| Date |
Event |
| 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. |
| 1872 |
Kassa of Tigray became Emperor
Yohannes, King
of Zion, King of Kings of Ethiopia. It was as the vassal of Yohannes
and with his consent that Menilek set out to conquer and incorporate
Oromia into the Abyssinian Empire. |
| 1867-1877 |
After 10 years of resistance, under the
leadership of Abba Waatoo, the Rayya, Yejju and Wallo Oromo were defeated
only by the combined forces of Yohannes from the north, Menilek from the
south, and internal problems caused by the execution of Prince Amedie Ali
Liban by Tewodros on Maqdala, and the subsequent deposition of the regent,
Queen Warqitu. It was only after Yohannes and Menilek had made sure
of the stability of their rear that the Abyssinians were fully engaged in
the conquest of the "south." But the Rayya, Yejju and
Wallo Oromo never submitted fully, revolts and uprisings continued. |
| May-June 1878 |
Wallo was, at the end, divided up between
Yohannes and Menilek at a conference in Boru Meda, attended by the
Abyssinian Emperor, kings and religious leaders. |
| 1870s |
While Menilek was busy invading the Oromo lands
around Shawa, Tekle Haimanot of Gojjam was fighting in the west, across
the Abbaya (the Blue Nile) for his share in the scramble for the Oromo
lands. The Gojjamites crossed the Abbaya, pillaged and devastated
parts of Guduru, Horro, Ginda Barrat and Jimma Raaree, etc. They
forced Oromo to build Orthodox churches and pay tribute. |
| 1880s |
Shaykh Tallhah of Wallo fought
against Emperors Yohannes and Menilek for many years. |
| 1881-1886 |
Menilek conducted several unsuccessful invasion
campaigns against the rich and fertile Oromo territory of Arsi. The
Arsi Oromo put up stiff resistance against an enemy equipped with Modern
European firearms. |
| 1882 |
Menilek could not remain indifferent to the
Gojjamite expansion into the rich and fertile southern and western Oromia
on which he had already fixed his eyes. In the Battle of Embabo, in
1882, the Shawans defeated the Gojjamites. Menilek thus frustrated
the Gojjam expansion into Oromo areas, ending by military force, Tekle
Hayimanot's struggle in the scramble for Oromia. It was the Battle
of Embabo, which determined the course of Oromo history, for this was
indeed the launching platform for Menilek's war of colonization that
followed.
By the end of 1882, Gobana, Menilek's strongest war-lord, had brought
the Tuullama, Macha, Limmu, Gomma and Geera Oromo under Menilek's control. |
| 1883 |
Menilek gave Wallo to his son-in-law, Araya
Selassie Yohannes, as fief for his wedding gift. As a result, the
Wallo leader Abbaa Jabal (alias Liban) Abbaa Waato rebelled; this caused
serious consternation in both the Yohannes and Menilek camps. |
| 1884 |
Under the leadership of Sheik Tola
Jaafar, the
Wallo Oromo rose up against the Abyssinian occupying forces. This
was in the districts of Warra Qaallu, Warra Baabbo, Garfa, Riqa, etc. |
| 1884 |
In the east, Hararge had already been
victimized by the Ottoman Empire (Turks) and Egyptians for decades.
In 1884, as soon as he heard about the possible evacuation of Egyptians
from Harar, Menilek began his preparations for annexation. Harar was
bound to fall into the hands of either the Abyssinians or the Italians. |
| 1885 |
Menilek proposed to the Italians that he should
occupy Harar and the Italians should occupy Zeila and Barbara. |
| May 1886 |
One of the few advantages of the Arsi Oromo
during the resistance was their hit and run guerrilla fighting
campaigns. During one such campaign in May 1886, the Arsi killed
about 700 of Menilek's soldiers. |
| 6 Sept, 1886 |
12,000 Oromo warriors were killed during the
Arsi resistance. This number doesn't include the women, children and
old men whom the Abyssinian soldiers burned alive and massacred in
looting. It's said that the Arsi campaign was the bloodies of
Menilek's reign. The then Arsi's Abbaa Duula (War Minister), Roobaa
Butta,
after a bitter battle using primitive war weapons against modern European
arms and expertise, finally submitted.
