Gojjam in the context of "Dek Island"

The Zemene Mesafint (Ge'ez: ዘመነ መሳፍንት) variously translated "Era of Judges", "Era of the Princes," "Age of Princes," etc.; taken from the biblical Book of Judges) was a period in Ethiopian history between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries when the country was de facto divided within itself into several regions with no effective central authority. It was a period in which the Emperors from the Solomonic dynasty were reduced to little more than figureheads confined to the capital city of Gondar. For the most part, the regional lords were tightly related by marriage and constituted a stable ruling elite that prevailed until the mid 20th century. The period also saw the weakening of Ethiopian territorial integrity in the north with the encroachment of the Ottoman Empire in the Ethiopian-Ottoman border conflict along with a renewal of diplomatic relations with Christian Europe after the isolationist Gondarine period and the expansion of the Shewan kingdom into the territory of the southern Oromo.

The most powerful lords during the Zemene Mesafint were Ras Mikael Sehul of Tigre and later the Warra Seh Dynasty who included Ras Ali I, Ras Aligaz, Ras Gugsa and Ras Ali II based in Yejju, a region in Wollo. The most powerful lords such as Ras Ali and Ras Gugsa were members of the Warra Sheikh (or Warra Seh), a dynasty that were made up of former Muslims from Wollo. Other regional lords included Kenfu Hailu of Gondar, Ras Hailu Yosedeq of Gojjam, Sabagadis Woldu of Tigre, Ras Wolde Selassie of Tigre, Wube Haile Mariam of Simien, Ras Dullu of Menz and provincial king Sahle Selassie of Shewa.

The Gilgel Abay (Amharic: ግልገል አባይ, Gǝlgäl Abbay), or Lesser Abay, is a river of central Ethiopia. Rising in the mountains of Gojjam, it flows northward to empty into south-western Lake Tana in a bird's-foot delta. Tributaries of the Gilgel Abbay include the Ashar, Jamma, Kelti and the Koger. It was regarded as the true source of the Nile for a long time and the Jesuit priest Pedro Paez visited it in 1618. The name Gilgel Abbay means Lesser Nile, as Abbay is the name for the Blue Nile.

Negus is the word for "king" in the Ethiopian Semitic languages and a title which was usually bestowed upon a regional ruler by the Negusa Nagast, or "king of kings," in pre-1974 Ethiopia. The negus is referred to as Al-Najashi (النجاشي) in the Islamic tradition.

Amhara Governorate was one of the six governorates of Italian East Africa. Its capital was Gondar. It was formed in 1936 from parts of the conquered Ethiopian Empire following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. It had a population of more than two million inhabitants (In 1940 11,200 were Italians settlers, mostly in the capital Gondar). In November 1938 some territory of Amhara in the Scioa region was given to the neighboring Addis Abeba Governorate, enlarging it to the Scioa Governorate.

The region was a stronghold of fierce Ethiopian resistance against the Italians. By 1940, the last areas of guerrilla activity was around Lake Tana and southern Gojjam, under the leadership of the degiac Mengesha Gembere and Belay Zeleke.

The Soddo or Kistane (Gurage: ክስታኔ; endonym: Aymellel, Gordena) are a subgroup of the Gurage who inhabit the south-central part of Ethiopia, considered the northern geographic and linguistic subset of the Gurage and speak the Soddo Gurage language or Kistanigna (ክስታንኛ). They primarily inhabit the Soddo (woreda) in the Gurage Zone, but large amounts also live in various parts of Ethiopia, particularly in Addis Abeba, Nazret, Butajira, and Dire Dawa. They are related to the Sebat Bet Gurage and other Gurage sub-groups, however, in contrast to the Sebat Bet Gurage and Silte, they are exclusively and almost entirely Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christians. The Soddo Gurage are known for and pride themselves on their Orthodox Christian identity, which they have historically practiced since ancient times, and from which their name Kistane (lit. Christian) derives its name, as it is the traditional and preferred name by locals for the people, although Soddo is still popularly used.

The Soddo or Kistane Gurage are related to their fellow Gurages. Geographically, they almost entirely border the Oromo to the North, West, and East. To the south, they border the Dobi-Gogot to the south, the Meskan and Mareqo to the southeast, and to a small degree with the Wolane or Gedebano to the southwest. They historically shared considerable geographic and linguistic polity with the Gafat, now an extinct group, and once encompassed territory that stretched widely to Gojjam and Kingdom of Damot in the west before the incursions of the Oromo migrations.

West Gojjam (Amharic: ምዕራብ ጎጃም) or Mirab Gojjam is a Zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the former province of Gojjam.

West Gojjam is bordered on the south by the Abay River which separates it from the Oromia Region and Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the west by Agew Awi, on the north and northwest by North Gondar and also on the north by South Gondar, and on the east by East Gojjam. Its highest point is Mount Amedamit. Towns in West Gojjam include Bahir Dar, Adet, Finote Selam, Bure, Quarit, Dega Damot, Sekela, Merawi, and Dembecha. Finote Selam is the capital of the zone.

Benishangul-Gumuz (Amharic: በኒሸንጉል ጉሙዝ, romanized: Benšangul Gumuz) is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia bordering Sudan. It was previously known as Region 6. The region's capital is Assosa. Following the adoption of the 1995 constitution, the region was created from the westernmost portion of the Gojjam province (the part north of the Abay River), and the northwestern portion of the Welega Province (the part south of the Abay). The name of the region comes from two peoples – Berta (also called Benishangul, which is its original name) and Gumuz.

The region has faced major challenges to economic development, due to lack of transportation and communications infrastructure. The Abay River (Blue Nile) divides Benishangul-Gumuz, and there was no bridge crossing it until 2012. The major road that connects the Metekel Zone and the Assosa Zone was built by the China Construction Company in 2012. The road has a 365-meter bridge that crosses the Abay. Nowadays it is simple to travel between the regional capital of Assosa and Gilgil Beles, the capital of the Metekel Zone. Previously one had to travel through Wollega and Gojjam in the neighboring regions of Oromia and Amhara, a distance of 1,250 kilometers, but it is now around 378 kilometers on the new road and bridge. Conditions for travel within zones varies, but is often poor and subject to disruption by the rainy season. On 28 July 2009, the Regional Rural Roads Authority reported that over the previous year almost 600 of the 800 kilometers of local all-weather roads had been upgraded at a cost of 11.5 million birr, and an additional 447 kilometers of roads constructed.

Tekle Haymanot Tesema, also known as Adal Tesema, Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, and Tekle Haimanot of Gojjam (c. 1847 – 10 January 1901), was King (Negus) of Gojjam. He was later an army commander and a member of the nobility of the Ethiopian Empire.

Selale (Amharic: ሰላሌ, Oromo: Salaalee), was a province of the Ethiopian Empire located south of Gojjams Abay River, west of Merhabete's Wenchit River, and South of Weleka district Jemma River, north of Entoto Mountains, and east of the Muger River and centered around Grarya. It later became an awrajja, or sub-province, of Shewa. The region was home to the important Debre Libanos monastery built by Saint Tekle Haymanot who was born in Zorare, a district in Selale which lied on the eastern edge of Shewa, to a Christian Amhara family. An Oromo subgroup inhabiting the North Shewa Zone took their name from the original region. They have a population of approximately 2 million. The capital of the sub-province in the 20th century was Fiche.