Editing Tigray Region (section)

=== 11th to 19th century AD ===
[[File:ET Mekele asv2018-01 img26 Atse Yohannes Museum.jpg|thumb|[[Mekelle]] palace of Emperor [[Yohannes IV]] (emperor of the whole [[Ethiopian Empire]]).]]

In the 11th century the Tigrinya-speaking lands (Tigray-[[Medri Bahri|Mareb Melash]]) were divided into two provinces, separated by the Mereb River, by the newly enthroned Agaw emperors. The governor of the northern province received the title Bahre Negash (Ruler of the sea), whereas the governor of the southern province was given the title of Tigray Mekonen (Lord of Tigray). The Portuguese Jesuit Emanuele Baradas's work titled "Do reino de Tigr", written in 1633–34, states that the "Reino de Tigr" (Kingdom of Tigray) extended from [[Hamasien]] to [[History of Tembien|Temben]], from the borders of [[Danakil Depression|Dankel]] to the [[Adwa]] mountain. He also stated that Tigray-Mereb Melash was divided into 24 smaller political units (principalities), twelve of which were located south of the Mereb and governed by the Tigray Mekonen, based in [[Enderta Province|Enderta]]. The other twelve were located north of the Mereb, under the authority of the [[Medri Bahri|Bahre Negash]], based in the district of [[Serae]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Divided Histories, Opportunistic Alliances: Background Notes on the Ethiopian-Eritrean War|author=Trivelli, Richard M.|year=1998|journal=Africa Spectrum|volume=33|issue=3|pages=257–289 [259]|jstor=40174776}}</ref>

The ''[[Book of Aksum]]'', written and compiled mainly in the period from the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries, shows a traditional schematic map of Tigray with the city of [[Aksum]] at its center, surrounded by the 13 principal provinces: "Tembien, Shire, Serae, Hamasien, [[Buri province|Bur]], Sam'a, [[Agame]], Amba Senayt, [[Gar'alta|Garalta]], [[Enderta Province|Enderta]], Sahart and Abergele."<ref>[[Richard Pankhurst (academic)|Richard Pankhurst]], ''History of Ethiopian Towns'' (Wiesbaden; Franz Steiner Verlag, 1982), vol. 1, p. 201</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2022}}

During the Middle Ages, the position of Tigray Mekonnen ("Governor of Tigray") was established to rule over the area. Other districts included [[Akkele Guzay|Akele Guzay]] (now part of [[Eritrea]]), and the kingdom of the [[Bahr negus]], who ruled much of what is now Eritrea and [[Shire, Ethiopia|Shire]] district and town in Western Tigray. At the time when Tigray Mekonnen existed simultaneously with that of Bahr negus, their frontier seems to have been the [[Mareb River]], which is currently constitutes the border between the Ethiopian province of Tigray and Eritrea.

After the loss of power of the Bahr negus in the aftermath of [[Bahr negus Yeshaq]]'s rebellions, {{failed verification span|text=the title of Tigray mekonnen gained power in relation to the Bahr negus and at times included ruling over parts of what is now Eritrea, especially in the 19th century.|date=January 2022}}<ref>{{Cite book|first=Richard|last=Pankhurst|author-link=Richard Pankhurst (historian)|title=An Introduction to the Economic History of Ethiopia|publisher=London: Lalibela House|date=1962|page=328|ol=OL5876132M}}</ref> By the unsettled [[Zemene Mesafint]] period ("Era of the Princes"), both designations had declined to little more than empty titles, and the lord who succeeded them used (and received from the Emperor) the title of either [[Ras (title)|Ras]] or [[Dejazmach]], beginning with Ras [[Mikael Sehul]]. Rulers of Tigray such as Ras [[Wolde Selassie]] alternated with others, chiefly those of [[Begemder]] or [[Yejju]], as warlords to maintain the Ethiopian monarchy during the Zemene Mesafint.

In the mid-19th century, the lords of Tembien and Enderta managed to establish an overlordship of Tigray. One of its members, Dejazmach Kahsay Mercha, ascended the imperial throne in 1872 under the name [[Yohannes IV]]. Following his 1889 death in the [[Battle of Metemma]], the Ethiopian throne came under the control of the king of [[Shewa]], and the center of power shifted south and away from Tigray.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}