brief history of ethiopia

7/26/2019 Brief History of ETHIOPIA

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History of

ETHIOPIATHE CRADLE OF MANKIND


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ETHIOPIAEthiopia is old; old beyond allimaginings. As Abyssinia its

culture and traditions date backover 3000 years.

More than any other nation in

Africa, Ethiopia has a unique andtypically Ethiopian history and isthe oldest independent country

in Africa and one of the oldest in


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#ith the longest archeologicalrecord of any country on Earth, $t iscredited ith being the original

home of humanity.Ethiopia is a home to diverseculture and each society or ethnic

group has its on unique culturethat provide Ethiopia beauty ith indiversity.


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Cradle of Humanity%uring the last &0 years, some e'tra ordinary

pre historic (nds have been discovered inEthiopia mainly in the )orth East of Ethiopia of

Afar regional state and loer omo valley.Most famous hominids include

*ucy+3. million years old-,

selam3./ million years old and

Ardi +/./ million years old- earningEthiopia the prestigious title of the cradleof Humanity-.


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$n addition several thousands ofstone tools dated back beteen .&

to . million years are discoveredin Afar regional state and loer omovalley are the oldest yet found in the

orld.


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Pre Aumite!"#$$%&$$$BC!Ethiopia is believed to have formed part of the

ancient land of punt, an area on the southern1ed sea coast, hich had attracted thetrading ships of the Egyptians. 2his as theport through hich e'port items such as gold,ivory and slaves issued from the Ethiopianinterior.

ther pre A'umite phenomenon as thecultural signi(cance of the meeting of thesouthern Arabians and the Ethiopian asenormous. A number of Afro Asiaticlanguages emerged an early 4abena, 5reekand mainly 5ee6, hich is used by orthodo'


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2he most famous relic of that time is the e'traordinary temple of 7eha, lying to the )orth ofA'um thought to date beteen 800 and &009.!, $t as probably Ethiopia:s (rst capital.


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Kin'dom of Aum !(%)$$ AD!At the binging of the (rst millennium A%, A'um

Arose in the northern highlands of Ethiopia andEritrea a unique African !ivili6ation.

2he main reasons for the A'umite civili6ation ere

A'um as lying at the strategic commercialcrossroads to the )orth #est of Egypt and to theest near the present day 4udanese border, erethe rich gold producing lo lands ith theavailability of ort Adulis.

A'um also en


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!ont"%uring the glorious day beteen the 3rd and thcentury A'umite kingdom as

4tretched its territory toards east across the 1ed4ea into large parts of southern Arabia and est

into the 4udanese )ile valleyA'umite society becomes reach, ell organi6ed

and technically and artistically advanced.

>nparalleled coin age in bron6e, silver and 5old

as produced.E'tra ordinary monuments ere built and

5reatest in?uence of all on future, Ethiopia

!hristianity as introduced.


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!ont"!hristianity as (rst reached A'um during

the Apostles, hoever, $t didn:t became thestate religion until the begging of the /thcentury A% but in the /th c A% a 4yrian

@rumentius converted king E6ana to!hristianity and !hristianity has become astate religion and @rumentius become the@irst bishop of A'umite kingdom.

At this time king, E6ana:s stone inscriptionrefers to !hrist and his famous coins bear the!hristian cross the (rst in the orld to do so.


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At the end of the &thcentury A%,!hristianity spread to the societydue to the arrival of the )ine

4aints ho established ell nonmonasteries in the )orthernEthiopia including %ebre %amo

and this time the 9ible is (rsttranslated from 5reek to 5ee6.


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$n the Bth c A%, other remarkable historyaccrued due to the arrival of Muslims. rophetMohammed sent some of his folloers toEthiopia in A% C& to avoid persecution in

Arabia. Among the groups as the prophet:son daughter and son in la and futuresuccessor, >thman.

ing Armahof A'um accept those Muslims ith

hospitality and allo them to live in eastern2igray in a place called )egashi this laid afoundation for the tolerable and peace fullliving among the to religions.


