Baylul

Baylul
Coordinates	13 ° 16 ′  N , 42 ° 20 ′  E Coordinates: 13 ° 16 ′  N , 42 ° 20 ′  E
Basic data
Country	Eritrea
province	Debubawi Kayih Bahri

Baylul ( Amharic and Tigrinya በይሉል Bäylul , Arabic بيلول; also Beylul or Beilul ) is a small port on the Red Sea in the Debubawi Kayih Bahri region in Eritrea . It is located on the coast of the area inhabited by Afar (Danakil).

Jerónimo Lobo visited Baylul in 1625 and described it as a small town with a few thatched huts and no more than 50 residents. The way inland led through practically waterless land and was dangerous because of hostile tribes. Baylul was then under the Afar Sultanate of Awsa .

When Massawa was occupied by the Ottoman Empire, the Ethiopian Emperor Fasilides tried to open up a new trade route via Baylul. He chose Baylul because this place was beyond the Ottoman sphere of influence and directly opposite the port of Mocha in Yemen . In 1642 he sent a message of greeting to the Imam of Yemen al-Mu'ayyad Mohammed in order to win his support for this project. Since al-Mu'ayyad Mohammed and his son al-Mutawakkil Isma'il assumed that Fasilides was interested in converting to Islam, a Yemeni embassy was sent to Gondar in 1646 . However, when the Yemenis' real motives became clear to Fasilides, their enthusiasm slackened and the venture was abandoned.

Baylul was under Egyptian rule until the end of the 19th century. On January 25, 1885, the place was occupied by Italians and initially incorporated into the Italian colony of Assab , but in 1890 Assab was merged with Massawa to form the colony of Eritrea . Baylul has been part of independent Eritrea since 1991 and 1993 respectively.

Today Baylul is frequented by Afar traders and fishermen, and occasionally Arabs, and is far less important than the nearby port city of Assab .

literature

• Richard Pankhurst: Baylūl. In: Siegbert Uhlig (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Aethiopica . Volume 1, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-447-04746-1 .
• Dan Connell, Tom Killion: Historical Dictionary of Eritrea , 127 (Beylul) . Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2010