EnfrazorInfraz(Amharic:እንፍራዝ,romanized:infrāz), also calledGuba'e(Ge'ez:ጉባኤ,romanized:gūbā'ē,lit. 'assembly'), orGuzara(Amharic:ጉዛራ)[1]is a historic town and district in northernEthiopia.Located in the mountainous area overlooking the northeast shore ofLake Tanain theNorth Gondar Zoneof theAmhara Region,it sits at a latitude and longitude of12°15′30″N37°37′45″E/ 12.25833°N 37.62917°E.
Enfraz | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Guzara Castle | |
  Enfraz Location in Ethiopia | |
| Coordinates:12°15′30″N37°37′45″E/ 12.25833°N 37.62917°E | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Amhara |
| Zone | North Gondar |
| Population (2005 est.) | |
• Total | 9,162 |
| Time zone | UTC+3(EAT) |
Enfranz is located on the all-weather asphalt road which connectsBahir DartoGondar.With improvements to this road and the advent of electrical service, since 2005 Enfranz has become an important market center for fish from Lake Tana.[2]
History
editThe earliest notice of Enfraz was in the 14th century, when Gebre Iyasu, a disciple ofEwostatewos,founded a monastery there.[3]The Adal Imam camped there during therainy seasonof 1543, after he defeatedCristovão da Gamaat theBattle of Wofla.The EmperorMenaslater used it as his camp during the rainy season of 1559,[4]and thereafter it was favored as an administrative center by the succeeding Emperors:Sarsa Dengelspent the rainy season there three times between 1571 and 1580, then every rainy season for four years beginning with 1585, eventually building a stone castle there, possibly modelled on theOttomanfort atDebarwa.[5]
Despite the move of the capital toGondar,Enfraz still retained some importance in the following years. When the European travelerCharles Jacques Poncetvisited the town around 1700, he compared it favorably to Gondar. He describes how it was an important marketplace forslavesandcivet,favored by EthiopianMuslimsbecause there they could openly practice their religion, unlike in Gondar.[6]The EmperorTewoflosheld his coronation in Enfraz a few years later.
While over the next fifty years Enfraz declined in importance whenJames Brucevisited the town he remarked on its trade in blue Surat cloth.[7]
Records at the Nordic Africa Institute website records that by 1967 theEthiopian Telecommunications Companyhad a pay telephone station in this town, but no telephone subscribers.[8]
Demographics
editBased on figures from theCentral Statistical Agencyin 2005, Enfraz has an estimated total population of 9,162, of whom 4,375 were males and 4,787 were females.[9]The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 5,302 of whom 2,302 were males and 3,000 were females. It is one of four towns inGondar Zuriaworeda.
Notes
edit- ^Hiob Ludolfrefers to the town asGubae,or "Assembly", and stated that it was the residence of the Queen of Ethiopia.
- ^Gordon A, Sewmehon Demissie Tegegne and Melaku Tadesse,"Marketing systems for fish from Lake Tana, Ethiopia: Opportunities for improved marketing and livelihoods"Archived2015-12-01 at theWayback Machine,IPMS (Improving Productivity and Market Success) of Ethiopian Farmers Project Working Paper 2 (2007). ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi, Kenya. (accessed 5 May 2009)
- ^Taddesse Tamrat,Church and State in Ethiopia(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 208
- ^Pankhurst, Richard K. P.(1982).History of Ethiopian Towns.Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 94.
- ^Pankhurst,History,p. 96. According to Pankhurst, the ruins of this structure can still be seen.
- ^William Foster, editor,The Red Sea and Adjacent Countries(London, Hakluyt Society, 1949), pp. 136, 143
- ^Pankhurst,History,pp. 97f
- ^"Local History in Ethiopia"[permanent dead link](pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 3 June 2008)
- ^CSA 2005 National StatisticsArchivedNovember 23, 2006, at theWayback Machine,Table B.4