pending the return of Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, who was then receiving medical treatment abroad. Haile Selassie was placed under house arrest briefly at the 4th Army Division in Addis Ababa, while most of his family was detained at the late Duke of Harrar's residence in the north of the capital. The last months of the Emperor's life were spent in imprisonment, in the Grand Palace.

Later, most of the Imperial family was imprisoned in the Addis Ababa prison Kerchele, also known as "Alem Bekagne", or "Goodbye, cruel world". On 23 November 1974, 60 former high officials of the Imperial government, known as "the Sixty", were executed without trial. The executed included Haile Selassie's grandson and two former Prime Ministers. These killings, known to Ethiopians as "Bloody Saturday", were condemned by Crown Prince Asfa Wossen; the Derg responded to his rebuke by revoking its acknowledgment of his imperial legitimacy, and announcing the end of the Solomonic dynasty.

Death and interment

On 28 August 1975, the state media officially reported publicly that the "ex-monarch" Haile Selassie had died on 27 August of "respiratory failure" following complications from a prostate operation. His doctor, Asrat Woldeyes, denied that complications had occurred and rejected the government version of his death. Some imperial loyalists believed that the Emperor had in fact been assassinated, and this belief remains widely held. One western correspondent in Ethiopia at the time commented, "While it is not known what actually happened, there are strong indications that no efforts were made to save him. It is unlikely that he was actually killed. Such rumors were bound to arise no matter what happened, given the atmosphere of suspicion and distrust prevailing in Addis Ababa the time." Court testimony given by the emperor's servants however indicate that they were ordered to leave the Emperor's rooms for the night, and that they returned in the morning to find him dead in his bed, with a strong chemical smell in the room. They further testified that the Emperor had been in perfect health the night before when they had left him. Professor Asrat Woldeyes also testified that his patient had completely recovered from the effects of the surgery and that there had been no complications.

The Soviet-backed Derg fell in 1991. In 1992, the Emperor's bones were found under a concrete slab on the palace grounds; some reports suggest that his remains were discovered beneath a latrine. For almost a decade thereafter, as Ethiopian courts attempted to sort out the circumstances of his death, his coffin rested in Bhata Church, near his great uncle Menelik II's imperial resting place. On 5 November 2000, Haile Selassie was given an Imperial funeral by the Ethiopian Orthodox church. The post-communist government refused calls to declare the ceremony an official imperial funeral.

Although such prominent Rastafarian figures as Rita Marley and others participated in the grand funeral, most Rastafari rejected the event and refused to accept that the bones were the remains of Haile Selassie. There remains some debate within the Rastafari movement as to whether Haile Selassie actually died in 1975.

Children

By Menen Asfaw, Haile Selassie had six children: Princess Tenagnework, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen, Princess Tsehai, Princess Zenebework, Prince Makonnen, and Prince Sahle Selassie.

There is some controversy as to Haile Selassie's eldest daughter, Princess Romanework Haile Selassie. While the living members of the royal family state that Romanework is the eldest daughter of Empress Menen, it has been asserted that Princess Romanework is actually the daughter of a previous union of the emperor with Woizero Altayech. The emperor's own autobiography makes no mention of a previous marriage or having fathered children with anyone other than Empress Menen.

Prince Asfaw Wossen was first married to Princess Wolete Israel Seyoum and then following their divorce to Princess Medferiashwork Abebe. Prince Makonnen was married to Princess Sara Gizaw. Prince Sahle Selassie was married to Princess Mahisente Habte Mariam. Princess Romanework married Dejazmatch Beyene Merid. Princess Tenagnework first married Ras Desta Damtew, and after she was widowed later married Ras Andargachew Messai. Princess Zenebework married Dejazmatch Haile Selassie Gugsa. Princess Tsehai married Lt. General Abiye Abebe.

