Mota, Ethiopia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mota | |
  Mota
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Amhara Region |
| Zone | Misraq Gojjam Zone |
| Elevation | 2,487 m (8,159 ft) |
| Population (2005) | |
| - Total | 31,483 (est) |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) |
Mota is a town in western Ethiopia. Located in the Misraq Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region, and on the secondary road that links Dejen with Bahir Dar overlooking the Abay River, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2487 meters above sea level.
One local landmark is Sebara Deldel or "the Broken Bridge", a stone footbridge built by foreign stoneworkers during the reign of Emperor Fasilides. Another local landmark is the church of Weyzazirt Kidhane Mihret, which was constructed by Woizero Seble Wengel, the daughter of Emperor Fasilides. She and her husband are buried there.[1]
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 31,483, of whom 15,619 were males and 15,864 were females.[2] The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 18,160 of whom 8,218 were males and 9,942 were females. It is the largest of three settlements in Hulet Ej Enese woreda.
[edit] History
Due to the presence of Sebara Deldel, one of only two bridges across the Abay River until the late 19th century, Mota became a major commercial center, which was described by at least one group of European travellers as "the most considerable market" in Gojjam; it attracted merchants from as far away as Begemder, Gondar and Tigray. Here one could obtain cotton cloth, cattle, and horses.[3] Likewise, Mota was the seat of an important royal fiefdom during the Gondarine period,[1] and a notable place for asylum in the early 1800s.[4]
The artist Alaqa Eleyas, believed to be Ethiopia's first foreign-trained artist, was born in Mota around 1861. He worked mostly in Shewa where he decorated manuscripts and many churches, although he also decorated one in his native town. His son Gabra Ezgziabher Eleyas was a man of literature, writing the Royal Chronicle of Lij Iyasu.[4]
During the 1930s, its market day was on Thursday. During the East African Campaign, units of Gideon Force managed to bluff the Italian garrison into surrendering 24 April 1941.[4] After the war, Mota was the administrative center of the Mota awraja or district, which was one of the hotspots of the Gojjam peasant revolt in 1968.[5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Philip Briggs, Ethiopia: The Bradt Travel Guide, 3rd edition (Chalfont St Peters: Bradt, 2002), p. 176
- ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.4
- ^ Pankhurst, Richard K. P. (1982). History of Ethiopian Towns. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag.
- ^ a b c "Local History in Ethiopia" (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 9 May 2008)
- ^ Gebru Tareke, Ethiopia: Power and Protest: Peasant Revolts in the Twentieth Century (Lawrenceville: Red Sea, 1996), pages 177-184 passim
