The Gondarian dynasty, which since the 16th century had become the centre of Royal pomp and ceremony of Abyssinia, finally lost its influence as a result of the emergence of powerful regional lords, following the murder of Iyasu I, also known as Iyasu the Great. The decline in the prestige of the dynasty led to the semi-anarchic era of Zemene Mesafint ("Era of the Princes"), in which rival warlords fought for power and the Yejju Oromo "enderase"s ("regents") had effective control. The emperors were considered to be figureheads. Until a young man named Kassa Haile Giorgis also known as Emperor Tewodros brought end to "Zemene Mesafint" by defeating all his rivals and took the throne in 1855. The Tigrayans made only a brief return to the throne in the person of Yohannes IV in 1872, whose death in 1889 resulted in the power base shifting back to the dominant Amharic-speaking elite prior to Yejju Oromo and Tigrayan rule. His successor Menelik II an Emperor of Amhara origin seized power. League of Nations in 1935 reported that after the invasion of Menelik's forces into non Abyssinian-proper lands of Somalis, Harari, Southern Oromo, Sidama, Shanqella etc, the inhabitants were enslaved and heavily taxed by the gebbar-feudal system leading to depopulation.