| Date |
Event |
| 1853 |
A powerful chieftain from near Gondar called
Kassa came to power by destroying the regional feudal lords and assumed
control of Abyssinia. This was the first time in over 300 years that
Abyssinia came to be ruled by one ruler. Kassa declared himself Emperor
Tewodros II of Ethiopia, from the tribe of Judah, son of David and
Solomon, and considered himself to be an elect of God. |
|
Late 1850s
and
1860s |
Thousands of mercenaries and war
and famine stricken peasants were sent (by Emperor Tewodros) from the
north to settle around Shawa on lands taken from Oromo clans. In
essence this was the beginning of Abyssinian settler colonialism. |
| 1860 |
Krapf proposed the term Ormania to designate
the nationality or the country of the Oromo people. |
| 1865 |
Menilek, after escaping from
Tewodros' prison
and returning to Shawa, immediately began to build his army to fulfill his
father's dreams of colonizing the south and in particular Oromia. |
| 1868 |
A. Plowden stated, "among republican
systems, Gadaa is superior." Source: "Travels in Abyssinia
and the Oromo Country" |
| 1868 |
Emperor Tewodros' force on Maqdala was
encircled by the Oromo army, which cut off military and other supplies
coming from Gondar. Maqdala was part of the territory, which Queen
Warqitu, Adara Bille, lost to Tewodros. |
