Battle of Wayna Daga
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Wayna Daga (Amharic for "Grape-cultivating altitude") occurred 21 February 1543 east of Lake Tana
in Ethiopia
. Led by the Emperor
Galawdewos
, the combined army of Ethiopia
n and Portuguese
troops defeated the Muslim army led by Imam
Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi
. Tradition states that Ahmad was killed by a Portuguese musketeer, who had charged alone into the Muslim lines. Once his soldiers learned of the Imam's death, they fled the battlefield.
(28 August 1542), Imam Ahmad had crushed the Portuguese expeditionary force, killing most of its men, capturing practically all of the firearms they had, and capturing and killing its leader, Cristóvão da Gama
. By any reasonable assessment, the Imam enjoyed a decisive victory over his greatest foe; armies in the Horn of Africa
melted away with the death of their leaders. He then reduced the number of the mercenary Ottoman arquebus
iers to 200, and relying on his own forces retired to Emfraz
near Lake Tana
for the coming rainy season. Miguel de Castanhoso states that these arquebusiers left his service because they were upset that he beheaded da Gama, whom they wanted to present to the Ottoman emperor. However, Beckingham notes that a chronicle found in Hadrami
states that some of them threatened the Imam's life unless he gave them 10,000 ounces of gold, to which he "gave a very favorable reply". When the rest the group learned of their success, they came to the Imam and made a similar demand; deciding that he had no further need of their services, he sent them home giving them 2,000 ounces of gold.
However, Gama had inspired a fierce loyalty in his surviving followers, all but 50 of whom had reassembled after their defeat around Queen Sabla Wengel, and taken refuge at "The Mountain of the Jews", which Whiteway identifies as Amba Sel. De Castanhoso, writing decades after the fact, states that after the Emperor Gelawdewos had joined the survivors, and seeing the number of men who flocked to the Emperor's standard, at Christmas "we went to the Preste, and begged him to help us avenge the death of Dom Christovão." Gelawdewos agreed to march against the Imam. The Portuguese firearms which had been stored at Debre Damo
were produced. A message was sent to a company of Portuguese soldiers who had proceeded to Debarwa
to find passage home, but they failed to respond in time for the coming battle.
The allied forces spent the following months marching the provinces before heading to Imam Ahmad's camp next to Lake Tana
. On 13 February 1543, they defeated a group of cavalry and infantry led by the Imam's lieutenant Sayid Mehmed in Wogera (roughly corresponding to the modern woreda
of the same name), killing Sayid Mehmed. From the prisoners it was learned that the Imam was camped only 5 days' march away at Deresgue, and flush with victory the army marched to confront their enemy.
, and in a footnote states that much of the combat activity at this time "would seem to have been in Gaynt", the former province located southeast of Lake Tana. Richard Pankhurst
in The Ethiopian: A History places the engagement in "Western Bagemder", which covered the area corresponding to the contemporary Debub Gondar Zone
. Lastly, the name itself is of little help: "Wayna Daga" is the traditional Amharic
word for the climatic regions between the higher, mountainous "Daga" elevations (2,600 meters above sea level and above) and the lowland "Qolla" elevations (between 1,400 and 2,000 meters above sea level). Most of the lands around Lake Tana fall into this middle climatic region.
