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16th century The sultanates military, the bulk being the Somalis is reported to have equipped a high level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization, granting them successive victories in their various campaigns in the conquest of Abyssinia. In its time in the 16th century Adal Sultanates Military was a very powerful and an effective force. The most successful generals of Adal's military were Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi and his right hand and brother in law Garad Matan ibn Al Somali. The conquest of Abyssinia led to the Islamization of nearly half of Ethiopia. The chronicle of Adal's conquest of Abyssinia is depicted in various Arabic, Abyssinian and other foreign sources an example is futuh al Habesh.
In the 16th century Adal sultanate embarked on a conquest of Abyssinia, The troops were recruited from all over Adal. The vast majority of the Adals military were Somalis with some Harla tribes, the list of Adalite generals who participated in the conquest are mentioned such as Matan ibn Uthman Al Somali and his brother in law Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. Despite the enormous size of the Abyssinian army the Adalite forces was able to inflict a devastating defeat on the Abyssinian Christians and routed them completely, Richard Pankhurst an Ethiopianist attributed Adal's victory to the use of firearms which the Ethiopians were not accustomed to. This battle was probably the first time Ethiopian forces had to fight against a force equipped with firearms.
The battle of shimbara kura was one of the most bloodiest battles in Adal sultanates military history. in this battle the adalites were significantly outnumbered. One of the informants of the imam who went by the name haibi was revealed later on the amount of forces Lebna Dengel had, it was 16,000 cavalry with 200,000[1] foot soldiers while the Adalites were a total of 12,000 troops with somalis making the large majority in this battle. Arab faqih notes ''each of the infidel lines was five times bigger then that of the Muslims who were like the white birth mark on the hide of a black bull[2]
Peak Adalite conquest
The imam before the battle organized his battle formation and the Muslim adalites prayed two Rak’at prayers 2 fold prostrations The imam right before the battle organized his formation he split the Adalites into three The right flank was held by the Harla tribes The left flank which was the largest was held by the Somali Adalites under the brother in law of the imam, Garad Matan bin uthman the somali who was married to his sister fardawsa The middle flank was the elite malasay troops being lead by the imam Ahmed while Hamaza Al Jufi lead the imams infantry he later was martyred in the battle. One of the Muslims gave the adalites a fiery speech encouraging the adalites to fight[3]
O band of Muslims, paradise is beautifully ornamented and Hell-fire is shut tight. The angels are gazing down, The Houris with wide black eyes are preening themselves rejoice at this prospect[4]
Lebna Dengel charged his troops they began attacking the Muslims it was bloody battle, they began attacking the right flank but the Muslims managed to resist them On the left flank the Somalis were hugely outnumbered they fought a bloody battle against the Abyssinians but were overwhelmed due to the left flank being outnumbered, Some of Somalis retreated but 3000 of them were killed. Holding Firm & not retreating was Garad Matan Bin Uthman & Ahmed Gerri Bin Hussein The battle intensified went on until cloud dusts formed no one could see each other some of Abyssinians mistakenly attacked each other. The fighting continued until The Adalites managed to ambush them & push them out[5]
Somali Adalite lancer with a firearm strapped across him
In 1531 the Adalites was able to inflict a crushing defeat on the Abyssinians during the Battle of Antukyah which allowed the Adalites to Conquer Fatager and Shewa. Adalite forces killed and captured Elite patricians, Among the famous patricians was the governor of Begmeder Azmac Yeshaq who was killed by a Somali called Ali Madajir who was from the tribe of Matan ibn uthman the somali[6],The number of patricians killed was staggering, the futuh reports exactly 130 Amhara and Tigrayan patricians were killed[7] Then the Imam dispatched his right hand man and brother in law Garad Matan Al Somali who then conquered Eastern Shewa then Genreal Matan Al Somali drove his adalite forces and conquered Bete Amhara ( House Of Amhara ) by the end of the year Dawit II fell back behind the Abay River to seek refuge in Gojjam much deeper into the highlands.
