Unit 6

• Zamana Masafent


  Period from 1769-1855 when the kings of the Gondarine Kingdom lost their supreme power and authority, and many regions became semi-autonomous
• Kasa Haylu (Tewodros II)

  • Born to a family with no claim of descent from the royal house
  • Got church education and military training as a young man
  • Denied governorship over his family fief the district of Quara
  • Became a bandit on two occasions
  • Suffered defeat at the battle of Debarqi against Egyptians
• Kasa Haylu's defeat at Debarqi

  Shaped his attitude towards foreign policy, discipline and modern firearms
• Tewodros


  Throne name taken by Kasa Haylu, referring to a prophecy that a king by that name would come to rule and bring peace after a period of troubles
• Tewodros' attempts at political reunification

  1. Military expeditions against Wollo and Shoa

  2. Securing military victories

  3. Recognizing loyal members of regional dynasties or appointing his own men as administrators

  4. Harsh treatment of rebellious regions
• Tewodros' policy of reunification met stiff resistance throughout his empire, with even his former allies rebelling against him
• Tewodros became harsher in his treatment

  More rebellions and unpopularity multiplied
• Tewodros' conflict with the clergy over issues like taxation of church land harmed him considerably
• Tewodros' modernization efforts


  1. Establishing a national and salaried army

  2. Arms manufacturing at the Gafat gun foundry

  3. Importing technical know-how from European missionaries
• Tewodros' captivity of European missionaries

  Provoked anxiety in Europe, mainly in Britain and France
• The British military expedition led by Sir Robert Napier defeated Tewodros' forces at the Battle of Erogee in 1868
• The British expedition caused organized looting of the Maqdala treasury, resulting in the loss of historical relics
• The British handed over a large quantity of firearms to Kasa Mercha (later Yohannes IV), which was a major factor in his later victory over Emperor Takla-Giyorgis
• Tewodros attempted various reforms, many of which did not last longer, including stopping divisions within the Church, the slave trade, banditry, and looting of peasants
• After Tewodros' death, there was no return to the Zamana Masafent, and the war was fought for the emperorship among three contenders: Wagshum Gobaze, Ras Mekowanent Kasa Mercha, and Negus Menelik
• Yohannes IV


  • Flexible in dealing with regional forces, making peace with them and recognizing their authority as long as they paid tribute
  • Ended the independence of the Kingdom of Shoa through the Leche Agreement with Menelik
  • Harsh towards Islam, ordering Muslims in Wollo to embrace Christianity
• The period after the victory of Adwa saw the gradual introduction of modern trends in transport, trade, education and urbanization, though peasant socio-economic conditions showed little improvement
• Yohannes gave state support to the upholders of the Karrra Haymanot (Two Births) camp at the Council of Borumeda in May 1878
• While the unity of Church was maintained through "open discussion" at the Council of Borumeda, the Emperor was very harsh towards Islam
• Following the Borumeda Council, all Muslims were ordered to embrace Christianity under the threat of persecution and confiscation of property
• The Muslims of Wollo were the main victims of compulsory conversion
• This severity towards Ethiopian Muslims in Wollo worked against the emperor's policy of political and national unity
• The period that followed the victory of Adwa to the Fasicist Italian invasion in 1935 witnessed several important developments in Ethiopia
• Although peasant socio-economic conditions showed practically no improvement from the past, modern trends started to be introduced gradually in certain socio-economic sectors
• Elements of modernization were introduced in transport, trade, education and urbanization
• There was still insignificant advance made in such non-socio-economic sectors like government and the army
• The first three decades of the twentieth century saw relatively better socio-economic developments
• These developments were in one way or another related to the legacy of the major events of the 19th century Empire formation and struggle against foreign aggression
• Gebbar system


  The basic means of surplus appropriation of the feudal class, where a gebbar was a land holding peasant who had to pay gibir or tribute to the state
• Tribute in kind had different titles based on the purpose for which it was paid
• Free labour service was given by the peasant and his family in times of grain production, construction, transportation, guarding prisoners and domestic services like grinding grain and fetching water and firewood for local chiefs
• The formation of the empire state and the administrative system established in the newly incorporated regions made the life of peasants very miserable
• In the southern regions, peasants were gradually alienated from their land through the introduction of land measurement known as qalad
• The qalad action resulted in the appropriation of much land by the state and facilitated privatization of land
• It also increased state revenue, since it classified land tax based on fertility rates
• It pushed poor peasants down to the status of insecure tenants
• Poor peasants who could not afford to buy land or those driven away from their land were forced to become landless or migrate to cities to become beggars
• There were open rebellions by peasants in some cases, and protests to local officials or the Emperor in the capital though they got no fair justice
• The cumulative effect of the exploitative nature of the modes of surplus appropriation was negative on the economic development of the country, seriously affecting agricultural productivity
• The continuation of the slave trade and slavery was even worse than the gebbar system for the peoples of Ethiopia