ETHIOPIA).
Christianity was introduced into the country by Frumentius (q.v.), who was consecrated first bishop of Ethiopia by St. Athanasius of Alexandria about A.D. 33o. From the scanty evidence available it would appear that the new religion at first made little progress, and the Axumite kings seem to have been among the latest con verts. Towards the close of the 5th cen tury a great company of monks established themselves in the country, and since that time monachism has been a power among the people and not without its influence on the course of events. In the early part of the 6th century the king of the Homer ites, on the opposite coast of the Red Sea, having persecuted the Christians, the em peror Justinian I. requested the king of Auxume, Caleb or E1-Esbaha, to avenge their cause. He accordingly collected an army, crossed over into Arabia, and con quered Yemen (c. 525), which remained subject to Ethiopia for over so years.
This was the most flourishing period in the annals of the country. The Ethiopians possessed the richest part of Arabia, carried on a large trade, which extended as far as India and Ceylon, and were in constant communication with the Greek empire. Their expulsion from Arabia, followed by the conquest of Egypt by the Mohammedans in the middle of the 7th century, changed this state of affairs, and the continued advances of the followers of the Prophet at length cut them off from almost every means of communication with the civilized world; so that, as Gibbon says, "encompassed by the enemies of their religion, the Ethiopians slept for near a thousand years, forgetful of the world by whom they were forgotten." About A.D. 960, a Jewish prin cess, Judith, conceived the design of murdering all the members of the royal family, and of establishing herself in their stead. During the execution of this project, the infant king was carried off by some faithful adherents, and conveyed to Shoa, where his authority was acknowledged and the Solomonean dynasty ruled for about 30o years; while Judith reigned for 4o years over the rest of the kingdom after which a usurping dynasty of Lasta held the reins of power (except in Shoa) until in 1268 the kingdom was restored to the royal house in the person of Yekfino Amlak.
Towards the close of the 15th century the Portuguese missions into Abyssinia began. A belief had long prevailed in Europe of the existence of a Christian king dom in the far east, whose monarch was known as Prester John, and various expeditions had been sent in quest of it. Among others who had engaged in this search was Pedro de Covilham, who arrived in Abyssinia in 1490, and, believing that he had at length reached the far-famed kingdom, presented to the negas, or emperor of the country, 'a letter from his master the king of Portugal, addressed to Prester John. Covilham remained in the country, but in 5507 an Armenian named Matthew was sent by the negas to the king of Portugal to request his aid against the Mohammedans. In 152o a Portuguese fleet, with Matthew on board, entered the Red Sea in compliance with this request, and an embassy from the fleet visited the negas, Lebna Dengel or Dawit (David) II., and remained in Abyssinia for about six years. One of this embassy was Father Francisco Alvarez, from whom we have the earliest and not the least interesting account of the country. Between 1528 and 1540 armies of Mohamme dans, under the renowned general Mohammed Grafi (probably a Somali), entered Abyssinia from the low country to the south east, and overran the kingdom, obliging the emperor to take ref uge in the mountain fastnesses. In this extremity recourse was again had to the Portuguese, who sent a fleet, under the command of Stephen da Gama, from India, which arrived at Massawa in Feb. 1541. In the July following a force of 450 musqueteers, under the command of Christopher da Gama, younger brother of the admiral, left the fleet and marched into the interior, and being joined by native troops were at first successful against the enemy; but they were subsequently defeated, and their commander taken prisoner and put to death (Aug. 1542). On Feb. 21, 1543, how ever, Mohammed Gran was shot in an engagement and his forces totally routed. After this, quarrels arose between the negfis and the Portuguese, who now wished the emperor publicly to profess himself a convert to Rome, which the negils refused to do. The Jesuits who had accompanied or followed the da Gama expedition into Abyssinia, and fixed their headquarters at Fremona (near Adowa), were oppressed and neglected, but not actually expelled. In the beginning of the 17th century Father Pedro Paez arrived at Fremona, a man of great tact and judgment, who soon rose into high favour at court, and gained over the emperor to his faith. He directed the erection of churches, palaces and bridges in dif ferent parts of the country, and carried out many useful works. His successor Mendez was a man of much less conciliatory man ners, and the feelings of the people became strongly excited against the intruders, till at length, on the death of the negas, Socinius or Seged I., and the accession of his son Fasilidas in 1633, they were all sent out of the country, of ter having had a footing there for nearly a century and a half.
