The Ethiopian Empire , also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia , or just simply known
as Ethiopia , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: Itiyoophiyaa), was a monarchy that spanned
a geographical area in the current states of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It began with the
establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak from approximately 1270 and lasted
until 1974, when Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in a coup d'état by the communist
Derg. It was throughout much of its existence surrounded by hostile forces in the African
Horn however it managed to preserve and develop its ancient form of Christianity based kingdom.
Founded in 1270 by the Solomonic Dynasty nobleman Yekuno Amlak, who claimed to descend from
the last Aksumite king and ultimately the Biblical Menelik I and the Queen of Sheba,
it replaced the Agaw kingdom of the Zagwe. While initially a rather small and politically
unstable entity, the Empire managed to expand significantly under the crusades of Amda Seyon
I and Yeshaq I , temporarily becoming the dominant force of the African Horn. Yeshaq's
reign was however challenged by Sultan Jamal ad-Din II which led to Yeshaq's death. Under
the rule of Zara Yaqob , the Hadiya Sultanate was invaded by Ethiopia and the captured Hadiya
princess Eleni converted to Christianity leading to her marriage to Zara Yacob. Muslims in
the region as well as Adal Sultanate rejected the marriage alliance and began launching
several invasion attempts into Ethiopia finally succeeding under Imam Mahfuz. Mahfuz's ambush
and defeat by Emperor Lebna Dengel brought about the early 16th century Jihad of the
Adalite Imam Ahmed Gran, who was only defeated in 1543 with the help of the Portuguese. Greatly
weakened, much of the Empire's southern territory and vassals were lost due to the Oromo migrations.
In the north, in what is now Eritrea, Ethiopia managed to repulse Ottoman invasion attempts,
although losing its access to the Red Sea to them.
Reacting to these challenges, Ethiopia started to expand westwards, conquering the Lake Tana
area and much of Beta Israel territory in Begemder. In the 1630s Emperor Fasilides founded
the new capital of Gondar, marking the start for a new golden age known as "Gondarine period".
It saw a relative peace, the successful integration of the Oromo and a flourishing of culture.
With the deaths of Emperor Iyasu II and especially Iyoas I the realm eventually entered a period
of decentralization, known as "Era of the Princes". The Shewa region de facto seceded
and constituted a kingdom of its own, while within the Empire, regional warlords contested
for power, with the emperor being barely more than a mere puppet.
Emperor Tewodros II put an end to that state, reunified the Empire and led it into the modern
period before dying during the British Expedition to Abyssinia. His successor Yohannes IV engaged
primarily in war and successfully fought the Egyptians and the Mahdists before dying against
the latter in the Battle of Gallabat in 1889. Emperor Menelik II, now residing in the recently
founded town of Addis Abeba, continued and concluded the policy of expansion of his predecessor,
subjugating many people and kingdoms in what is now western, southern and eastern Ethiopia,
like Kaffa, Wolaytta or Aussa. Thus, he gave Ethiopia the geographical extent it has today.
In the north he was confronted with an expanding Italy. Decisively defeating it at the Battle
of Adwa in 1896 with the aid of Russia and France, Menelik ensured Ethiopia's independence
and confined Italy to Eritrea.
Later, after the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Mussolini's Italian Empire occupied Ethiopia
and established the Italian East Africa, merging it with neighboring Eritrea and Italian Somaliland
colony to the south-east. After World War II, the Italians were driven out of Ethiopia
with the help of the British army. The emperor returned from exile and the country was one
of the founding members of the United Nations, and in 1962 annexed Eritrea. However, the
Ethiopian Civil War, domestic discontent, and the independence war of Eritrea led to
the fall of the Empire in 1974.
By 1974, Ethiopia was one of only three countries in the world to have the title of Emperor
for its head of state, together with Japan and Iran under the Pahlavi dynasty. It was
the second-to-last country in Africa to use the title of Emperor, as after it came the
short lived Central African Empire, which lasted between 1976 and 1979 under Emperor
Bokassa I. History
D'mt and Kingdom of Aksum Ethiopia's human occupation began early, as
evidenced by the findings. It is believed that the ancient Egyptians claimed that Punt,
known as gold country, was in Ethiopia in 980 BC. According to the Kebra Nagast, Menelik
I founded the Ethiopian empire in the 10th century BC,. In the 4th century, under King
Ezana of Axum, the kingdom adopted Christianity as the state religion that evolved into the
Orthodox Tewahedo denominational Church. It was thus one of the first Christian states.
After the conquest of Aksum by Queen Gudit or Yodit, a period began which some scholars
refer to as the Ethiopian Dark Ages. According to Ethiopian tradition, she ruled over the
remains of the Aksumite Empire for 40 years before transmitting the crown to her descendants.