Badeqe was the residence of king wanag sagad, after the Muslims had burnt the church of the king the muslims wanted to proceed to conquer the town of badeqe.as they entered the city they were met by the kings patricians under them were an army. the imam instructed his troops to not hasten, he commanded wazir addoli to find a suitable place for calvary and battle.
As they drew closer to the city they a met river crossing which split the Muslims and Christians, the imam split his forces into three. the middle passing of the river was under the imam. in the the right passing he put his brother in law, Garaad Matan on the left was the Somali archers whom were the marehan. the Muslims under the unit of Matan fought a bloody battle
arab faqih explains
The unit under Mattan fought a bloody battle at the right-hand crossing.Sometimes they attacked the infidels, and sometimes the infidels attacked the Muslims who drove them back. They were tireless in this,from the time of the forenoon prayer, until the afternoon prayer time.
the Muslims continued fighting until the night separated, in the following morning some of the forces fighting with the imam in the middle flank fled from battle the imam subsequently delt with them by chasing after them, while the imam was chasing the deserters. some of the abyssians suggested to go after them but king assumed that it was ploy by them. the Muslims had surrounded and occupied a mountain the abyssinans charged towards the muslims, they ambushed and encircled the Abyssinians killing them all.
arab faqih describes
Some of the infidel forces,when they saw the rout of the Muslims, outdistanced them and occupied a mountain along their route. The Muslims arrived at the mountain and saw the infidels on its summit. Immediately they encircled it, and killed the infidels, all of them. Not one of them escaped.
they had arrived at the Gurage gates after not spending the night there and they engaged in conventional engagements with some idol worshipping Abyssinians, after the events the imam proceeded to go Canopus on route to Dakan Dur to look for the king of Abyssinia. when the imam and his army arrived they came across three gates with thorns decorated around them
When the imam arrived there he found three gates, into which trees and briars had been squeezed until they were blocked up. He ordered some of his foot-soldiers, commanded by Samsu, to place their shields over the trees and thorns and to walk on top of the shields, thus passing through the gate, and entering the place they so dearly sought. After they had opened the gate, they moved aside all the trees that had been blocking it, and then the imam and all his army went through.
after the Muslims had passed the gate suddenly the king of Abyssinia told the people of tegre to stop the muslims from advancing past the gate, they set out after the Muslims. Approaching them from the side, the imam and his army went through. the muslims made a sudden change and u turned to charge at the Abyssinians. arab faqih writes
When the latter saw them, some of the Muslim cavalry headed in their direction, among them the sheikh Mika'el son of the sheikh Dajnah, Mattan the Somali, Saidi Muhammed, 'Abd an-Nasr, Ura'i Abun, the emir Abu Bakr, Ura'i 'Utman bin 'Ali and Kabir Muhammad, and about forty other horsemen of their ilk They galloped through a valley there and met up with the Christians.The Muslims charged into the idol-worshippers and the ferocious battle that the troops ensued was unprecedented.[8] the Adalites engaged in a conventional battle killing and capturing the patricians most of them were taken as prisoners.
The Battle of Wofla was a descisive battle fought in 1542 August near a lake called Ashenge in Wofla. The Portuguese under Cristóvão da Gama and the forces of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. Reinforced with a superiority not only in numbers but in firearms, Imam Ahmad was again victorious which resulted in the Portuguese, along with Queen Seble Wongel to flee their fortified encampment and leave their weapons behind.
While fleeing the battlefield with 14 soldiers, Cristóvão da Gama had broken his arm from a bullet in battle, he was shortly then was captured at night by the adalite soldiers of Imam Ahmad. However other accounts state Gama had stayed behind to look for a woman he had captured at the Battle of the Hill of the Jews with whom he became infatuated. Nonetheless, he was brought to the Imam Ahmad whom he tortured and then shortly executed De Gama this served as huge blow for the portuguese.[9]
Oxford history of Islam explains the demographics of the Adalite military, the Adalite military consisted mainly somalis who formed the majority of Adals military. the sultanate also recruited nomadic tribes such as zarba. many contemporary writers have all agreed that adal military was mainly Somalis.
