Saqqa

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For the neighborhood of Damascus of this name, see Sakka, Damascus.
Saqqa
Limmuu Saqqaa
Limmu Saqqa
Saqqa is located in Ethiopia
Saqqa
Saqqa
Location within Ethiopia
Coordinates: 8°12′N 36°56′E / 8.200°N 36.933°E / 8.200; 36.933Coordinates: 8°12′N 36°56′E / 8.200°N 36.933°E / 8.200; 36.933
CountryEthiopia
RegionOromia
ZoneJimma
Population
 (2005)
 • Total34,547
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)

Saqqa (also known as Limmu Saqqa) is a town in south-western Ethiopia, and capital of the former Kingdom of Limmu-Ennarea. Located in the Jimma Zone of the Oromia Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of

 WikiMiniAtlas
08°12′N 36°56′E / 8.200°N 36.933°E / 8.200; 36.933.

Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this town has an estimated total population of 2,679 of whom 1,379 were men and 1,300 were women.[1] The 1994 census reported this town had a total population of 1,497 of whom 748 were males and 749 were females. It is one of two towns in Limmu Sakka woreda.

History[]

Saqqa became a town of importance when king made it his capital of Limmu-Ennarea in 1825, eclipsing his father's capital, .[2] It thrived as the major marketplace of the Gibe region, where the different kinds of Muslim traders (known as and ) bought gold, coffee, and ivory. In the mid-to-late 1830s, Abba Bagibo forbade foreign merchants to travel beyond Saqqa, so merchants from Gondar, Adwa, and were forced to meet in his capital their counterparts from Kaffa, Kullo, and other southern regions.[3] However, by the mid-19th century it was eclipsed by the capital of the Kingdom of Jimma, Hirmata.[4]

Here the Italian explorers and were prisoners of king from 23 November 1878 to 29 January 1879, when Negus Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam was finally able to persuade the rulers of Limmu-Ennarea to release them.during the Italian occupation, an Italian captain managed to handle the local population so badly that they were provoked and started something of a rebellion. By October 1937, reportedly the captain could hardly move outside his fort.[5]

Notes[]

  1. ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Table B.4
  2. ^ Mohammed Hassen, The Oromo of Ethiopia: a History 1570-1860 (Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1994), p. 103
  3. ^ Abir, Mordechai (1968). Ethiopia: The Era of the Princes; The Challenge of Islam and the Re-unification of the Christian Empire (1769-1855). London: Longmans. p. 90.
  4. ^ Mohammed Hassan, The Oromo, p. 135
  5. ^ "Local History in Ethiopia" Archived 2011-05-28 at the Wayback Machine (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 3 January 2008)
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