Prologue
Chaos, chaos is what makes things difficult, and troublesome; it sometimes can be never-ending. It is a type of disorder that, most of the time, is hard to fix. It is what, sometimes, makes people kill each other, rule upon each other, and hate each other when we all are supposed to live in harmony.
Once, a long time ago, Ethiopia was a peaceful country, where the citizens lived in harmony. That’s until chaos broke. There was a power struggle in Gonder between groups of Wollo and Quara political factions. Wollo was represented by Wabi, the wife of Eyasu II and mother of Young Monarch Iyoas, while Quara was represented by Wabi’s mother-in-law, Empress Mentewab, who then controlled state power in the name of her grandson, Iyoas.
This rivalry took place following the death of Ras Beteweded Welde Leul. Empress Mentewab had given power base to the Wollo by arranging a political marriage between her son Joshua II and Wabi from Wollo. She intended to secure their Military support to consolidate her power in the Gonderian state.
Also, every Regional lord wanted power for themselves; they wanted the title Ras Beteweded, the person that advises the Emperor or the Empress, but unfortunately, the one with the power died which led to more power hunger.
The Empress was weak; didn’t have power like she was supposed to. The Regional lords had more power than the Empress. Also, there was no Emperor nor Ras Beteweded, which made the central government weak and the Regional lords have more power than the Empress.
Rebels rose everywhere making her weaker and she had to do something, something that would make the Regional lords go away with their tails between their legs and that option was to call Ras Michael Sehul of Tigray. He was the most powerful candidate at the time. He had both a big army and modern firearms due to his access to foreign trade through the Red Sea.
Like the Empress’s wish, he stabilized the country.
The Empress was very pleased that she rewarded him with the title ‘Ras Beteweded’, meaning that now he has the power that the Regional lords wanted for a long time. But when King Iyoas ordered him to go back to Tigray, Michael felt strong and refused to obey the order of the Young Monarchy so he assassinated Iyoas and this event marked the beginning of a new era in which powerful Regional Warlords undermined the power of the Monarchy.
This era is known as “The Era of Warlords”. It is known for its endless war.
Ras Betewded Michael soon became the ‘King maker’ of the country. However, he was soon opposed by the Regional Warlords Ras Zemede of Gojjam, Ras Yesuf of Wollo, and Ras Teshome of Lasta. They organized a common alliance against him.
Understanding that his father is in danger if not now then later, Wolde Samuel son and successor of Ras Beteweded Michael, tried to take back his father to Tigry but that attempt was a failure.
Power is something that someone has no power over and falling into that hole is like falling into endless darkness.
