WI: No Zemene Mesafint

Mort the Reaper

Between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries, Ethiopia had no effective central authority, and the country was de facto divided within itself. There was constant fighting between the various magnates of the country, the emperor was reduced to a figurehead, and the era only ended with the rise of Tewodros II, who reestablished a cohesive Ethiopian state.

What if this era of division and infighting had never happened?
 
TheLionOfJudah

TheLionOfJudah

That depends on where you want to start the Zemene Mesafint. There are two disputed dates for its starting period, either the death of Iyasu I in 1706, or the deposition of Iyoas I in 1763. Either could be prevented in different ways.

The issue with Iyasu I could be resolved simply by him keeping the throne until his death. The main issue was his abdication and how his son feared he might come back and take power from him. Of course one could also have succeeded by a different son like Bakaffa. No initial degradation of state powers plus proper successors after Iyasu means that the Zemene Mesafint could be entirely bypassed.

Of course if you want to go with the later start date its much harder since by the time of Iyoas I's reign shit really has hit the fan. You could cut out the chain of child emperors, with both Bakaffa and Iyasu II living full lives. That would definitely garner some stability but I don't know if its enough to save the Empire at that point.
 

Night Gaul

You know, there have been a lot of threads about Ethiopia "pulling a Meiji". Could they have done it if this had been avoided?
 
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