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93-700: The most powerful lords during the Zemene Mesafint were from the House of Yejju , a dynasty that included Ali I of Yejju , Aligaz , Gugsa and Ali II based in Yejju, a region in Wollo . Other regional lords included Kenfu Hailu of Gondar , Ras Dullu Menz , Ras Hailu Yosedeq of Gojjam , Sabagadis Woldu of Tigre, Ras Wolde Selassie of Tigre , Wube Haile Mariam of Simien, and provincial king Sahle Selassie of Shewa . The lords fought against each other for

186-523: A holy language by the Rastafari religion and is widely used among its followers worldwide. Early Afro-Asiatic populations speaking proto- Semitic , proto- Cushitic and proto- Omotic languages would have diverged by the fourth or fifth millennium BC. Shortly afterwards, the proto-Cushitic and proto-Omotic groups would have settled in the Ethiopian highlands, with the proto-Semitic speakers crossing

279-524: A pidgin as early as the 4th century AD to enable communication between Aksumite soldiers speaking Semitic, Cushitic, and Omotic languages, but this hypothesis has not garnered widespread acceptance. The preservation in Old Amharic of VSO word order and gutturals typical of Semitic languages, Cushitic influences shared with other Ethio-Semitic languages (especially those of the Southern branch), and

372-579: A Muslim. Wube's growing hatred for the Ras went through the roof when he openly announced that he intended to attack him, who he claimed was Muslim at the heart. He proclaimed that after he had defeated the Ras, he would install the lawful descendant of the line of Solomon, King of Kings Tekle Giorgis, who was at the time in his camp, on the imperial throne in Gondar. When Abuna Salama had arrived in Ethiopia in

465-568: A foothold on the coast of the Red Sea for the British monarch to take so that he may breach the wall of isolation around Ethiopia and create a bridge to Christian Europe. In 1830, Sabagadis succeeded in forming a loose coalition with the Christian rulers of Gojjam, Lasta, and Semien against Ras Marye of Yejju , the brother and predecessor of Ras Yimam. However, Ras Marye was forewarned of

558-546: A good thing To eat ears of corn which have grown in the blood Who will remember St. Micheal of November to give alms? Mariam (Marye), with five thousand Gallas, had killed him For half of a loaf, for cup of wine, The friend of the Christians has fallen at Daga Shaha." After the death of Sebagadis, the Oromo army, under a furious Ras Dori of Yejju the brother of Ras Marye, went on to ravage Tigray in revenge of

651-453: A group of Oromo princes conspired together to overthrow him. Sehul managed to flee back to his home province of Tigray. After disposing Sehul, the confederate Oromos put a "worthless" Amhara on the throne called Socinios, given the title " Kings of Kings ". In the coming decades, the guardianship of the King of Kings passed into the hands of a Yejju Oromo family. The founder of this new dynasty of

744-516: A most bloody fight in which the Ras was killed. Sebagadis had surrendered to Wube and was handed over to the Oromos to be executed in retaliation for the death of the Ras. It was said that right before his be-heading, Sebagadis said to the Oromos: I have only fought this war to defend my country, which you wished, without cause, to ruin, and of which I was the father. You may kill my body; but my soul

837-554: A period for struggle among Tigrayan nobility, Wolde Selassie would become the new governor of Tigray. In essence, the conflicts between the governors of Tigray and the Oromo lords revolved around the desire of the Tigrayans to overthrow the Oromo oligarchy and claim the title of Negesta Nagastat, while the Oromo aimed to maintain the status quo by manipulating the Amharas as puppets for their own political and social advantage. After

930-508: A transition age between two eras – the era of the absolute monarchy and the era of rule by the Were Sheikh rulers of Yeju. Tekle Giyorgis I , whose first reign was from 1779 to 1784, tried to assert all over again some, if not all, of the powers of the monarchy. Unfortunately for him and the dynasty as a whole, he ended up losing everything. Ali I defeated him in early 1784 at a place called Afara Wanat and replaced him with Iyasu III who

1023-593: A weak Ethiopian imperial presence. The Zemene Mesafint, which in a span of eighty-six years saw twenty-three emperors occupy the throne (some were placed on and removed from the throne numerous times) came to an end with the rise of Kassa Hailu – better known by his later throne name of Tewodros II . Kassa won his way to control the imperial throne first by occupying Dembea , then following a series of battles beginning with Gur Amba (1852) and ending with Battle of Derasge (1855), came to control all of northern Ethiopia. More importantly, with his triumph over Ras Ali II at

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1116-751: Is a South Ethio-Semitic language, along with Gurage , Argobba , Harari , and others. Due to the social stratification of the time, the Cushitic Agaw adopted the South Ethio-Semitic language and eventually absorbed the Semitic population. Amharic thus developed with a Cushitic substratum and a Semitic superstratum . The northernmost South Ethio-Semitic speakers, or the proto-Amhara, remained in constant contact with their North Ethio-Semitic neighbors, evidenced by linguistic analysis and oral traditions. A 7th century southward shift of

