Both Bahru Zewde and Paul B. Henze consider his reign as Ras and Enderase as the peak of the Yejju Dynasty during the Zemene Mesafint.
[4] Upon becoming Regent, Ras Gugsa reasserted the central power of the Empire (although keeping the Emperor as a figurehead) by dispossessing the nobility of the parts of Ethiopia he controlled, primarily Begemder.
They were so rapacious that sometimes whole villages abandoned their lands and emigrated to neighboring territories, many of the peasantry enrolling in the army, as they preferred the perils and independence of a military life to the servitude of the field.
"[5] In 1803, Ras Gugsa entered into the ongoing doctrinal disputes that divided the Ethiopian Church by joining the Ichege Wolde Yona in expelling the advocates of the Qebat from Begemder.
About the same time, the Ras exploited the helplessness of the ecclesiastical structure on the death of Abuna Yosab III by plundering the episcopal properties 12 September of that year.