SEPTEMBER 27, 1916 — TAFARI MAKONNEN BECOMES RAS TAFARI
SEPTEMBER 27, 1916 — TAFARI MAKONNEN BECOMES RAS TAFARI
On September 27, 1916, exactly 110 years ago today, Dejazmach Tafari Makonnen entered a decisive new chapter in Ethiopian history.
Amid the political crisis surrounding Lij Iyasu, Ethiopia’s leading ecclesiastical and political authorities removed Iyasu from power and proclaimed Zewditu, daughter of Emperor Menelik II, as sovereign.
At the same time, Tafari Makonnen was elevated from the rank of Dejazmach to Ras, becoming Ras Tafari Makonnen. He was also designated heir to the throne and entrusted with the responsibilities of Regent Plenipotentiary.
The date is especially significant because September 27 was Meskel — the Ethiopian Feast of the Finding of the True Cross. Thus, one of the most consequential political transformations in modern Ethiopian history occurred during one of Ethiopia’s great Christian celebrations.
Tafari’s elevation did not immediately make him Emperor. Ethiopia entered a period in which Empress Zewditu reigned as monarch while Ras Tafari increasingly exercised political authority as regent and heir. Their relationship—and the competing political forces surrounding them—would define much of Ethiopian politics during the following decade.
Tafari subsequently received the higher princely dignity of Le’ul Ras. His position continued to rise until October 7, 1928, when Zewditu crowned him Negus (King). Following Zewditu’s death in 1930, Tafari succeeded to the imperial throne.
On November 2, 1930, the man once known as Tafari Makonnen was crowned:
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God.
The name Ras Tafari, therefore, was not his birth name and did not originate with the later RasTafari movement. Tafari was his personal name; Ras was an Ethiopian title of nobility and authority that he received during his political ascent.
The international movement that eventually became known as RasTafari took its name from the historical title Ras Tafari, particularly as people of African descent in Jamaica interpreted his subsequent coronation as Emperor through biblical, Pan-African, and Ethiopianist frameworks.
But the historical Ras Tafari himself remained firmly rooted in the ancient Christian civilization of Ethiopia. The man whose title inspired a worldwide movement would eventually declare:
“My life arises from the history of my people and my religious background.”
September 27, 1916, therefore, deserves recognition as an important milestone in the life of Haile Selassie I:
Dejazmach Tafari Makonnen → Ras Tafari Makonnen → Negus Tafari Makonnen → Emperor Haile Selassie I.
110 years ago today: Ras Tafari emerged onto the central stage of Ethiopian history.
One historical nuance is worth preserving: September 27, 1916 is securely associated with Tafari’s elevation in the new political settlement as Ras, heir, and regent; the subsequent 1917 ceremony is why some chronologies attach his fuller princely elevation to that later date.
