The earliest documented mention of the
Azmaris goes back to the mid-15th century, and they presumably go back much further.
Role in society Azmaris once played an important role as social critics by improvising sophisticated texts of praise or criticism.
Azmaris would mock people in high places, and even Emperors were not spared if they were found to be unpopular with the public.
Azmaris were the first to convey scandals in high places. Female
Azmaris flourished in feudal Ethiopia. They were just like their male counterparts poet-musicians. The female musicians are usually wives or lovers of male
Azmaris who gradually learned the repertory of their male counterparts. Between 1841 and 1843, the English traveller Major
William Cornwallis Harris captured the prevailing political atmosphere and attitudes of
Sahle Selassie's court towards his enemies in a song of praise played by one of his female chorist (azmari). == Today ==