The Kingdom of Damot (

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

: ዳሞት) was a medieval kingdom in what is now western

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. The territory was positioned below the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...

. It was a powerful state that forced the

Sultanate of Showa The Makhzumi dynasty also known as Sultanate of Shewa or Shewa Sultanate, was a Muslim Monarchy, kingdom in present-day Ethiopia. Its capital Walale was situated in northern Hararghe in Harla country. Its territory extended possibly to some areas ...

(also called Shewa) to pay tributes. It also annihilated the armies of the

Zagwe dynasty The Zagwe dynasty ( Ge'ez: ዛጔ ሥርወ መንግሥት) was an Agaw medieval dynasty that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, after the historical name of the Lasta province. Centered at Lalibela, it ruled large parts of the t ...

that were sent to subdue its territory. Damot conquered several Muslim and Christian territories. The Muslim state Showa and the new Christian state under

Yekuno Amlak Yekuno Amlak ( Ge’ez: ይኩኖ አምላክ); throne name Tasfa Iyasus (ተስፋ ኢየሱስ; died 19 June 1285) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, which lasted until 1974. He was a ruler from Bete Amhara (in ...

formed an alliance to counter the influence of Damot in the region.

History

Damot's history as an independent entity ended after the conquest of the region by Emperor Amda Seyon in the fourteenth century and remained under the

Solomonic dynasty The Solomonic dynasty, also known as the House of Solomon, was the ruling dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire formed in the thirteenth century. Its members claim lineal descent from the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Tradition asserts ...

's influence afterwards. Originally located south of the Abay and west of the

Muger River The Muger River (or Mujer) is a north-flowing tributary of the Abay River in central Ethiopia, which is notable for its deep gorge. Its confluence with the Abay is at: . Tributaries of the Muger include the Labbu. The Muger has a drainage area of ...

,G.W.B. Huntingford, ''Historical Geography of Ethiopia from the first century AD to 1704'' (London: British Academy, 1989), p. 69 under the pressure of Oromo attacks the rulers were forced to resettle north of the Abay in southern

Gojjam Gojjam ( ''gōjjām'', originally ጐዛም ''gʷazzam'', later ጐዣም ''gʷažžām'', ጎዣም ''gōžžām'') is a historical province in northwestern Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Marqos. Gojjam's earliest western boundary ex ...

between 1574 and 1606.The dates for this movement are discussed by Huntingford in his ''Historical Geography'', at pp. 143f The kings, who bore the title ''Motalami'', resided in a town which, according to the

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

Tekle Haymanot Abune Tekle Haymanot ( Ge'ez: አቡነ ተክለ ሃይማኖት; known in the Coptic Church as Saint Takla Haymanot of Ethiopia; 1215 – 1313) was an Ethiopian saint and monk mostly venerated as a hermit. He was the Abuna of Ethiopia who f ...

, was called Maldarede. The kingdom was reduced to smaller size and the name became the Kingdom of Wolayta . Their territory extended east beyond the Muger as far as the

Jamma The (formerly the , abbreviated JAMMA) is a Japanese trade association headquartered in Tokyo. JAMMA is run by representatives from various arcade video game manufacturers, including Bandai Namco, Sega, Taito, Koei Tecmo, Capcom, and Konami a ...

History

References

Further reading