Hintalo
Encyclopedia
Hintalo is a town in northern 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...
. Located in the Debubawi (Southern) Zone
Debubawi Zone
Debubawi is one of five Zones in the Ethiopian Region of Tigray. Debubawi is bordered on the south and west by the Amhara Region, on the northwest by Mehakelegnaw , the north by Misraqawi and on the east by the Afar Region...
of the Tigray Region
Tigray Region
Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...
, this town has a latitude and longitude of 13°19′N 39°27′E with an elevation variously reported as 2050 or 2102 meters above sea level. It is one of three towns in Hintalo Wajirat
Hintalo Wajirat
Hintalo Wajirat is one of the 36 woredas in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is named after its largest town, Hintalo, and the Wajirat Mountains in the southern part of the woreda...
woreda
Woreda
Woreda is an administrative division of Ethiopia , equivalent to a district . Woredas are composed of a number of Kebele, or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia...
.
History
Historically, Hintalo was the capital city of Enderta provinceEnderta province
Enderta province or Inderta province, also known as Enderta Awraja as well as 70 Enderta is located in the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands. Enderta is bordered on the west by Tembien, on the southeast by Wag of Gondar, the south by Raya and Azebo, on the east by Afar and Aseb, and on the...
. Located on a high plateau beneath the south face of Amba Aradam
Amba Aradam
Amba Aradam is a mountain in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debubawi Zone of the Tigray Region, between Mek'ele and Addis Abeba, it has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of...
, which made the town a natural fortress. It was first mentioned in 1648 by the Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
i ambassador Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Haymat, who described it as a "fortified town". In 1678 Hintalo was the location of a battle; some of the prominent men of Lasta
Lasta
Lasta is a historic district in north-central Ethiopia. It is the district in which Lalibela is situated, the former capital of Ethiopia during the Zagwe dynasty and home to 11 medieval rock-hewn churches....
intended to join a rebellion in southern Tigray, but they were defeated, and some of those from Hintalo were driven over the precipices to their deaths.
Ras Wolde Selassie
Wolde Selassie
Wolde Selassie He was an Overlord of Tigray-Mereb Milash and a Ras Bitwoded of Ethiopia. He was the second son of Dejazmach Kefla Iyasus Amdamikael, hereditary chief of Enderta...
, one of the most powerful overlords of the Zemene Mesafint
Zemene Mesafint
The Zemene Mesafint was a period in Ethiopian history when the country was rent by conflicts between warlords, the Emperor was reduced to little more than a figurehead confined to the capital city of...
, made Hintalo his capital. It was here that Henry Salt
Henry Salt (Egyptologist)
Henry Salt was an English artist, traveller, diplomat, and Egyptologist.-Biography:Salt, the son of a physician, was born in Lichfield. He trained as a portrait painter, first in Lichfield and then in London under Joseph Farington and John Hoppner. In 1802 he was appointed secretary and...
met the Ras in September, 1805, and later in March 1810 when it was described as the capital of Enderta province
Enderta province
Enderta province or Inderta province, also known as Enderta Awraja as well as 70 Enderta is located in the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands. Enderta is bordered on the west by Tembien, on the southeast by Wag of Gondar, the south by Raya and Azebo, on the east by Afar and Aseb, and on the...
. A later meeting at Hintalo between Dejazmach Kassai Mercha (the future 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:...
) and Sir Robert Napier
Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala
Field Marshal Robert Cornelis Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, GCB, GCSI, CIE, FRS was a British soldier.-Early life:...
on 25–26 February 1868, led to the Dejazmach agreeing to deliver 15,000 kilograms of grain per week to each of the British camps at Hintalo and Adigrat
Adigrat
Adigrat is a city in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Misraqawi Zone at longitude and latitude with an elevation of 2457 meters above sea level, below a high ridge to the west, Adigrat is the last important Ethiopian city south of the border with Eritrea, and is considered to be a...
used to support their 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia
1868 Expedition to Abyssinia
The British 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia was a punitive expedition carried out by armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire...
; for this, Dejazmach Kassai was later rewarded with a formidable quantity of supplies and material worth approximately £500,000.
The Hintalo market had a trade in ivory during the 1890s; also at the market 16,000 oxen, 8,000 cows, 8,000 goats, and 17,000 sheep were sold annually On 9 October 1895, the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Major Ameglio with six companies and two pieces of artillery attacked Ethiopian warriors under Ras Mengesha Yohannes. The Italians caught about 200 prisoners, a thousand head of cattle and many rifles. The Italian askari lost 11 dead and 30 wounded, while 16 dead Tigrayans were counted on the battle site and 60 wounded were said to have been carried from there.
Hintalo was occupied by the Italian army in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
after their victory over the Ethiopians in the Battle of Enderta.
Demographics
Based on figures from the Central Statistical AgencyCentral 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...
in 2005, Hintalo has an estimated total population of 1,179 of whom 593 are men and 586 are women. The 1994 census reported it had a total population of 676 of whom 316 were men and 360 were women.
Notable inhabitants
The hereditary chiefs of EndertaEnderta
Enderta may refer to:* Enderta province, a historic subdivision of Ethiopia* Enderta, a woreda within the Tigray Region of Ethiopia...
had their birthplace in Hintalo. These included the 18th and 19th century aristocrats Dejazmach Weldo, Dejazmach Kifla Iyasus and Ras Wolde Selassie. In his "Life in Abysinia", the 19th century British traveler Mansfield Parkyns writes that the family of Dejazmach Kifla Iyasus and Ras Wolde Selassie were of distinguished origin and came from Hintalo in Enderta, where they were chiefs.
Hintalo is also the birth place of Ras Bitweded Gebre Kidan, the son of Bilatengeta Zemu of Hintalo Enderta. Ras Bitweded Gebre Kidan was the Enderassie of Emperor Yohaness IV, and served as the Ethiopia's prime minister from 1872-1889. He married Emperor Yohanes's sister Empress Dinkinsh, with whom he had 3 children, who included Dejazmach Seyoum Gebre Kidan.