Whiteway, in his introduction to Castanhoso's account, discusses the evidence he was able to compile for its location. Castanhoso himself does not name the place; it was Pedro Páez
who first provided the name of "Wayna Daga". Paez's younger contemporary, Jerónimo Lobo
, locates the battle at a place called Granhi Berr Jaaf Granhi, or "Granhi's Gate, Granhi's Tree"; Lobo was told the locale acquired this name when Imam Ahmad, finding himself mortally wounded in the battle, "in great pain and rage, took the unsheathed scimitar with which he was fighting and struck a blow on the trunk of a tree near him". Lobo adds that he was shown the place, tree and mark. James Bruce
, travelling south of Dengel Ber
over three centuries later, mentions passing "the small village of Waindega, famous for the decisive battle fought between King Claudius and the Moor Gragne", adding in a footnote that the village was "otherwise called Graneber."However, as Whiteway points out, "The difficulty that presents itself to my mind is, to understand by what possible strategy one army starting from Darasgue, and the other from Woggera, neither desiring to avoid an engagement, and both starting-places being north of Lake Tzana, the decisive battle could have taken place at its south-west corner." Bruce may have been of the same mind, for earlier in his lengthy account of Ethiopian history, when he recounts the Battle of Wayna Daga Bruce appears to indicate the two armies fought at the north-east corner of the lake. Whiteway notes that two explorers, Combes and Tamisier, who crossed the mountainous country north-east of Lake Tana in 1835 call that region "Ouenadega" or Wayna Daga, and he concludes his discussion by locating the battle there.
The two forces started the main battle early the next day, with the Muslim force divided into two groups. At first, the Muslim side succeeded in driving the allied side back, until a charge by the Portuguese and Ethiopian cavalries broke up the charge. At this point Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, with his son at his side, took to the field and led a renewed assault. It was in this charge that the Imam was killed by a bullet to his chest which threw him from his horse, although the sources differ in how he died.
According to Castanhoso, the Imam was recognized by the Portuguese arquebusiers, who directed their combined firepower at him, and one of the arquebuses in the group fired the fatal shot. Although he was an eyewitness to the battle, Castanhoso constantly emphasizes in his account the corporate identity of the Portuguese expedition after Gama's death: "We bore before us the banner of Holy Compassion (Sancta Misericordia); the Preste had sought to appoint one of us Captain, but we desired none save the banner of himself to lead us, for it was not to be anticipated that we should follow another, having lost what we had lost."
There is another tradition, at least as old as João Bermudes, and repeated by every other near-contemporary source (e.g., Gaspar Correia
, Jerónimo Lobo), that gives the credit of Imam Ahmad's death to one João de Castilho; João charged into the Muslim troops so he could fire upon Ahmad Gragn at point-blank range, an audacious act resulting in his death. Both Castanhoso and the story of João de Castilho return to agreement about Imam Ahmad's fate after this point: at the end of the battle, when Emperor Galawedewos offered his sister's hand in marriage to the man who killed the Imam, an Ethiopian soldier presented the Imam's head as proof of the deed; but a subsequent investigation revealed that the Portuguese had wounded him before the soldier had cut off the Imam's head, "thus he did not give his sister to that man, nor did he reward the Portuguese, as it was not known who wounded him".
Imam Ahmad's his wife Bati del Wambara managed to escape with a group of the surviving Ottoman arquebusiers, 300 horsemen of her personal guard, and as much of the Imam's treasure as they could carry. The moment they left their camp, the victorious Ethiopian army poured in, slaughtering everyone they encountered except for women and children. Amongst the women were numerous Christian captives and, as Castanhoso tells the story, "some found sisters, others daughters, others their wives, and it was for them no small delight to see them delivered from captivity."
According to Bruce, there remained one enemy leader with a sizable force still at large, under one Joram. This Joram had driven Gelawadewos "from his hiding-place on Mount Tsalem, and forced him to cross the Tacazze
on foot, with equal danger of being drowned or taken." Joram had been unable to join the Imam before the battle, and Emperor Gelawadewos learned he was hastening towards him, unaware that the battle had already been lost. Gelawadewos sent out a party who successfully ambushed him, "which closed the account of Claudius with his father's enemies."