1209-817: Is an Ethiopian Semitic language , which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages . It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas , and also serves as a lingua franca for all other populations residing in major cities and towns in Ethiopia . The language serves as the official working language of the Ethiopian federal government, and is also the official or working language of several of Ethiopia's federal regions . As of 2020, it has over 33,700,000 mother-tongue speakers and more than 25,100,000 second language speakers in 2019, making

1302-579: Is an abugida , and the graphemes of the Amharic writing system are called fidäl . It is derived from a modification of the Ge'ez script . Each character represents a consonant+vowel sequence, but the basic shape of each character is determined by the consonant, which is modified for the vowel. Some consonant phonemes are written by more than one series of characters: / ʔ / , / s / , / tsʼ / , and / h / (the last one has four distinct letter forms). This

1395-663: Is because these fidäl originally represented distinct sounds, but phonological changes merged them. The citation form for each series is the consonant+ ä form, i.e. the first column of the fidäl . The Amharic script is included in Unicode , and glyphs are included in fonts available with major operating systems. As in most other Ethiopian Semitic languages , gemination is contrastive in Amharic. That is, consonant length can distinguish words from one another; for example, alä 'he said', allä 'there is'; yǝmätall 'he hits', yǝmmättall 'he will be hit'. Gemination

1488-501: Is called an abugida ( አቡጊዳ ). The graphemes are called fidäl ( ፊደል ), which means "script", "alphabet", "letter", or "character". There is no universally agreed-upon Romanization of Amharic into Latin script . The Amharic examples in the sections below use one system that is common among linguists specializing in Ethiopian Semitic languages. Amharic has been the official working language of Ethiopia, language of

1581-423: Is famous for having been elevated to the throne altogether six times and also deposed six times. Meanwhile, Amha Iyasus , Meridazmach of Shewa (1744–1775), wisely kept out of this endless fighting, devoting his energies to consolidating his kingdom and founding Ankober . This was a practice that his successors followed to the end of the kingdom. The years from 1771 to 1784 constituted a sort of interregnum or

1674-454: Is in the hands of God... A year after the execution of Sebagadis, people all over the Amhara countries were still lamenting Sebagadis, despite him being Tigrayan: "Alas! Sebagadis, the friend of all, Has fallen at Daga Shaha, by the hand of Aubeshat! Alas! Sebagadis, the pillar of the poor, Has fallen at Daga Shaha, weltering in his blood! The people of this country, will they find it

1767-469: Is mostly heard as the affricate sound [ t͡sʼ ]. The rhotic consonant is realized as a trill when geminated and a tap otherwise. The closed central unrounded vowel ⟨ə⟩ /ɨ/ and mid-central vowel ⟨ä⟩ /ə/ are generally fronted to [ ɪ ] and [ ɛ ], respectively, following palatal consonants , and generally retracted and rounded to [ ʊ ] and [ ɔ ], respectively, following labialized velar consonants . The Amharic script

1860-416: Is not indicated in Amharic orthography, but Amharic readers typically do not find this to be a problem. This property of the writing system is analogous to the vowels of Arabic and Hebrew or the tones of many Bantu languages , which are not normally indicated in writing. Ethiopian novelist Haddis Alemayehu , who was an advocate of Amharic orthography reform , indicated gemination in his novel Love to

1953-637: Is not known whether this mission was political, religious, or economic. In October 1841, the missionary Krapf who was in Shewa wrote the following: If Muhammad Ali will capture Abyssinia he would be able to recruit forces for the army, especially by taking and organizing... the Galla people, who will furnish him with men and horses. However, when the Belgian Consul in Egypt arrived in Gondar to negotiate with

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2046-619: The Battle of Ayshal , Kassa Hailu ended the Were Seh dynasty, and with imperial power once again in the hands of a single man, the Zemene Mesafint is considered to have ended and the history of Modern Ethiopia to have begun. Yejju people 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

2139-473: The Ras and join his followers, he would be given Ras Ali's daughter and the governorship of his birthplace, the district of Qwara . Kassa accepted the offer but was later embarrassed to find out that the position that he was to be given in Qwara was subordinate to that of one of Mennen's weaker Muslim generals. At the end of 1845, Mennen demanded Kassa to guide the military commander of Qwara and his army into

2232-629: The Ras was forced to return to help his mother who was faced with a rebellion in Agawmeder, Dembya, and Wogera. The growing tension in Dembya and Wogera had grown due to rebellious shifta leaders, specifically Kassa Hailu who were defying her authority. A far more serious threat was the coalition formed by Wube, Goshu, and Faris Aligaz of Lasta, which succeeded in subverting the loyalty of many Amharas in Begamder and Amhara by accusing Ali of becoming

