Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi ( so, Axmed Ibraahim al-Qaasi or Axmed Gurey,
Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ar, أحمد بن إبراهيم الغازي ;
1506 – 21 February 1543)
was an
imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
and
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
of the
Adal Sultanate.
Imam Ahmad (commonly named Ahmed ''Gurey'' ''in
Somali, and ''Gura'' in
Afar
Afar may refer to:
Peoples and languages
*Afar language, an East Cushitic language
*Afar people, an ethnic group of Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia
Places Horn of Africa
*Afar Desert or Danakil Desert, a desert in Ethiopia
*Afar Region, a region ...
, both meaning "the left-handed" or "the southpaw")'', invaded the
Ethiopian Empire
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...
under the
Sultanate of Adal
The Adal Sultanate, or the Adal Empire or the ʿAdal or the Bar Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate, ''Adal ''Sultanate'') () was a medieval Sunni Muslim Empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din II ...
during the
Ethiopian-Adal War.
Ethnicity
Imam Ahmad is regarded by most scholars as an ethnic
Somali. However, a few historians have dismissed the Somali theory.
Merid Wolde Aregay
Merid Wolde Aregay (1934 or 1935 – 2008) was an Ethiopian historian and a scholar of Ethiopian studies.
Merid Wolde Aregay was born in Adwa in 1927 according to the Ethiopian calendar. He earned his BA in 1956 from what was called Univers ...
argued Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi belonged to the
Harla
The Harla, also known as Harala, or Arla, are an extinct ethnic group that once inhabited Djibouti, Ethiopia and northern Somalia. They spoke the now-extinct Harla language, which belonged to either the Cushitic or Semitic branches of the Afroas ...
dynasty of rulers through his father. Mohammed Hassan also states Ahmed was the son of
Garad Ibrahim, a provincial governor of Sim in Harla realm. According to
Taddesse Tamrat
Taddesse Tamrat ( am, ታደሰ ታምራት; 4 August 1935 – 23 May 2013) was an Ethiopian historian and scholar of Ethiopian studies. He is best known as the author of ''Church and State in Ethiopia 1270–1520'' (1972, Oxford University Pre ...
, although various Somali clans were involved in the conquest, Ahmed was not a Somali and had links to the Semitic-speaking
Wâlasma aristocracy. Some sources assert Ahmad was
Harari (commonly interchangeable with the Harla, as the Harari was found by seven Harla subclans),
while others regard him as
Afar
Afar may refer to:
Peoples and languages
*Afar language, an East Cushitic language
*Afar people, an ethnic group of Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia
Places Horn of Africa
*Afar Desert or Danakil Desert, a desert in Ethiopia
*Afar Region, a region ...
or
Argobba.
Many Somali clans played a strong role in Gurey's conquest of Abyssinia, however, it is said that these clans went to war not so much as Somalis but as
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s.
In the Futuh al-Habasa of Sihab ad-Din records that when the Sultan Umar Din of Harar and the Imam quarrelled over the distribution of the alms tax at some point between the Battle of Shimbra Kure and the Battle of Amba Sel, it led to Imam Ahmad leaving Harar to retire to live amongst Somalis for some time and regularly mediated disputes between clans
Historian Whiteway, R. S. (Richard Stephen) based on the accounts of the Portuguese expeditions to Abyssinia had this much to say about Imam Ahmad's background:
Of the early history of the Imam Ahmad but little is known. He was the son of one Ibrahim el Ghazi, and both he and his father were common soldiers in the troop of Garad Aboun. Nothing even is said as to his nationality. He was certainly not an Arab: probably he was a Somali, for we find him closely connected with many who were Somalis.
