Ethiopia's history, particularly from the time of Menelik II's rule is highly contested. For some, it was the era that solidified Ethiopia as the only African country to never be colonised and for others it was the beginning of colonial conquest that many say they are still fighting against today. 

Accordong to the online journal, Opride: 

"On Sep. 6, 1886, the ferocious Arsi fighters succumbed to Menelik’s state of the art of the arts armaments with their spears and shields outmatched. An armistice was declared after an estimated 12,000 Oromo fighters, who faced off against a superior force led by general Ras Darge, perished in a single day battle. The Arsi “suspended their struggle to save whatever could be saved,” according to Oromo historian Abbas H. Gnamo, author of a recently published book, “Conquest and Resistance in the Ethiopian Empire, 1880-1974 – The Case of the Arsi Oromo.”

But the suspension of open hostility did not end Menelik’s appetite to crush and humiliate the Arsi. In 1887, Menelik’s forces came back to avenge their repeated defeat at the hands of local Oromo fighters and to terrorize the remaining populace into total submission.

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In what was to go down in Oromo history as Harmaaf Harka Muraa Aannolee, Ras Darge and Menelik’s army ordered those in attendance at the “peace” gathering to enter a narrow pass one by one. “The right hands of all male that entered were cut off on orders of Ras Darge. The Shoans tied the hand they cut to the neck of the victim. In the same manner, the right breasts of the women were also cut and tied to their necks,” according Gnamo. “As a further form of humiliation, fear and terror, the mutilated breasts and hands were tied around the necks of the victims who were then sent back home.”