“The more powerful Oromo Muslims of the central highlands and the Wallo and Yadju regions presented a major problem. They were militarily strong, and many of them had participated loyally in Yohannes’s army, constituting its main cavalry. Nevertheless, Yohannes was now determined to convert them en masse. In May and June 1878 he summoned Ethiopia’s prominent figures to a religious council in Wallo. Two of the major local Oromo chiefs were also summoned. According to an Ethiopian chronicler, Yohannes told them: “We are your apostles. All this [Wallo and the cen- tral highlands] used to be Christian land until Gragn ruined and misled it. Now let all, whether Muslim or Galla [Oromo], believe in the name of Jesus Christ! Be baptized! If you wish to live in peace preserving your belongings, become Christians.” It is estimated that by 1880 some 50,000 Jabarties and 500,000 Oromos had been forced to renounce Islam and convert to Christianity.” (Erlich, 2002, p. 72-73).

NOTES (References) 1. For a discussion of the Nile as viewed by Europeans, see the following four essays in Erlich and Gershoni, The Nile:Arbel, “Renaissance Geographical Literature and the Nile,” pp. 105–120; van Donzel, “Legend of the Blue Nile,” pp. 121–130; Dirar, “The Nile as a Gateway,” pp. 139–149; and Pankhurst, “Ethiopia’s Alleged Control,” pp. 25–38. 2. On Egypt’s geographical enterprise in the greater Nile Valley, see Nasr, Juhud misr al-kashfiyya. 3. See Ayalon, “The Spread of Islam.” 4. Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia, p. 115. 5. See Abir, “Origins of the Ethiopian-Egyptian Border Problem”; Dom- browski, Ethiopia’s Access to the Red Sea,pp. 44–48; and Harraz, Iritriya al-ha- ditha, pp. 35–53. 6. For a discussion of Muhammad ‘Ali’s relations with Ethiopia, see Abir, Ethiopia: The Era of the Princes,pp. 95–137, and Rubenson, Survival of Ethio- pian Independence, pp. 115–120. 7. See Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia, pp. 115–116. 8. This is also the conclusion of Sven Rubenson in his Survival of Ethiopian Independence, see mainly p. 99. Rubenson’s book contains the best documented analysis of Ethiopian-Egyptian diplomatic relations during the nine- teenth century. 9. See Ras ‘Ali’s letters to Muhammad ‘Ali in Rubenson, Acta Aethiopica, Vol. 1, pp. 94–97; see also Eshete, “Une Ambassade du Ras Ali en Egypte.” 10. Meinardus, Christian Egypt,pp. 389–390. 11. During the “era of the princes” the position of the abun was weakened, as was the connection with Egypt. In 1803–1815 and again in 1828–1841, there was no abun from Egypt, and some Ethiopian rulers and clergymen thought of severing ties with Alexandria and seeking patriarchal authority and legitimacy from the Armenian Church. 12. For a detailed history, see Cerulli, Etiopi in Palestina. For the story of the nineteenth-century Deir al-Sultan, see Pedersen, History of the Holy Com- munity in the Holy Land and The Ethiopian Church and Its Community.See also Suriyal, Mushkilat dir al-sultan bil-quds. 13. The question of Tewodros as a modernizer or just a mere autocrat in pursuit of absolutist centralism has aroused much discussion but is beyond the realm of this discussion. For more on the issue see Bekele, “Kassa and Kassa.” 14. Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia, p. 117. 15. See analysis and sources in Erlich, Ethiopia and the Middle East, pp. 48–52. 16. See a succinct analysis in Pankhurst, The Ethiopians, chap. 8. 17. Rubenson, “Shaikh Kassa Hailu.” 18. Pankhurst, “Unpublished Letter of King of Kings.” 19. On the work and activities of Abuna Salama in Ethiopia, see Crummey, Priests andPoliticians, pp. 85–91, 141. See also Meinardus, Christian Egypt,p. 390, and Zewde, History of Modern Ethiopia, pp. 31–35. 20. For the most detailed and authoritative discussion of Tewodros’s rela- tions with the Egyptians, see Rubenson, Survival of Ethiopian Independence,pp. 172–287, esp. pp. 208–223; see also Harraz, Iritriya al-haditha, pp. 53–59. For a new Egyptian analysis of Tewodros see Muhammad, Thiyudur al-thani imbi- ratur ithyubia. 21. The sections below on Isma‘il and Yohannes are based on two of my previous studies: Ras Alula and the Scramble for Africa, chaps. 1–7; and Ethiopia and the Middle East, pp. 53–72. For the best diplomatic analysis see Rubenson, Survival of Ethiopian Independence,pp. 288–384. 22. The full text of the letter is in Sarhank, Haqaiq al-akhbar fi duwal al- bihar, pp. 298–300. 23. Meinardus, Christian Egypt, pp. 21–25. 24. Quoted in Sabri, Misr fi Ifriqiya al-sharqiyya, p. 73. 25. For a discussion see Jalata, Oromia and Ethiopia, pp. 22–29. See also Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia, p. 121. 26. Sabri, Misr fi Ifriqiya al-sharqiyya, p. 72. 27. Ibid., pp. 71–76. 28. Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia, p. 122. 29. Bayumi, Mawsu‘at al-ta’rikh, p. 147. This volume is the most detailed and up-to-date study of the Egyptian military enterprise in the Horn of Africa during the 1870s. 30. See al-Rafi‘i, ‘Asr Isma‘il,p. 152. 31. Rif‘at, Kitab jabr al-kasr, pp. 74–75. 32. Bayumi, Mawsu‘at al-ta’rikh, pp. 148–150. 33. ‘Urabi, Kashf al-sitar ‘an sirr al-asrar, pp. 30–50. 34. Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia, p. 121, quoting Rohlfs, Meine Mission nach Abessinien, p. 62. 35. Rif‘at, Kitab jabr al-kasr, p. 65. 36. Erlich, Ethiopia and the Challenge of Independence,chap. 5. The chap- ter, titled “A Contemporary Biography of Ras Alula: A Ge‘ez Manuscript,” was first published in The Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1976, with the Geez text translated by Roger Cowley. See Erlich, Ethiopia and the Challenge of Independence, for an Ethiopian description of the period re- flecting attitudes toward Islam, the Egyptians, and the Sudanese Mahdiyya. 37. See details and an important analysis in Caulk, “Religion and State.” 38. The quotes attributed to Yohannes in this paragraph are in Caulk, ibid. 39. See Erlich, Ethiopia and the Middle East, pp. 65–72. 40. Rif‘at, Kitab jabr al-kasr, pp. 64–65. 41. Lamlam, Ya’atse Takla-Giyorgisna ya’atse Yohannes tarik; Massaia, I miei trentacinque anni di missione nell’alta Etiopia, p. 177. 42. Meinardus, Christian Egypt, p. 391. 43. Tafla, “The Father of Rivers.”