Patrick Gikes however states:
I. M. Lewis discusses the existence of another leader named Ahmad Gurey, and suggests that the two leaders have been conflated into one historical figure:
The text refers to two Ahmad's with the nickname 'Left-handed'. One is regularly presented as 'Ahmad Guray, the Somali' (...) identified as Ahmad Gurey Huseyn, chief of the Habar Magaadle. Another reference, however, appears to link the Habar Magadle with the Eidagale. The other Ahmad is simply referred to as 'Imam Ahmad' or simply the 'Imam'. This Ahmad is not qualified by the adjective Somali (...) The two Ahmads have been conflated into one figure, the heroic Ahmed Guray
The leading historian of Ethiopia, former Minister of Education, Arts & Culture and Dean of the National Library under
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
, Takla Sadiq Mekuria, devoted a 950-page book to the question of origin of Gragn and the identity of the
Malassay in his rough monograph on the Gragn Wars (1973/1974) called "Ya Gragn Warara" (The Conquests of Gragn), in it he draws on the evidence from Arab Faqih Sihab Uddin and the chronicles of Sarsa-Dengel. Takla was also able to draw on the traditions of Harar as well as the translated works of Enrico Cerulli and Phillip Paulitchke. Through the mediation of Dagazmac Wargnah he interviewed Ahmed Ali Shami, the highest authoritative scholar of Harar that produced the concise manuscript history of Harar (in his Fatah Madinat Harar manuscript) for several European institutions and concludes Gragn's father was to come from the
Hawiye (Somali clan) in the Ogaden; a genealogy of eight generations before Gragn is known in this tradition.
Early years
![Zeila ruins](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Zeila_ruins.jpeg)
Imam Ahmad was born in 1506 at
Hubat or
Zeila
Zeila ( so, Saylac, ar, زيلع, Zayla), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland.
In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila (or Hawilah) with the Bibli ...
, in the
Adal Sultanate. Ahmad spent most of his childhood in the city of
Harar
Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...
.
Due to the un-Islamic rule during the reign of Sultan
Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad
Abū Bakr ibn Muḥammad ( ar, أبو بكر بن محمد), reigned 1525–1526, was a sultan of the Sultanate of Adal in the Horn of Africa. The historian Richard Pankhurst credits Abu Bakr with founding the city of Harar, which he made his milit ...
, Ahmad would leave Harar for Hubat.
In Hubat an uprising
Adashe crowned himself Sultan of the inhabitants. Adashe longed for Harar and quickly started his conquest after gaining respect from the people. Ahmed along with his father joined Adashe in his conquest and joined the ranks of the elite Adalite force, and became the elite infantryman of Hubat. Adashe who was the uncle of Gragn revolted against the rulers of Zeila and attacked several Adal strong holds, Adashe was then made sultan of Adal for seven years which was his greatest achievement. His rule over Zeila (
Adal
Adal may refer to:
*A short form for Germanic names in ''aþala-'' (Old High German ''adal-''), "nobility, pedigree"; see Othalan
**Adál Maldonado (1948-2020), Puerto Rican artist
**Adal Ramones (born 1969), Mexican television show host
**Adal He ...
) wouldn't last long because a sultan by the name of Abu Bakr ibn Muhammed rebelled. Abu Bakr was defeated Adashe and killed Adashe near Harar. Abu bakr then established himself at Harar. When Abu Bakr became sultan the whole country turned against him because Adashe was a kind man and even his arch enemies loved him. Many people joined the forces of Ahmed Gragn because he claimed to avenge his masters death and kill Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr waged war against Ahmed; however, Ahmed killed Abu Bakr and became the sultan of Adal.
He married
Bati del Wambara
Bati del Wambara fl. 1531, ( Harari: ባቲ ዲል ወምበራ, lit. ''victory is her seat'')Rita Pankhurst Women of Power in Ethiopia: Struggle and Loss was the Harari wife of the 16th-century general, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim, and then his successo ...
, the daughter of
Mahfuz, the Governor of Zeila.
In 1531, Bati would give birth to their first child named Muhammad.