Oxford history of Islam writes
the principalities became tributary to Ethiopia. The sultanate of Adal, which emerged as the major Muslim principality from 1420 to 1560, seems to have recruited its military force mainly from among the Somalis. In its wars with the Christian state of Ethiopia[10]
I.M Lewis writes
Somali forces contributed much to the Imām’s victories. Shihāb ad-Dīn, the Muslim chronicler of the period, writing between 1540 and 1560, mentions them frequently (Futūḥ al-Ḥabasha, ed. And trs. R. Besset Paris, 1897). The most prominent Somali groups in the campaigns were the Geri, Marrehān, and Harti – all Dārod clans. Shihāb ad-Dīn is very vague as to their distribution and grazing areas, but describes the Harti as at the time in possession of the ancient eastern port of Mait.[11]
David Hatcher has also articulated the imams ethnicity verifying that the imam was Somali
popularly known in Ethiopia as Ahmed Gragn (the left-handed) who was a Somali imam and general of the Adal Sultanate. Several times Ahmed Gragn left his fortress town of Harar and marched his Muslim army north[12]
Raphael Chijioke writes
Leader Imam Ahmed Gurey and his Somali armies defeat the Ethiopians. The Portuguese come to Ethiopia's aid[13]
The Adal soldiers wore elaborate helmets and steelarmour made up of chain-mail with overlapping tiers. The Horsemen of Adal wore protective helmets that covered the entire face except for the eyes, and breastplates on their body, while they harnessed their horses in a similar fashion. In siege warfare, ladders were employed to scale buildings and other high positions such as hills and mountains.among the calvary, The somalis were renowned and skilled in their calvary
arab faqih states somalis were renowned horsemen
Accurate depiction of Adalite calvary
The storyteller, may God have mercy upon him, says: On the left was the Somali tribe of Harti, from the people of Mait; a people not given to yielding. There were three-hundred of them, famous among the infantry as stolid swordsmen. In the same way there was the tribe of Yibberi, around four-hundred infantrymen, archers. So the imam attached them to the five-hundred who held the centre, saying to them, 'Hold your positions; don't budge, anyone of you.' The tribe of Girri were all horsemen, renowned as riders.[3] arab faqih was very explicit in explaing the wide range of weapons used by adalites for exapmple arab faqih further goes on to describe Ahmed Girri Bin Hussein al somali and his habar maqdi army
arab faqih writes
The first of the tribes to reach the imam was Habr Maqdi with their lord and chieftain Ahmad Girri bin Husain, the Somali. They encamped in a place called Qasa in the heights above the valley of Harar. They showed off their equipment and their weapons, and paraded their horses. They were knights, and what knights! And they were foot-soldiers; and what foot- soldiers! The imam rejoiced at their arrival exceedingly. They met the imam face to face, and he welcomed them with the warmest of welcomes. He gave them gifts of apparel, and provisions, and treated them graciously, garbing their chieftain, Ahmad Girri Bin Hussein, in particularly exquisite clothing.[14]
Elite unit of military warriors in the Adal army was branded with the title Malassay or Malachai these were special adalite troops, somalis made up the majority of the malassay troops among them was Garad Dhaweyd Al Bartirre and Absame Nur who was listed among the renowned and elite honorable knights. The term often became synonymous with Muslims in Adal to outsiders, but it did not denote to a tribe , a man Malasāy is not born He is given this title after demonstrating his military capabilities in short you will have to qualify yourself into a malasai
^A Pastoral Democracy A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. LIT. pp. page 15. ISBN3825830845. {{cite book}}: |first= missing |last= (help); |pages= has extra text (help); line feed character in |title= at position 21 (help)
^hatcher, David. Ark Of God. Adventures Unlimited Press. ISBN1939149606. {{cite book}}: External link in |author-link2= (help)
^Chijioke Njoku, Raphael (2013). The History of Somalia. ABC-CLIO. p. 15. ISBN0313378584.
^arab faqih, Sihab adin (2003). Conquest Of Abyssiia. tshai. p. 43. ISBN9780972317269.
