Ankober is a town in central Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 and one of the capitals of the former kingdom of Shewa

Shewa

Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...

. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region

Amhara Region

Amhara is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, containing the homeland of the Amhara people. Previously known as Region 3, its capital is Bahir Dar....

, Ankober is perched on the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian Highlands

Ethiopian Highlands

The Ethiopian Highlands are a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia, Eritrea , and northern Somalia in the Horn of Africa...

 40 kilometers to the east of Debre Birhan, with a latitude and longitude of 9°34′N 39°54′E, and an approximate elevation of about 2465 meters.

The gravel road between Ankober and Debre Berhan, 42 kilometers in length, was overhauled in May 2009.

Buildings that survive from the Shewa period include the Kidus Mikael church, built by Sahle Selassie

Sahle Selassie

Sahle Selassie was a Meridazmach of Shewa , an important noble of Ethiopia. He was a younger son of Wossen Seged...

. According to Philip Briggs, all that survives of Menelik's palace, which he had built on the site of his father's palace, is "one long stone-and-mortar wall measuring some 1.5m high." Briggs comments that it is "difficult to say why this one wall should have survived virtually intact when the rest of the palace crumbled into virtual oblivion." Ankober is also known as where the endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 Ankober Serin

Ankober Serin

The Ankober Serin is a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. Recent studies places this bird in Carduelis, another genus of finches...

 was first observed by ornithologists in 1979.

History

Meridazmach Amha Iyasus

Amha Iyasus

Amha Iyasus, better known as Ammehayes , was a Meridazmach of Shewa, an important Amhara noble of Ethiopia...

, moved the capital of Shewa

Shewa

Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...

 from Doqaqit to Ankober, and it remained the principal residence of the rulers of Shewa until Negus (later Emperor) Menelik II

Menelek II of Ethiopia

Emperor Menelik II GCB, GCMG, baptized as Sahle Maryam , was Negus of Shewa , then of Ethiopia from 1889 to his death. At the height of his internal power and external prestige, the process of territorial expansion and creation of the modern empire-state had been completed by 1898...

 moved it to Mount Entoto

Mount Entoto

Mount Entoto is the highest peak overlooking the city of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Mount Entoto is part of the Entoto mountain chain, reaching 3,200 meters above sea level. It is also a historical place where Menelik II resided and built his palace, when he came from Ankober and...

 in 1878, although Wossen Seged

Wossen Seged

Wossen Seged was a Meridazmach of Shewa, an important Prince of Ethiopia. He was the elder son of Asfa Wossen, by a woman of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the first ruler of Shewa to claim a higher title than Meridazmach, calling himself Ras.It is during the reign of Wossen Seged that the...

 preferred to live at Qundi during his reign. The name of the town is said to have been taken from an Oromo Queen, Anko, who ruled the town during the reign of Qedami Qal

Qedami Qal

Qedami Qal , better known as Abuye, was a Meridazmach of Shewa, an important Amhara noble of Ethiopia. He was the son of Sebestyanos. Abir states that he ruled for 25 years, although noting that Harris claims he ruled for 15 years, Coulbeaux for 25 , and d'Hericourt for 60...

.

The first Europeans to record their visit to Ankober were the Evangelical missionaries Carl Wilhelm Isenberg and Johann Ludwig Krapf

Johann Ludwig Krapf

Johann Ludwig Krapf was a German missionary in East Africa, as well as an explorer, linguist, and traveler. Krapf played an important role in exploring East Africa with Johannes Rebmann. They were the first Europeans to see Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro...

 in 1839. However, at the time there was a small colony of Greeks

Greeks in Ethiopia

The Greek community in Ethiopia today numbers about 500 persons and can be traced back to the 18th century. It is mainly located in the capital, Addis Ababa, and the city of Dire Dawa.-History:The name Ethiopia itself is Greek and means "of burned face"...

, who made their living as craftsmen and tradesmen. In the following years, a steady stream of travellers visited Ankober, including Captain William Cornwallis Harris

William Cornwallis Harris

Major Sir William Cornwallis Harris was an English military engineer, artist and hunter.-Life and career:...