2325-606: The Ras , a messenger of Muhammad came to him carrying the following message signed with the seal of the Pasha: Do not fear, your friends will be my friends and your enemies will be my enemies. His words did not match his actions as later Muhammad Ali would dispatch the Egyptian army to Wehni to take advantage of the Ethiopians who were in a difficult situation with internal matters. As soon as Ras Ali's troubles were over,

2418-478: The Sinai Peninsula into Asia . A later return movement of peoples from South Arabia would have introduced the Semitic languages to Ethiopia. Based on archaeological evidence, the presence of Semitic speakers in the territory date to some time before 500 BC. Linguistic analysis suggests the presence of Semitic languages in Ethiopia as early as 2000 BC. Levine indicates that by the end of that millennium,

2511-504: The total number of speakers over 58,800,000. Amharic is the largest, most widely spoken language in Ethiopia, and the second most spoken mother-tongue in Ethiopia (after Oromo ). Amharic is also the second most widely spoken Semitic language in the world (after Arabic ). Amharic is written left-to-right using a system that grew out of the Geʽez script . The segmental writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as units

2604-513: The Abyna's support, leading him to be open to Abuna Salam's counsel to free Wube and restore his properties to him in exchange for minimal recompense and a pledge of loyalty. Nevertheless, the repercussions of the Debre Tabor conflict only added to Ali's predicament. However, the aftermath of the Debre Tabor battle further complicated Ali's position. Dejazmatch Merso, who had reached Semien in

2697-657: The Amhara against the enemy. Their support was decisive and Amhara nobles sent an invitation and a plea for the fighting force to stay in Gondar to defend the Negesta Nagastat and to act as a deterrent to future threats from Tigray . Many of the Oromo cavalry stayed in the Gondar region, especially after Bakaffa , who is now the Negesta Nagastat, married the widow of a high-ranking Oromo. The Oromos who resided in Gondar now would become close confidants to

2790-431: The Amhara provinces of Maqet, Wadla, Dalanta and Dawent. Their authority over the lords of the rest of the regions – Qwara , Gojjam , Wollo , Semien , Tigray up to Hamasien , Wag and the like – was rather restricted to the power of making them pay regular tributes, be in attendance in their court for a given period of the year, participate in their wars and exercise right of appeal in matters of justice. They also had

2883-605: The Egyptians immediately withdrew most of their army but were caught in an ambush north of Wolkait. Muhammad Ali would later tell the French Consul-General in Egypt that the hostilities between the Ethiopians and Egyptians were never serious. The talk about conquering Gondar completely subsided by the end of 1842 as the Egyptians were so absorbed with their expansion along the Nile. After Wube's defeat at Debra Tabor,

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2976-469: The Ethiopianist tradition they are often transcribed with a dot below the letter. The notation of central vowels in the Ethiopianist tradition is shown in angled brackets. The voiced bilabial plosive /b/ is phonetically realized as a voiced labial approximant [β̞] medially between sonorants in non- geminated form. The fricative ejective / sʼ / is heard as a fricative ejective [ sʼ ], but

3069-523: The Grave by placing a dot above the characters whose consonants were geminated, but this practice is rare. Punctuation includes the following: One may construct simple Amharic sentences by using a subject and a predicate . Here are a few simple sentences: ኢትዮጵያ ʾItyop̣p̣ya Ethiopia አፍሪካ ʾAfrika Africa ውስጥ wǝsṭ in ናት nat is ኢትዮጵያ አፍሪካ ውስጥ ናት ʾItyop̣p̣ya ʾAfrika wǝsṭ nat {Ethiopia} {Africa} {in} {is} 'Ethiopia

3162-493: The Negesta Nagastat and significantly place substantial political influence within the kingdom. By the time Iyasu II , the son of Bakaffa, came into power Oromo influence in the court was enormous and unsettled the Amhara nobles who questioned Oromo authority. Afaan Oromo is to have said dominated the Imperial court. A Scottish traveller, James Bruce , who visited Gonder during the period under discussion, wrote that "Nothing

3255-543: The Oromo lords of Wollo in gaining further access to the royal court and dominating the Empire since the 1780s. The son, born of this union, was sent to Wollo and eventually returned to rule in Gondar. This period of that eventually followed would be known as the "Era of Princes", or the Zemene Mesafint . The death of Iyoas I would spark the Zemene Mesafint which would last until 1855. Ras Mikael Sehul of Tigray ,

