Kassala is the capital of the state of Kassala in northeastern Sudan. Its 1993 population was 234,622. It is a railroad hub, market town and famous for its fruit gardens. The city was originally created as a military camp for the Ottoman soldiers of Egyptian viceroy Muhammad Ali in 1840 during his military offensive into Sudan. Kassala was subsequently captured by the Mahdists in 1885, and again by the Italians in 1894. After Italy returned it in 1897, it fell under the purview of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan until Sudanese independence.