However, Roobaa Butta voiced his faith in the future independence of Oromia
in the following words, "The hour has not come but it will come,
perhaps our children will see the departure of the oppressor." |
| Oct 1886 |
On their way to the Harar city, Menilek's army
had to fight several battles against numerous Oromo communities on the
way. In October 1886, at a place called Tuullu on Burqa river, the
enemy suffered heavy losses. The Abyssinian army led by one of
Menilek's leading generals, Wolde Gabrel, was encircled and routed.
Those who survived fled back to Shawa in disarray, including Wolde Gabrel
himself. |
| Nov - Dec 1886 |
The Arsi resistance finally broke down; the
region fell into the invading Menilek force. |
| 1886 |
Menilek had conquered and absorbed much
territory belonging to the Oromo and other nations, in the south, west and
east. Feeling that he had used Gobana enough, he took away the
administration of Oromo lands from him and gave it to Shawan Amharas.
The conquest of Itu and Wallagga. |
| 1887-1902 |
Prince Firrisa of the Kingdom of
Gumma intermittently resisted the Amhara administration. |
| Jan 1887 |
Menilek personally led his large army of more
than 25,000 men, most of them armed with newest and most modern firearms,
on Harar. Emir Abdullahi, a Harari ruler, united the Oromo, Hararis
and Somalis, and with an army of about 4,000 men, of whom only 1,000 were
armed with old rifles, about half of them in good working condition, met
the Abyssinian army at Chalanqo-Meettaa and Oborra Oromo land - on January
6th 1887. After a bitter fight, Abdullahi's army faced defeat in a
battle of unequals.
The conquest of Ilubbabor. |
| 1888 |
Menilek's empire was several hundred times the
size of the empire he inherited in 1867. |
| 1889 |
Gobana, deposed in 1886, died in 1889,
frustrated and without hope. |
| 1890 |
The uprising of the Walla Oromo, under the
leadership of Sheik Tola Jaafar, was only defeated when Menilek himself
led a large well equipped Shawan army against them. But the
resistance did not completely stop. After his defeat, Sheik Tola
fled and went to the Sudan to solicit assistance from the Mahdi. |
| 1891 |
The conquest of Baale and
Sidamo. |
| 1896 |
D. Smith, "Expeditions Through Somaliland
to Lake Rudolf," described condition of Arsi Oromo as follows:
"Where was the country teeming with lusty warlike people?
Certainly not here! Where we found ... was only ... the natives
presenting the most abject appearance imaginable. Only four years
ago, they must have been a fine race of men, they loved to tell us of
their former glory, their eyes would light up, and they would forget for
the instant their present condition ... the Arsi ... here, as elsewhere
were regarded as slaves and were even sold in the market as such." |
| 1897 |
The conquest of
Boorana. |
| 1898 |
Menilek employed Leon
Danegon, a Frenchman, to
lead 15,000 Abyssinian soldiers to Borana Oromo land and conquer all the
way up to Lake Rudolf.
In 1887-1888 Russians helped over 30,000 Abyssinians conquer
southwestern Oromia up to Gimira. |
| By 1900 |
All of the Oromo Kingdoms were occupied or
paying tribute to Menilek.
These Oromo Kingdoms and Confederations were the Arfan-Qallo
(Oborra,
Ala, Noole and Babile), Arfan-Naggaadota (Western Oromia, Guuma, Limmu,
Gomma and Jimma), Arfan-Oromootaa (Leeqaa Billoo, Leeqaa Hordaa, Leeqaa
Naqamte and Noole Kaabbaa) and others. |
| ~ 1900 |
Menilek granted concessions to a Swiss company
to mine gold, silver and other materials in Nejjo, Wallagaa region. |
| 1908 |
The British, French and Italians signed the
Tripartite Treaty of 1908 with Menilek II to not only officially recognize
the newly carved Ethiopian empire state but also to maintain them.
Completion of the railroad in eastern Oromia, Dire
Dawa, and in 1917 to
Addis Ababa, made colonial exploitations easier. |
| 1910 |
Sheik Tola Jaafar, after obtaining assistance
from the Sudan, went back to Wallo and continued the armed struggle well
into 1910. |
|