3348-691: The Oromo princes over the Abyssinian kingdom. Hailu gained support from the locals and defeated Oromo lords and princes and would throne himself as Tewodros II , attempting to fulfill a prophecy that a man named Tewodros would restore the Ethiopian Empire to greatness and rule for 40 years. Traditionally, the beginning of this period is set on the date Ras Mikael Sehul deposed Emperor Iyoas I (7 May 1769), and its end to Kassa's coronation as Emperor Tewodros II (11 February 1855), having defeated in battle all of his rivals. Some historians date

3441-473: The Oromo regents was Ras Ali I of Yejju , who ruled the province of Begamder and Amhara from his centre in Debra Tabor . When Sehul died in 1779, his son Wolde Gabriel succeeded him as the governor of Tigre and took up battle against the Oromo authority in Gondar but fell in battle to Ras Aligaz of Yejju , the brother of Ras Ali I. Ras Aligaz would succeed Ras Ali I after his death and after

3534-477: The Oromo relatives of Iyoas. Iyoas effectively had little say, as he inherited an empty Imperial treasury and depended heavily on his Oromo relations. As he increasingly favored Oromo leaders like Fasil , his relations with Mikael Sehul deteriorated. Eventually Mikael Sehul deposed the Emperor Iyoas (7 May 1769). One week later, Mikael Sehul had him killed; although the details of his death are contradictory,

3627-634: The Qwarans of his grandmothers family. Iyoas further increased the favour given to the Oromo. On the death of the Ras of Amhara, he attempted to promote his uncle Lubo governor of that province, but the outcry led his adviser Wolde Leul to convince him to change his mind. The conflict between these two queens led to Mentewab summoning her relatives with their armed supporters from Qwara to Gondar to support her. Wubit responded by summoning her own Oromo relatives and their considerable forces from Wollo. Fearing that

3720-460: The Tigrayan threat. At the head of the Oromo contingents from Wollo, Yejju, Begamder and Amhara, he advanced beyond Takkaze into Tigray. Sebagadis had meanwhile mobilized his forces and the two armies met at Mai Islami near Debra Abbai . Although the Tigrayans had a superior army, due to the equipment by the British, the match-locked men were poorly employed and the Oromo cavalry won the field after

3813-536: The Yejju region of Wollo. It is preferable to call them by the name that they themselves preferred and by what others called them: Warra Sheh or Werre Sheikh (sons of the Sheikh) a name which reflects their Muslim background. This appellation clearly refers to the family rather than to the province, and to their Islamic and Oromo roots. Scholars now agree that of the Warra Sheh rulers, Ras Gugsa's reign (1800–1825)

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3906-436: The Yejju were of non-Oromo origin, however they were influenced by the Oromo such as in cases of intermarriage. The ethnic makeup of the Yejju is complex. One theory is that the Yejju are the results of various layers of people: the Amhara population of Angot, remnants of the forces of Ahmad Gragn, and the migrating Oromo. As a result of their expansions , the Oromo settled in modern day Wollo and established dynasties, two of

3999-449: The alphabet used for writing the Geʽez language. There are 34 basic characters, each of which has seven forms depending on which vowel is to be pronounced in the syllable. There are also 49 "wa" letters, which form compound sounds involving "w." All together, the alphabet has some 280 letters. Until 2020 Amharic was the sole official language of Ethiopia. The 2007 census reported that Amharic

4092-471: The battle against Sebagadis. Ras Dori's disease creased upon him during the month of May when it was terminated in death. Throughout the 1830s and until the last years of the 1840s, the three most important rulers of Ethiopia were Wube a non-tigrayan ruler of Tigray, Semien, Wolkait , and Wogera, Negus Sahle Selassie of Showa, and Ras Ali II of Yejju , the grandson of Ras Gugsa through his son Alula of Yejju. The new Ras came into power in 1831 upon

4185-552: The capital of Gondar , the Empire suffered from regional conflict between regions that had been part of the Empire for hundreds of years—the Agaw , Amharics , Tigrayans and the Oromo . Mentewab's attempt to strengthen ties between the monarchy and the Oromo of Wollo by arranging the marriage of her son Iyasu to Wubit, the daughter of an Oromo chieftain from Wollo backfired in the long run. Her attempt to continue her powerful role after

4278-537: The center of gravity of the Kingdom of Aksum and the ensuing integration and Christianization of the proto-Amhara also resulted in a high prevalence of Geʽez sourced lexicon in Amharic. Some time after the 9th century AD, Amharic diverged from its closest relative, Argobba , probably due to religious differences as the Argobba adopted Islam. In 1983, Lionel Bender proposed that Amharic may have been constructed as

4371-662: The command of their leader, Sheikh Umar, the El-Ejju would settle in Angot. This tradition states Yejju claim origin from the sixteenth century scholar Umar who had settled in the region during Adal Sultanate occupation of Ethiopia. According to historian Richard Pankhurst , Yejju in addition to their native tongue also knew the speech of the Muslims which he states was Harari . The Oromo firmly ensconced Wollo and dominated political and social life quickly in their new settlement. On

