Yonas

Yonas or Jonah (died May, 1813) was nəgusä nägäst (18 August 1797 – 4 January 1798) of Ethiopia. He was the son of Letezum, and the grandson of the Emperor Fasilides.

According to E.A. Wallis Budge, Yonas was a forehead, proclaimed Emperor by Ras Isra'el of Begemder, and deposed by Gugsa, a chieftain of the Yejju Oromo. However, the Royal Chronicle records that he was proclaimed Emperor after the Emperor who controlled Gondar, Salomon III, had been defeated by the rebel Balambaras Asserat, who forced him to flee Gondar. However, during Yonas' reign the realm was afflicted by a famine in which "more men died than could be numbered." Yonas' son Mafu died 7 November then his wife Esther, both apparently from this famine. Lacking any support or rationale for his rule, the major warlords of the time -- Ras Mare'ed, Dejazmach Hailu Eshte, Dejazmach Wolde Selassie, and Ras Guebra -- all successfully petitioned to Emperor Tekle Giyorgis to return from exile in Waldebba and become ruler once again. Upon learning of Tekle Giyorgis' approach when he was still one day's march away, Yonas fled to sanctuary in the Abuna's palace.