Ethiopian Empire (Principia Moderni IV Map Game)

The Empire of Ethiopia  (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መንግሥተ, Mängəstä Ityop'p'ya)  is an imperial state located in East Africa. Originating from the Kingdom of Axum in ancient times, the Solomonic Dynasty came to power in 1270 to form the Empire. From 1555 until 1718, after the Arab-Ethiopian War, Ethiopia was annexed as part of the Abbasid and later Rashidun Calipahtes. After progressive disintegration of the Caliphate and subsequent Second Arab-Ethiopian War, Ethiopia managed to establish its full independence and conquer all of Egypt.

History
See also: History of Ethiopia 

Early Solomonic Dynasty
In 1270, a female usurper overthrew the last ruler of the Zagwe Dynasty, which had ruled the Empire since the old Kingdom of Axum. Shortly after, the ruler Iyasu I killed the usurper and established the new Solomonic Dynasty over Ethiopia. According to legend, the Iyasu and the Solomonics traced their descent through the kings of Axum back to King Solomon himself, when he inseminated his children to the Queen of Sheba that ruled Ethiopia.

In the early Solomonic period, Ethiopia was divided into provinces with local nobility. The early Ethiopian Emperors utilized the title of Emperor to exact tribute from these provinces and further centralize the nation. However, at the same time this caused a decline of urbanization that forced the capital to become more migratory than fixed. Externally, many emperors worked to expand their authority against the Muslim and pagan nations around them. The most successful of these campaigns was under Emperor Tsiyon, that established power over the whole horn of Africa in the 1330s. As Coptic Christianity continued to grow as a significant force in the nation, monasticism grew significantly along with monastic religious movements.

In the 15th century, Ethiopia focused much less on external expansion, and instead directed their attention to internal reforms and modernization: standardized Amharic language, reformed education, modernized military and irrigation system, etc. This also saw a further increase of piety and monasticism as the Empire looked closer to the Pope of Alexandria as head of their religion. This was easiest in the early 15th century, as the collapsing Mamluk Sultanate was unable to prevent such communication.

This piety particularly put pressure on the Ethiopian Emperors to demonstrate their piety in their recorded personality traits. David I (d. 1413) was known as the "people's king" by how frequently he would appear in public places leading prayers for the people. In addition, he was known to begin international trade with Egypt and Turkey, and expanded the navy to the point of visiting Madagascar in 1413. Theodore I (r.1413-1415), albeit reigned very briefly, was known to utilize invocations while dealing with the Smallpox Plague of 1413 that ravaged the nation. Isaac I (r.1415-1429), after completing the reconstruction of Axum in 1416, was known to wear more lavish clothing, which put him off as unpopular among the people. Constantine I (r.1434-1468), one of the most famous rulers of the dynasty, revived the practices of David I to the extent of wearing common clothes and traveling in disguise. Constantine was known as so dynamic with his fascination of history, he would often go missing from the palace as he went seeking the archaeological sites.

Colonization in Africa
Constantine additionally held a dream of expanding Ethiopia's influence across Africa, particularly by colonizing along the Nile and Red Sea. The colonies of Mogran and Tana were set up during the 1440s. Trade with the Benin Empire began in 1441, in the hope of feeding on their inexplicable growth of technology. Baeda Maryam his son was betrothed to Princess Tiosa in 1451 and was sent to Benin for education from 1456-1460. Just after he returned to Constantine in 1461, the First Benin Civil War broke out between the Monarchists and more liberal Irredentists. Constantine sent military and resources to intervene in the war on the Irredentist side, although this was largely unused.

After the Abbasid Caliphate was largely ruined in the First Arab-Persian War, Ethiopia took the opportunity to colonize further north in the Nile, sending a single ship all the way to the sea in 1458. The Caliph responded by tightening their trade with non-Muslim African nations in 1460, particularly the Ethiopian Empire. Ethiopia continued to secretly trade with Adal and the Ottoman Empire, until the order became mute in 1470. Even so, the lack of trade caused a financial crisis in the capital in 1475. During this time of restricted access to Egypt, the Empire was approached by the Roman Pope frequently in an attempt of merging the Coptic and Catholic Churches.

