Chapter 314: Trade and Conflict
In the Province of Turkana in the East African Kingdom, the town of Bordeile is one of the northernmost towns in Turkana. It is also a trading market established by the East African Kingdom.
Early morning, the market in Bordeile opens.
Abyssinian caravans from various parts of southern Abyssinia have traveled a long way, bringing Abyssinian-bred horses, cattle, sheep, camels, and some agricultural products to trade in the town of Bordeile.
"Today, our shop has received a total of 150 firearms. They're of good quality. Place your bids—highest offer wins," announced the owner of a gun shop that specializes in weapons.
Immediately, everyone began bidding against each other.
"I'll offer thirty Abyssinian horses," said an Abyssinian merchant named Bubuyawis from the Tigray region in northern Abyssinia.
Abyssinian horses are a specialty of Abyssinia, and the Province of Turkana in East Africa also produces some.
The moment he announced his bid, many smaller Abyssinian caravans interested in buying were discouraged, because northern Abyssinia is the core area of the Abyssinian Empire, and Tigray is the birthplace of the empire. Multiple ruling families of the Abyssinian Empire are rooted in Tigray, and Bubuyawis is a member of the Zagwe family in Tigray.
Just when Bubuyawis thought he had secured this shipment, a discordant voice suddenly called out, "Heh heh heh, these northerners think they can ride on top of us. Our 'Anlidelei' family will give thirty Abyssinian horses plus one camel."
This came from a merchant named Ouderikewen from southern Amhara in the Abyssinian Empire. Clearly, he also had his eye on these firearms.
Recognizing an old rival, Bubuyawis sneered back, "So it's just a little Amhara family. You think you're on the same level as our Zagwe family? The Zagwes are one of the empire's top three families. I'll add ten of those Amhara donkeys—dumb as the Anlidelei family—and these guns will be mine."
The East African merchant was a bit puzzled and asked, "Mr. Bubuyawis, are you saying ten donkeys?"
Bubuyawis replied, "Yes, ten donkeys. But they're Amhara donkeys, as stupid as that Anlidelei family."
"You…!" Ouderikewen's blood pressure shot up instantly. "Fine, fine, that's how you want to play? Then I'll throw in ten lame camels from your Tigray Zagwe family."
The East African merchant said, "Uh… Mr. Ouderikewen, crippled livestock must be discounted in price."
Clearly, Ouderikewen wasn't actually intending to trade lame camels; he just wanted to insult the Zagwe family. The East African merchant misunderstood, but Ouderikewen was quite pleased with himself.
Ouderikewen said, "You're not wrong—lame camels do need to be discounted. I'm just saying the Zagwe's lame camels aren't worth much! Hahaha…"
"You scoundrel…" Bubuyawis, feeling humiliated, lunged at Ouderikewen, ready for a fistfight.
The quick-eyed East African staff tried to separate them, but neither side was willing to give up, and a group brawl ensued.
Seeing that persuasion was useless, the shop owner had no choice but to blow a warning whistle. With a sharp, drawn-out sound, "Huuuuuu—!"
The East African mounted police of Bordeile responded at once, galloping in from outside the market on over a dozen fine horses and using clubs to break up the mass of Abyssinian merchants fighting each other.
Before long…
"Everyone shut up. This is a public place, not somewhere you can just brawl," said Cruz, the head of the Bordeile police station, angrily.
By then, the two fighting groups were crouched in a row listening to Cruz's scolding, surrounded by onlookers from Abyssinia. The bystanders, eager for gossip, found it hilarious to see these big families eating humble pie.
"Bordeile is a fair trading market—everything here is determined by money, not by who is stronger. You should be grateful that it was me who showed up, not the border troops. They wouldn't have cut you any slack. Now get back to trading and no more fighting. Otherwise, I'll make sure you learn just how tough the East African police can be. Everyone else, disperse and continue your business."
Once the market's normal order was restored, Cruz left. Only Bubuyawis and Ouderikewen remained, glaring angrily at each other. Neither dared make another move, though, because those East African police clubs really hurt.