When Mahfuz was killed returning from a campaign against the
Abyssinian emperor
Dawit II
Dawit II ( gez, ዳዊት; – 2 September 1540), also known by the macaronic name Wanag Segad (ወናግ ሰገድ, ''to whom the lions bow''), better known by his birth name Lebna Dengel ( am, ልብነ ድንግል, ''essence of the vi ...
in 1517,
the Adal sultanate lapsed into anarchy for several years, until Imam Ahmad killed the last of the contenders for power and took control of
Harar
Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...
.
Ethiopian historians such as Azazh T'ino and Bahrey have written that during the period of his rise to power, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi had converted many
Oromo pastoral people to Islam.
In retaliation for an attack on Adal the previous year by the Abyssinian general Degalhan, Imam Ahmad invaded Abyssinia in 1529, supplementing his force with considerable numbers of muskets purchased from the Ottomans, which would panic the Abyssinian troops. Imam Ahmad maintained the discipline of most of his men, defeating Emperor
Dawit II
Dawit II ( gez, ዳዊት; – 2 September 1540), also known by the macaronic name Wanag Segad (ወናግ ሰገድ, ''to whom the lions bow''), better known by his birth name Lebna Dengel ( am, ልብነ ድንግል, ''essence of the vi ...
at
Shimbra Kure that March.
Invasion of Abyssinia
The chronicle of Imam Ahmad's invasion of Abyssinia is depicted in various Somali, Abyssinian and other foreign sources. Ahmed with the help of an army overwhelmingly manned by ethnic
Somalis
The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...
or
Harla
The Harla, also known as Harala, or Arla, are an extinct ethnic group that once inhabited Djibouti, Ethiopia and northern Somalia. They spoke the now-extinct Harla language, which belonged to either the Cushitic or Semitic branches of the Afroas ...
/
Harari invaded Ethiopia. Imam Ahmad campaigned in Abyssinia in 1531, breaking Emperor
Dawit II
Dawit II ( gez, ዳዊት; – 2 September 1540), also known by the macaronic name Wanag Segad (ወናግ ሰገድ, ''to whom the lions bow''), better known by his birth name Lebna Dengel ( am, ልብነ ድንግል, ''essence of the vi ...
ability to resist in the
Battle of Amba Sel
The Battle of Amba Sel was fought on 28 October 1531, between the Ethiopians under their Emperor Dawit II, and the forces of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi of the Adal Sultanate. Imam Ahmad won the battle at Amba Sel, winning him the southern p ...
on 28 October. The Muslim army of Imam Ahmad then marched northward to loot the island monastery of
Lake Hayq
Lake Hayq ( Amharic: ሐይቅ ሐይቅ, ) is a freshwater lake of Ethiopia. It is located north of Dessie, in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region. The town of Hayq is to the west of the lake.
Lake Hayq is 6.7 km long and 6 km w ...
and the stone churches of
Lalibela
Lalibela ( am, ላሊበላ) is a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Lasta district and North Wollo Zone, it is a tourist site for its famous rock-cut monolithic churches. The whole of Lalibela is a large and important site ...
. When the Imam entered the province of
Tigray, he defeated an Abyssinian army that confronted him there. On reaching
Axum
Axum, or Aksum (pronounced: ), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015).
It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire, a naval and trading power that ruled the whole region ...
, he destroyed the
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion
The Church of Our Lady, Mary of Zion is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church which is claimed to contain the Ark of the Covenant.
The church is located in the town of Axum, Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia, near the grounds of Axum#Main sit ...
.