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T*e fall of Aumite +in'dom

4tarting from Bth century on ards A'umite kingdomstarts to decline due to the folloing reasons.

2he e'pansion of Muslims in the 1ed sea control thetrade route and isolated the kingdom from the

e'ternal orld that lead to the trade and economicdecline, coins stopped to mint.

$ntegral opposition from the 9e


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T*e ,a'-e Dynasty !((")%(&)$!

After the decline of A'um,political poer starts to shiftsouthard. $n the early Cthc, a

ne capital as establishedunder a ne poer; the Fagedynasty based in the mountains

of *asta not far from present day*alibella, its capital as initiallyknon as Adafa.


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2he 6age dynasty reigned from around A%CC3B to CB0 yet the period is one of the mostobscure compared to the kingdom of A'umbecause

)o coins ere minted)o stones inscribed

)o chronicles ritten

)o accounts of the dynasty by foreigntravelers survive

@e import, e'port relationship ithoutside orld.


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)evertheless, the period is ane'tremely important one in thecultural history of Ethiopia, during

the reign of three of its kings7emrehanna irstos, *alibela and)aaktolab the ama6ing rock hen

churches of lalibela ereconstructed, hich are today one ofEthiopia:s top tourist attractions.


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Do-n fall of ,a'-e dynasty

A combination of to reasons over thronthe Fage dynasty in CB0

C. $n(ghting ithin the ruling dynasty asell as

. *ocal opposition from the clergy church

$n CB0 A% political poer shifted to provinceof shoa. 2here 7ekuno Amlak set himself onthe throne and established a ne dynastythat ould reign for the ne't &00 years.


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T*e Middle A'es

!ompared to the previous period, history ofmedieval Ethiopia is ell documented becauseof the royal chronicles of the court and variousreports made by foreign travelers.

5enerally, the middle Age as characteri6ed by

A poer full monarchy and in?uential clergy

A barter trade ith pieces of iron, cloth or salt

there as not minted currency.5ee6 literature as developed, including the

nations epic the kibre negest,

$ncreased contact ith European !hristians.


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T*e Muslim % C*ristian

-arAmong the costly ars fought the famous Muslim leaderAhmed lbn $brahim al 5ha6i nick named Mohammed 5ragn,the left handed as an even more legendary (gure. emanaged to defeat Emperor *ebna %engel of the !hristianhigh land kingdom in March C&G at a place called shembraore.

%uring the Muslim !hristian ar, there as a search for analliance and the ottoman 2urk supported the Muslims hilethe !hristians ere supported by ortugal.

2he outcomes of the !hristian = Muslim ar

$ncredibly costly thousands of people lost their lives

2he !hristian monarchy as nearly iped out

Many of the beautiful churches and monasteries along ith

their precious treasures has changed to an ash.


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Oromo e.ansion

@rom the C/th to the Cth century A%, due tothe continuous ar beteen the !hristiansand Muslims that result the poer vacuum leftbehind, a ne threat to the Ethiopian empirearose from the e'pansion of the !ushiticspeaking people of romo. $t is from thepresent day of mada allabo, near 9ale, to

the central and )orthern Ethiopia andcontinuous ar broke out mainly for ta'revenue. 2he romos are knon for theirtraditional administration system called Gada.


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!ont"At the begging of the CBth century, the romo threat

led several emperors to seek help from the Hesuits hoere backed in their cause by the ell armedortuguese.

2o emperors, Fadengel and 4usenyos, ent as far asconversion to !atholicism. oever, their attempt tomake catholic as state and peoples religion abloodshed ar folloed the death of 3,000 peasants.n 4usenyos:s death, his son kicked out the Hesuits and

forbade all foreigners from setting foot in his empire fornearly C30 years, only one European, @rench doctor!harles oncet as alloed to enter Ethiopia as adoctor to take care of Emperor $yasu of 5ondar.


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T*e Rise of /ondar$n C3 Emperor @asiledes decide to found a

ne capital, 5onder became permanentcapital the third in Ethiopian history after

A'um and *alibela and as to ?ourish for thene't 00 years.