Rastafari Messiah

Today, Haile Selassie is worshipped as Jesus incarnate among followers of the Rastafari movement (taken from Haile Selassie's pre-imperial name ''Ras'' — meaning ''Head'' - a title equivalent to Duke — Tafari Makonnen), which emerged in Jamaica during the 1930s under the influence of Marcus Garvey's "Pan Africanism" movement. He is viewed as the Messiah who will lead the peoples of Africa and the African diaspora to freedom. His official titles are ''Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah'' and ''King of Kings and Elect of God'', and his traditional lineage is thought to be from Solomon and Sheba. These notions are perceived by Rastafarians as confirmation of the return of the Messiah in the prophetic Book of Revelation in the New Testament: ''King of Kings'', ''Lord of Lords'', ''Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah,'' and ''Root of David''. Rastafari faith in the incarnate divinity of Haile Selassie began after news reports of his coronation reached Jamaica, particularly via the two ''Time'' magazine articles on the coronation the week before and the week after the event. Haile Selassie's own perspectives permeate the philosophy of the movement.

Not all Rastafarian mansions consider Haile Selassie as Jesus Christ incarnate. One example is The Twelve Tribes of Israel, who consider him a divinely anointed king—thus Christ in his kingly character and defender of the Christian faith.

In 1961, the Jamaican government sent a delegation composed of both Rastafari and non-Rastafari leaders to Ethiopia to discuss the matter of repatriation, among other issues, with the Emperor. He reportedly told the Rastafarian delegation (which included Mortimer Planno), "Tell the Brethren to be not dismayed, I personally will give my assistance in the matter of repatriation."

Haile Selassie visited Jamaica on April 21, 1966, and approximately one hundred thousand Rastafari from all over Jamaica descended on Palisadoes Airport in Kingston, having heard that the man whom they considered to be their Messiah was coming to visit them. Spliffs and chalices were openly smoked, causing "a haze of ganja smoke" to drift through the air. Haile Selassie arrived at the airport but was unable to come down the mobile steps of the airplane, as the crowd rushed the tarmac. He then returned into the plane, disappearing for several more minutes. Finally, Jamaican authorities were obliged to request Ras Mortimer Planno, a well-known Rasta leader, to climb the steps, enter the plane, and negotiate the Emperor's descent. Planno re-emerged and announced to the crowd: "The Emperor has instructed me to tell you to be calm. Step back and let the Emperor land". This day is widely held by scholars to be a major turning point for the movement, and it is still commemorated by Rastafarians as Grounation Day, the anniversary of which is celebrated as the second holiest holiday after 2 November, the Emperor's Coronation Day.

From then on, as a result of Planno's actions, the Jamaican authorities were asked to ensure that Rastafarian representatives were present at all state functions attended by His Majesty, and Rastafarian elders also ensured that they obtained a private audience with the Emperor, where he reportedly told them that they should not emigrate to Ethiopia until they had first liberated the people of Jamaica. This dictum came to be known as "liberation before repatriation".

Haile Selassie defied expectations of the Jamaican authorities, and never rebuked the Rastafari for their belief in him as the returned Jesus. Instead, he presented the movement's faithful elders with gold medallions – the only recipients of such an honor on this visit. During PNP leader (later Jamaican Prime Minister) Michael Manley's visit to Ethiopia in October 1969, the Emperor allegedly still recalled his 1966 reception with amazement, and stated that he felt that he had to be respectful of their beliefs. This was the visit when Manley received the Rod of Correction or Rod of Joshua as a present from the Emperor, which is thought to have helped him to win the 1972 election in Jamaica.

Rita Marley, Bob Marley's wife, converted to the Rastafari faith after seeing Haile Selassie on his Jamaican trip. She claimed in interviews (and in her book ''No Woman, No Cry'') that she saw a ''stigmata'' print on the palm of Haile Selassie's hand as he waved to the crowd which resembled the markings on Christ's hands from being nailed to the cross—a claim that was not supported by other sources, but was used as evidence for her and other Rastafarians to suggest that Haile Selassie I was indeed their messiah. She was also influential in the conversion of Bob Marley, who then became internationally recognized. As a result, Rastafari became much better known throughout much of the world. Bob Marley's posthumously released song Iron Lion Zion refers to Haile Selassie.

Haile Selassie's attitude to the Rastafari

According to Robert Earl Hood, Haile Selassie I "never denied or affirmed his divinity." In ''Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music'', Kevin Chang and Wayne Chen note :It's often said, though no definite date is ever cited, that Selassie himself denied his divinity. Former senator and ''Gleaner'' editor, Hector Wynter, tells of asking him, during his visit to Jamaica in 1966, when he was going to tell Rastafarians he was not God. "Who am I to disturb their belief?" replied the emperor.

