Gallabat

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Gallabat is a village in the Sudanese state of Al Qadarif. It lies at one of the country's border crossing points with Ethiopia; on the other side of the border is Ethiopia's corresponding border village Metemma.

The town and district form a small ethnographical island in Al Qadarif, having been founded in the 18th century by a colony of Takruri from Darfur, who, finding the spot a convenient resting-place for their fellow-pilgrims on their way to Mecca and back, obtained permission from the Emperor of Ethiopia to make a permanent settlement there. Lying on the main trade route from Sennar to Gondar (some 90 miles to the east by south), Gallabat grew into a trade center of some importance.

About 1870 the Egyptians garrisoned the town, which in 1886 was attacked by followers of Abdallahi ibn Muhammad (the successor of Muhammad Ahmad) and sacked. From Gallabat a raiding party penetrated to Gondar, which they looted. In revenge, an Ethiopian army under Emperor Yohannes IV attacked the dervishes close to Gallabat in March 1889, in what is known as the Battle of Gallabat (or Metemma) Yohannes IV was originally successful, with the Mahdists suffering many casualties, but a shot from a lone sniper killed the Emperor late in the battle, causing his army to flee and routing the attack.

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• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.