Portal:Somalia/Selected biography

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Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi (c.1506 - February 21, 1543) was an Imam and General of the Adal Sultanate. Nicknamed Gran (Gurey in Somali), which means "the left-handed", he is known for having defeated Ethiopian Emperor Lebna Dengel in battle. Ahmad, backed by the Ottoman Empire, subsequently embarked on a conquest which brought three-quarters of Christian Ethiopia under the power of the Islamic Adal from 1529-43, but his forces were pushed back by Portuguese intervention.