ABECHE

town, eastern Chad, between the wadis Chao and Sao. Historically it was the site of the capital of the Muslim sultanate of Ouadda (q.v.), which dominated much of the area of Chad before French conquest was accomplished in 1912. The remains of the ancient capital include a palace, tombs of former sultans, and the ruins of a mosque, all surrounded by a thick wall. The town has many mosques. Abch is surrounded by savanna-type terrain that is an important cattle-raising area, but the distance from suitable markets hinders development of the cattle industry. Abch is linked by main road to the capital, N'Djamena (formerly Fort-Lamy), Sarh (formerly Fort-Archambault), and The Sudan. The Lyce Franco-Arabe (a secondary school) is in the town, which has an airport and a hospital and supports some light industry, including the manufacture of camel-hair blankets. Pop. (1988 est.) 40,000.