The fertile Gibe region, and the gold…

The fertile Gibe region, and the gold deposits beyond, lie south of Gojjam, across the Abay River, and southwest of Shewa.

Both the Shewan forces of Negus Menelik II and the Gojjame forces of Negus Tekle Haymanot crave control of these resources in order to assert dominance over the rest of Ethiopia.

Of the two, the Gojjame have the earlier start and better position: as early as 1810, a large volume of luxury trade had passed north through Gojjam (and its major market at Boso) to the coast of the Red Sea, far more than had passed east through Shewa to the coast.

Negus Bofo of Limmu-Ennarea maintains good relations with the contemporary governor of Gojjam.

A letter survives from his son Abba Bagibo to Dejazmach Goshu Zewde, seeking an alliance against a mutual foe.

The armies of Shewa and Gojjam had clashed earlier in 1882.

The Shewan force is led by Ras Gobana Dacche, and the Gojjame by Ras Darrasu, a deputy of Negus Tekle Haymanot; Ras Gobana had forced his opponent to surrender the tribute he was bringing back to Tekle Haymanot.

Humiliated, Tekle Haymanot had exchanged angry words with his peer, Menelik II, which results in the two potentates leading their armies to face one another at Embabo near the Guder River.

The battle begins at 10:00 AM, with the Gojjame cannons firing at the enemy.

The guns of both sides do little damage, and soon are inoperable.

After a volley of rifle fire, soldiers on both sides charge and engaged their opponents in what Harold Marcus describes as "a fierce day-long battle of hand-to-hand combat, with both kings participating as ordinary soldiers." (Harold G. Marcus, (1995). The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844–1913 (Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1995), p. 69)

Late in the afternoon, the Gojjame center collapses, and Tekle Haymanot is wounded, then captured.

The troops under his son, Ras Bezzabbeh, surrender and are taken prisoner.

Although Ras Darrasu continues to fight, a cavalry charge led by Ras Gobana on his flank ends their resistance, and the battle is over.

More than half the Gojjame force is lost during the battle.

The Shewans suffer noine hundred and thirteen killed and sixteen hundred and forty-eight wounded.

For his vital role in the conflict, Menelik awards Ras Gobana the governorship of the Gibe region, making the Ras potentially the most powerful man in Shewa—after Negus Menelik.