Originally of humble birth from Shewa he was made a dejazmach. Balcha also became a provincial Governor ("Shum"), and was a renowned warrior under Emperor Menelik II, famously becoming one of the leaders in the Battle of Adwa. He later eventually became a key member of the conservative provincial elite who, in the 1920s, were often at odds with the modernising reforms and rising power of the Regent, "Ras" Tafari Makonnen (later Emperor Haile Selassie I). Tafari would force "Dejazmach" Balcha into retirement, albeit an honourable one, in 1928, from which he would emerge in 1935 to fight the Fascist invaders during which he was killed in 1936.