In 1063 AD the Sultanate of Showa describes the passing of their overlord Badit daughter
of Maya.
Makhzumi and Zagwe dynasty The earliest Muslim state in Ethiopia, the
Makhzumi dynasty with its capital in Wahal, Hararghe region succeeds Queen Badit. The
Zagwe kingdom, another dynasty with its capital at Adafa, emerged not far from modern day
Lalibela in the Lasta mountains. The Zagwe continued the Orthodox Christianity of Aksum
and constructed many rock-hewn churches such as the Church of Saint George in Lalibela.
The dynasty would last until its overthrow by a new regime claiming descent from the
old Aksumite kings.
Solomonic dynasty and Ifat Sultanate An unholy alliance between Muslim and Christian
states had occurred in this period. In 1270, the Zagwe dynasty was overthrown by a rebel
named Yekuno Amlak claiming lineage from the Aksumite kings and, hence, from Solomon. Yekuno
Amlak successfully received massive aid from the Muslim Sultanate of Shewa against Zagwe.
The eponymously named Solomonic dynasty was founded and ruled by the Abyssinians, from
whom Abyssinia gets its name. In 1279 the deposed Sultan of Shewa Dil Marrah successfully
appealed to Yekuno Amlak to restore his rule, however it wouldn't last long, because its
renegade province Ifat would eventually invade it and create the Ifat Sultanate. During the
Ifat Sultanate, Muslim relations with the Solomonic dynasty soured. In the 14th century
Emperor Amda Seyon would invade Ifat and essentially dismantle it as a regional power. Ifat's descendants
would return to the Horn of Africa and launch a powerful regional state, the Adal Sultanate.
Adal Sultanate invasion In 1529, the Adal Sultanate's forces led by
Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi invaded the Ethiopian Empire in what is known as the Ethiopian–Adal
war. The Adal occupation lasted fourteen years. During the conflict, the Adal Sultanate employed
cannons provided by the Ottoman Empire. In the aftermath of the war, Adal annexed Ethiopia,
uniting it with territories in what is now Somalia. In 1543, with the help of the Portuguese
Empire, the Solomonic dynasty was restored. Early modern period
In 1543, Emperor Gelawdewos beat Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi armies and Ahmad himself
was killed at the Battle of Wayna Daga, close to Wegera. This victory allowed the empire
to reconquer progressively the Ethiopian Highlands. In 1559 Gelawdewos was killed attempting to
invade Adal Sultanate, and his severed head was paraded in Adal's capital Harar.
The Ottoman Empire made another attempt at conquering Ethiopia, from 1557, establishing
Habesh Eyalet, the province of Abyssinia, by conquering Massawa, the Empire's main port
and seizing Suakin from the allied Funj Sultanate in what is now Sudan. In 1573 Sultanate of
Harar attempted to invade Ethiopia again however Sarsa Dengel successfully defended the Ethiopian
frontier.
The Ottomans were checked by Emperor Sarsa Dengel's victory and sacking of Arqiqo in
1589, thus containing them on a narrow coast line strip. The Afar Sultanate maintained
the remaining Ethiopian port on the Red Sea, at Baylul.
Oromo migrations through the same period, occurred with the movement of a large pastoral
population from the southeastern provinces of the Empire. A contemporary account was
recorded by the monk Abba Bahrey, from the Gamo region. Subsequently, the empire organization
changed progressively, with faraway provinces taking more independence. A remote province
such as Bale is last recorded paying tribute to the imperial throne during Yaqob reign
. By 1607, Oromos were also major players in
the imperial politics, when Susenyos I, raised by a clan through gudifacha , took power.
He was helped by fellow Luba age-group generals Mecha, Yilma and Densa, who were rewarded
by Rist feudal lands, in the present-day Gojjam districts of the same name. Susenyos reign
was also marked by his short-lived conversion to Catholicism, which ignited a major civil
war. His son Fasilides I reverted the move.
The reign of Iyasu the Great was a major period of consolidation. It also saw the dispatching
of embassies to Louis XIV's France and to Dutch India. During the reign of Iyasu II
, the Empire was strong enough to undertake a war on the Sennar Sultanate, where the emperor
leading its army to Sennar itself, was afterwards forced to retreat upon defeat along the Setit
river. Iyasu II also conferred the dignity of Kantibai of the Habab after homage by a
new dynasty.
The Wallo and Yejju clans rise to power culminated in 1755, when Emperor Iyoas I ascended to
the imperial throne in Gondar. They would be one of the major factions contending for
imperial power during the ensuing Zemene Mesafint, starting from 1769, when Mikael Sehul, Ras
of Tigray killed Iyoas I and replaced him with Yohannes II.