The father of the Bahr negus, who had despaired of the rightful Emperor being restored to power and had come to be a valuable supporter of the Imam, sought pardon from Gelawadewos, offering Imam Ahmad's son in exchange; despite the Emperor's anger at the man's betrayal, out of respect for the Bahr negus, who had provided critical help in getting the Portuguese expedition into Ethiopia, Gelawadewos consented to the offer. The Imam's son later proved a useful prize, for he was later exchanged for the Emperor's own brother, Menas
, who later succeeded Gelawadewos. A number of other Christians who had joined Imam Ahmed Gragn accompanied the Bahr negus father into camp, but not having the influence or bargaining chip he did, the Emperor ordered the execution of some of them. Other individuals who sought his safe-conduct, the Emperor Gelawadewos granted it, "for there were so many that had he ordered all to be killed, he would have remained alone."
By Easter (25 March), it became clear to Gelawdewos that he would not be able to make a circuit his newly-won empire to impress his authority on all parts of it before the start of the rainy season, so he set up camp "three leagues away" in an unnamed location on the shores of Lake Tana. Once the rains had ended, Emperor Gelawdewos began the long task of consolidating his rule.
Lake Tana
Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia...
in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. Led by the Emperor
Emperor of Ethiopia
The Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country...
Galawdewos
Gelawdewos of Ethiopia
Gelawdewos was Emperor Gelawdewos (Ge'ez ገላውዴዎስ galāwdēwōs, modern gelāwdēwōs, "Claudius"; 1521/1522 - March 23, 1559) was Emperor Gelawdewos (Ge'ez ገላውዴዎስ galāwdēwōs, modern gelāwdēwōs, "Claudius"; 1521/1522 - March 23, 1559) was Emperor (throne name Asnaf Sagad I (Ge'ez አጽናፍ ሰገድ aṣnāf sagad,...
, the combined army of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n and Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
troops defeated the Muslim army led by Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi
Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi
Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi "the Conqueror" was an Imam and General of Adal who invaded Ethiopia and defeated several Ethiopian emperors, wreaking much damage on that kingdom...
. Tradition states that Ahmad was killed by a Portuguese musketeer, who had charged alone into the Muslim lines. Once his soldiers learned of the Imam's death, they fled the battlefield.
Background
At the Battle of WoflaBattle of Wofla
The Battle of Wofla was fought on August 28, 1542 near Lake Ashenge in Wofla in the modern Ethiopian Region of Tigray , between the Portuguese under Cristóvão da Gama and the forces of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi...
(28 August 1542), Imam Ahmad had crushed the Portuguese expeditionary force, killing most of its men, capturing practically all of the firearms they had, and capturing and killing its leader, Cristóvão da Gama
Cristovão da Gama
Cristóvão da Gama was a Portuguese soldier, who led a Portuguese army of 400 musketeers on a crusade in Ethiopia and Somalia against the far larger Somali Muslim army of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi aided by the Ottoman Empire...
. By any reasonable assessment, the Imam enjoyed a decisive victory over his greatest foe; armies in the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
melted away with the death of their leaders. He then reduced the number of the mercenary Ottoman arquebus
Arquebus
The arquebus , or "hook tube", is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. The word was originally modeled on the German hakenbüchse; this produced haquebute...
iers to 200, and relying on his own forces retired to Emfraz
Emfraz
Emfraz or Enfraz is a historic town and district in northern Ethiopia...
near Lake Tana
Lake Tana
Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia...
for the coming rainy season. Miguel de Castanhoso states that these arquebusiers left his service because they were upset that he beheaded da Gama, whom they wanted to present to the Ottoman emperor. However, Beckingham notes that a chronicle found in Hadrami
Hadrami
The Hadrami Sheikdom , Maktab Al Hadharem , or Al Hadharem , is one of the five sheikdoms of Upper Yafa. The Hadrami sheikdom was divided into four quarters: Sinaani , Bal Hay , Thuluthi , and Marfadi . The capital of the sheikdom is the village of Al-Shibr , which is located in the Sinaani quarter....
states that some of them threatened the Imam's life unless he gave them 10,000 ounces of gold, to which he "gave a very favorable reply". When the rest the group learned of their success, they came to the Imam and made a similar demand; deciding that he had no further need of their services, he sent them home giving them 2,000 ounces of gold.