4464-443: The core inhabitants of Greater Ethiopia would have consisted of dark-skinned agropastoralists speaking Afro-Asiatic languages of the Semitic, Cushitic and Omotic branches. Other scholars such as Messay Kebede and Daniel E. Alemu argue that migration across the Red Sea was defined by reciprocal exchange, if it even occurred at all, and that Ethio-Semitic-speaking ethnic groups should not be characterized as foreign invaders. Amharic

4557-574: The courts, the language of trade and everyday communications and of the military since the late 12th century. The Amhara nobles supported the Zagwe prince Lalibela in his power struggle against his brothers which led him to make Amharic Lessana Negus as well as fill the Amhara nobles in the top positions of his Kingdom. The appellation of "language of the king" ( Ge'ez : ልሳነ ነጋሢ ; "Lǝssanä nägaśi," Amharic : የነጋሢ ቋንቋ "Yä-nägaśi qʷanqʷa") and its use in

4650-486: The death of Iyasu I (Iyasu the Great) (13 October 1706), and the resultant decline in the prestige of the dynasty, as the beginning of this period. Others date it to the beginning of Iyoas's reign (26 June 1755). During the Zemene Mesafint, various lords occasionally took advantage of their positions by making Emperors and encroaching upon the succession of the dynasty, by candidates among the nobility itself: for example, on

4743-566: The death of Ras Aligaz, his nephew Ras Gugsa of Yejju rose to power. After the death of Wolde Selassie, Tigray fell into a political crisis. The regent Oromos continued to expand into Gojjam , Semien , Showa , Lasta , and to a lesser degree, Tigray. Initially the Dejazmatch Zadwe of Gojjam and Damot tried to oppose the Oromo ascendancy and their spread into eastern Gojjam but was defeated by Ras Gugsa. Zadwe's territories were given to Ras Gugsa's son, Alula of Yejju . Until

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4836-552: The death of Ras Gugsa in 1825, northern Ethiopia was relatively quiet. The death of the Ras was, however, a signal for power among all important lords in the country. Local warlords formed coalitions to overcome the regent Oromo nobility of Begamder and Amhara. In the end, Wube Haile Maryam of Semien asked Ras Yimam of Yejju , another son of Ras Gugsa, for an alliance to defeat the coalition. The political crisis in Tigray had come to an end in 1822 with Sabagadis Woldu becoming

4929-447: The death of Ras Marye. They pillaged and destroyed everything in sight, slayed all the men and women, and destroyed the province politically in disdain. As soon as they had reached Axum , Ras Dori was taken unwell and did not want the bad news to go around, so returned back to Amhara. Tigray, the only region that opposed the Oromo regents so far, were defeated and the young Wube of Semien would be given much of it for his contribution of

5022-462: The death of Emperor Tewoflos in 1711, the chief nobles of Ethiopia feared that the cycle of vengeance that had characterised the reigns of Tewoflos and Tekle Haymanot I (1706–1708) would continue if a member of the Solomonic dynasty were picked for the throne, so they selected one of their own, Yostos , to be King of Kings ( Ge'ez : ንጉሠ ነገሥት , romanized:  nəgusä nägäst ). However,

5115-551: The death of Ras Aligaz, Ras Wolde Selassie , hereditary ruler of Enderta and overlord of Tigray, became Enderase of the Empire, briefly taking power away from the Wara Sheh rulers. Upon his death, power was transferred to Ras Aligaz's nephew, Ras Gugsa , who in turn transferred power to his sons Ras Yimam , Ras Mariye and Ras Dori . After the death of Ras Dori, Ras Ali II , a nephew of Ras Gugsa, became Enderase . Crummey, Rubenson, Abir and Shiferaw Bekele agree that despite

5208-493: The death of her son (1755) into the reign of her grandson Iyoas (r. 1755–1769) brought her into conflict with Wubit (Welete Bersabe), Iyasu's widow, who believed that it was her turn to serve as regent. When Iyoas assumed the throne upon his father's sudden death, the aristocrats of Gondar were stunned to find that he preferred to speak in the Oromo language rather than in Amharic , and favored his mother's Yejju relatives over

5301-458: The deaths of his uncle Ras Dori. Dejamatch Goshu of Gojjam and Damot , the grand nephew of Ras Maru, often rebelled against Ras Ali II, who he believed stole his rightful title to Ras and sole ruler of Gondar. Ras Ali II was still a minor when he became the ruler of Begamder and Amhara and the guardian of the King of Kings. He was put under the guardianship of a council of the most powerful Wollo and Yejju Oromo lords who elected him. With