The Early Modern period was one of intense cultural and artistic creation. Notable philosophers
from that area are Zera Yacob and Walda Heywat. The city of Gondar became the capital in 1636,
with several fortified castles built in the town and in its surrounding areas.
Princes' Era From 1769 to 1855, the Ethiopian empire passed
through a period known as the Princes Era . This was a period of Ethiopian history with
numerous conflicts between the various Ras and the emperor, who had only limited power
and only dominated the area around the contemporary capital of Gondar. Both the development of
society and culture stagnated in this period. Religious conflict, both within the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church and between them and the Muslims were often used as a pretext for mutual strife.
The Princes Era ended with the reign of the Emperor Tewodros II.
Reign of Emperor Tewodros II and Scramble for Africa
In 1868, following the imprisonment of several missionaries and representatives of the British
government, the British engaged in the punitive Expedition to Abyssinia. This campaign was
a success for Britain and the Ethiopian emperor committed suicide.
From 1874 to 1876, the Empire, under Yohannes IV, won the Ethiopian-Egyptian War, decisively
beating the invading forces at the Battle of Gundet, in Hamasien province. In 1887 Menelik
king of Shewa invaded the Emirate of Harar after his victory at the Battle of Chelenqo.
The 1880s were marked by the Scramble for Africa. Italy, seeking a colonial presence
in Africa, invaded Ethiopia and following a successful conquest of some coastal regions,
forced the Treaty of Wuchale upon Shewa , creating the colony of Eritrea.
Due to significant differences between the Italian and Amharic translations of the treaty,
Italy believed they had subsumed Ethiopia as a client state. Ethiopia repudiated the
treaty in 1893. Insulted, Italy declared war on Ethiopia in 1895. The First Italo-Ethiopian
War resulted in the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Italy was decisively defeated, as the
Ethiopians were numerically superior, better equipped and supported by Russia and France.
As a result, the Treaty of Addis Ababa was signed in October, which strictly delineated
the borders of Eritrea and forced Italy to recognize the independence of Ethiopia.
Beginning in the 1890s, under the reign of the Emperor Menelik II, the empire's forces
set off from the central province of Shoa to incorporate through conquest inhabited
lands to the west, east and south of its realm. The territories that were annexed included
those of the western Oromo , Sidama, Gurage, Wolayta, and Dizi. Among the imperial troops
was Ras Gobena's Shewan Oromo militia. Many of the lands that they annexed had never been
under the empire's rule, with the newly incorporated territories resulting in the modern borders
of Ethiopia.
Delegations from the United Kingdom and France – European powers whose colonial possessions
lay next to Ethiopia – soon arrived in the Ethiopian capital to negotiate their own treaties
with this newly-proven power.
Italian invasion and World War II In 1935 Italian soldiers, commanded by Marshal
Emilio De Bono, invaded Ethiopia in what is known as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The
war lasted seven months before an Italian victory was declared. The Ethiopian Empire
was incorporated into the Italian colony of Italian East Africa. The invasion was condemned
by the League of Nations, though not much was done to end the hostility.
During the conflict, both Ethiopian and Italian troops committed war crimes. Ethiopian troops
are known to have made use of Dum-Dum bullets and mutilated captured soldiers . Italian
troops used sulfur mustard in chemical warfare, ignoring the Geneva Protocol that it had signed
seven years earlier. The Italian military dropped mustard gas in bombs, sprayed it from
airplanes and spread it in powdered form on the ground. 150,000 chemical casualties were
reported, mostly from mustard gas. In the aftermath of the war Italy annexed Ethiopia,
uniting it with Italy's other colonies in eastern Africa to form the new colony of Italian
East Africa, and Victor Emmanuel III of Italy adopted the title "Emperor of Abyssinia".
On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on the United Kingdom and France, as France was in
the process of being conquered by Germany at the time and Benito Mussolini wished to
expand Italy's colonial holdings. The Italian conquest of British Somaliland in August 1940
was successful, but the war turned against Italy afterward. Haile Selassie returned to
Ethiopia from England to help rally the resistance. The British began their own invasion in January
1941 with the help of Ethiopian freedom fighters, and the last organized Italian resistance
in Italian East Africa surrendered in November 1941, ending Italian rule.
Fall of monarchy In 1974 a pro-Soviet Marxist–Leninist military
junta, the "Derg", led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, deposed Haile Selassie and established a socialist
republic. Haile Selassie was imprisoned and died in unclear circumstances, a rumor being
that he was suffocated with an ether-soaked pillow.