Zula

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Location of Zula in Eritrea

Zula is a small town in Eritrea near the head of Annesley Bay (also known as the Bay of Zula) on the African coast of the Red Sea. Four kilometers away is the archeological site of Adulis, which was an emporium and the port of Axum.

In 1857 an agreement was entered into by Dejaz Negusye, a chief of Tigre, in revolt against Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, to cede Zula to the French. Negusye was defeated by Emperor Tewodros, and the commander of a French cruiser sent to Annesley Bay in 1859 found the country in a state of anarchy. No further steps were taken by France to assert its sovereignty, and Zula with the neighbouring coast passed, nominally, to Egypt in 1866. Zula was the place where the British expedition of 18671868 against Tewodros disembarked, Annesley Bay affording safe and ample anchorage for the largest ocean-going vessels. A road was built by the British from Zula to Senafe on the Abyssinian plateau.

The authority of Egypt having lapsed over Zula, an Italian protectorate was proclaimed in 1888, and in 1890 the town was incorporated into the colony of Eritrea.

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Coordinates: 15°15′N 39°40′E