Taytu Betul was Empress of Ethiopia from 1889 to 1913 and the third wife of Emperor Menelik II. An influential figure in anti-colonial resistance during the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa, she, along with her husband, founded the modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa in 1886.
Tewodros II was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to the decentralized Zemene Mesafint.
Menen Asfaw was Empress of the Ethiopian Empire as the wife of Emperor Haile Selassie.
Yohannes IV was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1871 to his death in 1889 at the Battle of Gallabat, and king of Tigray from 1869 to 1871. In his earlier years, he rebelled against Tewodros II; having risen to power in the 1860s, he maintained the policy of Tewodros, that of continued unification and also implemented a policy of touring entire regions and meetings with governors. He assissted the British in their British expedition to Abyssinia which ended in Tewodros' suicide, from which Yohannes was rewarded in ammunition and artillery. He regarded Islam, Christianity and the Ethiopian Church all a hindrance to the stability of the state he built. In foreign policy, he had disagreements and military conflicts with both Isma'il Pasha of the Khedivate of Egypt and Muhammad Ahmad during the latter's Mahdist War.
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 Soloman 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.
Tekle Giyorgis II was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1868 to 1871. After being crowned, he linked himself to the last independent emperors of the Gondar line through his mother and sought support from the Ethiopian Church to strengthen his right to rule. He was wounded when fighting during the 1871 Battle of Adwa, leading to the demoralization of his troops and capture of his generals which would later lead to the unification policy and effective rule of Yohannes IV.
Ali II of Yejju was Ras of Begemder and the de facto ruler of the Ethiopian Empire. He was a member of a powerful Oromo dynasty known as the Yejju, which ruled much of the Ethiopian Empire during the Zemene Mesafint.
Dinqinesh Mercha was Empress-Consort of Emperor Tekle Giyorgis II.
Mentewab was Empress of Ethiopia, consort of Emperor Bakaffa, mother of Iyasu II and grandmother of Iyoas I. She was also known officially by her baptismal name of Walatta Giyorgis. Mentewab was a major political figure during the reigns of her son the Emperor Iyasu and grandson Iyoas. Empress Mentewab was also known by the honorific of Berhan Mogassa. This was to complement the honorific of her son Iyasu II, who was Berhan Seged.
Sabagadis Woldu was a governor of Tigray Province of the Ethiopian Empire from 1822 to 1831. Sabagadis gained some notoriety in the first decade of the 19th century for rebelling a number of times against his overlord, Ras Wolde Selassie. But just before the death of Wolde Selassie it seems that he made up with his master and became one of his loyal lieutenants. Following Wolde Selassie's death in 1816, he defied the authority of Wolde Selassie's son, and became the most powerful warlord in Tigray. Making Adigrat his capital, he ruled Tigray and a small strip of the coastal plains of Eritrea by 1818. His rule also extended to the Eritrean highlands.
The Battle of Magdala was the conclusion of the British Expedition to Abyssinia fought in April 1868 between British and Abyssinian forces at Magdala, 390 miles (630 km) from the Red Sea coast. The British were led by Robert Napier, while the Abyssinians were led by Emperor Tewodros II.
Darge Sahle Selassie Horse name Abba Gersa was a 19th-century Ethiopian nobleman, provincial governor, general and a trusted councillor of his nephew Emperor Menelik II.
Chalacot or Chelekot is a village in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Enderta woreda (district) of the Debub Misraqawi (Southeastern) Zone, 10 kilometers north of Antalo and 17 kilometers south of Mek'ele, the village has an approximate elevation of 2100 meters above sea level. The Central Statistical Agency has not published an estimate for this village's 2005 population.
DejazmatchAlemayehu Simyen Tewodoros, was the son of Emperor Tewodros II and Empress Tiruwork Wube of Ethiopia.
Enderta or Inderta is a former historical province of Ethiopia; it is located in the eastern edge of the Tigray highlands. Enderta is bordered on the west by Tembien, on the south and southwest by Lasta and Wag, on the east by denkel, and on the north by Agame and Adwa. Mekelle was formerly the capital of the province. Enderta's local administration of Denkel/Afar up to the edges of Aseb under its jurisdiction seems to have been highly, interlinked with the operation of the salt trade and its taxation system; the entire tasks of salt caravan organization being the responsibility of the bäalgada, title assumed by the governor of Endärta, since at least the Medieval period.
Dejazmach Birru Aligaz was a nobleman of 19th century Ethiopia during the Zemene Mesafint. As Dejazmach, he held the governorships of different districts such as Lasta and Dembiya and was made governor of Dawunt, Wollo in 1842 by Ras Ali II of Yejju. He was the son of Ras Aligaz Abba Seru Gwangul, and had a son called Dejazmach Zegeye.
Dejazmach Zegeye Birru was the son of Dejazmach Birru Aligaz. He was the ruler of Yejju until the emergence of Ras Welle Betul. Dejazmach Zegeye had four sons and a daughter: Wagshum Gwangul, Dejazmach Ali, Dejazmach Hailu, Dejazmach Aligaz, and Woizero Hirut.
Wube Haile Maryam of Semien, (1799-1867), also called by his title Dejazmach Wube, Webé; his name is also given in European sources as ‘‘Ubie’’or "Oubié". Wube was one of the major figures of 19th century Ethiopia, during the closing decades of the Zemene Mesafint a period of regional lords vying for power, prestige and territory amid a weakened authority of the emperors.
Shum TembienMercha Wolde Kidan was the ruler of Tembien, a province of Tigray, and father of Kasa Mercha. Mercha had his seat at Melfa in the mountainous Degwa Tembien. Due to his connections to the leading families of Tigray, he was regarded as one of the first nobles of the region. He himself, however, never acquired a central position within the Ethiopian power structure, but transmitted his own claims for rulership to his descendants.
Welde Giyorgis Aboye was one of the most prominent Ethiopian generals who spearheaded Emperor Menelik's southward expansion at the close of the 19th century. His fame soared after leading the conquest on the Kingdom of Kaffa as a Ras, and was subsequently appointed as provincial governor of that fief by the Emperor. Welde Giyorgis later became the governor of Begemder. A few months before his death, he was elevated to Negus, of Gondar by Empress Zewditu in 1917, as recognition for his role in deposing Lij Iyasu.