After his return to Ethiopia, he dispatched Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq Mandefro to the Caribbean to help draw Rastafarians and other West Indians to the Ethiopian church and, according to some sources, denied his divinity.

In 1948, Haile Selassie donated a piece of land at Shashamane, 250 km south of Addis Ababa, for the use of people of African descent from the West Indies. Numerous Rastafari families settled there and still live as a community to this day.

Film

In 2008 a full length feature film was produce by an Ethiopian filmmaker Tikher Teferra Kidane of Exodus Films in collaboration with an Alaskan TV station Tanana Valley TV and 4thAvenue Films with Executive producer Bill St.Pierre. The film details the life of the Emperor starting from his place of birth to his last know appearance. On his web-page the Director states "Man of the Millennium - Emperor Haile Selassie is a feature documentary that attempts to link the past and the present. It is a film about a king and the new generation trying to discover a glorious past. A film that gives our ancestors a voice to tell what they witnessed. It is not just a biographical documentary, it is a film where you find the new generation struggling to catch up with the past. You will witness the true life experience of artists creating songs and films about issues that are considered by some as political and against all what we where told, but issues that I consider to be history; a history that must be told." The DVD of the film was made available for sale on-line in 2009 after the movie premiered in 12 U.S. states including the U.S. Virgin Islands. More details on www.manofthemillenniumthefilm.com and www.4thavenuefilms.com

Quotations

Honours

Chief Commander of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia - 1909 Grand Cordon of the Order of Solomon (Ethiopia) - 1930 Grand Collar of the Order of Solomon's Seal (Ethiopia) Grand Cordon of the Order of the Queen of Sheba (Ethiopia) Grand Cordon of the Order of The Holy Trinity (Ethiopia) Grand Cordon of the Order of Menelik II (Ethiopia) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) - 1917 Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) - 1924 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) - 1924 Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) - 1954 Knight of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation - 1928 Royal Victorian Chain - 1930 Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum - 1930 Order of the Elephant - 1954 Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau - (25/5/1924) Collar of the Order of the Seraphim - 1954 Order of the Maha Chakri - 1958 Order of Suvorov 1st class - 1959 Collar of the Order of Muhammad Ali - 1930 Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur - 1924 Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit - 1945 Grand Collar of the Order of Pahlevi - 1964 Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle - 1954 Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum-1956 Order of the Liberator San Martin Order of the Nile (22/5/1963) Order of Pius IX - 1970 Order of Idris I of Libya Order of Independence Order of Hussein ibn Ali Order of Muhammad Chain of Honor Grand Order of the Hashemites Order of the Crown of Italy - 1917 Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus - 1924 Order of the Redeemer (19/8/1924) Order of Leopold (Belgium) - 1924 Riband of the Three Military Orders Of Christ, Benedict of Aviz, and St.James of the Sword (31/8/1959) Order of the Tower and Sword of Portugal - 1925 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of William - 1954 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion - 1930 Order of the White Eagle of Poland - 1930 Collar of the Order of St Olav of Norway - 1949 Collar of the Order of Charles III (1954) Collar of the Order of the White Rose Medal of Military Merit 1st class (28/10/1954) Grand Cross of the National Order of Vietnam- 1958 Order of Truth - 1958 Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross - 1958 Collar of the Order of the Leopard Order of the Lion Order of the Lion Order of Valor of Cameroon Order of the Sun of Peru Collar of the Order of the Bust of the Liberator Simon Bolivar Order of the Condor of the Andes Special Grade of the Order of the Propitious Clouds Polonia Restituta of Poland (1967) Order of Ommayyad Order of Mono of Togo Order of Congolese Merit Order of the Leopard of Somalia - 1960 Order of the Equatorial Star Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Order of the Source of the Nile Order of the Eagle of Zambia Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany - 1954 Collar of the Order of the Republic of Italy - 1955 Collar of the National Order of Honour and Merit - 1966 Knight Grand Band of the Order of the Pioneers Grand Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart Grand Star of the Decoration of Honor for Merit of Austria - 1954 Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 1st Class - 1958 Raja of the Order of Sikatuna of the Philippines Commander of the Order of the Shield and Spears of Uganda - 1964 Order of the Yugoslav Great Star - 1954 Hilal-i-Pakistan, 1st Class - 1958 Star of Romania (1964) Order of the State Crown of Malaysia (DMN) - (21/5/1968) Order of King Abdul Aziz, 1st Class, of Saudi Arabia Order of the Star of Ghana - 1970 Orders of the White Lion 1st class with collar Banner of the People's Republic of Hungary, 1st Class with Diamonds - 1964 Military Medal of France - 1954 Jamaica Kings House Honouree, Jamaica - 1966 National orders of Lebanon Chile,