However, Gama had inspired a fierce loyalty in his surviving followers, all but 50 of whom had reassembled after their defeat around Queen Sabla Wengel, and taken refuge at "The Mountain of the Jews", which Whiteway identifies as Amba Sel. De Castanhoso, writing decades after the fact, states that after the Emperor Gelawdewos had joined the survivors, and seeing the number of men who flocked to the Emperor's standard, at Christmas "we went to the Preste, and begged him to help us avenge the death of Dom Christovão." Gelawdewos agreed to march against the Imam. The Portuguese firearms which had been stored at Debre Damo
Debre Damo
Debre Damo is the name of a flat-topped mountain, or amba, and a 6th century monastery in northern Ethiopia. The mountain is a steeply rising plateau of trapezoidal shape, about 1000 by 400 meters in dimension. With a latitude and longitude of , it sits at an elevation of 2216 meters above sea level...
were produced. A message was sent to a company of Portuguese soldiers who had proceeded to Debarwa
Debarwa
Debarwa is a market town with a population of about 25,000 in central Eritrea, about 25 kilometers south of the capital Asmara. It is the capital of the Debarwa district in the Debub administrative region...
to find passage home, but they failed to respond in time for the coming battle.
The allied forces spent the following months marching the provinces before heading to Imam Ahmad's camp next to Lake Tana
Lake Tana
Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia...
. On 13 February 1543, they defeated a group of cavalry and infantry led by the Imam's lieutenant Sayid Mehmed in Wogera (roughly corresponding to the modern woreda
Wegera (woreda)
Wegera or Wogera is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Wegera is named for the former province Wegera, which was located roughly in the same location, and was later made part of the province of Semien...
of the same name), killing Sayid Mehmed. From the prisoners it was learned that the Imam was camped only 5 days' march away at Deresgue, and flush with victory the army marched to confront their enemy.
Location
As with many of the battles in Castanhoso's narrative, published 20 years after the events they describe, the exact location where the two forces encountered one another is not known. General histories of Ethiopia are vague: Paul B. Henze, in his Layers of Time, implies the battlefield was near Lake TanaLake Tana
Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia...
, and in a footnote states that much of the combat activity at this time "would seem to have been in Gaynt", the former province located southeast of Lake Tana. Richard Pankhurst
Richard Pankhurst (academic)
Richard Keir Pethick Pankhurst OBE is a British academic with expertise in the study of Ethiopia.-Early life and education:...
in The Ethiopian: A History places the engagement in "Western Bagemder", which covered the area corresponding to the contemporary Debub Gondar Zone
Debub Gondar Zone
Debub Gondar is a Zone in the Ethiopian Amhara Region. This zone is named for the city of Gondar, which was the capital of Ethiopia until the mid-19th century, and has often been used as a name for the local province....
. Lastly, the name itself is of little help: "Wayna Daga" is the traditional Amharic
Amharic language
Amharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
word for the climatic regions between the higher, mountainous "Daga" elevations (2,600 meters above sea level and above) and the lowland "Qolla" elevations (between 1,400 and 2,000 meters above sea level). Most of the lands around Lake Tana fall into this middle climatic region.
Whiteway, in his introduction to Castanhoso's account, discusses the evidence he was able to compile for its location. Castanhoso himself does not name the place; it was Pedro Páez
Pedro Páez
Pedro Páez Jaramillo was a Spanish Jesuit missionary in Ethiopia. Páez is considered by many experts on Ethiopia to be the most effective Catholic missionary in Ethiopia...
who first provided the name of "Wayna Daga". Paez's younger contemporary, Jerónimo Lobo
Jerónimo Lobo
Jerónimo Lobo was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary.He was born in Lisbon the third of at least five sons and six daughters to Francisco Lobo da Gama, the Governor of Cape Verde, and Dona Maria Brandão de Vasconcelos. He entered the Order of Jesus at the age of 14...
