Ethiopia: A selected military bibliography

Extract

Ethiopia's military history dates to the dawn of recorded history. During the Aksumite Kingdom, which emerged at the beginning of the Christian era, there were numerous military campaigns to the east, south, and west of Aksum. In the 6th century AD, an Aksumite army invaded the southern tip of Arabia. During the 1527-43 period, Ethiopian soldiers fought against Ahmed ibn Ibrahim el Ghazi (1506-43), who also was known as Ahmed Grãn, the ‘left handed’. He was an Islamic zealot who had declared a jihad against Ethiopia's Christians. Shortly after Gran's defeat, Ethiopia embarked upon a series of campaigns against the Galla (now known as Oromo) people who were seeking to invade northern Ethiopia from their southern homelands.