Menelik II's conquests

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Menelik II's conquests, also known as the Agar Maqnat (Amharic: አገር ማቅናት, romanized: agär maqnat, lit. 'to position the country'), were a series of late 19th-century military campaigns led by Menelik II, king of Shewa (1865–1889) and Ethiopian Emperor (1889–1913) to expand the territory of the Ethiopian Empire. Ascending power in the de facto independent kingdom of Shewa in what is now central Ethiopia in 1865, Menelik II spent the early years of his reign consolidating his power and campaigning in Wollo to the north. After Emperor Yohannes IV forced him to submit in 1878 he turned his attention south. After defeating his rival Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam at the Battle of Embabo in June 1882 he began the first phase of his expansion, conquering most of the Oromo-dominated territory including Welega, the five Gibe kingdoms as well as the powerful Arsi confederation. In 1887 he conquered the small but prestigious Emirate of Harar. In 1889 he became Emperor and, five years later, initiated the...

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