2he reason for the selection of 5ondar as acapital as

$t is stranded by mountains that can protectthe empire from enemy.

5ondar is @ree from malaria


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!ont"9y the end of the CBth c the city of 5onderboasted

magni(cent palaces, beautiful gardens and

e'tensive plantation, under the amplepatronage of church and state

2he arts and crafts ?ourished.

9eautiful churches ere built, among them

the famous %ebre 9irhan slassie found in5ondar ton and remarkable island churchesof lake 2ana.


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!ont"oever, on $yasu nd death in CB&&

the 5ondar kingdom as back in termoil. 2he provinces started to rebel and

ethnic rivalries surfaced at court thisbrought 5ondarine period to an end andthe begging of 6emene mesa(nt or era

of lords in hich there as knockingand the lords of diIerent provincesere struggling to one another.


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MODERN ETHIOPIA1ight up until the middle of CGth c,

Ethiopia continued to e'ist as full ofprovinces administered by their respective

lords or mesafnts. oever, in the midCGth century asa ailu latter emperor

2eodros arose ith a dream of unity.After he has defeated the rival princes oneafter Another until C8&&, he had himselfcroned emperor 2eodros as a uni(er,innovator and reforms as ell.


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!ont"!hoosing as his base the natural fortress ofmeqdala, around CC km east of %ebretabor hebegan to formulate many plans among hispro


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@rustrated by failed attempts to enlist European andparticularly 9ritish support for his moderni6ingprograms, 2eodros imprisoned some 9ritishfunctionaries in his court resulted the C8G ar inhich sir 1obert )apier set out from 9ritain at the

head of 3,000 troops to free the 9ritish hostage heldat maqdala. 1obert )apier defeated 2eodros andrefusing to surrender, 2eodros playing the tragichero by putting a pistol in his mouth and shot himself.

2he reasons for 2eodros:s defeat at moqdala are;2he 9ritish troops ere better equipped and more in

number than 2eodrosJs troops

2he 9ritish got a support from rival Ethiopian lords.


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After Emperor 2eodros reign another battlearose for succession and kasa, Mercha of 2igraymanaged to defeat his opponents. roclaiming

himself in C8B, Emperor 7ohannes lastedCByears, in contrast to 2eodros yohannes as

supporting the church

9eing much more of a realist believed that

unity of the country could only be achievedthrough a kind of @ederalism.

$n C88G he became ounded ith sniperJsbullet and passed aay.


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$mmediately after the death of yohannes, Menelikcron himself as a king of kings and recogni6ed byEuropeans mainly $taly and he signs the #uchaletreaty in C88G hich became latter a source of

dispute over a discrepancy in the purportedly identicalAmharic and $talians te'ts on Article CB led todisagreement.

>sing this $talians continued their e'pansion in theirnely created colony of Eritrea and soon ere

e'panding in to Ethiopian territory occupying ofmekele in C8G&.

Menilik assembled his forces and meet the $talians atAda in C8G.


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Menelik achievements

Enable the country to has the present days shape

Menelik as also responsible for themoderni6ation of Ethiopia

2he old shoan capital ankober had abounded and

the ne capital of addis ababa founded.

Electricity and telephone ere introduced

9ridges roads schools and hospitals built

9anks and industrial enterprises established

2he greatest technological achievement of thattime as the constriction of ethio=d


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After the death of Menelik in CGC3 due to naturaldeath, $yasu the young grandson of Menelik asthe successor.

$yasu shos a modern secularist and equallythreat the Muslims equal to the !hristians and hebuilt both mosques and churches.

$mproves the land tenure and ta'ation

is alliance ith 5ermany and Austria $yasu asopposed by the allied poers e'ternally and fromthe church and nobility, internally he deposedfrom poer and replaced by Menllik daughterempress Feditu and 1as 2eferi the prince regent.


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Em.eror Haileslassie1as 2eferi latter emperor aileslassie boasted more e'perience

and greater maturity than $yasu.

Among the ma


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Dis1o2erMorea3out


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ManyT*an+s

brief history of ethiopia

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