In the end, Ouderikewen won the firearms, paying thirty horses plus eleven "Zagwe lame" camels.
But as they were leaving town, Bubuyawis snarled, "Scum! When you're back in Abyssinian territory, you'd better pray nothing happens!"
Ouderikewen, looking smug, retorted, "You think this is Tigray? I'll be waiting for your revenge."
Ouderikewen's boldness came from the guns he had just obtained. Now that he had weapons, plus the caravan's seasoned travelers who knew Abyssinia well, he wasn't afraid.
…
North of Bordeile lies the Abyssinian Empire's southernmost city, Negemet. Relations between East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire remain fairly good, with almost no major conflicts of interest—this is one reason the East Africans set up a trading market in Bordeile.
Even though East Africa's expansion onto the Ethiopian Highlands made some powers within the Abyssinian Empire wary, it never truly invaded Abyssinia, so there hasn't been any real conflict. At most, their southern neighbors changed from Black African tribes to White rulers, which naturally made the lords in southern Abyssinia nervous. After all, Britain, France, Italy, and Egypt are eyeing the Abyssinian Empire on the Red Sea coast, and they've already had the precedent of a British invasion—so the Abyssinians can't let down their guard.
Yes, the Italians once briefly possessed a "colony" on the Red Sea coast: the Port of Assab, north of Djibouti. In 1869, Giuseppe Sapeto, an Italian colonist, formed a private colonial company—Rubattino Company—which signed an agreement with a tribal chief on the Red Sea coast to purchase Assab. But Egypt objected and sent troops to occupy it, temporarily thwarting Italy's colonization efforts there.
So at present, Italy has no colony in Africa. Still, Rubattino Company has not completely withdrawn from Assab Port and is looking for a chance to return. Now the opportunity has arrived: the Kingdom of Italy is scheming to invade the Abyssinian Empire and needs a place to land troops. Along the Red Sea coast, only Rubattino Company is clearly on Italy's side. As a result, the Italian government has officially recruited the company, a full decade earlier than in real history. For now, however, Assab Port remains in Egyptian hands, so further planning is required.
Italy's ambitions for Assab show how intensely the various powers are competing around the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Centered on Djibouti in the previous era, you had the French colony of Somaliland, the British colony of Somaliland to the southeast, and Egypt controlling Eritrea to the north, mixed with Italian civilian colonial groups in the Assab Bay. To the west lay the Abyssinian Empire, and to the southwest was the East African Kingdom's Dire Dawa military district, plus remnants of the Ottoman Empire's influence. Squeezed into just a few tens of thousands of square kilometers on the western shore of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait are all these nations and tribes. And it all stems from the opening of the Suez Canal.
Undoubtedly, the two parties most inconvenienced are the Abyssinian Empire and the Ottoman Empire—one is surrounded and landlocked; the other, though officially the region's ruler, has effectively lost Egypt, which was wrested away by the sudden appearance of that "Albanian strongman," Muhammad Ali, who declared independence from the Ottomans and took control of most territories west of the Sinai Peninsula.
Interestingly, Eritrea had been seized by the Ottoman Empire at its peak in 1557 from the Abyssinian Empire. Now it's in Egyptian hands, which is one reason Egypt and Abyssinia have bad relations. Add to that their disputes over Sudan, and the animosity runs deep. During Britain's earlier invasion of Abyssinia, Egypt took advantage of the situation to strike as well.
As for East Africa, it has no territorial dispute with Abyssinia. Although East Africa occupies the southern part of what was Ethiopia in a previous era, the Abyssinian Empire never ruled that region historically. In the previous timeline, southern Ethiopia was incorporated into the Abyssinian Empire between 1872 and 1896, under Emperor Menelik II. It was Menelik II who, in 1886, moved the capital southward to Addis Ababa in the central Ethiopian Highlands. Currently, the most powerful force in the Abyssinian Empire is Yohannes IV, backed by the British. Meanwhile, Menelik II is the King of the Kingdom of Shewa (which is like a vassal conquered by the Abyssinian Empire).
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