5394-408: The expansion of their territory and to become the guardians of the kings of kings in Gondar , the capital of the empire at the time. The monarchy continued only in name because of its sacred character. This nominal but divinely ordained monarchy preserved the dynasty from actual extinction. The Zemene Mesafint period came to an end when a local outlaw , Kassa Hailu, would challenge the supremacy of

5487-496: The help of his mother, Mennen, he was soon able to shake off the control of the regents and his legitimacy was firm. The Ras did not take his position seriously when it came down to religious affairs and practiced a system of laissez faire. Therefore, Ethiopia was left in the hands of an infantile and lethargic ruler. By the half of 1838, it was an open secret that Wube was actively plotting to overthrow Ras Ali. He succeeded in forming an alliance with Goshu of Gojjam and Damot but

5580-455: The killer of Iyoas, became the sole leader of the kingdom. The motivation of the assassination may have had to do with the fear of Iyoas leaning towards his conservative Oromo side and his advisors being four corrupt Oromo uncles. Afraid of the politically influential Oromos who already stand in a political influential position, Sehul endeavored to win their support by granting them increased political sway and arranging royal marriages. Nonetheless,

5673-564: The last months of 1841, he was escorted to Wube's camp and was convinced by Wube of the Islamic tendencies of Ras Ali. He therefore excommunicated the Ras , and proclaimed the Ichege a heretic. On the same year, Wube's army advanced into Begamder and soon, together with his ally Goshu, captured Gondar. Wube and Goshu then proceeded to attack Ali's army who met at Debra Tabor. Both armies were similar in size, around 30,000. Ras Ali II's army

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5766-476: The low-lands. However, the humility which Kassa had shown in the presence of Mennen had just been a pretence, and once in border areas, Kassa started to incite the population against Mennen. Kassa revolted and attacked isolated posts of Mennen's troops. Consequently, Mennen marched with her army to Chelega but Kassa retreated. Mennen was furious and wanted revenge but in the meantime relations between Ras Ali and Wube had deteriorated that another major contest between

5859-542: The many rebellions in his realm. Nevertheless, Wube succeeded in defeating his brother, Merso, who would later escape to Gondar. Although Wube at this point had given up his imperial aspirations of restoring the Solomonic dynasty, he had continued adopted the policy of fostering relations with the European Powers from former governor of Tigray, Sebagadis. Throughout 1845 and the beginning of 1846, Ras Ali's army

5952-501: The meantime, refused to give his brother's governorship, and the Ras was forced to march with his former enemy against his loyal ally. Moreover, the Muslim rulers who have always supported Ras Ali II, were greatly worried at the turn of events; they had objected to the grant of a governorship on their natural avenue of expansion to Aligaz, who was a Christian Oromo, and who was supported by his brother Faris Aligaz, an old enemy of some of

6045-476: The most important Muslim Wollo lords. During this already uneasy period, there were rumors that Muhammad Ali , the governor of Egypt , was planning on invading Ethiopia.On leaving Ethiopia at the end of 1839, European diplomat and explorer Arnauld d'Abbadie met an Arab notable in the house of the governor of Massawa . The notable was on a mission to Ras Ali and Dejazmatch Wube from the Pasha of Mecca; but it

6138-669: The most notable ones being the Mammedoch and the Warra Sheik. The Mammedoch dynasty had its origin from the Arsi under the leadership of their clan leader, Babo. The Warra Sheik dynasty had its origins in southern Ethiopia , who would also invade northwards, specifically Angot . However, there are other origin theories of the Yejju. According to professor Muhammad Hassan, the El-Ejju, an Oromo clan, would be converted by Ahmad Gragn and would be defeated by Christian forces thereby under

6231-645: The northernmost communities of Oromo people residing in Ethiopia , along with the Raayyaa . The Yejju were people that were first mentioned in the 16th century Futuḥ al-Ḥabash chronicle under the name "Al-Ejju". They inhabited a district called "Qawat” located in eastern Shewa. Eventually they settled in Angot instead of returning to their home district of Qawat. According to the historian Merid Wolde Aregay they were originally Christians but many were converted to Islam by Ahmad Gran and assisted him in his conquest of

6324-420: The number of geographically distinct Cushitic languages that have influenced Amharic at different points in time (e.g. Oromo influence beginning in the 16th century) support a natural evolution of Amharic from a Proto-Ethio-Semitic language with considerable Cushitic influences (similar to Gurage, Tigrinya, etc.). The Amharic ejective consonants correspond to the Proto-Semitic " emphatic consonants ." In

6417-460: The other side of Abyssinia , skirmishes broke out between Amhara and Tigrayan principalities for supremacy within the Abyssinian kingdom. Bakaffa I , an Amhara prince, appealed to the Oromo neighbors to assist him in battle against the Tigrayans in the north. Many Oromos did not seem to care about jockeying for power but had been in a competition for land against the Tigrayans to the north of them so they complied 20,000 well-armed cavalry to assist

