[3] The earliest sourced mention of Debarq appears to date back to the late 17th century, serving as a stopover for replenishment to journeys and military campaigns that emperor Iyasu I undertook from Gondar to the north.

[note 1] Icy winds compete with the blazing sunshine and people with eyes asquint, ruined by sunlight at high altitude, walk for miles to barter on the eroding mountainside."

The road grew progressively worse as they made their way up the mountainIn 1814, Debarq appeared on a map by traveller Henry Salt[note 2][4] Debarq's prosperity was due to its location on the Gondar-Massawa trade route; it is one of the stations on a route of the 1840s, according to a list compiled by Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie in his Geodesie d'Ethiopie.

[6] The revenue from taxes levied on the marketplace in the 1830s paid the governor of Semien province (Wube Haile Maryam) 3,000 Maria Theresa Thalers and about as much to the nagadras.

[7] During a clash with his rebellious nephews, Emperor Tewodros II saw his close friend and advisor John Bell killed in battle here in 1860.