View source for Gallabat

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|name                   =Gallabat
|settlement_type        =Village
|other_name             ={{Nobold|{{lang|ar|القلابات}}}}
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|subdivision_name1      = [[Al Qadarif (state)|Al Qadarif]]
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'''Gallabat''' ({{langx|ar|القلابات}}) is a village in the [[Sudan]]ese state of [[Al Qadarif (state)|Al Qadarif]]. It lies at one of the country's border crossing points with [[Ethiopia]]; on the other side of the [[Ethiopia–Sudan border|border]] is Ethiopia's corresponding border village [[Metemma]].
==History==
The town and district form a small ethnographical island in Al Qadarif, having been founded in the 18th century by a colony of [[Tukrir|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.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref name=Robinson-49>Arthur E. Robinson, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/716806 "The Tekruri Sheikhs of Gallabat (S. E. Sudan)", ''Journal of the Royal African Society''], '''26''' (1926), p. 49</ref> Lying on the main trade route from [[Sennar]] to [[Gondar]] (some 90 miles to the east) as well as being the center of the frontier province of [[Ras al-Fil]], Gallabat grew into a trade center of some importance. The Scottish explorer [[James Bruce]] (who calls the town '''Hor-Cacamoot''') spent two months in the town in 1772, disabled with [[dysentery]] which was cured only by the herbs of a local medicine-man and the attentions of his companion Yasin.<ref>J.M. Reid, ''Traveller Extraordinary: The Life of James Bruce of Kinnaird'' (New York: Norton, 1968), p. 216 n</ref>
One notable ruler of Gallabat was Sheikh Miri, who has been described as "probably the most celebrated of these border chiefs". The Sheikh formed an alliance with the [[Khedive]] some time after [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]] had conquered the [[Sennar (sultanate)|Sennar sultanate]] in 1821, and proclaimed himself independent of the Ethiopian Empire. He accompanied the Egyptians in their raid on Gondar, but apparently escaped [[Battle of Wadkaltabu|the ambush]] which the [[Dejazmach]] ('Commander of the main army') [[Kenfu Hailu]] had sprung on the raiders. In 1838 Emperor [[Tewodros II of Ethiopia|Tewodros]] avenged the sack of Gondar with an attack on Gallabat; Sheikh Miri, with many of the Takruri, was killed.<ref name=Robinson-49/>
In about 1870, the [[Egypt]]ians garrisoned Gallabat.  In 1886, the town was attacked by followers of [[Abdallahi ibn Muhammad]] (the successor of [[Muhammad Ahmad]]) and sacked.  From Gallabat, a [[Mahdist Sudan|Mahdist]] raiding party penetrated to Gondar in [[Empire of Ethiopia|Ethiopia]]. The Mahdists then looted Gondar. In March 1889, in revenge, an Ethiopian army under [[Emperor of Ethiopia|Emperor]] [[Yohannes IV of Ethiopia|Yohannes IV]] attacked the Mahdists close to Gallabat{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} 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.
In 1899 the Mahdists were decisively defeated in the Sudan by [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Khedivate of Egypt|Egyptian]] forces during the [[Battle of Umm Diwaykarat]]. After the even more decisive [[Battle of Omdurman]], Mahdist rule in the Sudan was at an end. From 1899 to 1956, Gallabat was located in what was known as the [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan]].
In July 1940 during the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]], [[Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946)|Italian]] forces advancing from [[Italian East Africa]] forced a small British garrison commanded by [[Wilfred Thesiger]] to withdraw from Gallabat to the pass at [[Khor el Otrub]]. The Italians then occupied the town until November when the British under [[William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim|Brigadier Slim]] launched an attack to take the town back, but due to poor morale of the [[Essex Regiment]] and lack of coordination by the British bombers, failed to capture Metemma.<ref>Anthony Mockler, ''Haile Selassie's War'' (New York: Olive Branch Press, 2003), pp. 207, 272-279</ref>
In 1956 the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan became the independent [[Sudan|Republic of the Sudan]].
In 1991 [[United Kingdom|British]] television presenter [[Michael Palin]] travelled through Gallabat on his way to [[Gonder]] for the television show ''[[Pole to Pole]]''.
==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Gallabat|volume=11|page=412}}
{{coord|12|58|N|36|09|E|region:SD_type:city|display=title}}
[[Category:Populated places in Al Qadarif State]]
[[Category:Villages in Sudan]]
[[Category:Ethiopia–Sudan border crossings]]