Sagallo (russian: Сагалло; ar, ساغلو; french: Sagallou) was a short-lived settlement established in 1889 by a Russian monk and adventurer on the
Gulf of Tadjoura in
French Somaliland
French Somaliland (french: Côte française des Somalis, lit= French Coast of the Somalis so, Xeebta Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which time it became the French Te ...
(modern-day
Djibouti
Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
). It was located some west of
Djibouti City.
History
Sagallo was originally a small coastal village. During antiquity Sagallo was part of the city-states that in engaged in a lucrative trade network connecting the merchants with
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...
,
Ptolemaic Egypt,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
,
Parthian Persia,
Saba,
Nabataea
The Nabataean Kingdom ( Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 ''Nabāṭū''), also named Nabatea (), was a political state of the Arab Nabataeans during classical antiquity.
The Nabataean Kingdom controlled many of the trade routes of the region, ...
, and the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
.
French rule
The
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
had control over the area from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. From 1862 until 1894, the land to the north of the
Gulf of Tadjoura was called ''Obock'' and ruled by
Somali
Somali may refer to:
Horn of Africa
* Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region
** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis
** Somali culture
** Somali cuisine
** Somali language, a Cushitic language
** Somali ...
and
Afar Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...
s, local authorities with whom
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
signed various treaties between 1883 and 1887 to gain a foothold in the region.
[Raph Uwechue, ''Africa year book and who's who'', (Africa Journal Ltd.: 1977), p.209.][''A Political Chronology of Africa'', (Taylor & Francis: 2001), p. 132 .] In 1894,
Léonce Lagarde established a permanent French administration in the
city of Djibouti and named the region ''Côte française des Somalis'' (
French Somaliland
French Somaliland (french: Côte française des Somalis, lit= French Coast of the Somalis so, Xeebta Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which time it became the French Te ...
), a name which continued until 1967.
Achinov settlement
In 1883, Nikolai Ivanovich Achinov, an adventurer and
burgess of
Penza
Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-la ...
(b. 1856
[Ernest A. Wallis Budge, ]
A history of Ethiopia, Nubia and Abyssinia
', Taylor & Francis,1928.) visited
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
(the Ethiopian Empire) in order to establish clerical and political ties between the two countries. After his return to Russia, Achinov voiced his plans for an 1888 expedition to the
Gulf of Tadjoura to establish a settlement, while claiming to be a free
Cossack
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
. Achinov assured the participants that the sultan of
Tadjoura, Mohammed Loitah, had permanently leased him land in the region.
It was purely on his own initiative, and without the involvement of the Russian government, that on 10 December 1888, Achinov along with 165
Terek Cossacks boarded the ''Kornilov'', a ship heading from
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
to
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
. The expedition then boarded the ''Lazarev'' which brought them to
Port Said
Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...
. There, Achinov rented the Austrian ship ''Amfitrida'', which entered the
Gulf of Tadjoura on 6 January 1889. The expedition was greeted by a group of Ethiopian
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
s.
Achinov struggled to keep the Cossacks under his control, but some raided the
Danakil, stealing a cow and a sheep after driving off the local tribesmen with rifle fire. The sultan accepted 60 francs from Achimov as reparations.
The French foreign office demanded an explanation of Achinov's actions and the Russian ambassador in Paris distanced the Russian Empire from him. On January 14, the abandoned Egyptian fort of Sagallo was chosen as the new base of the expedition. Achinov named the fort New Moscow. A tent was erected to serve as the church of
St. Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...
and a flag of the expedition was raised.
Rumours about the formidable size of the expedition quickly spread through the
press.
Later, several colonists escaped to
Obock, informing the French of the settlement's whereabouts. On 5 February, the Cossacks noticed a French cruiser and three French
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-ste ...
s. An ultimatum was issued, but Achinov misunderstood it and did not surrender. The artillery barrage that followed came as a complete surprise for the Russians, leaving 6 colonists dead and 22 wounded.
A white shirt was raised to show surrender. The Russian government disavowed Achinov, accusing him of disobedience to the Tsar and acts of piracy. Participants were arrested and deported to Odessa aboard the ''Zabiyaka''.
Climate
See also
*
Afro-Russians
Afro-Russians (russian: Афророссияне, Afrorossiyane) are people of African descent that have migrated to and settled in Russia. The Metis Foundation estimates that there were about 30,000 Afro-Russians in 2013.
Terminology
Represen ...
*
Russian colonialism
Russian imperialism includes the policy and ideology of power exerted by Russia, as well as its antecedent states, over other countries and external territories. This includes the conquests of the Russian Empire, the imperial actions of the Soviet ...
*
Scramble for Africa
The Scramble for Africa, also called the Partition of Africa, or Conquest of Africa, was the invasion, annexation, division, and colonization of most of Africa by seven Western European powers during a short period known as New Imperialism ...
References
Further reading
*
* Harding, Les. ''Dead Countries of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries''. The Scarecrow Press, 1998.
* Jean Robert Constantin (comte de), ''L'archimandrite Païsi et l'ataman Achinoff: une expédition religieuse en Abyssinie''. Librairie de la Nouvelle Revue, 1891.
''French Somali Coast 1708–1946'', schudak.de (without date).
{{coord, 11, 40, 13, N, 42, 44, 00, E, region:DJ_type:city_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
History of Djibouti
European colonisation in Africa
Former colonies in Africa
Former Russian colonies
Russian Empire
1889 in Africa
Gulf of Aden
Tadjourah Region
French Somaliland
France–Russia relations
Djibouti–Russia relations