Sagallo

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 11 ° 40 ′  N , 42 ° 44 ′  E

Map: Djibouti
marker
Sagallo
Magnify-clip.png
Djibouti
Nikolai Ashinov (1856-1902)

Sagallo or Sagallou ( Arabic ساغلو) is a place in Djibouti , on the northern bank of the Gulf of Tadjoura . It gained historical importance through an attempt to establish a Russian colony here .

history

Between 1875 and 1884 the place was occupied by Egyptians who built a fort.

The Frenchman Paul Soleillet acquired Sagallo for the Société Française d'Obock et du Golfe Persique as a starting point for caravans into the interior.

In January 1889, the Russian Cossack Nikolai Aschinow (also transcribed as Ashinov , Achinov or Achinoff ) landed with around 200 people - including priests, women and children - in Sagallo and occupied the meanwhile abandoned fort. His goal was to build a “New Moscow “On the Gulf of Tadjoura, near the strategically important Suez Canal route, as a starting point for a Russian presence in Africa. He also hoped to work with France to strengthen Ethiopia against Great Britain and Italy. Some members of the Russian government and the royal family as well as expansionist Slavophiles harbored sympathy for these plans, Tsar Alexander III. However, he behaved cautiously and wait-and-see towards Ashinov's plans.

France initially approved the undertaking of Ashinov, provided that he would recognize French sovereignty over French Somaliland . When Ashinov did not want to hoist a French flag next to the Russian one on the fort and indicated that he merely recognized the rule of the local chief of the Danakil ( Afar ), Sultan Mohammed Leita of Tadjoura, France protested to the Russian government. The latter then distanced themselves from Ashinov in order not to endanger their relations with France.

On February 17, 1889, French warships appeared off Sagallo. When Ashinov initially refused to surrender, the warships bombed the fort, killing seven people (including two women and four children). The Cossacks surrendered without firing a shot, were deported to Suez and returned to Russia. Ashinov was interned by the Russian government for a few months.

literature

  • Sagallo . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 23 : Refectory - Sainte-Beuve . London 1911, p. 1001 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
  • Lucien Heudebert: Au Pays Des Somalis Et Des Comoriens . P. 137 f.
  • Sagallou and Solleillet, Paul . In: Daoud A. Alwan, Yohanis Mibrathu: Historical Dictionary of Djibouti . Scarecrow Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8108-3873-4

Web links