In reaction to increasing tensions with the Caliphate, the reign of Maryam I (r.1468-1492) sought more dynamic action to enforce their claims in Egypt. During the Fifth Fitna which ravaged the Caliphate from 1478-1483, Maryam sent militia forces up the Red Sea to intervene in the war and collect more territory. In the early 1490s, Maryam opened negotiations with Persia, Castile, and the Hospitaller Knights on the possibility of attacking Egypt on all four sides. Unfortunately, this plan was abandoned after Maryam died. After Maryam's death, Ethiopia largely went into decline and stagnation for the remainder of its history until its conquest by the Caliphate.

Muslim Rule
In the mid 16th century, the Abbasid Caliphate under Al-Rahim I was pushing for more direct colonial expansion across Africa. After previous conquests under Al-Najm the Great removed all other threats from the Middle East and Europe, Ethiopia was isolated once more for attack. The resulting First Arab-Ethiopian War from 1551-1555 caused the complete annexation of the nation to the Caliph, as well as killed or enslaved up to a million Ethiopians.

Al-Rahim and his successors would work towards colonizing the region with new, Arab-centric cities, incorporating Ethiopia directly as core territory. Axum was largely left unused, but instead a new regional capital was built around the town of Ziway, officially renamed as Beit Dawud, but quickly gained the colloquial name Medina Jamil. Al-Rahim assumed the title of Imbrator Iftiqiya (Emperor of Africa) in 1560. However, the Solomonic dynasty itself was given a great deal of respect from the Muslim overlords, and allowed to live comfortably in Axum during this period.

In the latter half of the 16th century, as the Abbasid Caliphate started to collapse, Ethiopia saw a substantial growth in population that allowed it to thrive more than it had before the conquest. As Egypt and Ethiopia were now under the same nation, the Coptic populations in both nations were freely in contact and administrated by the Pope of Alexandria. During Egypt's growth in education, the Coptic church became more involved with running the public schools in Egypt, causing more growth of Ethiopian influence through that as well. By the time of the Sixth Fitna, the Coptic church was a formidable force that was carefully allied with the new Rashidun Caliphate.

In the early 17th century, reforms of the Coptic Church centralized their influence of Coptics in both Egypt and Ethiopia. Starting in the 1640s, the Amharic Sojourn saw a large migration of Ethiopians northward into Egypt, and general migrations of Coptics around East Africa that was cause of both growth and discrimination. The Sojourn came to a head in the 1660s with the Coptic Revolt under Theodore the Hermit, which was then brutally put down by the Caliph Murad Al-Jaffar. The subsequent persecutions of Al-Jaffar killed over 100,000 Coptics. During the Seventh and final Fitna in 1668, the Coptics revolted again to take advantage of the weakened Rashidun government.

When the Fitna ended in 1675, the Rashidun greatly de-centralized the government as an attempt to accommodate the people groups that revolted during the previous war. One aspect of this was to grant Ethiopia and East Africa a lot more autonomy and domestic power. This put an end to the Amharic Sojourn, but starting in the 1680s the Amharic Aliyah saw large numbers of Coptics formally in Egypt to immigrate south back to Ethiopia.

Second Arab-Ethiopian War
Finally, in 1693 the Pope of Alexandria traveled down to Ethiopia and crowned Emperor John in Medina Jamil. John declared the Ethiopian Empire restored, but he was careful to remain nominally a vassal of the Caliphate at this time. At the same time, however, this new autonomoy quickly allowed most of Ethiopia proper to fall under feudal Coptic lords, called Princes. Emperor John worked to reform the military and the government, bringing cooporation among the Princes to start economic projects for roads and canals. Very soon, the military swelled due to large numbers of volunteers among the Amharics migrated from Egypt.

After Emperor John died in 1703, Ethiopia fell under the command of two personalities: Emperor Iyasu and Prince Theodore. After the nation had built up its military and infrastructure for ten years, Iyasu took the opportunity to launch a full invasion of Egypt up from the south. The military itself was led by Prince Theodore, a legendary commander for the Ethiopians. Iyasu stayed to administrate in Medina Jamil, using the war to centralize control of the Princes under a single military authority from the capital.

The resulting Second Arab-Ethiopian War not only saw Egypt overwhelmed by the Coptic invasion, but also led to the total collapse of the Caliphate altogether, breaking off its vassals and territories as separate states. The intervention of the neighboring states of Morocco, Jaffarid Arabia, and Swahili made the war long and arduous, killing up to 1 million people on both sides. At the same time, the steady growth of Coptic Christianity in Egypt over the last 150 years helped to quickly gain native support for the invaders. Eventually, in 1718 the Treaty of Cairo solidified the new borders of the Empire and Caliphate.

