Ethiopian-Adal War

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Ethiopian-Adal War

Ahmed Gurey monument in Mogadishu
Date 1529 until 1543
Location Ethiopia
Result Ethiopian-Portuguese Victory, Ottoman evacuation, crippling of the Adal Sultanate
Belligerents
Ethiopian Empire
Kingdom of Portugal
 Adal Sultanate
Ottoman Empire
Commanders
Dawit II of Ethiopia
Wasan Sagad
Eslamu
Gelawdewos of Ethiopia
Cristóvão da Gama
 Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi
Sayid Mehmed
Garad Emar
v • d • e
Ethiopian-Adal War
Shimbra Kure –

Antukyah – Amba Sel – Sahart – Jarte – Wofla –

Wayna Daga

The Ethiopian-Adal War was a military conflict between the Ethiopian Empire and the Adal Sultanate from 1529 until 1543. It is notable for the participation of Cristóvão da Gama, son of the famous navigator Vasco da Gama, and for decisively proving, through its use on both sides, the value of firearms such as the matchlock musket, cannons, and the arquebus over traditional weapons.

Contents

[edit] Background

When Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi became Sultan of Adal he united the Arab tribes of Somalia, as well as the Oromo and the Afar. Ahmad initiated a jihad against Dawit II, Emperor of Ethiopia in 1527. He was supported in his cause by several Falashas and Orthodox Ethiopians who opposed Dawit II's rule.

[edit] Course of the war

In 1529 the forces under Imam Ahmad, defeated a larger Ethiopian army at the Battle of Shimbra Kure. This victory came at heavy cost, but it solidified the Muslim morale, providing proof that they could stand up to the large Ethiopian army.

The victories that gave the followers of Imam Ahmad the upper hand came in 1531. The first was at Antukyah, where canon-fire at the start of the battle panicked the Ethiopian soldiers. The second was on 28 October at Amba Sel, when troops under the Imam not only defeated but dispersed the Ethiopian army and captured items of the Imperial regalia. These victories allowed the Muslims to enter the Ethiopian highlands, where they began to sack and burn numerous churches, including Atronsa Maryam where the remains of several Emperors had been interred.[1]

The country was looted by the Ahmad's forces, who destroyed several Christian monuments and oppressed the non-Muslim Amhara and Tigray.

Dawit II died in 1540 and his heir was captured by the Arabs; the Empress was unable to react as she was besieged in the capital. In 1543 the Ethiopian guerrillas were able to defeat the Muslims with the help of the Portuguese navy, which brought 400 musketeers and blocked supplies from the Ottoman Empire from reaching Adal. In 1543 Ahmad died in the Battle of Wayna Daga.

Mohammed Hassan has plausibly argued that because the participants in this conflict weakened each other severely, this provided an opportunity for the Oromo people to migrate into the lands south of the Abay east to Harar and make them their homelands.[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Local History in Ethiopia" (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 28 January 2008)
  2. ^ Mohammed Hassen, The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History (1570-1860) Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1994.
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