ABSTRACT
Both Ethiopia and Sinnar were anxious to assert their authority over the rugged borderlands between the kingdoms of highland
and plain. Control of the routes, passes and fords of the frontier region gave both a military and commercial advantage; the area was itself a source of ivory, civet, slaves, and particularly gold. The initial Funj penetration into the borderlands during the first half of the sixteenth century was directed northeastward against Ethiopia. Portuguese accounts indicate that shortly after the founding of Sinnar Funj soldiers had crossed the Butana and were probing the western defences of the Ethiopian emperor’s provinces in the Eritrean hills. With the defeat of Ahmad Gran, however, the emperors established a new permanent capital at Gondar in the northwestern highlands and consolidated their control over the adjacent frontier regions. Further Funj advances in the northern border area became more difficult, and the efforts of Sinnar were diverted towards the south.