Administration
The Emperor of Ethiopia is the sole and absolute monarch over the entire nation, having no check against him except the Coptic Church. The Emperor is also the head of the Solomonic dynasty, a royal family that traces its ancestry through the Kings of Axum back to the Biblical monarch Solomon - the son of David - in 1000 BC. The members of the Solomonic dynasty live interchangeably between the Royal Palaces in Medina Jamil and Axum, and function as the highest class of citizens in the nation.

Administration of the Empire consists of three provinces: Tigray (with its capital Adulis), Amhara (with its capital Axum), and Showa (with its capital Shoba). Each of these cities were most urbanized and expanded between 1400 and 1440. Originally, the Solomonic emperors would exact tribute and service from these provinces, which were officially given such sovereignty in 1412. In 1461, the governors of each province was elevated to the status Ras (or head), made as more independent entities under the emperor. As these were removed during Muslim rule, the current system goes back to the original model of governors, except now they function more as representatives of the Emperor in each region.

Egypt is administrated as its own Kingdom, in personal union with the Emperor. While the Emperor administrates from the south, a local governor is appointed to run Egypt in his place. The next class of citizens are a series of feudal nobles, or Princes, who hold local authority over their own personal lands. However, after the Second Arab-Ethiopian War the Emperor assumed direct control over all the Princes' lands and titles. In addition to these offices, there exist a number of artificial communities, or colonies that exist further within the rural parts of Africa. The first of these colonies existed along the Nile established in the 1440s, namely the towns of Mogran and Tana.

The title of Emperor is passed by hereditary primogeniture, or by whoever else the previous monarch names as his successor. Upon the death of the previous emperor, the new claimant must then be crowned by the Pope of Alexandria in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. For this reason, the Pope holds considerable authority over the Emperor, and is attributed the highest respect across all of Africa.

Military
Ethiopia is a land empire, and its army is the best equipped and trained of any pre-industrial military in the world. Most of the ranks of cavalry, infantry and artillery are borroed the same way from the earlier Rashidun Caliphate they broke off from, including the Sipahi, Hussars, Dragoons, and Musketeers. Other military units for artilery, such as cannon crew and grenadiers, were speficially added, utilizing cannons such as falconets and bombards. Firearms had existed since an alchimaic accident in 1454, and cannons as early as 1485, but under Muslim rule their military was vastly updated.

Within the standard military is the Royal Ethiopian Guard, a more traditional elite warrior class that dates back to the early Solomonic dynasty. It was first established by David I as 500 men in 1409, utilizing face masks representing the emperor they served under. After Emperor David died in 1413, Theodore I increased it to 600 men in 1415. Emperor Isaac then increased it to 800 men in 1424. By the reign of Constantine I in 1441, the royal guard was 1,500 men, but he increased it to 2,500 in 1457. In 1468, Baeda Maryam increased it to 5,000 men. However, due to financial constraints it was reduced to 4,000 men in 1475. Finally, in 1500 David II increased the Royal guard to 7,000 men, which is roughly where it remains to today.

The navy of Ethiopia is an institution that existed for a temporary period of time prior to the First Arab-Ethiopian War. starting in 1404, the Empire sought out more sources of timber to make ships, and in 1408 created the first crude dock at Adulis. In 1409, Ethiopia developed the first 10 ships of its trade fleet, which was increased to 13 by Emperor Isaac in 1416. Under Isaac, the navy began to expand beyond the Red sea trading as far as Madagasgar. Under Emperor Constantine, the navy within the Nile and various tributaries were increased to form a force formidable to the Caliphate, reaching as far as the Mediterranean in 1458.

Bow ships were introduced to make the ships more mordernized in 1470, but the Red Sea navy never exceeded 15 ships at any time. Leading up to the First Arab-Ethiopian War in the 1540s, the entire fleet was wiped out very quickly. The Nile fleet, however, was largely retained and became very useful to counter Morocco's forces during the Second Arab-Ethiopian War. However, after Egypt was conquered the Ethiopians largely decomissioned the fleet.

