Adal-Ethiopian War (Ahmad Gran's Jihad)
The Solomonid Ethiopian empire was a negotiated polity in which the emperor depended on the loyalty of regional rases and a land-owning Orthodox Church. From the east, the Muslim Adal Sultanate, led by the imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (known to Ethiopians as Gran, 'the left-handed'), launched a jihad armed with Ottoman firearms. From 1529 the Adal forces won a series of victories, notably at Shimbra Kure, and overran most of the Ethiopian highlands, burning churches and forcing conversions across a vast area. The empire nearly collapsed; Emperor Lebna Dengel died a fugitive. In 1541 a Portuguese expedition under Cristóvão da Gama landed to support the Christian state, supplying matchlock muskets and cannon. After early reverses, the combined Ethiopian-Portuguese army killed Ahmad Gran at the Battle of Wayna Daga in 1543, breaking the invasion. The war left the highlands devastated and depopulated, fatally weakened both states, and opened the way for the large-scale Oromo migrations that reshaped the region.
- Year: 1529 CE
- Category: Military
