Iyasu I (reigned 1682-1706) of Ethiopia, a celebrated military leader who excels at the most basic requirement of the warrior-king, campaigns constantly in districts on the south and southeast of the kingdom and personally leads expeditions to Shewa and beyond, areas from which royal armies have long been absent.

Iyasu also attempts to mediate the doctrinal quarrel in the church, but a solution eludes him.

He sponsors the construction of several churches, among them Debre Birhan Selassie, one of the most beautiful and famous of the churches in Gondar.

Iyasu's reign also sees the Oromo begin to play a role in the affairs of the kingdom, especially in the military sense.

Iyasu co-opts some of the Oromo groups by enlisting them into his army and by converting them to Christianity.

He comes gradually to rely almost entirely upon Oromo units and leads them in repeated campaigns against their countrymen who have not yet been incorporated into the Amhara-Tigray state.

Successive Gondar kings, particularly Iyasu II (reigned 1730-55), likewise rely upon Oromo military units to help counter challenges to their authority from the traditional nobility and for purposes of campaigning in far-flung Oromo territory.

By the late eighteenth century, the Oromo are playing an important role in political affairs as well.

At times during the first half of the nineteenth century, Oromo is the primary language at court, and Oromo leaders will come to number among the highest nobility of the kingdom.