, locates the battle at a place called Granhi Berr Jaaf Granhi, or "Granhi's Gate, Granhi's Tree"; Lobo was told the locale acquired this name when Imam Ahmad, finding himself mortally wounded in the battle, "in great pain and rage, took the unsheathed scimitar with which he was fighting and struck a blow on the trunk of a tree near him". Lobo adds that he was shown the place, tree and mark. James Bruce
James Bruce
James Bruce was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia, where he traced the origins of the Blue Nile.-Youth:...
, travelling south of Dengel Ber
Dengel Ber
Dengel Ber is a town in western Ethiopia. Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Tana in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of . Access to this town includes track roads to both Shawra and Kunzela and weekly service by the Bahir Dar-Gorgora ferry...
over three centuries later, mentions passing "the small village of Waindega, famous for the decisive battle fought between King Claudius and the Moor Gragne", adding in a footnote that the village was "otherwise called Graneber."However, as Whiteway points out, "The difficulty that presents itself to my mind is, to understand by what possible strategy one army starting from Darasgue, and the other from Woggera, neither desiring to avoid an engagement, and both starting-places being north of Lake Tzana, the decisive battle could have taken place at its south-west corner." Bruce may have been of the same mind, for earlier in his lengthy account of Ethiopian history, when he recounts the Battle of Wayna Daga Bruce appears to indicate the two armies fought at the north-east corner of the lake. Whiteway notes that two explorers, Combes and Tamisier, who crossed the mountainous country north-east of Lake Tana in 1835 call that region "Ouenadega" or Wayna Daga, and he concludes his discussion by locating the battle there.
The battle
Once the Ethiopian-Portuguese army found the army of Imam Ahmad, they set up camp nearby; Emperor Gelawedewos advised against engaging the enemy right away, hoping that the 50 missing Portuguese soldiers would arrive soon; "in that country fifty Portuguese are a greater reinforcement than one thousand natives." Over the following days, each camp preceded to harass the other with cavalry raids. The allied side had the better of the exchange, keeping their opponents from venturing from their camp for supplies, until the Muslims resorted to a stratagem to kill the leading Ethiopian soldier, Azmach Keflo, which demoralized the Ethiopian troops. Faced with the potential desertion of his force, Galawedewos decided he could wait no longer and prepared for an assault the next day.The two forces started the main battle early the next day, with the Muslim force divided into two groups. At first, the Muslim side succeeded in driving the allied side back, until a charge by the Portuguese and Ethiopian cavalries broke up the charge. At this point Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, with his son at his side, took to the field and led a renewed assault. It was in this charge that the Imam was killed by a bullet to his chest which threw him from his horse, although the sources differ in how he died.
According to Castanhoso, the Imam was recognized by the Portuguese arquebusiers, who directed their combined firepower at him, and one of the arquebuses in the group fired the fatal shot. Although he was an eyewitness to the battle, Castanhoso constantly emphasizes in his account the corporate identity of the Portuguese expedition after Gama's death: "We bore before us the banner of Holy Compassion (Sancta Misericordia); the Preste had sought to appoint one of us Captain, but we desired none save the banner of himself to lead us, for it was not to be anticipated that we should follow another, having lost what we had lost."
There is another tradition, at least as old as João Bermudes, and repeated by every other near-contemporary source (e.g., Gaspar Correia
Gaspar Correia
Gaspar Correia or Gaspar Corrêa was a Portuguese historian, author of "Lendas da Índia , one of the earliest and most important works about Portuguese rule in Asia, being referred to as a Portuguese Polybius.- Biography :There is little information about the life of the author...
, Jerónimo Lobo), that gives the credit of Imam Ahmad's death to one João de Castilho; João charged into the Muslim troops so he could fire upon Ahmad Gragn at point-blank range, an audacious act resulting in his death. Both Castanhoso and the story of João de Castilho return to agreement about Imam Ahmad's fate after this point: at the end of the battle, when Emperor Galawedewos offered his sister's hand in marriage to the man who killed the Imam, an Ethiopian soldier presented the Imam's head as proof of the deed; but a subsequent investigation revealed that the Portuguese had wounded him before the soldier had cut off the Imam's head, "thus he did not give his sister to that man, nor did he reward the Portuguese, as it was not known who wounded him".
Aftermath
As they heard of the death of the Imam, his followers fled the battlefield. Armies of that time and place tended to pledge their loyalty to a leader, not to a cause; most of his followers pragmatically looked to their own well-being. An exception was the captain of the Ottoman arquebusiers, who seeing- that the Moors were giving way, he determined to die; with bared arms, and a long broadsword in his hand, he swept a great space in front of him; he fought like a valiant cavalier, for five Abyssinian horsemen were on him, who could neither make him yield nor slay him. One of them attacked him with a javelin; he wrenched it from his hand, he houghed another's horse, and none dared approach him. There came up a Portuguese horseman, by name Gonçalo Fernandes, who charged him spear in rest and wounded him sorely; the Turk grasped it [the spear] so firmly, that before he could disengage himself the Moor gave him a great cut above the knee that severed all the sinews and crippled him; finding himself wounded, he drew his sword and killed him.
Imam Ahmad's his wife Bati del Wambara managed to escape with a group of the surviving Ottoman arquebusiers, 300 horsemen of her personal guard, and as much of the Imam's treasure as they could carry. The moment they left their camp, the victorious Ethiopian army poured in, slaughtering everyone they encountered except for women and children. Amongst the women were numerous Christian captives and, as Castanhoso tells the story, "some found sisters, others daughters, others their wives, and it was for them no small delight to see them delivered from captivity."
According to Bruce, there remained one enemy leader with a sizable force still at large, under one Joram. This Joram had driven Gelawadewos "from his hiding-place on Mount Tsalem, and forced him to cross the Tacazze
Tekezé River
The Tekezé River, also known as the Takkaze River, is a major river of Ethiopia, and forms a section the westernmost border of Ethiopia and Eritrea for part of its course. The river is also known as the Setit in Eritrea, western Ethiopia, and eastern Sudan. According to materials published by the...
on foot, with equal danger of being drowned or taken." Joram had been unable to join the Imam before the battle, and Emperor Gelawadewos learned he was hastening towards him, unaware that the battle had already been lost. Gelawadewos sent out a party who successfully ambushed him, "which closed the account of Claudius with his father's enemies."
The father of the Bahr negus, who had despaired of the rightful Emperor being restored to power and had come to be a valuable supporter of the Imam, sought pardon from Gelawadewos, offering Imam Ahmad's son in exchange; despite the Emperor's anger at the man's betrayal, out of respect for the Bahr negus, who had provided critical help in getting the Portuguese expedition into Ethiopia, Gelawadewos consented to the offer. The Imam's son later proved a useful prize, for he was later exchanged for the Emperor's own brother, Menas
Menas of Ethiopia
Menas , throne name Admas Sagad I was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...
, who later succeeded Gelawadewos. A number of other Christians who had joined Imam Ahmed Gragn accompanied the Bahr negus father into camp, but not having the influence or bargaining chip he did, the Emperor ordered the execution of some of them. Other individuals who sought his safe-conduct, the Emperor Gelawadewos granted it, "for there were so many that had he ordered all to be killed, he would have remained alone."
By Easter (25 March), it became clear to Gelawdewos that he would not be able to make a circuit his newly-won empire to impress his authority on all parts of it before the start of the rainy season, so he set up camp "three leagues away" in an unnamed location on the shores of Lake Tana. Once the rains had ended, Emperor Gelawdewos began the long task of consolidating his rule.