Moti Abba Rebu was king of the Gibe

Gibe region

The Gibe region is used to indicate a historic region in modern southwestern Ethiopia, to the west of the Gibe and Omo Rivers, and north of the Gojeb...

 Kingdom of Jimma

Kingdom of Jimma

The Kingdom of Jimma was one of the kingdoms in the Gibe region of Ethiopia that emerged in the 19th century. It shared its western border with Limmu-Ennarea, its eastern border with the Sidamo kingdom of Janjero, and was separated from the Kingdom of Kaffa to the south by the Gojeb River. Jimma...

 (reigned 1855–1859). He was the son of Abba Jifar I

Abba Jifar I

Moti Abba Jifar I was the first king of the Gibe Kingdom of Jimma .-Reign:Abba Jifar was the son of Abba Magal, who was a leader of the Diggo Oromo. He built upon the political and military base his father had provided him, and created the Kingdom of Jimma...

.

Abba Rebu was a warlike king, and said to have been tyrannical. He defeated his older brother and designated heir Abba Gommol for control of the throne, and exiled him to the Kingdom of Kaffa

Kingdom of Kaffa

The Kingdom of Kaffa was an early modern state located in what is now Ethiopia, with its capital at Bonga. The Gojeb River formed its northern border, beyond which lay the Gibe kingdoms; to the east the territory of the Konta and Kullo peoples lay between Kaffa and the Omo River; to the south...

. Abba Rebu was killed in battle, either fighting against the Kingdom of Gomma

Kingdom of Gomma

The Kingdom of Gomma was one of the kingdoms in the Gibe region of Ethiopia that emerged in the 18th century. It shared its northern border with Limmu-Ennarea, its western border with Gumma, its southern border with Gera, and its eastern border with Jimma...

 who surprised him by bringing soldiers from the kingdoms of Limmu-Ennarea

Limmu-Ennarea

The Kingdom of Limmu-Ennarea was one of the kingdoms in the Gibe region of Ethiopia that emerged in the 19th century. It shared its eastern border with Jimma, its southern border with Gomma, and its western border with Gumma. Beyond its northern border lay tribes of the Macha Oromo...

 and Gera

Kingdom of Gera

The Kingdom of Gera was one of the kingdoms in the Gibe region of Ethiopia that emerged in the late 19th century. It shared its northern border with the Kingdom of Gumma, its eastern border with the Kingdom of Gomma, and was separated from the Kingdom of Kaffa to the south by the Gojeb River...

, or by the treachery of his own subjects.