Gojjam
Gojjam (
Ge'ez ጎጃም
gōǧǧām, originally ጐዛም
gʷazzam, archaic ጐዣም
gʷažžām, ጎዣም
gōžžām) was a province in the north-western part of
Ethiopia, with its capital city at
Debra Marqos. This province is distinctive for lying entirely within the bend of the
Abbay River from its outflow from
Lake Tana to the
Sudanese border; the remainder of its northern boundary with
Begemder was defined by the
Dinder River.
The earliest recorded mention of Gojjam was a note in a manuscript of
Amda Seyon's military campaigns there and Damot in 1309
AM (AD 1316/7), during which time it was incorporated into Ethiopia. It was also referenced on the
Egyptus Novello map, (c.
1451), where it is described as a kingdom (though it had by this time long been subject to the
Emperor of Ethiopia). Emperor
Lebna Dengel, in his letter to the King of
Portugal (
1526), also described Gojjam as a kingdom but one that was part of his empire.
The
Sultanate of Gubba, which had acknowledged its dependence to Emperor
Menelik II in
1898, was absorbed into Gojjam by
1942.
[Donald L. Donham and Wendy James (eds.), The Southern Marches of Imperial Ethiopia (Oxford: James Curry, 2002), p. 122.] Dek Island in
Lake Tana was administratively part of Gojjam until 1987.
Gojjam was divided in to western and eastern portions during the time of the
Derg military regime, with Debra Marqos remaining the capital of East Gojjam while
Bahir Dar became the capital of West Gojjam. With the adoption of a new constitution in
1995, Gojjam was divided with the westernmost part forming the majority of the
Metekel Zone of the
Benishangul-Gumaz Region, and the rest becoming the
Agew Awai, the
Mirab (West) Gojjam and the
Misraq (East) Gojjam Zones of the
Amhara Region.
