"[3] Some of these alleged customs are as follows:[4] Yamma is first mentioned in a victory song of Yeshaq I, as one of several states south of the Abay River that paid tribute in horses to the Emperor.

[6] The first kings of Yamma belonged to the Halmam Gama dynasty, which was ejected by the Mwa clan, who claimed to have come from the north.

In 1614, Father António Fernandes visited the kingdom while looking for a southern route to Malindi on the Indian Ocean.

All the courtiers stood below, and he on the top of the Elevation, which was not unlike a Cart Wheel, sitting on a Carpet, and there it is he gives Audience, decides Controversies, and dispatches all Business.

His son Abba Chabsa became a Christian, and adopted the name Gabra Madhen, and served the Ethiopian who held the fief.