View source for Jantirar

{{Refimprove|date=June 2007}}
[[File:Akodama British Museum.jpg|thumb|The "Akodama," a headdress worn by the noblemen of [[Shewa]] and [[Wollo]]]]
'''Jantirar''' ([[Amharic]]: ጃንጥራር) was a title of the [[Ethiopian Empire]]<ref Name="Mockler">{{cite book  | last = Mockler  | first = Anthony    | title = Haile Selassie's War  | publisher = Signal Books  | date = 2003  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aOZKULYp5FAC&dq=%22Jantirar%22+-wikipedia&pg=PR40   | isbn = 1-902669-52-5| page = xxxx }}</ref> given to the ruler of [[Amba Geshen]].
==Overview==
{{main|Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles}}
Jantirar is borne historically by the head of the family holding the mountain fortress of [[Ambassel]] in [[Ethiopia]]; similar to [[Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Important regional offices|Wagshum]], the hereditary ruler of the province of [[Wag (district)|Wag]], and unlike other aristocratic titles like ''meridazmach'' or ''ras''. While that artistocratic family is said to be one of the most noble in Ethiopian history, they never ruled any larger realm than their own district. [[Menen Asfaw]], [[queen consort|empress consort]] of [[Haile Selassie]], was a daughter of Jantirar Asfaw.
The meaning of the title Jantirar makes it unique. The element ''Jan'' is the same as the ''Jan'' in ''Janhoye'' or "[[Jan Amora]]", meaning "great" but often translated as "royal" and another word used to refer to the [[Emperor of Ethiopia]]. Also, both words after Jan have almost similar meaning in [[Amharic]]. ''Hoye'' or ''hoyi'' can be roughly translated into "hear me, hear my call", while ''tirar'' is a form of ''Tira'', which means "call" or "calling".
However, the claim that 'they never ruled any larger realm than their own district' can be  challenged in many fronts. For example, while the mother of [[Yekuno Amlak]] was from [[Sagarat]] in the [[Dessie Zuria]], his father came from the highlands of Ambassel.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} All the local folk histories and some remnants of the [[Kingdom of Aksum]], even before the [[Zagwe dynasty]] appears in history (around [[Lake Hayq]] of Ambassel with a church that was founded in the 8th century), suggest that Ambassel and the immediate surrounding Amhara regions were well prepared to produce a king and a legend as it suits its kingdom. It is arguable that their Jantirar can not be so without some connection of their being the origin of Yekuno Amlak.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Ethiopian Empire]]
[[Category:Titles of national or ethnic leadership]]
{{Ethiopia-hist-stub}}