The British explorer
Charles Beke visited Chagni on its market day, 17 March 1842, and found the town inhabited mostly by "
Shánkalas (the Nubas of the maps), who are negroes", who fled at his appearance out of fear: "fine tall muscular men, armed with spear and knife, hurrying away and hiding themselves among the bushes as I approached". In the 1950s, Chagni was administered by
Fitawrari Embiale Gessess, whom witnesses state incorporated the current city of Chagni, and he is the father of Gebeyaw Embiale. Chagni was on the frontier between two ethnic groups who were frequently in conflict: the
Gumuz and the
Amhara. The Gumuz reportedly rebelled against Ethiopian rule four separate times between 1950 and 1990. However once the border between the two regions was drawn in 1992, dividing the former Metekel
awraja between them, tensions lessened and local elders were able to negotiate peaceful reconciliations between the two groups. Around 1957, the primary school in Chagni was at the westernmost end of the telephone lines in
Gojjam. Famous people born in Chagni include the Ethiopian singer
Gigi, as well as Gebeyaw Embiale, the Ethiopian mechanical engineer known in Ethiopia for designing components used in the
Airbus 380 aircraft. == Demographics ==