Battle of Dabarki

30.51°N 30.87°E / 30.51; 30.87

Battle of Dabarki
Part of Ethiopian–Ottoman border conflict
Date 1848 Location Dabarki, Sudan Result Egyptian victory Tewodros retreats
Belligerents
Ethiopian Empire	Ottoman Empire Eyalet of Egypt
Commanders and leaders
Tewodros II	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Heavy	Light

The Battle of Dabarki, also known as the Battle of Dabarqi, was a military engagement fought between the Ethiopian Empire and the province of Egypt in 1848. The battle was a heavy defeat for the Ethiopians and would spur the modernization of the Ethiopian army.

History

In the late 1840s, Abyssinian Emperor Tewodros II embarked on a campaign to consolidate his empire by invading Gonder, which he occupied in 1847. With his victory in the south secured, Tewodros decided strengthen his position by damaging his major rival, namely the Muslim power Egypt, then a nominal province of the Ottoman Empire. Invading through Ethiopia's western frontier, the Ethiopian army advanced into the Egyptian-controlled Sudan and occupied Metemma.^[1][2]

In March 1848, Tewodros decided to attack Dabarki, a fortified post garrisoned with Egyptian and Ottoman troops.^[3][4] The Ethiopian attack faced heavy resistance and suffered heavy casualties from the Egyptian-Ottoman artillery.^[5][4] The attack failed and led to the collapse of Tewodros' campaign, forcing him and the Ethiopian army to retreat into the nearby highlands.^[1]

The battle at Dabarki greatly effected Tewodros' military thinking, inspiriting him to modernize the Ethiopian army with more modern artillery and firearms.^[5][4] Several sources have described the battle as the first significant defeat in Tewodros' military career.^[2][4]

References

1. El Amin, Abdel Karim. Ahmed, Abdel Karim (2009). AN HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE SHAWAN – AMHARA CONQUEST OF THE OROMO and SIDAMA REGIONS OF SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA 1865-1900
2. Dunn, John. "'For God, Emperor, and Country!' The Evolution of Ethiopia's Nineteenth-Century Army", War in History, 1 (1994), pp. 278-99. Accessed February 3, 2021.
3. Abir, M. "The Origins of the Ethiopian-Egyptian Border Problem in the Nineteenth Century", Journal of African History 8, no. 3 (1967): 443-61. Accessed February 3, 2021
4. Dunn, John P. (2005). Khedive Ismail's Army. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-7146-5704-2.
5. Marcus, Harold G. (2002-02-22). A History of Ethiopia. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-22479-7.