The most significant movement of population in Ethiopia within the last 100 years has been the southward advance of northern Christians into areas inhabited predominantly by Muslim or pagan peoples. The initial impetus to this movement was given by the expansion of the Amhara Kingdom of Shoa in the 19th century when officers and men of the conquering armies were given land in the annexed territories. They were followed by a variety of adventurers, merchants and administrators all of whom benefited from their association with the Amhara rulers to carve a niche for themselves in the south. In these circumstances, it is understandable that analyses of inter-ethnic contact in Ethiopia have been dominated by the discussion of the relations between the Amhara and one or the other of the subordinate groups of the Empire.