The French physi cian C. J. Poncet, who went there in 1698, via Sennar and the Blue Nile, was the only European that afterwards visited the country before Bruce in 1769. James Bruce's main object was to discover the sources of the Nile, which he was convinced lay in Abyssinia. Accordingly, leaving Massawa in Sept. 1769, he travelled via Axum (Aksum) to Gondar, and was well received by King Tekla Haimanot II. He accompanied the king on a warlike expedition round Lake Tana, crossing the genuine Blue Nile (Abbai) close to its point of issue from the lake. On a second expedition of his own he proved to his own satisfaction that the river originated some 4om. S.W. of the lake at a place called Geesh (Nov. 4, 1770). He showed that this river flawed into the lake, and left it by its now well-known outlet. In 1805 the first British mission under Lord Valentia and Mr. Henry Salt was sent to conclude an alliance with Abyssinia and obtain a port on the Red Sea in case France secured Egypt by dividing up the Turkish Empire with Russia. This mission was succeeded by many trav ellers, missionaries and merchants of all countries. Prominent amongst them were Dr. C. T. Beke (q.v.) who did much to ex tend geographical knowledge of the country from 1840 to
and Mr. Mansfield Parkyns (1843-46) who wrote the most interesting book on the country since Bruce.
In 1830 Protestant missionary enterprise was begun by Samuel Gobat and Christian Kugler, who were sent out by the Church Missionary Society and were well received by the Ras of Tigre, but in 1838 most of the missionaries were obliged to leave the country owing to the opposition of the native priests. Later on, however (1856), Bishop Gobat conceived the idea of sending lay missionaries who would engage in secular occupations as well as missionary work. Their secular work appears to have been the more appreciated, and King Theodore employed them as work men and established them at Gaffat, near his capital.
In order to obtain a clear view of native Abyssinian history, as distinct from the visits and influence of Europeans, it must be borne in mind that during the last 30o years, and indeed for a longer period, for the old chron iclers may be trusted to have given a somewhat distorted view of the importance of the particular chieftains with whom they came in contact, the country has been merely a conglomeration of provinces and districts, ill defined, loosely connected and gen erally at war with each other. Of these the chief provinces have been Tigre (northern), Amhara (central), Gojam (north western) and Shoa (southern). The seat of government, or rather of over lordship, has usually been in Amhara, the ruler of which, calling himself negusa nagast (king of kings, or emperor), has exacted tribute, when he could, from the other provinces. The title of negusa nagast has been to a considerable extent based on the blood in the veins of the claimant. All the emperors have based their claims on their direct descent from Solomon and the queen of Sheba; but it is needless to say that in many, if not in most, cases their success has been due more to the force of their arms than to the purity of their lineage. Some of the rulers of the larger provinces have at times been given or have given them selves, the title of negas or king, so that on occasion as many as three, or even more, neguses have been reigning at the same time; and this must be borne in mind by the student of Abyssinian history in order to avoid confusion of rulers. The whole history of the country is, in fact, with a few bright intervals due to the efforts of some of the more enlightened monarchs, one gloomy record of internecine wars, barbaric deeds and unstable govern ments, of adventurers usurping thrones, only to be themselves unseated, and of raids, rapine and pillage.
Thus, for example, though the Empire had been re-united under Yekano Amlik of the Solomonean dynasty in 1268, the overlordship of the Negus or Negusa Nagast (king of kings) had become purely nominal by the 18th century, and the rulers of Tigre and Amhara alternately held the real power. Between these two quasi-kingdoms there was perpetual hostility and much fighting, but without definite results until Kassa (later King Theodore of Magdala fame) appeared on the scene.
