Under the reign of Baeda Maryam I, tradition speaks of Ras Degana of Shire, accompanied by Bolay, Tesfay (Qasta Agam), Shakkor, Zena Gabriel, and others who settled the region and divided Welkait among themselves, founding lineages and settlements.

From the 17th to 18th centuries, the powerful governor of Welkait, and a good friend of Emperor Iyasu I, Dejazmach Ayana Egziy is well-known in the historical record.

Emperor Yostos had allowed three Capuchins to stay in Welkait under Ayana Egziy's protection, but in 1716, under Dawit III, they were brought to Gondar and stoned to death.

These Capuchins may be linked to the ruins of a large structure in Welkait, near today’s May Gaba, which shows features of Gondarine architectural style.

Emperor Yohannes IV asserted control over Welkait in 1873, though it fell into the hands of a rebellious leader a few years later.

This led to discontentment as many of the local "Wolqayte" landowning families expressed support for the Welkait Committee and began to distinguish themselves from the resettled Tigrayans, the nascent division between these resettled people and people who could claim ancestry in Welkait widened, and was used by Amhara nationalists to intensify their claims over the region.

[9] During the Tigray War, militias from the Amhara Region took control of most parts of the Western Zone in November 2020, which was then occupied for a duration by the joint Ethiopian and Eritrean armies.

[10][11] Human Rights Watch (HRW) described this as "represent[ing] a violent reversal of changes to Ethiopia's contested internal boundaries enacted by the TPLF-led Ethiopian federal government in 1992", and after human rights abuses over many years by Tigrayan security forces against ethnic Amharas and Walqaytes,[a] serving as a backdrop to the eventual violence and expulsion of Tigrayan communities.

[12] Humera, Addi Remets and Dansha were virtually depopulated, with numerous shops closed, some of them subjected to looting.

Gizachew Muluneh, head of Amhara Regional Communication Affairs, disputed this, arguing that Etenesh's figures were too high.

[16] French researcher Mehdi Labzaé documented the rise of Amhara nationalism since 2015/6 and managed to interview several actors involved in the annexation and ethnic cleansing campaign in Tigray since November 2020.

Mass violence was not his initial research object, but he states, "my investigation of the massacres stems from an exploration of the agrarian grounds for Amhara nationalism."

From his research, he concludes that "These accounts show how the successive massacres took place as part of a deliberate policy implemented by the Fano, Amhara Regional Special Forces, and Welkait Committee – Prosperity Party administration of the Wolqayt-Tegedé-Setit-Humera zone, the with the complicity of Eritrean troops and at least implicit backing of the ENDF.

The context, modus operandi and what perpetrators told the victim all converge towards the fact that the intentional targeting of civilians served the purpose of freeing land for occupying Amhara forces.

"[17] Based on the 2007 census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this zone has a total population of 356,598, of whom 182,571 are men and 174,027 women; 71,823 or 20.14% are urban inhabitants.