Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi (c.1507 - February 21, 1543) was a Somali general who defeated several Ethiopian emperors and wreaked much damage on that nation. He is also known as Ahmad Gragn, or "Ahmed the left-handed". Events The western continent is named America on the maps of Martin Waldseemüller. ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events February 11 - Battle of Wayna Daga - Ethiopian/Portuguese? troops defeat the armies of Adal and the Ottoman Empire. ... Somali can refer to: a cushitic people, who inhabit and are native to much of Horn of Africa and in particular the Somali Peninsula: Djibouti, Northern Frontier Districts (NFD), parts of Ethiopia, Somaliland (RSL) and Somalia by ethnicity, a member of the Somali people; by nationality, a citizen of Somalia... The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Ityopiya, Amharic ኢትዮጵያ) is a country situated in the Horn of Africa. ...

He was born from the Abraine clan sub-clan of the majority populated North Gadaboursi (Samaron) Tribe in Zeylac. He was married to Bati del Wambara, the daughter of Mahfuz the governor of Zeila. When Mahfuz was killed returning from a campaign against the Ethiopian emperor Lebne Dengel in 1517, the Adal sultanate lapsed into anarchy for several years, until Ahmad killed the last of the contenders for power and took control of Harar. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Ityopiya, Amharic ኢትዮጵያ) is a country situated in the Horn of Africa. ... Events January 22 - Battle of Ridanieh. ... This article is about the African sultanate. ... Harar, also spelled Harrar, is a city in Ethiopia, situated in the eastern extension of the Ethiopian highlands, about five hundred km from Addis Ababa. ...

In retaliation for an attack on Adal in 1527-8 by the Ethiopian general Degalhan, Ahmad invaded Ethiopia in 1529, and inflicted a defeat on Lebne Dengel. Ahmad campaigned again in Ethiopia in 1531, looting the island monastery of Lake Hayq and the stone churches of Lalibela. When he entered the province of Tigray, he defeated an Ethiopian army that confronted him there, and on reaching Axum destroyed the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, in which the Ethiopian emperors had been coronated for centuries. Events April 22 - Portugal, stipulating that the dividing line should lie 297. ... Events January 26 - Lisbon, Portugal is hit by an earthquake-- thousands die October 1 - Battle of Kappel - The forces of Zürich are defeated by the Catholic cantons. ... After the city of Aksum, Lalibela is modern Ethiopias holiest city and a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. ... Tigray is the northern-most of the nine ethnic divisions (kililoch) of Ethiopia. ... Axum, also Aksum, is a city in northern Ethiopia, located at the base of the Adoua mountains. ... The Chapel of the Tablet The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion (“Igzi’itne Maryam S’iyon Yeityopiya Ortodoks Baytekristiyan” in the languages of Ethiopia) of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the most important and one of the oldest churches of Ethiopia. ...

The Ethiopians were forced to ask for help from the Portuguese, who landed at the port of Massawa on February 10, 1541 in the reign of the emperor Gelawdewos. This force was led by Christopher da Gama, and included 400 musketeers and a number of artisans and other non-combatants. In response, Ahmad received 900 well-armed men from the Ottomans in Yemen to assist him. The Republic of Portugal (Portuguese: República Portuguesa) is a democratic republic located on the west and southwest parts of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, the westernmost country in continental Europe. ... Massawa is both an island in the Red Sea, and a major city of Eritrea. ... February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events The first official translation of the entire Bible in Swedish February 12 - Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago de Chile. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto El Muzaffer Daima The Ever Victorious (as written in tugra) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital İstanbul ( Constantinople/Asitane/Konstantiniyye ) Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 12+ million km² Establishment 1299 Dissolution October 29, 1923... The Republic of Yemen is a country in the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia, and is a part of the Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia. ...

While the Portuguese expedition were victorious in most of their engagements with Ahmad's forces, da Gama allowed himself to be trapped by Ahmad somewhere north of the Tekezé River, where he was killed along with all but 140 of his troops. The survivors and Galawedos were able to join forces, and drawing on the Portuguese supplies, they attacked Ahmad on February 21, 1543 in the Battle of Wayna Daga, where their 9,000 troops managed to defeat the 15,000 soldiers under Ahmad. Ahmad was killed by a Portuguese musketteer, who was mortally wounded in avenging da Gama's death. The Tekezé River is a major river of Ethiopia, and forms a section the westernmost border of Ethiopia and Eritrea for part of its course. ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events February 11 - Battle of Wayna Daga - Ethiopian/Portuguese? troops defeat the armies of Adal and the Ottoman Empire. ...

His wife Bati del Wambara managed to escape the battlefield with a remnant of the Turkish soldiers to Harar, where she rallied his followers. She agreed to marry his nephew Nur ibn Mujahid on the condition that Nur would avenge Ahmad's defeat.

"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 referred to him in his memoirs. I have often had villagers in northern Ethiopia point out sites of towns, forts, churches and monasteries destroyed by Gragn as if these catastrophes had occurred only yesterday."¹ While acknowledging that many modern Somali nationalists consider Ahmad a national hero, Henze dismisses their claims, stating that the concept of a Somali nation did not exist during Ahmad's lifetime. Haile Selassie Haile Selassie (Power of Trinity) (July 23, 1892 – August 27, 1975) was the last Emperor (1930–1936; 1941–1974) of Ethiopia, and is a religious symbol in the Rastafarian movement. ...

Sources

Ahmad's invasion of Ethiopia is described in detail in the Futuh al-habasa ("The Conquest of Ethiopia") written in Arabic by Ahmad's follower Sihab ad-Din Admad ibn 'Abd-al-Qadir, and covers the story up to March 19, 1537. This history was translated into French by René Basset, and Richard Pankhurst has made a partial translation.² Arabic is a Semitic language, closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Events January 6 - Alessandro de Medici assassinated August 25 - The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, was formed. ... French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ...

References

1. Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p.90.
2. Richard K. P. Pankhurst in The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles (Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press,1967), pp. 49-69.

External link

• Muslim Invasion in Ethiopia (in German language) (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammedanersturm)