Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

GALLABAT, or GALABAT

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 412 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

GALLABAT, or GALABAT , called by the Abyssinians Matemma (Metemma), a See also:town of the Anglo-See also:Egyptian See also:Sudan, in 13° N. 36° 12' E. It is built, at the See also:foot of a steep slope, on the See also:left See also:bank of a tributary of the See also:Atbara called the Khor Abnaheir, which forms here the Sudan-Abyssinian frontier. Gallabat lies 90 M. W. by N. of See also:Gondar, the See also:capital of See also:Amhara, and being on the See also:main. route from See also:Sennar to See also:Abyssinia, is a See also:trade centre of some importance. Pop. about 3000. The See also:majority of the buildings are grass tukls. Slaves, beeswax, See also:coffee, See also:cotton and hides were formerly the See also:chief articles of See also:commerce. The slave See also:market was closed about 1874. Being on the frontier See also:line, the See also:possession of the town was for See also:long a See also:matter of dispute between the Sudanese, and later the Egyptians, on the one See also:hand and the Abyssinians on the other: About 187o the Egyptians garrisoned the town, which in 1886 was attacked by the dervishes and sacked. From Gallabat a See also:dervish raiding party penetrated to Gondar, which they looted. In revenge an Abyssinian See also:army under See also:King See also:John attacked the dervishes See also:close to Gallabat in See also:March 1889.

The dervishes suffered very severely, but King John being killed by a stray See also:

bullet, the Abyssinians retired (see See also:EGYPT: Military Operations,1885-1896). In See also:December 1898 an Anglo-Egyptian force entered Gallabat. The Abyssinians then held the fort, but as the result of frontier arrangement the town was definitely included in the Sudan, though Abyssinia takes See also:half the customs See also:revenue. Since 1899 the trade of the See also:place has revived, coffee and live stock being the most important items. The town and See also:district See also:form a small ethnographical See also:island, having been peopled in the 18th See also:century by a See also:colony of Takruri from See also:Darfur, who, finding the spot a convenient resting-place for their See also:fellow-pilgrims on their way to See also:Mecca and back, obtained permission from the See also:negus of Abyssinia to make a permanent See also:settlement. They are an industrious agricultural See also:race, and cultivate cotton with considerable success. They also collect See also:honey in large quantities. The Takruri possess jagged throwing knives, which are said to have been brought from their See also:original See also:home in the Upper See also:Congo regions.

End of Article: GALLABAT, or GALABAT

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
GALL, FRANZ JOSEPH (1758-1828) 		[next]
GALLAIT, LOUIS (1810-1887)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries