Territorial evolution of Ethiopia
The Zagwe dynasty emerged and ruled until 1270, when Amhara-Shewan Yekuno Amlak revolted against the last king, Yetbarak, commencing the Solomonic dynasty-led Ethiopian Empire.
In 1896, Emperor Menelik II’s conquest strongly consolidated Ethiopia’s modern borders while eluding the 19th-century Scramble for Africa and Italian colonialism.
Aksumite commodities were primarily elephant tusks, exported through the Mediterranean, Middle East and Levant, as traders swept west from the African interior.
When Aksumite control of the Red Sea intensified, Aksum was classified as a great power in the late 3rd century, as evidenced by Monumentum Adulitanum, and supported by Stuart Munro-Hay.
[1] In 330, Aksum completely sacked Meroë under King Ezana of Axum, marking the period of territorial expansion, together with his predecessor Ousanas.
[citation needed] Economic transitions caused the sultanate to extend its territory westward after a serious clash with Damot Christian and other local populations.
The other Muslim polities (Dawaro, Fatagar, Bali, Sidamo and Hadiya kingdoms) consolidated in the south when the Sultanate of Ifat established hegemony.
The Muslim confederation stretched southward to the Great Rift Valley lakes, and strong trading and cultural enrichment flourished until it was challenged by a Christian Solomonic dynasty from the north.
[1] In the 14th century, Emperor Amda Seyon (1314–1344) was able to expand the nation into the south of Shewa by encouraging the northern population in Gondar, Bulga, Menz, Beta Amhara, Angot, Gayint, Agaw Midre, Tigray and Jirru.
Emperor Na'od was extremely intimidated and his weakened leadership gave the Adal Sultanate legitimacy in the region in 1415, with its capital in Dakkar (in present-day Somaliland).
[7] Ethiopia was isolated and decentralized in a period known as Zemene Mesafint, starting with the rise of the Yejju Oromo dynasty after the Solomonic Emperor Iyoas I was deposed by the Tigray governor Ras Mikael Sehul on 7 May 1769.
In 1852, Kassa (Tewodros II) defeated Gojjam's force, and Ras Ali fled Gondar and with his army made for Debre Tabor.
Tewedros ended Zemene Mesafint and united the Ethiopian principalities (Gojjam, Gondar and Shewa) after defeating them all in the Battle of Takusa in 1852, and proclaiming himself Emperor of Ethiopia in 1855.
[8] Beginning in 1874, an Ottoman-led Egyptian coalition invaded Ethiopia from three directions, penetrating through the port of Tajura in present-day Djibouti, but was repulsed by Aussa Sultanate.
The Dervish-led Mahdist Sudanese force fought Ethiopia; they were once defeated by Ras Alula to help the Egyptians in 1885, and finally won after the death of Emperor Yohannes IV in 1889 at the Battle of Gallabat.
[9] Menelik suffered food scarcity that made him unable to feed his armies or meet the needs of the highland populations and their livestock and plowing.
[11] Insufficient food to meet requirements led the soldiers to additional seizures; Ras Wolde Gabriel mutilated, robbed and destroyed the Arsi population.
In the late 19th century, the Ethiopian Empire attempted to invade and expand into southern Somalia by attacking two of its commercial towns such as Luuq and Baidoa but Menelik II forces were successfully defeated and driven back.
[12] In 1897, Menelik’s armies conducted the final conquest against the Borena frontier, causing El Wak and Golbo tribes to mobilize on the Dirre plateau.
[citation needed] On 31 July 1897, 15,000 imperial soldiers led by Fitawrari Habte Giyorgis Dinagde subjugated Borena, and the first Ethiopian garrison was opened in Dirre and Liban with highly professional raiding parties in occupation.
Borena's chieftain Qallu Afalata Dido heard the news of the conquest and dispatched a delegation to the British on the coast of Kismayu, through which, according to Hickey, he painted a "gloomy picture of Ethiopian predation".
In May 1941, Eritrean leaders and elders formed "Mahber Fikiri Hager" (Association for the Love of Country), which functioned as what British described as the unionist and irredentist movement.
[18] To assure the federative union of Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Unionist Party (UP) was established in Asmara on 5 May 1941, shortly after the Emperor returned to the throne after five years in exile.
