Forthcoming: Strategic Synthesis of the Meritocratic Hijack Thesis
TL;DR:
The 16th-century Galla (Oromo) expansion represented a systemic "Ashramization" of ancient Southern Ethiopian meritocratic procedures. In this process, the Dalattaa (Boran: dalattaa) was stripped of its Aksumite-loyalist core to be weaponized against the Empire. This "merit-scaling" machinery, which allowed non-royal figures to ascend the imperia…
