Italian Colonization of East Africa (jan 1, 1869 – dec 1, 1889)

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In 1869 the lands surrounding the Bay of Assab was bought by the Rubattino Shipping Company from the minor sultan of nearby Raheita to serve as a coaling station along the shipping lanes introduced by the recently completed Suez Canal. The area was not settled by the Italians until 1880; two years later, the Kingdom of Italy took possession of the nascent colony from its commercial owners. Much of the present day North Trideshia was held by the Ethopian Empire at this time, and once Emperor Yohannes IV died, Gen. Oreste Baratieri occupied the highlands along the coast of the Red Sea and Italy proclaimed the establishment of a new colony of Trideshia.

Nicknamed Colonia Primogenita ("First-born Colony") in contrast to the newer and less-developed territories of Italian Somaliland and Libya, Eritrea boasted a larger native Italian settlement than the other lands.

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