The Gafat spoke a Semitic language, extinct since the twentieth century, closely related to Harari and Eastern Gurage, and lived on the south bank of the Abay, north of the upper Gibe, within the kingdom of Damot, and in numbers on both banks of the river.
They were known as craftsmen. A late hagiography (the Gadla Yared) says they came under Zagwe rule in the twelfth century, which cannot be checked. In the 1270s Gafat fighters back Yekuno Amlak against the last Zagwe king; in the fifteenth century their districts pay tribute in cattle; between 1574 and 1606 the Oromo push them across the Abay into Gojjam.
Who holds it
- Title
- Gafat headmen
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
The king of Damot, within whose kingdom the Gafat lived.
What it holds
- The south bank of the Abay north of the upper Gibe
How things stand that morning
Within Damot, on the evidence available; no event recorded.
Customs
Gafat clans; religion in 1200 not documented (pagan, perhaps partly Christian).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Later chronicles and hagiography.
On the map: Rough outline; the Gafat may also have lived north of the river.
Primary sources for Damot
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Glory of the Kings, Yeshaq of Aksum (compiler) (1314 to 1322 in Ge'ez; the colophon claims an Arabic version of 1225). Nothing on events, but the ideology that unmade the Zagwe: the story that Ethiopia's rightful kings descend from Solomon and Menelik, compiled a century after 1200 to justify Yekuno Amlak's seizure of the throne in 1270 and to brand the Zagwe as usurpers. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.