The Battle of Baçente was fought on February 2, 1542, when a Portuguese army under

Cristóvão da Gama Cristóvão da Gama ( 1516 – 29 August 1542), anglicised as Christopher da Gama, was a Portugal, Portuguese military commander who led a Portuguese army of 400 musketeers to assist Ethiopia that faced Islamic Jihad from the Adal Sultanate led ...

took a

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

held by Adalite forces in northern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. The Portuguese suffered minimal casualties, while the defenders were reportedly all killed. Queen Seble Wongel (likely justifiably) advised against this attack, arguing that Gama should wait until her son the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Gelawdewos Galawdewos (, 1521/1522 – 23 March 1559), also known as Mar Gelawdewos (), was Emperor of Ethiopia from 3 September 1540 until his death in 1559, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was Atsnaph Sagad I (Ge'ez: አጽናፍ � ...

could march north from

Shewa Shewa (; ; Somali: Shawa; , ), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at it ...

and join the Portuguese due to

Ahmed Gragn Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ; 21 July 1506 – 10 February 1543) was the Imam of the Adal Sultanate from 1527 to 1543. Commonly named Ahmed ''Gragn'' in Amharic and ''Gurey'' in Somali, ...

having known of them. However, Gama was concerned that if he marched around this Muslim-held strongpoint, the local peasantry would be disappointed and stop providing supplies for his troops. After a probing attack to learn the defenders' defences, which Queen Sabla Wengel initially mistook for a defeat, Gama ordered an attack from three sides directions on the following day. The defenders were annihilated, with negligible losses to the Portuguese. Nine horses and a number of mules were captured, which afterwards proved useful. "As a feat of arms, this capture of notable." A mosque, which had originally been a church before the hillfort was occupied by

Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ; 21 July 1506 – 10 February 1543) was the Imam of the Adal Sultanate from 1527 to 1543. Commonly named Ahmed ''Gragn'' in Amharic and ''Gurey'' in Somali, ...

's men, was reconsecrated as a church, and dedicated to "Our Lady of Victory", and mass was celebrated there the next day. The expeditionary force spent the rest of February there, recovering from the battle.Whiteway, pp. 33-7. R.S. Whiteway identified the Portuguese "Baçente" as referring to Amba Senayt in Haramat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacente, Battle of Conflicts in 1542 Bacente 1542 in Ethiopia 1542 in the Portuguese Empire 1542 in Africa Bacente Battles involving the Adal Sultanate