Angot

Angot (Amharic: አንጎት, translated as "Neck," possibly referring to the provinces geography) was a historical province in northern Ethiopia. It was bordered on the west by Wag and the Afar lowlands to the east and southeast, Lasta to the south, and Tigray to the North.

Axumite History

Under the reign of Degna Djan, during the 10th century, the empire kept expanding south, and sent troops into the modern-day region of Kaffa,^[1] while at the same time undertaking missionary activity into Angot. Emperor Dil Na'od is said to have relocated the capital to Ku'bar on the shore of Lake Hayq, south of Angot, and built the Istifanos Monastery. Aksum by that time was no longer the center of the Christian kingdom, and was instead a frontier town, threatened from the west and south by the Bete Israel and from the north by invading Beja tribes. Angot was a much more defensible position, a decision that proved wise when Beta Israel captured Aksum during Queen Gudit's invasion. The capital, called Ku'bar or Jarmi,^[2] was probably located in southern Tigray or Angot, however the exact location of this city is currently unknown.^[3]

Later history

Angot is mentioned as being north of Bete Amhara in the medieval period.^[4] The region was governed by Ali Ankarsah of Adal in the sixteenth century.^[5] Angot was on the front line between Abyssinia and the Afar lowlands, and after multiple wars, was occupied by the Oromo tribes of Raya, Wollo and Yejju.^{[citation needed]} In more recent times, it was taken from the Tigray Region and given to Wollo by Haile Selassie, and returned to Tigray by the TPLF, and with its name being changed to Raya, coming from the Oromo Clan of Raya. It is now apart of the Southern Tigray Zone, with the name being Raya.

References

^ Werner J. Lange, ”History of the Southern Gonga (southwestern Ethiopia)“, Steiner, 1982, p. 18
^ Munro-Hay, Stuart (1991). Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity (PDF). Edinburgh: University Press. p. 57. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
^ Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 36.
^ Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 53.
^ Chekroun, Amélie. Le” Futuh al-Habasa” : écriture de l’histoire, guerre et société dans le Bar Sa’ad ad-din (Ethiopie, XVIe siècle). l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. p. 336.

[1] Werner J. Lange, ”History of the Southern Gonga (southwestern Ethiopia)“, Steiner, 1982, p. 18

[Munro-Hay57-2] Munro-Hay, Stuart (1991). Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity (PDF). Edinburgh: University Press. p. 57. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2013.

[3] Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 36.

[4] Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 53.

[5] Chekroun, Amélie. Le” Futuh al-Habasa” : écriture de l’histoire, guerre et société dans le Bar Sa’ad ad-din (Ethiopie, XVIe siècle). l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. p. 336.