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Main article: History of Bahir Dar
Origins[edit]
Originally the settlement was called Bahir Giyorgis. Between 1810 and 1900, Bahir Dar had 1,200 to 2,000 inhabitants. It was developed in situ as a monastery and function of trading hub. In the 19th century, Bahir Dar was visited by Belgian, French, British and Italian travelers, who described it alternatively as a village or a town.
20th century[edit]
During the early 20th century, the British, desiring to construct a barrage at the outlet of Lake Tana, dispatched several study teams, such as those of Dupis (1902), Grabham and Black (1920–21) and Cheesman (1926–34). In 1930 the Ethiopian Government sent to Bahir Dar its own team of experts, who described Bahir Dar as a village with considerable trading activity, with a population from the interior as well as from Lake Tana ports such as Zege. At this time Bahir Dar was characterized by various traditional settlement areas, each of which was distinguished by the social position its members occupied. The kahenat (clergy) and balabbat (landowner) communities were the most prestigious. In addition, three groups of tenant-craftsman communities, tanners, Muslims weavers and the Weyto stone-mill grinders, lived on balabbat lands. Although all were economically interdependent, there was no intermarriage between the tenant communities or between them and the balabbat and kahenat.
Aerial view of Bahir Dar in 1938
In May 1936, Bahir Dar was occupied by the Italians, who gave it modern urban features. Abolishing communal family ownership of land known as "Rists," they instituted private ownership. Alienating the balabbats from their rists, they allocated land for administration, the army, an airstrip and port facilities. New residential and commercial zones were demarcated. Bahir Dar was connected by motor-boats with other Lake Tana ports and by motor roads with Gonder, Debre Marqos and Addis Ababa. The physical and social appearance of Bahir Dar was considerably changed. New settlement patterns emerged: an Italian camp, a Muslim community and a Weyto quarter, while the tanners' quarter remained unaffected. Bahir Dar became a melting-pot of different people and cultures. In the commercial zone, different types of shops, tea-rooms, tailor shops, bars and restaurants run by foreigners made their first appearance. Ethiopian influence on this reorganization was insignificant.
The Italians gave Bahir Dar political importance by making it the administrative center of the Lake Tana southern territories. They were also interested in the agricultural development of Lake Tana and the Blue Nile and in exploiting their waters for hydroelectric power. In 1941, the Ethiopian Government was reinstated. It made Bahir Dar a sub-district capital and then a district capital. Various offices and public services were set up. In 1945 Bahir Dar was raised to the status of a municipality. In the early 1950s, it was considered to be the best potential site for the construction of an alternative capital of Ethiopia.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Bahir Dar grew rapidly, being the capital of the eponymous awrajja (county) in the Gojjam province. The central government developed the city as a market and transportation center of the economic growth of Lake Tana and the Blue Nile basin. A comprehensive master plan, with new zoning, was prepared by German experts. Its implementation completely changed the physical appearance of Bahir Dar, due to industrial and economic development. It was provided with a water supply, hydroelectric power, improved lake-port facilities, the Abbay Bridge, textile mills, a hospital, and the institutions of higher education which now form Bahir Dar University.
During the Ethiopian Civil War, in May 1988 the 603rd corp of the Third Revolutionary Army (TLA) made its headquarters at Bahir Dar. On 3–4 March 1990, the TLA abandoned Bahir Dar in disarray, blowing up the nearby bridge with several hundred soldiers which stopped the opposing Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) forces from occupying the city. However, the EPRDF had stated that they lacked the resources in the area to capture the town at that time, and the Derg army reoccupied Bahir Dar a few days later. The EPRDF gained permanent control of the city at around 18:10 hours on 23 February 1991, as one of the objectives of Operation Tewodros. In the 1990s Bahir Dar experienced remarkable growth and expansion. It has become the capital of the Amhara National State. The country's free-market economic policy has encouraged investment and other market potentialities. Today Bahir Dar is not only a center of administration but also a nucleus of commerce, industry, transport, communication, health, education and tourism.
21st century[edit]
The city, in honor of the Millennium celebrations, hosted a National Investment Bazaar and Trade Fair on 6–9 January 2007. Mulat Gezahegn, head of the Trade, Industry and Investment Promotion Coordination Office, told journalists that more than 150 local and foreign companies participated.
On 22 June 2019, during the Amhara Region coup d'état attempt, there were coordinated assassinations of Amhara Region government officials in Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa. Assassination victims included General Se'are Mekonnen (along with his aide General Gizae Aberra), President of Amhara Region Ambachew Mekonnen (along with advisor Ezez Wassie) and Amhara Region Attorney General Megbaru Kebede. On 24 June, state media announced that General Asaminew Tsige had been shot dead in Bahir Dar.