6510-419: The plot and dealt with his opponents singly. After defeating Dejazmatch Goshu in Gojjam, he marched with the bulk of his army to Lasta then quickly turned to Semien and attacked Wube. Sebagadis, who was watching his border with Lasta, did not come to the aid of his ally and Wube preferred to submit to the Ras rather than face him alone. After his success in isolating Sebagadis, Marye decided to put an end to

6603-426: The power struggle between the Qwarans and the Wolloyes led by the Emperor's mother Wubit would erupt into an armed conflict, the nobility summoned the powerful Ras Mikael Sehul to mediate between the two camps. He arrived and shrewdly maneuvered to sideline the two queens and their supporters making a bid for power for himself. Iyoas' reign becomes a narrative of the struggle between the powerful Ras Mikael Sehul and

6696-506: The province of Bete Amhara . He also states that there can be little doubt that the Al-Ejju that are mentioned in Futuḥ al-Habasha are the forefathers of the latter known Yejju people of the Zemene Mesafint period. The Oromo partially assimilated the Yejju and called them by the name of “warra sheik”. Due to their native origin, the yejju mostly spoke Amharic and adapted themselves better than

6789-643: The rest of the Oromo clans in Wollo to the traditional social and political structures of Christian Ethiopia. The Yejju dynasty were known as the "Warra Sheik", meaning; the descendant of Sheikh Omar. According to the Yejju tradition, Sheikh Omar was an Arab from the Arabia peninsula who during the Ethiopian-Adal war settled in Angot/yejju. The Yejju dynasty dominated Ethiopia during the Zemene Mesafint period. According to professor Donald Crummey

6882-529: The result was clear: for the first time an Emperor had lost his throne in a means other than his own natural death, death in battle or voluntary abdication. From this point forward the Empire devolved ever more openly in the hands of the great nobles and military commanders; because of its effects, Iyoas' assassination is usually regarded as the start of the Era of the Princes. An aged and infirm imperial uncle prince

6975-535: The right of confirmation in their offices when new lords came to power in one way or another. At times, they even went to the extent of chaining some of their recalcitrant lords. The time period had a lasting demographic impact on Eritrea , with multiple previously predominantly Christian ethnic groups such as the Bilen and Tigre people being islamized by the Ottoman Empire and later Eyalet of Egypt due to

7068-639: The royal court are otherwise traced to the Amhara Emperor Yekuno Amlak . It is one of the official languages of Ethiopia , together with other regions like Oromo , Somali , Afar , and Tigrinya . Amharic is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Southwest Semitic group and is related to Geʽez , or Ethiopic, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church; Amharic is written in a slightly modified form of

7161-420: The situation in Tigray was very much similar to that which had existed after the death of Wolde Selassie. Political crisis ensued and many pretenders fought for dominance in the different provinces. Throughout 1842 and the first half of 1843, Wube slowly established authority on both sides of Takkaze. Ras Ali II who at the beginning allied him was soon afterwards forced to march back to his own domains to suppress

7254-536: The south of Amhara bordering the Wollo country while Merso was given all of Wube's territories. Despite the victory against the coalition, the Ras 's position was war from secure. His enemies were still active in Gojjam, Damot, Dembya, and Lasta. Most of the clergy and the Christian population were against the Ras thanks to the propaganda spread by Wube and his allies. In such conditions, Ali found himself in dire need of

7347-546: The superiority of the Oromo cavalry in the field and wanted to unite all Christians of Ethiopia behind him. After this defeat by Ras Ali at the beginning of 1839, Goshu swore allegiance to the Ras and reinstated in his position. The Ras , however, took away west and north of Lake Tana and gave it to his mother, Mennen . Dissatisfied with his father's submissiveness, Goshu fought his own father whom he defeated. The current situation in Begamader had become so explosive that

7440-447: The tenure of Yostos from 1711 to 1716 was brief and the throne returned to the Solomonic dynasty. The reign of Iyasu II (1730–1755) had brought the empire once again to disaster. He ascended the throne as a child, allowing his mother, Empress Mentewab to play a major role as his Regent from 1723 to 1730. Mentewab had herself crowned as co-ruler in 1730, becoming the first woman to be crowned in this manner in Ethiopian history. Beyond

7533-606: The two was expected momentarily and Mennen was forced to leave Chelega in order to support her son in the approaching crisis. While Mennen marched to join the Ras , Kassa took advantage of the opportunity by ravaging Ddembya. He entered Gondar in January 1847 and appointed his own officials in the town. Amharic Amharic ( / æ m ˈ h ær ɪ k / am- HARR -ik or / ɑː m ˈ h ɑːr ɪ k / ahm- HAR -ik ; native name : አማርኛ , romanized :  Amarəñña , IPA: [amarɨɲːa] )

