Gondarine period

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Early modern history Ethiopian–Adal War 1527–1543 Oromo migrations 1543 – 17th cent. Habesh Eyalet 1557 – 17th cent. Gondarine period 1632–1769 Zemene Mesafint 1769–1855 Ottoman border conflict 1832–1848
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Gondarine period
1632–1769
The Fasil Ghebbi in Gondar, an important royal fortress in that era
Location	Gondar Amhara Province, Ethiopian Empire
Monarch(s)	Fasilides Yohannes I Iyasu I Tekle Haymanot I Tewoflos Yostos Dawit III Bakaffa Iyasu II Iyoas I
Key events	Founding of Gondar in 1636 Death of Iyasu II in 1755 that led brief dynastic conflicts Assassination of Iyoas I by Ras Mikael Sehul in 1769 Coronation of Emperor Yohannes II
Chronology Solomonic period Zemene Mesafint

The Gondarine period (alt. Gondarian) was a period of Ethiopian history between the ascension of Emperor Fasilides in 1632 and a period of decentralization in 1769, known as the Zemene Mesafint ("Era of the Princes").

Gondar was founded by Emperor Fasilides in 1636 as a permanent capital, and became a highly stable, prosperous commercial center. This period saw profound achievements in Ethiopian art, architecture, and innovations such as the construction of the royal complex Fasil Ghebbi, and 44 churches^[1] that were established around Lake Tana. In the arts, the Gondarine period saw the creation of diptychs and triptychs, murals and illuminated manuscripts, mostly with religious motifs.

The death of Iyasu I in 1706 began the slow decline in Gondar’s supremacy. Emperor Iyasu I's regent, Empress Mentewab, brought her brother Ras Wolde Leul to Gondar and made him Ras Bitwaded. After this and Iyasu II’s death in 1755, brief dynastic conflicts occurred between Mentewab's Quaregnoch and the Yejju groups led by Wubit.

The Gondarine period ended when Tigray governor Ras Mikael Sehul assassinated Iyoas I in 1769 which marked the beginning of the country's decentralized Zemene Mesafint period, which lasted until Emperor Tewodros II reunified the Ethiopian Empire in 1855 in its modern form.