Talha bin Jafar was a nineteenth centuryArgobba-Ethiopian rebel inIfat and later governor of Wadessa,Hararghe inEthiopia.[1] He belonged to the Mahdi Sufitariqa.[2]
Beginning in 1879 he led a resistance movement against the Abyssinian emperorsYohannes IV and laterMenelik II due to the states hostile policies towardsMuslims in the region.[3][4][5] At firstMikael of Wollo did not take Talha's revolt seriously and dismissed him as merely an individual intoxicated by the narcoticchat leaf, however Mikael was proven wrong when Talha's forces managed to defeat an army sent to quell the rebellion.[6]
Talha was also part of theMahdist Sudanese invasion of Ethiopia which had sacked several major towns includingGonder.[7]
