While his son Baeda Maryam did spend the first part of his reign in Debre Berhan, eventually Baeda Maryam returned to the established itinerant practice of living in a permanent encampment that was constantly on the move through the realm. The departure of the court led to a decline in the population and importance of this town. Pankhurst explains that the needs of the imperial court and army—who numbered in the thousands—for firewood and food was so burdensome that, "it could not remain in any one locality for more than four months, nor return to the same place in less than 10 years due to the resultant shortage of food", which prevented the growth of any capital city in this period.