A Study of Reconstructing the Historical Link between Wolaitta and Damot Kingdom of Wolaitta in Ethiopia

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to reconstruct the misunderstanding on historical link of medieval state of Wolaitta and Damot. Damot was the medieval state name of Wolaitta for outsiders and neighbors. The name Damot was the administrative center of medieval Wolaitta at the top of Mount Damot. However, Tsehay Brahan - Sellassie; the author of an article “The Question of Damot and Wolaitta” created miss conception that brings disagreement on historical link between Wolaitta and Damot. Besides, Tsehay added that Wolaitta, Damot and king ‘Motolomi’ had no relation amongst each other. Thus his study used primary sources of data intensively to validate as to whether ‘Damot’ was the name of the state of Wolaitta or only an administrative centre of Wolaitta (town) during medieval time. The study also used secondary sources of data. The result of this study indicated that Wolaitta was the name of the kingdom and Damot was the name of the administrative center for kingdom of Wolaitta in which non-natives refer the kingdom by the name of Damot. Therefore, Wolaitta was the name of the kingdom, and Damot (Damota native name) was the administrative center of Wolaitta. Thus, based on the conclusion of this study the new generation is allowed to know their history by contending such misunderstanding of their community and preserve their history.