Rabat I (1616/7 - 1644/5) was a ruler of the Kingdom of Sennar. According to James Bruce, he was the son of Badi I.[1]

He intrigued in Ethiopian politics a number of times. Early in his reign he detained the Coptic bishop Abba Yeshaq, who had passed through Sennar on his way to Ethiopia.[2] A later act was his attempt to convert Saga Krestos, the son of Emperor Yaqob of Ethiopia, to Islam, which resulted in Saga Krestos' departure.[3]

In response to a slave raid by Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia in 1619, Rabat led a great army against the Ethiopians, and slew one of the Imperial officials, a Muslim named Muhammed Sayed. In response, Emperor Susenyos marched to the border and defeated Rabat's army.[2]

Notes

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  1. ^ Bruce, Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile (London, 1790), vol. 4 p. 464
  2. ^ a b Richard Pankhurst, The Ethiopian Borderlands (Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1997), p. 369. Pankhurst refers to him as "Erubat".
  3. ^ E.A Wallis Budge. A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia, 1928 (Oosterhout, the Netherlands: Anthropological Publications, 1970), p. 373.
Preceded by King of Sennar Succeeded by