Culture
The culture of Ethiopia is a balance between their connection to traditional, religious values and an innate desire for exotic, vibrant beauty. Various cultural elements in terms of vocabulary, philosophy and outlook is deep-seated in their desire for a stronger spiritual connection to God. Voluntary poverty in the way of helping others is seen as the ultimate virtue, owing to the great popularity of monasticism. Ethiopian clothing is known for its vibrant colors created from dying pieces of cotton cloth known as shemma. On men this becomes a knee-length shirt, while women either wear a netela shawl or a habesha kemis dress. Hats are produced as cylindrical caps based on the Rashidun fez.

Ethiopian cuisine typically consists of injera bread accompanied by beef, lamb, vegetables, and assorted lentils. These dishes can include wat, a meaty stew, or tibs, which are sateed vegetables, as well as a breakfast casserole called kinche. Other ingredients can include cili peppers along with mitmita seasoning, coupled with the standard beverage as coffee. The pious heritage of the Ethiopians measures time in the year by the Paschal cycle. However, various festivals and fairs throughout the year have been integral to Ethiopian culture since 1418.

A certain level of antiquarianism and proto-archeology predated its use by the modern Caliphates. After the Sword of Ezana was uncovered by Emperor Constantine in 1461, the entire legacy of Ezana and his dynasty at Axum was carefully excavated. Ezana's tomb and place of residence has since become a place of veneration and sacrifice starting with the education of Baeda Maryam. After Ethiopia's independence in the 18th century, more formal antiquarianism and archeology was inherited from the Rashidun Caliphate.

Art and Architecture
Ethiopian art for painting, weather appear on books, walls, or icons, has been known as a very unique and distinctive style since antiquity. Simplified, if not cartoonish depictions of various saints, biblical figures and the Virgin Mary adorn many churches and caverns throughout the nation. Renaissance art was introduced in the 1480s by Emperor Maryam, but it was largely experimental during the old Solomonic Dynasty.

During its Muslim rule, Ethiopia largely adopted the more Arab baroque style, which vastly changed their style completely. Cartoonish depictions were replaced with realistic proportions on human anatomy, coupled with dramatic poses in a variety of vivid colors and shading. Even after Ethiopia's independence, the Baroque style still remains dominant among iconography.

Architecture started with the Aksumite architecture during the first millennium AD. A variety of different churches, villas, and small towns were originally dug directly out of the cleft of rocks, taking on a distinctive arched curvature. Over time, stand-alone structures were built in the same style, consisting of roundhouses built from sandstone and basalt. The Royal Palace of Axum was built in this style in 1412 for Emperor David I.

Similar to the painting, however, architecture was reinvented in the Baroque style during Muslim rule, and this was how the city of Medina Jamil was built. After Ethiopia gained independence, architecture took on a fused nature with rock-hewn roundhouses incorporating many baroque elements. This is how the royal palace of Medinah Jamil, made in the 1690s, is distinguished from the Royal Palace of Axum.

Literature
Early Ethiopian writings in the Empire's history was mostly restricted to stone inscriptions in the Ge'ez language, either as monuments or stelae. Even into the early 15th century, Emperor David would erect stellae to commemorate historic events such as the death of Pope Matthew in 1408. However, starting under Emperor Theodore a system began to standardize and systematize the Amharic language of the Ethiopian people, this time utilizing it for literary works instead of inscriptions.

In 1419, Emperor Isaac started instituting education reforms to teach the common people to read Amharic. As Amharic became more ubiquitous among literate people, later generations would institute higher education for richer literary traditions. In 1452, the College of Axum would be the first university within the Empire. Similarly, the second university became the College of Adulis founded in 1485.

The earlier history of Ethiopia was not abandoned to this new tradition, however. During the reign of Emperor David, the records of Axum and the older Kingdom of Kush were carefully uncovered and investigated for wisdom on the new era. A sort of proto-Antiquarianism took off in the 1450s with uncovering of the artifacts of Ezana, the most famous ruler of ancient Axum.

Specific contributions of literature revolved mainly around saint lives and medieval travelers. Ali Al-Aswed's voyage came through Adulis in 1413. Between 1456-1460, the prince Baeda Maryam lived in Benin and wrote extensively on all his adventures there, including the outbreak of the First Benin Civil War. As proper antiquarianism and history was introduced by the Caliphate in the 17th century, literature has shifted towards chronicling more legendary times of history.