Thursday, March 30, 2017

Ethiopian Empire

  • 1137
    Mara Takla Haymanot overthrows the last ruler of Axumite dynasty, founded by Jewish queen Gudit 40 years before, and starts the Zagwe dynasty, the first dynasty in Empire of Ethiopia
  • 1150 ± 50
    The Kebra Negast, an Ethiopian text claiming that the Queen of Sheba came from Ethiopia to see Solomon and that he tricked her into sleeping with him and bearing him a son, appears
  • 1197
    Lalibela Cross, a large and elaborately decorated processional cross, is made from one piece of metal in Ethiopia
  • 1270
    Solomonic dynasty, whose members claimed patrilineal descent from King Solomon of Israel, is founded in Ethiopia by Yekuno Amlak, a member of the Habesha people, from whom Abyssinia gets its name
  • April 9, 1520
    The first European diplomatic mission to Ethiopia, sent by the Portuguese, arrives at Massawa, followed by their arrival at the imperial encampment of Emperor Dawit II in Shewa on 9 October
  • March 9, 1529
    Imam Ahmad Gragn defeats the Ethiopian Emperor Dawit II in the Battle of Shimbra Kure, the opening clash of the Ethiopian–Adal War
  • 1557
    The Ottomans capture Massawa, a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea, isolating Ethiopia from the rest of the world
  • 1636
    Emperor Fasilides founds the city of Gondar, which becomes the capital of Ethiopia for the next two centuries
  • May 7, 1769
    Zemene Mesafint, or Princes era, a period in Ethiopia, when the empire was divided into several regions with no effective central control, begins since the overthrow of Emperor Iyoas
  • April 13, 1868
    Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia, commits suicide with a pistol presented him by Queen Victoria at Magdala as the British troops storm the citadel
  • January 26, 1887
    Abyssinian Emperor Yohannes IV defeats Italians in the Battle of Dogali
  • March 10, 1889
    In Ethiopia Emperor Yohannes IV is killed in a war against the dervishes during the Battle of Gallabat
  • March 25, 1895
    Italian troops invade Abyssinia, starting First Italo-Ethiopian War
  • December 8, 1895
    Ethiopian emperor Menelik II drives Italian General Baratieri out in Battle of Amba Alagi during the First Italo–Ethiopian War
  • March 1, 1896
    Ethiopia defeats Italy at the Battle of Adwa during the First Italo-Ethiopian War and ensures the first victory of an African state over a European colonial power
  • November 2, 1930
    Haile Selassie, a defining figure in both Ethiopian and African history and the messiah in the Rastafari movement, is crowned Haile Selassie I, the 225th emperor of Solmonic Dynasty in Abyssinia
  • October 2, 1935
    Italy invades Abyssinia, today Ethiopia, beginning Second Italo-Abyssinian War, which concluded with the exile of Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie and the conquest of Abyssinia by Benito Mussolini
  • May 9, 1936
    Italy takes Addis Ababa, annexing Abyssinia and incorporates it with Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea into the new colony of Italian East Africa
  • August 27, 1942
    Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia ends slavery imposing severe penalties, including death, for slave trading
  • June 26, 1945
    United Nations Charter, the foundational treaty of the United Nations, is signed by 50 nations in San Francisco, California, United States
  • September 12, 1974
    A Soviet-backed Marxist-Leninist military junta, the "Derg" led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, depose Emperor Haile Selassie and establish communist state known as People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia