When the Mahdists rebelled against the
Egyptians, many Egyptian garrisons found themselves isolated in Sudan. As a result, the
British, who had taken over the government of Egypt, negotiated the
Treaty of Adowa with Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia on 3 June 1884 whereby the Egyptian garrisons were allowed to evacuate to
Massawa through Ethiopian territory. After that, the Mahdist
Khalifa,
Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, considered the Ethiopians to be his enemies and sent his forces to attack them. The twin communities of Gallabat and Metemma were located on the trade route from the
Nile to
Gondar, the old Imperial capital; the Mahdists used these communities as their base for attacks on Ethiopia. In January 1887,
Tekle Haymanot lost patience and attacked Gallabat with 30,000 men. The Sudanese garrison was put to flight, Muhammad wad Arba being killed in the fighting. The Ethiopians then plundered and sacked the region of
Gedaref. The wounded were killed, the dead were mutilated and the women were carried off into captivity. As revenge, the next year, the Mahdists under the command of
Abu Anga campaigned into Ethiopia with an Army 81,000 men strong. Their objective was the historical town of Gondar. Tekle Haymanot confronted them at Sar Weha (in
Dembiya) on 18 January 1888, but was defeated.
Joseph Ohrwalder, who witnessed the battle, stated that the forces of Tekle Haymanot fought with “the courage of lions” to protect their country and religion from the
Muslim invaders, but were overwhelmed by the better disciplined Mahdist army. As a result of this loss, northwestern Ethiopia was open to the Mahdists who entered Gondar to plunder it. Many churches were burnt and pillaged, priests were thrown down from roofs and killed, many people were massacred and hundreds of women and children were enslaved. Despite this damage to the historic capital, Emperor Yohannes held back from a counterattack due to his suspicions of
Menelik II, then ruler of
Shewa. He wanted to campaign against Menelik, but the clergy and his senior officers pressed him to handle the Mahdist threat first. The Abyssinians under
Ras Gobana Dacche did defeat the Mahdists in the
Battle of Guté Dili in the province of
Welega on 14 October 1888. Following this victory, the Emperor accepted the advice of his people, and according to
Alaqa Lamlam concluded "if I come back I can fight Shewa later on when I return. And if I die at Matamma in the hands of the heathens I shall go to heaven." ==Battle==