Menelik II, baptised as Sahle Maryam was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 to his death in 1913. At the height of his internal power and external prestige, the process of territorial expansion and creation of the modern empire-state was largely completed by 1898.
Shewa, formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at its center.
The Solomonic dynasty, also known as the House of Solomon, was the ruling dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire from the thirteenth to twentieth centuries. The dynasty was founded by Yekuno Amlak, who overthrew the Zagwe dynasty in 1270. His successors claimed he was descended from the legendary king Menelik I, the supposed son of the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, in order to legitimize the dynasty's assumption of power. Although this claimed ancestry gave the dynasty its name, there is no credible evidence that the dynasty was descended from Solomon or the Davidic line. The Solomonic dynasty remained in power until 1974, when its last emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown by a coup d'état.
The Kingdom of Jimma was an Oromo Muslim kingdom in the Gibe region of Ethiopia that emerged in the 18th century. It shared its western border with Limmu-Ennarea, its eastern border with the Sidamo Kingdom of Janjero, and was separated from the Kingdom of Kaffa to the south by the Gojeb River. Jimma was considered the most powerful militarily of the Gibe kingdoms.
The Kingdom of Kaffa was a kingdom located in what is now Ethiopia from 1390 to 1897, with its first capital at Bonga. The Gojeb River formed its northern border, beyond which lay the Gibe kingdoms; to the east the territory of the Konta and Kullo peoples lay between Kaffa and the Omo River; to the south numerous subgroups of the Gimira people, and to the west lay the Majangir people. The native language, also known as Kaffa, is one of the Omotic group of languages.
The Zemene Mesafint was a period in Ethiopian history between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries when the country was ruled by a class of Oromo elite noblemen who replaced Habesha nobility in their courts, making the emperor merely a figurehead. For the most part, the regional lords were tightly related by marriage and constituted a stable ruling elite that prevailed until the mid-20th century. In short, during the Zemene Mesafint, the emperors from the Solomonic dynasty were reduced to little more than figureheads confined to the capital city of Gondar.
The Welayta, or Wolaitans are an ethnic group located in Southwestern Ethiopia. According to the most recent estimate (2017), the people of Wolayta numbered 5.83 million in Welayta Zone. The language of the Wolayta people, similarly called Wolaytta, belongs to the Omotic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Despite their small population, Wolayta people have widely influenced national music, dance, and cuisine in Ethiopia.
The Kingdom of Damot was a medieval kingdom in what is now western Ethiopia. The territory was positioned below the Blue Nile. It was a powerful state that forced the Sultanate of Showa to pay tributes. It also annihilated the armies of the Zagwe dynasty that were sent to subdue its territory. Damot conquered several Muslim and Christian territories. The Muslim state Showa and the new Christian state under Yekuno Amlak formed an alliance to counter the influence of Damot in the region.
RasGobena Dache was an Ethiopian military commander under Menelik II and during his reign. An ethnic Oromo, he is known for campaigning against Oromo territory to incorporate more lands into the Ethiopian Empire in the late 19th century.
Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in Africa; the emergence of Ethiopian civilization dates back thousands of years. Abyssinia or rather "Ze Etiyopia" was ruled by the Semitic Abyssinians (Habesha) composed mainly of the Amhara, Tigrayans and the Cushitic Agaw. In the Eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian highlands and more so the lowlands were the home of the Harari/Harla that founded Sultanates such as Ifat and Adal and the Afars. In the central and south were found the ancient Sidama and Semitic Gurage, among others.
NegusMikael of Wollo, was an army commander and a member of the nobility of the Ethiopian Empire. He was the father of the "uncrowned" Emperor Lij Iyasu, and the grandfather of Empress Menen, wife of Emperor Haile Selassie. He changed his name to Mikael upon converting to Christianity.
The Yejju Oromo, also historically known as the Yajju, Edjow or Edjou Galla, are a sub-clan of the Barento branch of Oromo people. They are one of the northernmost communities of Oromo people residing in Ethiopia, along with the Raayyaa.
Wolayita or Wolaita is an administrative zone in Ethiopia. Wolayita is bordered on the south by Gamo Zone, on the west by the Omo River which separates it from Dawro, on the northwest by Kembata Zone and Tembaro Special Woreda, on the north by Hadiya, on the northeast by the Oromia Region, on the east by the Bilate River which separates it from Sidama Region, and on the south east by the Lake Abaya which separates it from Oromia Region. The administrative centre of Wolayita is Sodo. Other major towns are Areka, Boditi, Tebela, Bale Hawassa, Gesuba, Gununo, Bedessa and Dimtu.
Marchuwa was a currency used by the Kingdom of Wolaita. Marchuwa was a bundle of thin metal strips one cubit long, used as trading currency. Marchuwa was equal to 18 Maria Theresa Thalers or 0.50 US dollars.
Kawo Tona Gaga was the last and most powerful king of the Kingdom of Wolaita. Tona Gaga was the 17th Kawo, or king, of the Tigre dynasty, the last independent dynasty of the Wolayta people.
Motolomi Sato or Kawo Motolomi Sato was the founder and one of the most famous kings of the Kingdom of Wolaita. He ruled part of present day Ethiopia in the 12th century under the Damot Kingdom under Wolayta malla dynasty. Kawo Motolomi was an expansionist king of Wolaita. The son of king Sato, he was of the indigenous and heroic Wolaitta-Malla family and his family can still be found in Wolaita. The governmental center of the Wolaita during the Motolami era was at the summit of a gorgeous mountain known as Damota, which ultimately became the name of the kingdom. The force of cavalry and infantry besieged Kawo Motolomi's palace, known as Xaazza Garuwaa.
Dalbo is a town in South Ethiopia Regional State, Ethiopia within Wolayita Zone. Dalbo is located about 304 km away from Addis Ababa to the south through Butajira. And the town is located 11 km, North from Sodo, the capital of Wolayita Zone. The coordinate point of the town in map is 6°54′0″N 37°52′0″E with elevation of 2349 meters above the sea level.
Menelik II's conquests, also known as the Agar Maqnat, were a series of expansionist wars and conquests carried out by Emperor Menelik II of Shewa to expand the Ethiopian Empire.
Beginning with the Kingdom of Aksum, Ethiopia's territory evolved significantly through conquest of the lands surrounding it. Strong Aksumite trading partnerships with other world powers gave prominence to its territorial expansion. In 330, Aksum besieged the Nubian city of Meroë, marking the beginning of its great expansion. It finally declined after the rise of Islamic dominion in South Arabia, and it ultimately collapsed in the 10th century.
