Kasala

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Kasala or Kassala (both: käsä´lä, kăs´əlä), city (1993 pop. 234,622), E Sudan. It is a market center and rail transport hub and has extensive fruit gardens. Founded in 1840 as a military camp for the troops of Muhammad Ali during his conquest of Sudan, Kasala was captured by the Mahdists (see Mahdi) in 1885 and by the Italians in 1894. Restored to Egyptian sovereignty in 1897, it became part of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.