Alliances Iyasu I strengthen his control over his southern domains through his alliance with two influential
Amhara warlords,
Demetros of
Merhabete and
Negasi of
Menz. Having accepted the suzerainty of their northern monarch, Demetros was granted the old imperial title of
Sahafe Lam while Negasi was honoured in
Gondar with pomp and circumstance receiving gifts from the Emperor. It was during his reign that individual
Oromo first found service in the Imperial court. In 1704, Iyasu I settled various Oromo groups who accepted
Amhara culture, adopted the
Amharic language, and converted to
Christianity such as the Gawe on the north bank of the Abbay as a bulwark against attacks by other hostile Oromos living south of the Abbay. Several ethnic groups suffering from persecution and raids in Oromo occupied territories, from the
Kordidas Amharas in 1681 to the
Talatas in 1695, aligned themselves with Iyasu's government, in hope of securing succour from the monarch. In 1689, Iyasu's Armenian trade agent,
Khodja Murad told the Dutch in
Batavia that the king of
Hadiya had ‘‘submitted of his own free will to the rule of
Abyssinia.’’ after suffering defeats and pressures by Oromos. The chief of
Hadiya ‘‘together with his entire people’’ had ‘‘embraced the Christian religion’’, and married ‘‘a certain princess from the dynasty of the Abyssinian emperors.’’ Iyasu I also had a separate squadron of soldiers from the
Beta Israel and units of
Wellag soldiers under his command.
Conflicts In the second year of his reign, he confronted an invasion of the
Wollo Oromo into
Amhara, defeating them at
Melka Shimfa.
Campaign against the Wechales and Wollo In 1684, Iyasu despatched scouts to areas under the control of Oromos. Scouts returning from
Wollo Province informed Iyasu. The Emperor, after consulting his advisers, decided to proceed to Wollo. Before doing so, however, he sent his commander,
Ras Anestasyos, to confront another nearby Oromo group, the
Wechales, who lived west of Wollo. Iyasu then carried out his main assault on the Oromos living in Wollo, who were so terrified by the fate of the Wechales, and so afraid of passing through the latter's burning fields, that they were unable to offer any resistance. The Emperor pillaged their area, killed many of their soldiers, and seized many women, and large herds of cattle. In 1688, he led a campaign in
Dera, passing through
Woremo against a rebellion in the Tulama country. The leader of the rebellion, a native of
Debre Werq was captured after a pitched battle in a narrow defile, and condemned by a tribunal of ecclesiastics.
Expedition against Gisa, Gorsi and Wambarya Iyasu carried out his first expedition against the
Shankella in 1688, when, advancing by way of
Metekel he attacked the ‘‘Shankella town’’ of Gisa. He set fire to it, killed many of its inhabitants, and led away not a few slaves, besides numerous cattle. He proceeded to Gorsi, another ‘‘Shankella town’’, where he also captured many male and female slaves.
King's promise In 1689, Iyasu delivered on the promise he had made to the
Kordidas, while still a prince years ago. The Kordidas were suffering under
Oromo rule, and begged the then prince to assist their return to the Christian fold once he became Emperor. This happened when he marched south to Dara, where he took many of the Tulama Oromos prisoner. He then freed the Kordidas, no less than hundred thousand of whom, accompanied by their women and children, are reported to have entered his camp singing and dancing with joy. This figure, if correct, was truly immense in view of the country's small population at the time. In 1704, emperor Iyasu I campaigned south of Abay in the kingdom of
Ennarea, where he was confronted with a civil war between two throne claimants. His
Royal Chronicle recounts how when the
Ottoman Naib of
Massawa attempted to levy a tax on Iyasu's goods that had landed at Massawa, he responded with a blockade of that island city until the Naib relented. ==Foreign contacts==