The Abyssinians were forced to ask for help from the
Portuguese, who landed at the port of
Massawa
Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak ...
on 10 February 1541, during the reign of the emperor
Gelawdewos. The force was led by
Cristóvão da Gama
Cristóvão da Gama ( 1516 – 29 August 1542), anglicised as Christopher da Gama, was a Portuguese military commander who led a Portuguese army of 400 musketeers on a crusade in Ethiopia (1541–1543) against the Adal Muslim army of Imam Ahmad ...
and included 400 musketeers as well as a number of artisans and other non-combatants. Da Gama and Imam Ahmad met on 1 April 1542 at
Jarte
Jarte is a word processor for users of Microsoft Windows, based on the WordPad engine, produced by Carolina Road Software. In terms of market appeal, Jarte is a lighter alternative to the feature laden Microsoft Word. The standard version of Ja ...
, which Trimingham has identified with
Anasa
''Anasa'' is a genus of leaf-footed bug in the Coreinae subfamily. The nine described species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is ...
, between
Amba Alagi and
Lake Ashenge.
Here the Portuguese had their first glimpse of Ahmad, as recorded by Castanhoso:
:While his camp was being pitched, the king of Zeila
mam Ahmad
Mam or MAM may refer to:
Places
* An Mám or Maum, a settlement in Ireland
* General Servando Canales International Airport in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (IATA Code: MAM)
* Isle of Mam, a phantom island
* Mam Tor, a hill near Castleton in the ...
ascended a hill with several horse and some foot to examine us: he halted on the top with three hundred horse and three large banners, two white with red moons, and one red with a white moon, which always accompanied him, and
ywhich he was recognized.
On 4 April, after the two unfamiliar armies had exchanged messages and stared at each other for a few days, da Gama formed his troops into an
infantry square and marched against the Imam's lines, repelling successive waves of Muslim attacks with musket and cannon. This battle ended when Imam Ahmad was wounded in the leg by a chance shot; seeing his banners signal retreat, the Portuguese and their Abyssinian allies fell upon the disorganized Muslims, who suffered losses but managed to reform next to the river on the distant side.
Over the next several days, Imam Ahmad's forces were reinforced by arrivals of fresh troops. Understanding the need to act swiftly, da Gama on April 16 again formed a square which he led against Imam Ahmad's camp. Castanhoso laments that "the victory would have been complete this day had we only one hundred horses to finish it: for the King was carried on men's shoulders in a bed, accompanied by horsemen, and they fled in no order."
Reinforced by the arrival of the
Bahr Negus Yeshaq
Yeshaq (died 1578) was the Bahr Negus, or ruler of the Medri Bahri, during the mid to late 16th century A subordinate of Ethiopian Emperor Dawit II, he was noted for supporting Gelawdewos during the Ethiopian-Adal war, and rebelling against his su ...
, da Gama marched southward after Imam Ahmad's force, coming within sight of him ten days later. However, the onset of the
rainy season
The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs.
Rainy Season may also refer to:
* ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King
* "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni
* ''T ...
prevented da Gama from engaging Ahmad a third time. On the advice of Queen
Seble Wongel, da Gama made winter camp at
Wofla
Ofla () is one of the Districts of Ethiopia, or ''woredas'', in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Debubawi Zone, Ofla is bordered on the south by Alamata, on the west by the Amhara Region, on the north by Endamehoni, and on the east by R ...
near Lake Ashenge, still within sight of his opponent,
while the Imam made his winter camp on
Mount Zobil.
The Imam was forced to ask for help. According to Abbé , Imam Ahmad received 2000 musketeers from Arabia, and artillery and 900 picked men from the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
to assist him. Meanwhile, due to casualties and other duties, da Gama's force was reduced to 300 musketeers. After the rains ended, Imam Ahmad attacked the Portuguese camp and through weight of numbers killed all but 140 of da Gama's troops. Da Gama himself, badly wounded, was captured with ten of his men and, after refusing an offer to spare his life if he would convert to Islam, was executed.
The survivors and Emperor
Gelawdewos were afterward able to join forces and, drawing on the Portuguese supplies of muskets, attacked Ahmad on 21 February 1543 in the
Battle of Wayna Daga, where their vastly outnumbered troops of 9,000 managed to defeat the 15,000 soldiers under Gragn. The Imam was chased and beheaded by a commander of the Ethiopian cavalry named Azmach Calite.
