Atse Tewodros II
Emperor Tewodros II was born Kassa Haile Giorgis, (often refered to as Kassa Hailu),
the son of a minor nobleman of Qwara district of Dembia, a region of western Beghemider
province bordering on the Sudan. His mother was named Woizero Attitegeb, and may have been
a gentlewoman from Gondar.
Although Emperor Tewodros II is often refered to as a non-royal
userper, he did claim that father was decended from Emperor Fasiledes through a daughter.
Many of his contemporaries however did not believe that he was of Imperial blood.
Indeed even today, he captures the imagination of his admirers more as a self made man
rather than the scion of an ancient lineage of monarchs. It was however dificult in those
days to rule the Empire without establishing some connection to the dynasty, so his claims
may have been his attempt at ligitimation. While Kassa was still very young, his parents
divorced, and his mother took her son from Kwara to her native Gondar.
Not long afterwards, his father died, and his paternal relatives, eager to divide up the
property among themselves, left Kassa without a share of his father's property.
Kassa's mother apparently supported herself and her son by selling Kosso.
Kosso is a powerful drug used to expel intestinal parasites such as tapeworms,
which Ethiopians were prone to get due to their high consumption of raw meat.
Kassa's detractors would often refer to him as "the Kosso sellers son", an insult
he seldom forgave.
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