The real name of Ase Theodros was Kassa. He was born in 1820 in the province of Quara. His father name was Hailu Welde Georgis, who was Dejazmach of Quara, and his mother was called Attitegeb, from an area south-east of Gonder. (On the family background and childhood of Kassa, see T!kl! Tsadik Mekuriya (1981 E.C.), Ase Theodros ena Ye Etiyopiya Andenet, Addis Ababa, pp. 51-59).