TheEthiopian–Adal War, also known as theAbyssinian–Adal War andFutūḥ Al-Ḥabaša (Arabic:فتوح الحبش,lit. 'Conquest of Abyssinia'), was a war fought between theChristianEthiopian Empire and theMuslimAdal Sultanate from 1529 to 1543. The Christian Ethiopian troops consisted of theAmhara,Tigrayans,Tigrinya andAgaw people, and at the closing of the war, supported by thePortuguese Empire with no less than four hundredmusketeers.[6] The Adal forces were composed ofHarla/Harari,[7][8]Somali,[9]Afar as well asArab andTurkish gunmen. Both sides would see theMaya mercenaries at times join their ranks.[10]: 188 The conflict was followed shortly by the 16th centuryOttoman-Ethiopian War[11]
ImamAhmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was a military leader of the medievalAdal Sultanate in the northern Horn of Africa. Between 1529 and 1543, he embarked on a campaign referred to as theFutuh al-Habasha, bringing the three-quarters ofChristianAbyssinia under the control of theMuslim empire.[12] With an army composed of Harari (Harla), and Somalis,[13] al-Ghazi's forces came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom, slaughtering any Ethiopian who refused to convert to Islam.[14] Within the span of fourteen years the Imam was able to conquer the heartland of the country, wreaking havoc on the Christian nation.[15] However, the Abyssinians managed to secure the assistance ofCristóvão da Gama'sPortuguese troops, and maintained their domain's autonomy. Both polities exhausted their resources and manpower in the process, resulting in the contraction of the two powers and altering regional dynamics for centuries to come. Many historians trace the origin of hostileEthiopia–Somalia relations to this war.[16] Some scholars also argue that this conflict proved the value, through their use on both sides, offirearms such as thematchlockmusket,cannons, and thearquebus over traditional weapons.[17]
In 1529, Imam Ahmad's Adal troops defeated a larger Ethiopian contingent at theBattle of Shimbra Kure. TheHarari cavalry also known as theMalassay were instrumental in this battle, as the Abyssinian troops were outmaneuvered.[18][19]
The victories that gave the followers of Imam Ahmad the upper hand came in 1531. The first was theBattle of Antukyah, where cannon fire at the start panicked the Ethiopian soldiers. The second was theBattle of Amba Sel, where troops under the Imam not only defeated but dispersed the Ethiopian army and captured items of the Imperial regalia. These victories allowed the Adalites to enter theEthiopian highlands, where they began to sack and burn numerous churches, includingAtronsa Maryam, where the remains of several Emperors had been interred.[20]
Imam Ahmad defeated the armies ofAgame andTembien and marched towardsAksum to capture the historical Ethiopian city to solidify his rule in Ethiopia, echoingMehmed II conquest ofConstantinople, but the locals of Tigray had all assembled to defend their holy city. The Imam defeated and killed a large number of them asArab Faqīh states, "Not a single one managed to slip away. They killed them in the forts, in the valleys and in the gorges. The ground was so thickly covered with their corpses, that it was impossible to walk in that place because of the dead bodies." he estimates that over 10,000 Christians were killed. The Imam reachedAksum he besieged the city in the siege of Axum where upon he destroyed theChurch of Our Lady Mary of Zion. During his invasion of the Tigray regionAhmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi visited the tomb ofNajashi in Negash to pay his respects.[21]
Dawit was stabbed to death in his bed by an unknown assailant atDebre Damo[22] and his son and future emperor PrinceMenas was captured by the forces of Imam Ahmad; the Empress was unable to react as she was besieged in the capital. During their defeat at the hands of the Ottomans at the1541 Battle of Suez. The Portuguese forces would also be ambushed by the Adalites at theBattle of Massawa becoming the first encounter between the two groups.[23] In 1543, a smaller number of Abyssinians soundly defeated the larger Adal-Ottoman army[24] with the help of the Portuguese navy, which brought 400 musketeers led byCristóvão da Gama viaMassawa, a port in the province ofMedri Bahri, an important port today in present-day Eritrea. However, Da Gama was captured in theBattle of Wofla and later executed.
The 500 musketeers were led by Bahr NagashYeshaq, king of Medri Bahri. Yeshaq provided the Portuguese with not only provisions and places to camp in his realm but also information about the land. The Bahr Nagash also joined EmperorGelawdewos and the Portuguese in the decisiveBattle of Wayna Daga, where tradition states that Imam Ahmad was shot in the chest by a Portuguese musketeer named João de Castilho, who had charged alone into the Muslim lines and died. The wounded Imam was then beheaded by an Ethiopian cavalry commander,Azmach Calite.[25][26][27] Once the Imam's soldiers learned of his death, they fled the battlefield.[28] The death of Imam Ahmad and the victory at Wayna Daga caused a collapse of Ahmad's forces and forced an Adalite retreat from Ethiopia.
Mohammed Hassen has plausibly argued that because this conflict severely weakened both participants, it provided an opportunity for theOromo people toconquer and migrate into the historicallyGafat land ofWelega south of theBlue Nile and eastward to the walls ofHarar, establishing new territories.[29]
Abyssinian raids into the Lowland Islamic populations continued intensely and frequently into the middle of the 17th century.[30]
The war was devastating for theHarari people which resulted in massive casualties for them and the conflict is regarded as one of the reasons for their rapid population decline.[31] According to historian El Amin Abdel Karim Ahmed:[32]
"The Muslim Semitic-speaking Harari once occupied more extensive territories as part of the medieval Muslim state of Adal with the town of Harar as its metropolitan centre. Politically weakened by the internal disputes and militarily exhausted by the jihad wars of the sixteenth century the Harari became an easy prey for the invading Oromo who battered and harassed them relentlessly. As a result they were constantly pushed back and managed to survive only as an isolated people confined within the stone-walled town of Harar and its immediate environs, while the Oromo occupied the regions all around them. Nevertheless Harar survived and continued its precarious existence as the capital of an emirate of the same name."
Die malasây spielten bei dem Großen Krieg des 16. Jhdts. eine wichtige Rolle, indem sie - ausschließlich aus Hararinern bestehend - als Führer kleinerer Regimente unter dem Befehl eines Garâds wirkten