7626-450: The victor. It had become evident that the new governor was planning to form a Tigrayan-Amhara coalition to oppose the regent Oromos in Gondar whom he accused of being Muslims. He was convinced that modern firearms could tip the scales against the fierce Oromo cavalry, thus understanding that European support was much needed. He dispatched a letter to King George IV in which he requested for military and technical aid. Sabagadis attempted to gain

7719-461: The weakness of the Emperor, the Yejju lords constituted a stable ruling elite of a multiethnic background that ruled the country in the name of the Solomonic dynasty. That being said, the term that perhaps needs to be precisely defined has to do with the appellation of the Yejju. Very often it is called the Yejju dynasty. There is no problem with this name except that at times it created confusion with

7812-469: The west and north of Lake Tana. These areas were infested with bands of Shifta , who often raided the trade routes between Ethiopia and Sudan. One of the Shifta leaders, Kassa Hailu who was a relative to Dejazmatch Kinfu , had gained the support of the local populace and rose to much fame that the Ras and Mennen wanted him on their side. He therefore was promised that if he would declare his loyalty to

7905-565: Was a full puppet. Two years later, in 1786, Ali I became Ras bitwadad and with his ascent to power, the Yejju dynasty, or more precisely, the Wara Seh dynasty came into being. Ras Ali I and his remaining Wara Seh family members became Enderases (Regents) of the Ethiopian Empire. Until the emergence of Dejazmach Kassa Hailu, the future Emperor Tewodros II , power was transferred from Ras Ali I to his brother Ras Aligaz. After

7998-434: Was characterised more by peace than by war. The power of the Warra Sheh rulers was much more than predominance. They exercised actual authority over the other lords. The latter were their tributary lords and the Warra Sheh were suzerains or overlords. To be precise, the Warra Sheh did not exercise absolute authority outside of the provinces directly under their rule. These provinces extended from Begemeder across Chachaho Pass to

8091-409: Was continually engaged in the suppression of rebellions in the Amhara provinces and in a fruitless chase of Goshu, who had defied Ras Ali's rule. Goshu would continue to be a problem for the Ras until his fall with Kassa Hailu in 1853. Another major problem for the Ras was Abuna Salama who he had to keep under control as an asset. Empress Mennen, Ras Ali's mother, was ruler of the provinces to

8184-528: Was enthroned as Emperor Yohannes II . Ras Mikael soon had him murdered, and underage Tekle Haymanot II was elevated to the throne. Then Mikael Sehul was defeated in the Three battles of Sarbakusa and the triumvirate of Fasil, Goshu of Amhara and Wand Bewossen of Begemder placed their own emperor on the throne. More emperors followed as these three fell from power and were replaced by other strongmen, who constantly elevated and removed emperors; Tekle Giyorgis

8277-546: Was heard at the palace but the Afaan Oromo language". In addition to this, marriage alliances between noble Yejju Oromos and elite Amharas were frequent. It was Mentewab , the wife of Bakaffa, who arranged marriage alliance between her son Iyasu II and a Muslim Oromo princess from Wollo, Wabi, the daughter of Amito, a powerful Wolloye chief. From this union, Iyoas I was born who later succeeded his father Iyasu II. This dynastic marriage alliance had remarkable importance for

8370-475: Was mostly composed of Oromo contingents and was supported by Dejazmatch Merso. Wube's army was overwhelming superior in firearms compared to the Ras , who had bad relations with Christian Europe. The Battle of Debra Tabor was clearly a battle between the Christian Amhara and Tigrayan elements and the Oromo, fighting desperately to deserve their predominant position in northern Ethiopia. The battle

8463-480: Was not ready to attack the Ras just yet as the situation in Tigray was still uncertain. In fact, when Wube rushed from Tigray across Takkaze to Semien in expectation of an attack from the Ras, Kassai, the son of Sebagadis, rebelled against him and succeeded in making himself the master of most of Tigray. The situation came to an end however when Wube's superior firearms was able to destroy the rebellion. Planning to attack Ras Ali, Wube wanted more firearms to offset

8556-475: Was spoken by 21.6 million native speakers in Ethiopia. More recent sources state the number of first-language speakers in 2018 as nearly 32 million, with another 25 million second-language speakers in Ethiopia. Additionally, 3 million emigrants outside of Ethiopia speak the language. Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic. Furthermore, Amharic is considered

8649-459: Was won by Wube and Goshu but during their subsequent celebrations, the victors were surprised by a small Oromo army led by Aligaz. Wube and his son were taken prisoners but Goshu managed to escape across the Abbay into Gojjam. Ras Ali II who escaped after his defeat with his followers returned to Debra Tabor and grudgingly rewarded the true victor, Aligaz, with the governorship of Daunt, a district to

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