62 Facts About Tewodros II

Tewodros II was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868.

Tewodros II's rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to the decentralized Zemene Mesafint.

Tewodros II sought to re-establish a cohesive Ethiopian state and to reform its administration and church.

Tewodros II ultimately committed suicide at the Battle of Magdala, during the British Expedition to Abyssinia.

Tewodros II never realized his dream of restoring a strong monarchy, although he took many important initial steps.

Tewodros II sought to establish the principle that governors and judges must be salaried appointees.

Tewodros II established a professional standing army, rather than depending on local lords to provide soldiers for his expeditions.

Tewodros II introduced the collection of books in the form of a library, tax codes, as well as a centralized political system with respective administrative districts.

Tewodros II intended to reform the church but he was confronted by strong opposition when he tried to impose a tax on church lands to help finance government activities.

Tewodros II is persuaded that he is destined to restore the glories of the Ethiopian Empire and to achieve great conquests: of untiring energy, both mental and bodily, his personal and moral daring is boundless.

Tewodros II is fond of splendour, and received in state even on a campaign.

Tewodros II is generous to excess, and free from all cupidity, regarding nothing with pleasure or desire but munitions of war for his soldiers.

Tewodros II has exercised the utmost clemency towards the vanquished, treating them more like friends than enemies.

Tewodros II's faith is signal: without Christ I am nothing.

Tewodros II's forehead is high and almost domed; his slightly aquiline nose is a common trait among Thoroughbred Amharas.

Tewodros II's beard is very light and his lip thin.

Tewodros II was in all things the man of energy, the fierce hero, of whom M Lejean, who knew him intimately enough to call him his "terrible friend," has traced so life-like a portrait.

Tewodros II was about fifty years of age; of medium stature, with muscular limbs, a swarthy complexion, and features of remarkable beauty.

Tewodros II was a genius, and a very remarkable one.

Tewodros II's paternal grandfather, Dejazmatch Woldegiorgis, was a widely respected figure of his time.

Tewodros II's mother, Woizero Tishal, was a member of a noble family of Begemder, while her paternal grandfather, Ras Wodajo, was a powerful and highly influential figure.

Tewodros II took refuge when it was sacked by a defeated Dejazmatch Wube, who by burning and dismembering the children, took vengeance on their victorious parents.

Tewodros II continued his formal education and became familiar with the Bible and Ethiopian literature.

Tewodros II received instruction on the techniques of Ethiopian warfare from Kenfu.

Tewodros II awarded him all of Ye Meru Qemas in the hopes of binding him firmly to her son and herself.

Tewodros II took the throne name of Tewodros II, attempting to fulfill a prophecy that a man named Tewodros would restore the Ethiopian Empire to greatness and rule for 40 years.

In 1842 Tewodros II invaded Egyptian-controlled Sudan from western Ethiopia, successfully capturing Metemma.

The defeat at Dabarki led to Tewodros II taking efforts to modernize his military, incorporating firearm drills and more modern artillery.

Tewodros II crushed the many lords and princes of Wollo and Tigray and brought recalcitrant regions of Begemder and Simien under his direct rule.

Tewodros II moved the capital city of the Empire from Gondar, first to Debre Tabor, and later to Magdala.

Tewodros II ended the division of Ethiopia among the various regional lords and princes that had vied among each other for power for almost two centuries.

Tewodros II forcibly re-incorporated the regions of Gojjam, Tigre, Shewa and Wollo under the direct administration of the Imperial throne after they had been ruled by local branches of the Imperial dynasty or other noblemen.

Tewodros II doted on the young prince, and married him to his own daughter Alitash Tewodros II.

Tewodros II remarried, this time to the daughter of his imprisoned enemy Dejazmach Wube.

Tewodros II is said to have intended on the religious life and becoming a nun, especially after the fall of her father and his imprisonment along with her brothers at the hands of Tewodros II.

Tewodros II was engaged in constant military campaigns against a wide array of rebels.

Tewodros II wrote a letter to Queen Victoria as a fellow Christian monarch, asking for British assistance in the region.

Tewodros II asked the British Consul in Ethiopia, Captain Charles Duncan Cameron, to carry a letter to Queen Victoria requesting skilled workers to come to teach his subjects how to produce firearms, and other technical skills.

Tewodros II was to proceed to Sudan to make inquiries about the slave trade there.

Tewodros II's prisoners included an Anglican missionary named Henry A Stern, who had previously published a book in Europe describing Tewodros as a barbaric, cruel, unstable usurper.

When Tewodros II saw this book, he became violently angry, pulled a gun on Stern, and had to be restrained from killing the missionary.

Tewodros II then beat to death the two servants Stern had brought with him.

Tewodros II received reports from abroad that foreign papers had quoted these European residents of Ethiopia as having said many negative things about him and his reign.

Tewodros II did not bring the skilled workers as Tewodros had requested.

Deeply insulted by the British failure to do exactly as they were asked, Tewodros II had the members of the Rassam mission added to his other European prisoners.

Tewodros II traveled from India, then a British colony, with more than 30,000 personnel, which consisted of not only soldiers but specialists such as engineers.

Tewodros II had become increasingly unpopular over the years due to his harsh methods, and many regional figures had rebelled against him.

Tewodros II furiously responded that he would never be taken prisoner.

Tewodros II released all the Europeans unharmed but ordered 300 Ethiopian prisoners to be flung over the cliff.

On 15 April 1868, as the British troops stormed the citadel of Magdala, Emperor Tewodros II committed suicide rather than surrender.

Tewodros II has been said to have used a pistol which he had used during fighting for unification during the era, though in reality he used a duelling pistol gifted to him by Queen Victoria and presented by Consul Cameron.

Tewodros II was buried by the British troops at Magdala's Medhane Alem Orthodox Church under the name of Theodore II.

In 2019 the National Army Museum announced the return to Ethiopia of a lock of Tewodros II' hair, taken after his death in battle.

Magdala was in the territory of the Muslim Oromo tribes who had long before taken it from the Amhara people; however Tewodros II had won it back from them some years earlier.

Tewodros II was buried near the royal chapel in Windsor with a funeral plaque placed to his memory by Queen Victoria.

Tewodros II developed a very strong attachment to Captain Speedy and his wife.

Tewodros II died in October 1879 at the age of 19 without seeing his homeland again.

Emperor Tewodros II had an elder son born outside of wedlock, named Meshesha Tewodros.

When Menelik became Emperor of Ethiopia, Meshesha Tewodros II was raised to the title of Ras and given Dembia as his fief.

Tewodros II's much loved daughter, Woizero Alitash Tewodros, was the first wife of Menelik of Shewa who eventually became Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia.

Tewodros II was remarried to Dejazmatch Bariaw Paulos of Adwa.

Regardless of the veracity of these rumors, Woizero Alitash Tewodros, daughter of Tewodros II, died within the first few months of the reign of her ex-husband Menelik II.