His wife Bati del Wambara managed to escape the battlefield with a remnant of the Turkish soldiers, and they made their way back to
Harar
Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...
, where she rallied his followers. Intent on avenging her husband's death, she married his nephew
Nur ibn Mujahid on condition that Nur would avenge Imam Ahmad's defeat. In 1550, Nur departed on a Jihad, or Holy War, in the eastern Abyssinian lowlands of Bale, and Hadiya but was repelled by Ras Fanu'el. Abyssinians launched a punitive expedition that captured vast amount of treasure and livestock and they sacked many towns including Harar. In 1559, he invaded Fatagar and Abyssinian emperor
Galawdewos
Galawdewos ( gez, ገላውዴዎስ, 1521/1522 – 23 March 1559) also known as Mar Gelawdewos ( amh, ማር ገላውዴዎስ), was Emperor of Ethiopia from 3 September 1540 until his death in 1559, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His ...
launched a second punitive expedition but was killed in battle.
Legacy
![Harar,_moschea_jamia,_03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Harar%2C_moschea_jamia%2C_03.jpg)
"In Ethiopia the damage which Ahmad Gragn did has never been forgotten," wrote Paul B. Henze. "Every Christian highlander still hears tales of Gragn in his childhood.
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
referred to him in his memoirs, "I have often had Christian villagers in northern Ethiopia point out sites of towns, forts, churches and monasteries destroyed by Gragn as if these catastrophes had occurred only yesterday."
To most
Somalis
The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...
Ahmad is a national hero who fought against Ethiopian Christian aggression on their ancient territories.
[Somalia: From The Dawn of Civilization To The Modern Times: Chapter 8: Somali Hero - Ahmad Gurey (1506-43)]
CivicsWeb
Further reading
Ahmad's invasion of Abyssinia is described in detail in the ''Futuh al-habaša'' ("The Conquest of Ethiopia"), written in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
by Ahmad's follower Sihab ad-Din Admad ibn 'Abd-al-Qadir, in its current version incomplete, covering the story only to 1537, narrating the Imam's raids on the islands of
Lake Tana
Lake Tana ( am, ጣና ሐይቅ, T’ana ḥāyik’i; previously Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wid ...
.
Richard Burton the explorer claimed that the second part could be found "in Mocha or Hudaydah"; but, despite later investigation, no one else has reported seeing a copy of this second part. The surviving first part was translated into French by
René Basset
René Basset (24July 18554January 1924) was a French orientalist, specialist of the Berber language and the Arabic language.
Biography
René Basset was the first director of the "École des lettres d'Alger" created in 1879 during the Frenc ...
and published from 1897 to 1901.
Richard Pankhurst made a partial translation into English as part of his ''The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles'' (Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967), and a complete translation of the ''Futuh al-habaša'' by Paul Lester Stenhouse was published by Tsehai in 2003 ().
*
* (collection of primary sources on the Portuguese expedition in English translation)
See also
*
Imam Ahmed Stadium
Imam Ahmed Stadium (Amharic: ሐረር ኢማም አሕመድ ስታድየም) It is mostly used for football matches and serves as the home stadium of Harar City F.C. (formerly Harar Beer F.C.). The stadium has a capacity of 10,000 people. Dire ...
*
Adal Sultanate
*
History of Medieval Somalia
*
History of Ethiopia
Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in Africa, the emergence of Ethiopian civilization dates back thousands of years. Due to migration and imperial expansion, it grew to include many other primarily Afro-Asiatic-speaking communities, includ ...
*
List of Somalis
References
External links
The Ethiopian Muslim and Christian War (1528-1560)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Ghazi, Ahmad Ibn Ibrihim
Somali monarchs
1500s births
1543 deaths
Somalian military leaders
Somalian imams
People from the Adal Sultanate
16th-century Somalian people