Actually the Mehal Sefari were not created by HIM Haileselassie I. Mr. Pankhurst needs to ask or do some research occasionally instead winging it as he usually does. We have been around a bit longer than his imagination though to speak to him you would think we sprang out of one of his thoughts. It's stupidly simple to prove the Mehal Sefari were around before Haileselassie. The Mehal Sefari fought at the battle of Adwa under their redoubtable commander Fitawrari Gebeyehu later replaced by the equally redoubtable Habtegiorgis Dinagde. So since HIM was only 4 years old at the time it would have been a feat for him to have created them. Folks like Spankhurst have long enjoyed the status of "Oracle" when it comes to things Ethiopian, Eritrean and what not. We need to understand they are occasionally right but most often are filters to getting the full story. IT would be wrong to cite them as authorities without consulting Ethiopian and I mean really Ethiopian not "Ethiopianist" sources. He isn't doing us any favors.