According to multiple commentators, Amda Seyon's chronicles appear to be highly unreliable as it was written a century after his reign and conflates conflicts involving successive Ethiopian emperors.

[7][8][9] Most of his wars were against the Muslim sultanates to the southeast, which he was able to fight and generally defeat, and substantially enlarge his kingdom by gradually incorporating a number of smaller states.

[10] According to British historian Edward Ullendorff, "Amda Seyon was one of the most outstanding Ethiopian kings of any age and a singular figure dominating the Horn of Africa in the fourteenth century.

Whatever the truth of Amda Seyon's parentage, the imperial history known as the Paris Chronicle records that he expressed his rage at his accusers by beating one of them, Abbot Anorewos of Segaja, and exiling the other ecclesiastics to Dembiya and Begemder.

Though his early control of these regions was minimal, it is evident by 1332 (or 1329) that Hadiya had been fully integrated, providing troops for his 1332 campaigns against the Sultanate of Ifat.

The King of Hadiya, Amano, refused to visit the emperor and give his tribute, encouraged by, according to Amda Seyon's chronicler, a Muslim "prophet of darkness" named Bel'am.

[20] The Emperor's appointees were unpopular, described as "men who were not born from Adam and Eve who were called Halestiyotat," a term literally meaning "bastard of mixed or low origins".

[20] To consolidate his control in the region, Amda Seyon established a military colony of non-Tigrayan troops at Amba Senayata, the center of the rebellion, and appointed his queen consort, Bilén Saba(ብሌን ሳባ, as governor of Enderta, along with a new batch of officials below her.

[20] In 1329, the Emperor campaigned in the northern provinces of Semien, Wegera, Tselemt, and Tsegede, in which many had been converting to Judaism and where the Beta Israel had been gaining prominence.

[24] As a result of the dispute and threats, Haqq ad-Din I, sultan of Ifat, seized and imprisoned a member of the deputation sent by the Emperor named Ti'yintay on his way back from Cairo.

Part of the army then followed him and destroyed the province's capital, Ifat, and Amda Seyon took much of its wealth in the form of gold, silver, bronze, lead, and clothing.

The people of Gebel and Wargar who historian Taddesse Tamrat associates with Warjih, were reportedly "very skilled in warfare," subsequently attacked and pillaged some Christian regions.

The people of Medra Zega and Manzih (Menz), then Muslims, also surrounded and attacked the Emperor's army, who defeated them and killed their commander Dedadir, a son of Haqq ad-Din.

[21][29] The most important primary source for his reign, The Glorious Victories, describes the extensive military campaigns Amda Seyon undertook in the plains drained by the Awash River.

Beginning on 24 Yakatit (18 February), the Emperor led his army against a number of enemies; another document, referring to this year, states that he defeated 10 kings.

[30] Rebellion in the Muslim provinces stemmed from the threat to Islam by Amda Seyon, magnified by the earlier loss of trade from his campaigns.

The "false prophet" reported as having fled from Hadiya during the 1316/7 campaigns continued spreading propaganda against the king in Ifat, where he was one of Sabr ad-Din's advisors.

Amda Seyon was furious with Sabr ad-Din, saying to him, "You took away the commodities belonging to me obtained in exchange for the large quantity of gold and silver I had entrusted to the merchants... you imprisoned the traders who did business for me.

Amda Seyon's royal chronicle states that Sabr ad-Din proclaimed: In fact, after his first incursion, Sabr ad-Din appointed governors for nearby and neighboring provinces such as Fatagar and Alamalé (i.e. Aymellel, part of the "Guragé country"), as well as far-off provinces in the north like Damot, Amhara, Angot, Inderta, Begemder, and Gojjam.

"[35] Despite the extravagance he bestowed on his men, many chose not to fight due to the inhospitability of Ifat's mountainous and arid terrain and the complete absence of roads.

Amda Seyon's forces then grouped together for a final attack, destroying one of his camps, killing many men, women, and children, taking the rest prisoner, as well as looting it of its gold, silver, and its "fine clothes and jewels without number.

Amda Seyon refused, however, saying to them: The new governor of Ifat also beseeched him to return, giving him many gifts, stating that his country was ruined and begging him not to "ravage it again," so that its inhabitants may recover and work the land for the Emperor.

[37] The Muslims returned during the night in much greater numbers, and attacked him with an army raised from the seven "great clans" of Adal: Gebela, Lebekela, Wargar, Paguma, and Tiqo.

[38] According to James Bruce, the imperial army had been infiltrated by foreign agents from Harar, however Amda Seyon's men were able to apprehend and execute them.

The Emperor then defeated another governor-king, retraced his steps, returning to Bequlzar in Ifat, where he commanded Jamal ad-Din to deliver him all of the province's apostate Christians.

Amda Seyon then continued to Degwi, killing numerous neighboring Warjih pastoralists, who had previously attacked and pillaged some Christian areas earlier in his reign.

[52] Moreover, the commander of Qeste-Nihb, Simishehal, along with his colleague Inze-Aygeb, were described as the "most beloved" officers of the Emperor, who was distressed when he learned of their injury at the Battle of Hagera.

Archeological investigations in the treasuries of Ethiopian churches and monasteries have recovered coins, textiles and other objects that prove the existence of trade with the Byzantine Empire.

Taddesse Tamrat also notes that he had a Syrian secretary from a Christian family of Damascus, who helped him keep in close touch with events in the Middle East.

^ Seeing many of his soldiers flee at the sight of the powerful armies of Jamal ad-Din and of Adal, the sick Amda Seyon noted: "Have you forgotten, besides, that it was I who raised, you, nourished you, and covered you with ornaments of gold and silver and precious clothes!