Maldarede

Maldarede was remembered as the residence of the kings of Damot, a powerful kingdom west of the Ethiopian highlands. According to the life of Saint Tekle Haymanot, its rulers bore the title motalami. By the thirteenth century Damot could compel the Muslim sultanate of Shewa to pay tribute, and its influence reached the routes along which gold and enslaved people were traded.

Emperor Amda Seyon conquered Damot in the early fourteenth century, but the title motalami endured into the following century. The Gafat and Gambo peoples retained religious practices distinct from those of the Christian kingdom, even as the reduced territory was subject to Christian tribute. The older cult of Däsk continued after conquest and brought local communities into conflict with Christian garrisons.