Tewodros II (Ge'ez: ቴዎድሮስ, baptized as Sahle Dingil; 14 January 1818 – 14 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. He was born as Kassa Haile Giorgis (Ge’ez: ካሳ ኀይለ ጊዮርጊስ kasa häylä giyorgis) and was described as a 'romantic adventurer', a skillful and dauntless warrior, lion-like and an unselfish visionary. He had grown up fighting Ottoman-Egyptian invaders and was a Robin Hood figure; while a bandit or Shifta against the tyrannical royals, he would steal from the rich and give to the poor. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to the decentralized Zemene Mesafint (Era of the Princes).