Gondar
Francesca Panini
Names
ጎንደር፡↗ normalized: Gondar↗ alt: ጐንደር፡↗ normalized: Gʷandar↗ North Gondar↗ Bagemdǝr↗ ʾAmhārā↗ Red Sea↗ Ṭānā↗ ʾƎnnāryā↗ Gondarine Kingdom↗ Ethiopia↗ ʾAṭṭāṭāmi Mikāʾel↗ Šawā↗ Dabra Tābor↗ Governo dell'Amhara↗ Africa Orientale Italiana↗ Bagemdǝr↗ Sǝmen↗ Ṭānā↗ Ethiopia↗
ጎንደር፡am
alt: ጐንደር፡am
General information
description: Gondar has enjoyed a strategic position: it is 35 km north of the lake Ṭānā↗ close to the point where two strategic caravan routes joined. It also benefited from being surrounded by a semicircle of mountains and close to fertile lands and water supply. Historically, Gondar population was divided into two main groups that lived in clearly separated quarters and neighbourhoods: the royal court and nobility on the one hand; the merchants, craftsmen and commoners on the other. Until the Italian occupation, Muslims and Beta ʾƎsrāʾel↗ had to live separated from the Christians and were assigned precise quarters. Gondar is today one of the largest cities in Ethiopia↗ .
Foundation date
17th century?
Foundation story
Although the name "Gondar" is first mentioned in the 14th century to designate a regiment of soldiers and it was subsequently used to designate a small market town inhabited by Muslim traders and Beta ʾƎsrāʾel↗ craftsmen, it developed as a major centre only after ʾaṣe role: title Fāsiladas↗ chose it as his camp in 1636-1637.
History
history: The town of Gondar is located in today's North Gondar↗ Zone (historically Bagemdǝr↗ province) in the ʾAmhārā↗ Regional State. Gondar started to flourish after ʾaṣe role: title Fāsiladas↗ chose it as his camp in 1636-'37 to control the collection of customs on the Red Sea↗ - Ṭānā↗ - ʾƎnnāryā↗ trade routes. Following its foundation and for approx. 130 years (from 1630s to 1760s), Gondar was the political, religious, cultural and intellectual capital of the Gondarine Kingdom↗ . Its founder Fāsiladas↗ built the first nucleus of the town including his castle, some churches and his pleasure pool. After him, his son ʾaṣe role: title Yoḥānnǝs I↗ and grandson ʾaṣe role: title ʾIyāsu I↗ chose to remain in Gondar and built their own castles and churches. So by the late 17th century, Gondar had become a permanent and sizeable settlement where Ethiopian rulers resided when not campaigning and where the highest commercial, political and religious classes gathered around the throne. In the 17th century Gondar also became the major commercial centre of northern Ethiopia↗ . During the 18th century, the royal compound was completed with the construction of castles by Dāwit III↗ , Bakāffā↗ and ʾIyāsu II↗ , the church of ʾAṭṭāṭāmi Mikāʾel↗ by Dāwit III↗ and various subsidiary buildings (the whole surrounded by a double wall with twelve gates and reinforcing towers). However, by the late 18th century, no more castles were built and, from the 19th century, Gondar gradually lost its political power and shrank in size while the centre of the power moved to Šawā↗ . Tewodros II↗ set his capital in Dabra Tābor↗ and, in 1866 attacked, burnt and looted Gondar. Finally, in 1888 and 1889, the Mahdists attacked and burnt down what was left of the city which saw some redevelopment only in the 1920s . During the Italian occupation, Gondar became the capital of the Governo dell'Amhara↗ (one of six governorates forming the Africa Orientale Italiana↗ ), it was restructured and rebuilt along modernist lines and its population increased significantly. After the defeat of the Italians in 1941, Gondar became the capital of the Province of Bagemdǝr↗ and Sǝmen↗ , flourished and grew in population becoming a major commercial and cultural centre.
Secondary Bibliography
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Berry, L. B., J. Quirin, and D. Crummey 2005. ‘Gondär’, in S. Uhlig, ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, II (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005), 838a–848a.
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t:country | ኢትዮጵያ |
regional state | ʾAmharā kǝllǝl |
province | በጌምድር |
zone | Samen Gondar |
Coordinates | 12.6000 37.4666 |
Use the tag BetMas:LOC3577Gondar in your public hypothes.is annotations which refer to this entity.