Free short notes and revision cards
Grade 11 History on Temari has 17 revision cards, arranged by the chapters of the Ethiopian national curriculum. Every card says when the rule applies, what each symbol in it stands for, and the mistake students most often make with it. They are free to read and need no account.
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When you use it
Reach for this when a question asks whether historians can be neutral or whether history can be fully objective.
Watch out
Do not treat historians as neutral like natural scientists, since historians often make value judgments. Do not judge the past by present values, and do not claim that history can be entirely objective.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 1-21, then checked twice before it went up
| Period | Dates |
|---|---|
| Ancient | about 1000 B.C to 1270 A.D |
| Medieval | 1270 to 1855 A.D |
| Modern | 1855 to the present |
When you use it
Reach for this table when a question asks you to order or date the periods of Ethiopian history.
Watch out
Ethiopian periods do not follow the European ones. Use 1270 and 1855 for Ethiopia, not the European dates 476 or 1500.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 1-21, then checked twice before it went up
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 509 B.C. | Roman Republic set up after the Romans drove out the Etruscan kings |
| 27 B.C. | Octavian became the first emperor and took the title Augustus |
| 27 B.C. onward | Pax Romana, a long period of stability lasting about 200 years |
| 395 A.D. | Roman Empire split into West Roman and East Roman (Byzantine) empires |
| 410 A.D. | Visigoths looted Rome |
| 476 A.D. | West Roman Empire formally collapsed |
| 1453 | Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, ending the East Roman Empire |
When you use it
Reach for this card when a question asks for the order of events from the Roman Republic to the division and fall of the Roman Empire.
Watch out
Do not treat 44 B.C., the year Caesar was assassinated, as the start of the Empire. The chapter dates the first emperor to 27 B.C., when Octavian took the title Augustus.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 22-50, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when a question names a ruling family of Shewa or Ifat and you need to match it to the correct sultanate.
Watch out
The Makhzumite dynasty ruled the Sultanate of Shewa and was overthrown in 1285. The Walasma dynasty ruled the neighbouring Sultanate of Ifat and was the one that overthrew Shewa. Do not swap the two families or treat Shewa and Ifat as one state.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 51-73, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when a question asks why the Aksumite state declined or collapsed, or what cut its trade and political power.
Watch out
Students often blame the destruction of Adulis alone. The chapter gives the decline from the late 7th century, the destruction of Adulis by the Arabs around 702 as the cut to its economy, and the Beja, Agaw and Queen Yodit rebellions as what finally sealed the collapse.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 51-73, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when a question asks which crusade attacked Christians, or about the sack of Constantinople in 1204.
Watch out
The fourth crusade (1202-1204) fought other Christians, not Muslims. The crusaders helped Venetian merchants defeat their Byzantine rivals in 1204, then captured and looted Constantinople. Do not describe it as a holy war against Muslims.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 74-118, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Reach for this when a question asks why Islam divided, or how Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims differ on leadership.
Watch out
Sunnis call the successor a caliph, who had no divine or prophetic functions. Shi'ites prefer the terms Imamate and Imam, and hold that the Imam is infallible. Do not swap the terms: Imam is the Shi'ite leader and caliph the Sunni one.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 74-118, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when a question asks how the Mamluks came to rule Egypt from about 1250 to 1517, or what made them powerful.
Watch out
The Mamluks were Turkish slaves, not native Egyptians. Mamluk is an Arabic word meaning owned or slave. Their rise came from two causes in order: rivalry among the Ayyubid princes made the sultans rely on mercenary Mamluks, and the Mongol invasion gave the Mamluks their chance to take control. Do not say the Mongols put the Mamluks in power; the Mamluks defeated the Mongols twice and gained prestige as champions of Islam.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 119-140, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this when a question asks about the abolition of the slave trade or when slavery ended in Africa.
Watch out
Britain outlawed the trade in 1807, but slavery continued inside Africa, and slave exports to Arabia, North Africa and the Far East went on until the early 20th century. In Ethiopia slavery and the slave trade continued until the Italians came in 1935. Do not write that abolition ended slavery in Africa.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 141-169, then checked twice before it went up
| Phase | Period | Who ran it and how |
|---|---|---|
| Piratic slave trade | 15th century to the last quarter of the 16th century | Individual merchants, adventurers and sea robbers, with no European government support |
| Monopolistic slave trade | 1580s to the second half of the 17th century | Chartered companies backed by governments and armed forces; Kongo and the Slave Coast were the main sources |
| Free trade | Second half of the 17th century onward | Any individual could take part after the British law of 1689, which increased competition |
When you use it
Use this when a question asks for the phases of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, their dates, or who ran each phase.
