Shifta
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Shifta is a term mostly used in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania, and Somalia that can be translated as "bandit" or "outlaw", but can include anyone who rebels against an authority or an institution
Ethiopian warriors in 1770, during the Zemene Mesafint
Tewodros II
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Tewodros II was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to the decentralized Zemene Mesafint.
Shifta
…who started as shifta have risen to the level of regional or Emperor thus legitimizing the concept of shifta itself. Two nineteenth-century shiftas, Kassa Hailu of Gondar and Kassa Mercha of Tigre, became Emperor Tewodros and Emperor Yohannes respectively in the late 19th century. Thus the shiftas formed the…
Tewodros II depicted in Histoire de l'Ethiopie d'Axoum à la révolution
Tewodros II seal
Italian depiction of Ras Kassa c. 1850
Emperor Tewodros II supervising crossing of the Blue Nile