The Battle of Gomit was fought in 1445 between 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 ...
and a powerful Muslim army under the
Adal Sultanate
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 ...
. The Ethiopians were led by Emperor
Zara Yaqob
Zara Yaqob ( Ge'ez: ዘርዐ ያዕቆብ; 1399 – 26 August 1468) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty who ruled under the regnal name Kwestantinos I (Ge'ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He is known for t ...
, while the forces of Adal were led by Sultan
Badlay ibn Sa'ad ad-Din
Badlay ibn Sa'ad ad-Din II ( ar, بادلاي بن سعد الدين) (also known as Sihab ad-Din Ahmad Badlay, Arwe Badlay – "Badlay the Beast" (died 1445) was a Sultan of the Sultanate of Adal and a son of Sa'ad ad-Din II. Brought numerous ...
. The Ethiopian army was victorious, and Badlay was slain. After dismembering the Adal sultan's body and plundering his treasures, the
Emperor of Ethiopia
The emperor of Ethiopia ( gez, ንጉሠ ነገሥት, nəgusä nägäst, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse ( am, ዐፄ, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century ...
decided not to conquer the Adalites, believing they were outside of the Christian boundary and shouldn't be included in his kingdom. However historian Hassan states Adal's powerful counter attacks persuaded Ethiopian monarch from attempting to occupy the state.
Background
Badlay first invaded the
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
n province of
Dawaro in 1443, and again in 1445, but while in Dago, the Emperor
Zara Yaqob
Zara Yaqob ( Ge'ez: ዘርዐ ያዕቆብ; 1399 – 26 August 1468) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty who ruled under the regnal name Kwestantinos I (Ge'ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He is known for t ...
received news that the Sultan
Badlay ibn Sa'ad ad-Din
Badlay ibn Sa'ad ad-Din II ( ar, بادلاي بن سعد الدين) (also known as Sihab ad-Din Ahmad Badlay, Arwe Badlay – "Badlay the Beast" (died 1445) was a Sultan of the Sultanate of Adal and a son of Sa'ad ad-Din II. Brought numerous ...
had embarked on a war against him. He then marched south with the army of his vassal Hassab Bawassan.
''
Garad
Garad ( Harari: ገራድ, , , Oromo: ''Garaada'') is a term used to refer to a clan leader or regional administrator. It was used primarily by Muslims in the Horn of Africa that were associated with Islamic states, most notably the Adal Sultanate ...
'' Mohammed, the governor of
Hadiya Province and the emperor's father in-law, offered his help to both the sultan and the emperor. The emperor, who suspected the ''Garad'' of dessertion due to his Muslim faith, ordered him to camp near Ayfars while the trusting sultan was deceived.
[E.A Wallis Budge, A history of Ethiopia, pp.308 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499166/page/n393/mode/1up]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomit
Battles involving Ethiopia
15th century in Ethiopia
Battles of the Middle Ages
Conflicts in 1445
Battles involving the Adal Sultanate
Battles of the Abyssinian–Adal war