Watch out
The triangular trade is the second phase only, not the whole Trans-Atlantic trade. Do not name the first phase as the triangular trade.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 141-169, then checked twice before it went up
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Gult | The right to levy tribute on the owners of Rist land and its produce |
| Rist | A hereditary right to use land, held by families and clans whose ancestors kept the land for a long time |
| Bale Gult | The holder of a Gult right, who collected tribute, kept most of it, used corvee labour, maintained law and order, and raised a regional army |
When you use it
Use this card when an exam asks how the Gult system worked, or what the difference was between Gult and Rist in the medieval Christian kingdom.
Watch out
Gult is the right to collect tribute, while Rist is the hereditary right to use land. Do not swap them: the Bale Gult held the tribute right, not the land itself.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 170-217, then checked twice before it went up
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1527 | Imam Ahmad attacks the Christian forces stationed in Dawaro, Fatagar and Bali |
| March 1529 | Ahmad crushes the army of Libne Dingil at the battle of Shimbra Kure |
| 1531 | Ahmad annexes Dawaro and Bali |
| 1535 | Ahmad settles at Dembiya near Lake Tana and makes it his new centre |
| February 1543 | Gelawdewos, with Portuguese musketeers, defeats Ahmad at Woyna Dega, and Ahmad is killed |
| 1559 | The army of Adal under Emir Nur al-Wazir defeats Gelawdewos, who is killed |
When you use it
Use this card when a question asks you to order the wars between Adal under Imam Ahmad and the Christian kingdom, or to say how Ahmad's power rose and ended.
Watch out
Adal's supremacy ended at Woyna Dega in 1543, not in 1559. The 1559 battle was a later Adal victory over King Gelawdewos, so do not put it as the end of Ahmad's rule.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 170-217, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use this card when asked why Adal fought the Christian highland kingdom in the 1520s to 1540s, or what the wars were about.
Watch out
The chapter says Imam Ahmad's war was not over religion. It was the last stage of earlier conflicts between the Walasma sultans and the Christian kings over the Zeyla trade and the lands the trade routes crossed.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 170-217, then checked twice before it went up
When you use it
Use when summarizing how Jesuit missionary activity led to civil war and the subsequent diplomatic isolation of the Christian Kingdom.
Watch out
Susinyos declared Catholicism the official religion in 1622 and abdicated in 1632. His successor Fasiledes reversed this, restored Orthodoxy, expelled the Jesuits, and started the closed door policy.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, page 218 onwards, then checked twice before it went up
| Date | Battle | Defeated Leader | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 1852 | Gur Amba | Dejjazmach Goshu Zewde | Defeat of the ruler of Gojjam |
| April 1853 | Gorgora Bichen | Four vassals of Ras Ali II | Crushed the coalition forces of Yejju |
| June 1853 | Ayshal | Ras Ali II (Rasbitweded) | Ended the political dominance of the Yejju dynasty |
| 1855 | Deresge | Dejjazmach Wube | Paved the way for Kasa coronation as Tewodros II |
When you use it
Use when recalling the chronological sequence of battles by which Kasa Hailu defeated regional warlords to end the Zemene Mesafint.
Watch out
The Battle of Ayshal in June 1853 defeated Ras Ali II, whereas Deresge in 1855 defeated Dejjazmach Wube, leading directly to the coronation of Tewodros II.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, page 218 onwards, then checked twice before it went up
| State | Key Ruler | Capital | Distinction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limmu-Ennarya | Bofo (Abba Gomol I) | Saqqa | Earliest Gibe state formed around 1800 |
| Gumma | Oncho Jilcha | Not specified | Formed around 1810 through military conquest |
| Gomma | Abba Manno | Not specified | Earliest Gibe state to adopt Islam in the 1830s |
| Jimma-Kakka | Sanna (Abba Jiffar I) | Hirmata | Major commercial rival of Limmu-Ennarya |
| Gera | Tullu Gunji | Not specified | Founded in the mid 1830s |
When you use it
Use when identifying the founders, capitals, or specific historical features of the monarchical states that emerged in the Gibe basin.
Watch out
Limmu-Ennarya was the earliest Gibe state to form around 1800, whereas Gomma was the earliest to adopt Islam in the 1830s.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, page 218 onwards, then checked twice before it went up
| Principle | Meaning in the settlement |
|---|---|
| Legitimacy | Ruling families removed during the revolutionary wars were restored, for example the Bourbons in France, Spain and Naples |
| Compensation | States that made great sacrifices to defeat Napoleon were rewarded with territory, for example England received naval bases |
| Balance of power | The map of Europe was arranged so that no single state could upset the international order and cause a general war |
When you use it
Reach for this when a question asks what principles guided the Congress of Vienna or how the settlement treated France and the other powers.
Watch out
Legitimacy meant restoring old ruling families, not accepting the ideas of the revolution. Do not mix up compensation, which rewarded states with territory, with balance of power, which aimed to arrange the map so that no single state dominated.
Drafted from Grade 11 History, pages 238-263, then checked twice before it went up
The student textbook for the new curriculum, free as a PDF. The cards on this page follow its chapters.
Ministry of Education edition, English
270 pages
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