Sarsa Dengel had intended to make his nephew as his heir, recognizing that to avert the civil war that will likely follow his death an adult will be needed, and the emperor's own sons are quite young.

These plans are changed primarily through the influence of Empress Sena Maryam, stepmother of Emperor's eldest surviving son Prince Yaqob, who had been made emperor in 1597.

The empress had had Za Dengel seized and confined in a religious retreat on the island of Dek in Lake Tana.

Za Dengel eventually managed to escape, taking refuge in Gojjam.

Za Dengel had in 1603 been made Emperor  by his cousin Ras Za Sellase, who intended Za Dengel to be little more than a figurehead.

He was crowned as Asnaf Segad ('He to whom the horizons bow').

However, Za Dengel summons the Jesuit Pedro Páez to his court at Dankaz, who persuades him to embrace Catholicism.