Central Africa

Upper Volta, Chad, Benin, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania, Guinea and Niger.

Honorary citizen of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - 1972 Honorary citizen of Belgrade - 1954

Military ranks

Haile Selassie held the following ranks:

Field Marshal, Imperial Ethiopia Army

Admiral of the Fleet, Imperial Ethiopian Navy

Marshal of the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force

Field Marshal, British Army

Jamaica Kings House Honouree, Jamaica (1966)

Ancestry

{{ahnentafel-compact5 |style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%; |border=1 |boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia |2= 2. ''Ras'' Mäkonnen Wäldä-Mika'él Guddisa |3= 3. ''Woizero'' Yeshimebet Ali Abajifar |4= 4. ''Dejazmatch'' Wolde Mikael Gudessa |5= 5. Princess Tenagnework Sahle Selassie |6= 6. ''Dejazmach'' Ali Abajifar of Woreilu |7= 7. Ima-Hoy Walatta Ihata Giyorgis Yimeru |10= 10. Sahle Selassie |11= 11. ''Woizero'' Yimegnushal |14= 14. ''Ato'' Yimeru of Gurage }}

See also

Black Lions

Desta Damtew

List of people who have been considered deities

List of messiah claimants

Notes

;Footnotes

;Citations

References

Haile Selassie I. ''My Life and Ethiopia's Progress: The Autobiography of Emperor Haile Sellassie I''. Translated from Amharic by Edward Ullendorff. New York: Frontline Books, 1999. ISBN 0-948390-40-9

Paul B. Henze. "The Rise of Haile Selassie: Time of Troubles, Regent, Emperor, Exile" and "Ethiopia in the Modern World: Haile Selassie from Triumph to Tragedy" in ''Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia''. New York: Palgrave, 2000. ISBN 0-312-22719-1

Ryszard Kapuściński, ''The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat''. 1978. ISBN 0-679-72203-3

''Dread, The Rastafarians of Jamaica'', by Joseph Owens ISBN 0-435-98650-3

''Haile Selassie I : Ethiopia's Lion of Judah'', 1979, ISBN 0-88229-342-7

''Haile Selassie's war : the Italian-Ethiopian Campaign, 1935-1941'', 1984, ISBN 0-394-54222-3

''Haile Selassie, western education, and political revolution in Ethiopia'', 2006, ISBN 978-1-934043-20-2

External links

Ethiopian Treasures - Emperor Haile Selassie I - The Ethiopian Revolution

Imperial Crown Council of Ethiopia

Speech to the League of Nations, June 1936 (full text)

Rare and Unseen: Haile Selassie - slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Marcus Garvey's prophecy of Haile Selassie I as the returned messiah

Haile Selassie I and the Italo-Ethiopian war

Haile Selassie I, the Later Years

A critical look at the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia

BBC article, memories of his personal servant

Watch News Reel: His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, 21 April 1966

Ba Beta Kristiyan Haile Selassie I - The Church of Haile Selassie I

Haile Selassie I Speaks -Text & Audio-

Category:1892 births Category:1975 deaths Category:People from Addis Ababa Category:Cold War leaders Category:Emperors of Ethiopia Category:Ethiopian princes Category:Solomonid dynasty Category:Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Category:Rulers of Ethiopia Category:Governments in exile during World War II Category:Burials at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Addis Ababa Category:Rastafari movement Category:Deified people Category:Non-Chalcedonian Christian monarchs

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