Aba Tesfaselassie Moges: On Ethiopian history

Russian Nikolay Stepanovich and The Battle of Adwa



Nikolay Stepanovich Leontiev, Count of Abai, (Russian: Никола́й Степа́нович Леонтьев; 26 October 1862 – 1910) was a Russian military officer and adviser, geographer and traveler, explorer of Africa, writer, first Count of the Ethiopian Empire, and veteran of the First Italo-Ethiopian War, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Russo-Japanese War.
Leontiev, was born on 25 February 1862 to a noble family in Kherson Province . He studied in Nikolaev's Cavalry military school, then served in the Uhlan Leib Guard regiment. In 1891, he became esaul of a military reserve force of the Umansk regiment of the Kuban Cossack army.^[1][2]
Like Mashkov and Ashinov before him, Leontiev had dreamed of going to Ethiopia and for many years he collected information about the country. Finally, Leontiev was able to go to Ethiopia on a research trip. Famous scientists, the Science Academy and the Russian Geographical Society took great interest in this programme. But the main task of the Leontiev expedition was to establish friendly relations between Russia and Ethiopia.
Read moar:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Leontiev

THE BATTLE OF ADWA



The Battle of Adwa (also known as Adowa, or sometimes by the Italian name Adua) was fought on 1 March 1896 between the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia, in Tigray. It was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War, securing Ethiopian sovereignty.
As the 20th century approached, most of Africa had been carved up among the European powers. The two independent exceptions were the young Republic of Liberia on the west coast of the continent and the Ethiopian Empire in the strategic Horn of Africa. The newly unified Kingdom of Italy was a relative newcomer to the colonial scramble for Africa. Italy had two recently obtained African territories: Eritrea and Somaliland. Both were near Ethiopia on the Horn of Africa and both were impoverished. Italy sought to improve its position in Africa by conquering Ethiopia and joining it with its two territories.
Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adwa

ETHIOPIAN KING TEWODROS II


Téwodros II (Ge'ez: ቴዎድሮስ, baptized as Sahle Dingil, and often referred to in English by the equivalent Theodore II) (c. 1818 – April 13, 1868) was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death.
He was born Kassa Haile Giorgis, but was more regularly referred to as Kassa Hailu (Ge'ez: ካሳ ኃይሉ — meaning "restitution" and "His [or the] power"). His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia, ending the decentralized Zemene Mesafint (Era of the Princes).                                                     

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tewodros_II

ETHIOPIAN KING FASILIDES

  

Fasilides (Ge'ez ፋሲልደስ Fāsīladas, modern Fāsīledes; throne name ʿAlam Sagad, Ge'ez ዓለም ሰገድ ʿĀlam Sagad, modern ʿĀlem Seged, "to whom the world bows"; 1603 - 18 October 1667) was nəgusä nägäst (1632 - 18 October 1667) of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the son of Susenyos I and Empress Sultana Mogassa, born at Magazaz in Shewa before 10 November 1603.
Fasilides was proclaimed Emperor in 1630 during a revolt led by Sarsa Krestos, but did not actually reach the throne until his father abdicated in 1632. Once he became Emperor, Fasilides immediately restored the official status of the traditional Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He sent for a new abuna from the Patriarch of Alexandria, restoring the ancient relationship that had been allowed to lapse. He confiscated the lands of the Jesuits at Dankaz and elsewhere in the empire, relegating them to Fremona. When he heard that the Portuguese bombarded Mombasa, Fasilides assumed that Afonso Mendes, the Roman Catholic prelate, was behind the act, and banished the remaining Jesuits from his lands. Mendes and most of his followers made their way back to Goa, being robbed or imprisoned several times on the way. In 1665, he ordered the "Books of the Franks"—the remaining religious writings of the Catholics—burnt.
He is commonly credited with founding the city of Gondar in 1636, establishing it as Ethiopia's capital.^[1] Whether or not a community existed here before he made it his capital is unknown. Amongst the buildings he had constructed there are the beginnings of the complex later known as Fasil Ghebbi, as well as some of the earliest of Gondar's fabled 44 churches: Adababay Iyasus, Adababay Tekle Haymanot, Atatami Mikael, Gimjabet Maryam, Fit Mikael, and Fit Abbo.^[2] He is also credited with building seven stone bridges in Ethiopia; as a result all old bridges in Ethiopia are often commonly believed to be his work.
To read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasilides

MYSTERY OF THE NILE

ETHIOPIA SECRET HOLY LAND