Ras al-Fil (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: lit. 'head of the elephant') was a former governorate of the Christian Ethiopian state, located to the west of the river Atbara and Mätämma near the Ethiopian-Sudanese border. Ras al-Fil seems to have been the principal market for gold on a caravan route between Gonder, Sinnar and Fung, often frequented by Säbärti as well as Sinnar merchants. It was a four day journey from Sinnar, and was considered one of the safest trade routes between the two countries. Though its territorial extent is unclear, Ras al-Fil once consisted of 39 villages. After the military expedition of Atse Iyasu II and

Ras Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio stati ...

Wäldä Léul against them, Ras al-Fil no longer paid tribute to Sinnar and became one of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

's frontier provinces. Most of its inhabitants were expert horsemen. At the time of

James Bruce James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia and in 1770 became the first Europ ...

's visit, it was ruled by a Christian called

Ato ATO may refer to: Technology *Abort to Orbit, an intact abort procedure for Space Shuttle launches *Arsenic trioxide a potent chemotherapeutic agent for acute promyelocytic leukemia * ATO fuse * Automatic train operation * Assisted take off Milit ...

Kénfu. Bruce was offered a deputy governorship that he did not exercise actively owing to its unfavourable location.

Badi IV Badi IV (reigned 1724–1762; died 1764), also known as Badi abu Shilluk, was a ruler of the Kingdom of Sennar. He was the son of his predecessor, Nul. When Emperor Iyasu II of Ethiopia invaded his realm in 1738, the army of Sennar under the l ...

and fled to sanctuary in

, where

Mikael Sehul convinced Emperor

Iyoas I Iyoas I ( Ge'ez: ኢዮአስ; died 14 May 1769), throne name Adyam Sagad (Ge'ez: አድያም ሰገድ) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 27 June 1755 to 7 May 1769, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. He was the infant son of Iyasu II and Wubit ...

to appoint him governor of the province of Ras al-Fil. After the 18th century, it seems to have belonged to the Qallabat sultanate. Encyclopaedia Aethiopica

References

{{reflist Politics of Ethiopia

See also

References