Begemder

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Begemder (also Gondar or Gonder after its capital) was a province in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. Its name could come from Bega (Beja) plus meder (land) (meaning land of the Bega or Beja), as an inscription of Emperor Ezana of Aksum describes his movement of 4400 conquered Beja to a not yet located province named Matlia.^[1]

The earliest recorded mention of Begemder was on the Fra Mauro map, (c.1460), where it is described as a kingdom. Emperor Lebna Dengel, in his letter to the King of Portugal (1526), also described Begemder as a kingdom but one that was part of his empire.

Following the restoration of Ethiopian rule, in 1942 Semien was added to Begemder. With the adoption of the constitution in 1995, Begemder was divided between the new ethnic regions (or kilil): a strip in the southwest corner became part of the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumaz Region, another strip in the northwestern corner became part of the Mi'irabawi Zone of the Tigray Region, and the remainder became the basis of the Amhara Region.