. Following the death of Meridazmach Sahle Selassie

Sahle Selassie

Sahle Selassie was a Meridazmach of Shewa , an important noble of Ethiopia. He was a younger son of Wossen Seged...

 in 1847, the Abichu Oromo rebelled and attacked Ankober; only the firearms Sahle Selassie had collected there saved the capital. The Shewans burned the town in 1856 in reaction to the invasion, and eventual conquest, of Emperor Tewodros II

Tewodros II of Ethiopia

Tewodros II was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death....

. It was soon rebuilt, and used by Tewodros's appointees Haile Mikael and Seyfe Sahle Selassie as their seat of power.

The Ankober market in the mid-19th century was held on Saturday, the day after the more important market at Aliyu Amba

Aliyu Amba

Aliyu Amba is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1805 meters above sea level....

. The Ankober market was frequented mostly by the local Christians. During the later 19th century, Wehni Azaj Welde Sadeq (1838–1909) was governor of Ankober and chief of the local prison, having jurisdiction over the Afar

Afar people

The Afar , also known as the Danakil, are an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti, although some also inhabit the southern point of Eritrea.-Early history:...

 lowlands until his death.

Menelek II afterwards used Ankober to confine his political prisoners. People he confined there included Gaki Sherocho

Gaki Sherocho

Gaki Sherocho was the last king of the Kingdom of Kaffa in what is now Ethiopia. He is usually called by the Kaffa "Chinito", the diminutive of Taten Chini ....

, the last king of Kaffa

Kingdom of Kaffa

The Kingdom of Kaffa was an early modern state located in what is now Ethiopia, with its capital at Bonga. The Gojeb River formed its northern border, beyond which lay the Gibe kingdoms; to the east the territory of the Konta and Kullo peoples lay between Kaffa and the Omo River; to the south...

, and Ras Mengesha Yohannes

Ras Mengesha Yohannes

Mengesha Yohannes was the "natural" son of Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia, Ras of Tigray, and, as a claimant of the Imperial throne, is often given the title of Leul. Ras Araya Selassie Yohannes was his older half brother.-Biography:Prior to the Battle of Metemma, Mengesha Yohannes was...

, the rebellious son of Emperor Yohannes IV

Yohannes IV of Ethiopia

Yohannes IV , born Lij Kassay Mercha Ge'ez, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1872 until his death.-Early life:...

.

In the military actions leading to the Battle of Segale

Battle of Segale

The Battle of Segale, fought on 27 October 1916, defeated the supporters of Emperor Iyasu V of Ethiopia and secured the effects of the palace coup that led to Zawditu being proclaimed Empress. Henze states that "Segale was Ethiopia's greatest battle since Adwa."- Background :The nobility of...

, on 18 October 1916 Negus

Negus

Negus is a title in Ge'ez, Tigrinya, Tigre and Amharic, used for a king and at times also a vassal ruler in pre-1974 Ethiopia and pre-1890 Eritrea. It is subsequently used to translate the word "king" in Biblical and other literature...

 Mikael

Mikael of Wollo

Mikael of Wollo , born Mohammed Ali, was an army commander and a member of the nobility of the Ethiopian Empire. He was the father of the "uncrowned" Emperor Iyasu V. He changed his name to Mikael upon converting to Christianity.- Life :Mohammed Ali, an Oromo, was born in Wollo...

's troops crushed an advance force of 11,000 men stationed in Ankober and killed their leader, Ras Lul Seged.

During the Italian occupation

Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa was an Italian colonial administrative subdivision established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...

, the town consisted of about 3,000 inhabitants living on two hilltops of different height. The Italian Resident lived on the higher hill, and on the lower hill were the two round churches Maryam and Medhane Alem. Around this time the Italians partly moved Ankober to a more accessible plateau. The Italians also carried out a number of bombings against the Arbegnoch in the neighboring area.

Demographics

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency

Central Statistical Agency (Ethiopia)

The Central Statistical Agency is an agency of the government of Ethiopia designated to provide all surveys and censuses for that country used to monitor economic and social growth, as well as to act as an official training center in that field. It is part of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and...

 of Ethiopia published in 2005, Ankober has an estimated population of 1114 males and 1174 females for a total population of 2288. Despite its status as a former capital, Ankober is only the second-largest town in Ankober

Ankober (woreda)

Ankober is one of the 105 woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Located at the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands in the Semien Shewa Zone, Ankober is bordered on the south by Berehet, on the southwest by Angolalla Terana Asagirt, on the northwest by Basona Werana, on the north by Kewet,...

woreda.