A History of Modern Ethiopia, 1855–1991. Bahru Zewde

the Egyptian evacuation, and initiated a period of border raids and counter-raids. It was in response to one such Ansar raid in Dambya, in the plains south-west of Gondar, that Negus Takla-Haymanot, Yohannes’s general on this front, attacked and sacked Matamma in January 1887. One year later, the Ansar, led by another of their famous generals, Abu Anja, defeated Takla-Haymanot’s troops at Sar Weha, in Dambya. They followed this up with the deepest incursion they had yet made in north-west Ethiopia, sacking the town of Gondar.

      It was in the same year, 1888, that Yohannes’s relations with his vassals entered a critical phase. Suspicious of Menilek’s intentions, Yohannes had declined his offer of assistance during the Saati campaign. Instead, he had instructed him to position himself at Ambachara, to the south of Gondar, and watch the movements of the Mahdists. Menilek arrived too late to save Gondar from the Ansar attack. On his way back, he met Negus Takla-Haymanot of Gojjam, and the two vassals agreed to work together against the emperor. Hearing of the conspiracy, Yohannes opened a devastating punitive campaign against Gojjam soon after his return from his inconclusive Saati campaign.