“This cultural encounter, ofter overlooked today, was of great significance at the time, both for the Ethiopians and for the Portuguese, and has left behind in Ethiopia many ruined castles, palaces as well as bridges spanning the Blue Nile—but there also lingers on the memory of the community of Ethiopian-Portuguese born from the marriage of Portuguese soldiers and Ethiopian women. These Ethiopian-Portuguese came to be known as Birtukan (from the word Portugal). … the Jesuits were finally expelled—but not the Birtukan themselves, who came to form a class of professional soldiers and builders who were much appreciated for their talents. … Today, there are many Birtukan in Ethiopia… at least in name: a quick google search for the term yields 199,000 pages, and there are 16,000 results for people named ‘Birtukan’ on Facebook alone.”
What do you think about this whole eurocentric idea that Gondar was actually built by Portuguese Jesuits or Indian & Arabs artisans?
It's pretty popular amongst 4Chan-type sites, of course, also liking to tell that Ethiopians had "nothing to do with it"?
I know it's b-shit but I'd like to see your opinion on it
its simple, the guy who expelled the portuguese is the same person who founded gondar
The Portuguese never really left:
“This cultural encounter, ofter overlooked today, was of great significance at the time, both for the Ethiopians and for the Portuguese, and has left behind in Ethiopia many ruined castles, palaces as well as bridges spanning the Blue Nile—but there also lingers on the memory of the community of Ethiopian-Portuguese born from the marriage of Portuguese soldiers and Ethiopian women. These Ethiopian-Portuguese came to be known as Birtukan (from the word Portugal). … the Jesuits were finally expelled—but not the Birtukan themselves, who came to form a class of professional soldiers and builders who were much appreciated for their talents. … Today, there are many Birtukan in Ethiopia… at least in name: a quick google search for the term yields 199,000 pages, and there are 16,000 results for people named ‘Birtukan’ on Facebook alone.”
https://uthiopia.com/the-oranges-of-prester-john/