ABSTRACT
KASA TEWODROS (THEODORE) II * ’bPgCh* Kasa was crowned in a church close to the battlefield of Darasge
in Samen by the Abuna Salama on 7th February 1855, and he reigned until about the middle of April 1868. He chose Theodore as his throne name on the day of his coronation, and gave orders that he was to be called by this name henceforward, and his baptismal name of Kasa, which means something like “ recompense,” and was commonly given by a mother to a son who was born after the death of an elder brother, was soon forgotten. Long before Kasa was born the holy man Fekra Iyasus had prophesied that there would one day appear in Abyssinia a king called Theodore, who would rule justly and righteously, and would wipe out Islam from the world, and would take Jerusalem and reign over a world that would be entirely Christian. After the death of this king there was to be peace and happiness and plenty in the world for one thousand years. Kasa believed that Fate had destined him to be this king, and it seems that as a warrior he regarded as his proto type Theodore, the Commander-in-chief of the Emperor Licinius (see Ludolf, Hist. Aeth.y Commentariusy p. 434, No. xxxvil). Theodore was crowned with great pomp and ceremony, and it is said that when he stood up before all the governors and notables of his kingdom, all present held their breath when they saw that in his proud bearing, and majestic walk, and martial appearance he was “ every inch a king.” He was at that time 37 years of age,
and though he was of medium height, he possessed a well-knit muscular frame capable of enduring any and every hardship and fatigue. He was admitted to be the best horseman, the best shot, the best runner and the best spearman in Abyssinia (Markham, op. city p. 65).
