Ankober may have formerly been known as
Gorobela.
Meridazmach Amha Iyasus, moved the capital of
Shewa from
Doqaqit (located near
Debre Sina) to Ankober. It remained the principal residence of the rulers of Shewa until Negus (later Emperor)
Menelik II moved it to
Mount Entoto in 1878, although
Wossen Seged preferred to live at
Qundi during his reign. The name of the town is said to have been taken from an Oromo Queen, Anko, who ruled the town during the reign of
Qedami Qal. The first Europeans to record their visit to Ankober were the Evangelical missionaries
Carl Wilhelm Isenberg and
Johann Ludwig Krapf in 1839. However, at the time there was a small colony of
Greeks, who made their living as craftsmen and tradesmen. In the following years, a steady stream of travellers visited Ankober, including Captain
William Cornwallis Harris. Following the death of Meridazmach
Sahle Selassie in 1847, the
Abichu Oromo rebelled and attacked Ankober; only the firearms Sahle Selassie had collected there saved the capital. The Shewans burned the town in 1856 in reaction to the invasion, and eventual conquest, of Emperor
Tewodros II. It was soon rebuilt, and used by Tewodros's appointees
Haile Mikael and
Seyfe Sahle Selassie as their seat of power. Around the time of the
First World War, the population was around 2000. In the military actions leading to the
Battle of Segale, on 18 October 1916
Negus Mikael's troops crushed an advance force of 11,000 men stationed in Ankober and killed their leader,
Ras Lul Seged. During the
Italian occupation, the town consisted of about 3,000 inhabitants living on two hilltops of different height. The Italian Resident lived on the higher hill, and on the lower hill were the two round churches Maryam and Medhane Alem. Around this time the Italians partly moved Ankober to a more accessible plateau. The Italians also carried out a number of bombings against the
Arbegnoch in the neighboring area. == Demographics ==