Emperor Menelik II original name (Sahle Maryam) was born on 17 August 1844. His father was King Haile Melekot of Shewa and his mother was a court servant who married Malekot shortly after Menelik was born, it has been claimed that further back he was related to the Solomonid line of emperors who ruled Ethiopia between 1268 and 1854.
In 1865, Menelik escaped so that he could claim back Shewa. Bezabeh who was appointed governor of Shewa by Tewodros II, attempt to raise an army against Menelik but failed; thousands of Shewans rallied to the flag of the son of king Melekot and even Bezabeh's own soldiers deserted him for the returning prince. Menelik entered Shewa and proclaimed himself King.
When Tewodros II died in 1868, Menelik developed aspirations for power, with the aim of being the Emperor. But he was not the only claimant and had to submit first to Tekle Giorgis (1868-72) and Yohannes IV (1872–89). Before Yohannes died fighting Sudanese. By that time Menelik had emerged as the strongest man in Ethiopia and was able to assume the imperial crown for which he had waited so long.
Just as Menelik II was crowned, Italians had settled along the Red Sea coast, establishing a colony at Eritrea. The Ethiopians and Italians initially reached an agreement, the Treaty of Wichale, but the Italian interpretation of the agreement, gave Italy a protectorate over Ethiopia.
When Menelik II learned of this, he renounced the treaty, which resulted in one of the greatest battles in the history of Africa the Battle of Adwa. on March 1, 1896. Italy's army was defeated and Menelik's empire was at once accepted by the European powers as a real political force.
