According to the description by one bishop of the church...

According to the description by one bishop of the church, Abyssinia is an island of Christianity in a sea of polytheism, since at that time no other religion existed there. The influence of Christianity spread so far that the emperor himself embraced that faith, and Negus who was a contemporary of the prophet of Islam was a Christian.

According to one European writer, with the rise of Islam the connection between Abyssinia and the Christian world was severed, and this separation continued for nine centuries so that the Christian world knew nothing of Abyssinia and of their being Christians. b) Re-discovery of Abyssinia When we say that the Christian world knew nothing about a place called Abyssinia, it is due to the fact that it is so recorded in a document that in 1520 A.D.

John II,[^64] Emperor of Portugal, heard that on the other side of the world there existed a country with Christian religion and a wealthy emperor. The Portuguese emperor was overcome with a desire to find out who this Christian emperor was on the other side of the world, without being aware of his geographical whereabouts. He ordered a number of adventurers and seafarers to proceed to discover that land for him.

Eventually two navigators departed for that country, and found it and sent a report to the emperor. In Abyssinia the ruler welcomed these envoys of Portugal and told them about his helplessness in confronting the Muslims there, and asked the king of Portugal to dispatch some troops to aid him against the Muslims. Thus the first military negotiations took place between the two countries, and the emperor of Portugal sent a fleet in aid of the Abyssinians.

This fleet reached Abyssinia and remained there for six years. Another present from the Portuguese emperor was a religious mission that organised a base in Abyssinia and engaged in religious propagation.

The head of this mission was a priest and a writer who wrote a long book about Abyssinia which, according to current European writers, is the most valuable source of information.[^65] This mission returned, and once again after some years the Abyssinian emperor asked for further military assistance. A large Portuguese fleet based in India was dispatched to help the Abyssinians. This fleet had 450 riflemen, a significant force at that time. It also had several old guns.

With their aid, the Abyssinians attacked their Muslim neighbours and vanquished them in battle then drove them back to the waste lands near the seashores.