Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Axmed Gurey)

Who was he?

Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was the imam of the Adal Sultanate from 1527 to 1543 (Wikipedia, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi). Somalis call him Axmed Gurey and Amharic speakers call him Gragn, both meaning "the left-handed" (same source). He led Adal's invasion of the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia (same source). This page records his life without taking sides. For the full war, battle by battle, see Imam Ahmad and the Adal campaigns, 1527 to 1543.

Birth and origin

Wikipedia gives his birth as 1506, in the lowlands of Hubat in Adal (Wikipedia). He spent much time in the city of Harar (same source). Whiteway, who edited the Portuguese records in 1902, writes that he was the son of Ibrahim al-Ghazi, and that father and son were ordinary soldiers under Garad Aboun (Whiteway, The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia, 1902, p. xxxiii).

His ethnic origin is disputed. Historians variously describe him as Somali, as Harla or Harari, or as Balaw (Wikipedia). Whiteway thought him "probably" Somali, because of his close ties to many Somalis, but wrote that the evidence "does not appear decisive" (Whiteway 1902, p. xxxiii). The historian Didier Morin says he is often confused with one of his commanders, Ahmed Gurey ibn Husayn "the Somali" (Wikipedia).

Rise to power

He served under Garad Abun Adashe in a power struggle with the Walashma dynasty of Adal (Wikipedia). He defeated an Ethiopian force sent under the general Degelhan at the battle of Hubat (same source). He then fought and killed Sultan Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad, and set up Umar Din as sultan while he himself held power as imam (same source). He took the religious title of imam rather than the royal title of sultan (Basset, Histoire de la conquête de l'Abyssinie, 1897, introduction).

After taking power in 1527 he banned wine, gambling and drum dances (Wikipedia). The Adal chronicle says he sold his wives' jewellery and his household goods to buy arms for the army (Basset 1897, p. 73).

The war with Ethiopia

In March 1529 he defeated a much larger Ethiopian army at Shimbra Kure (Whiteway 1902, pp. xxxv–xxxvi). Somali communities formed much of his army, and the Adal chronicle names the Habr Magadi, the Geri and the Marehan among them (Basset 1897, pp. 72–73). His brother-in-law Garad Matan ibn Uthman, called "the Somali" in the chronicle, was one of his commanders (same source).

By 1540 Adal held most of Ethiopia, and Emperor Lebna Dengel died a fugitive (Whiteway 1902). The chronicle and other sources record mass killings, forced conversions and the burning of churches, including Debre Libanos and the church of Mary of Zion at Aksum (Wikipedia; Whiteway 1902). The Adal chronicle also says he built mosques and towns in Begemder and Dembiya, and taught the Quran himself to new converts (Wikipedia).

Death

Portugal sent about 400 musketeers under Christovão da Gama in 1541 (Whiteway 1902). The Imam defeated them in August 1542, and da Gama was captured and executed (same source). The Imam was killed at the battle of Wayna Daga, near Lake Tana, on 21 February 1543 (Whiteway 1902, pp. lxix–lxx). Wikipedia gives his death date as 10 February 1543 in its opening line (Wikipedia). His wife, Bati del Wambara, led the rest of the army back to Harar (same source).

How he is remembered

Memories of him differ sharply. In Ethiopia he is remembered for a devastating invasion. The historian Paul Henze wrote, "Every Christian highlander still hears tales of Gragn in his childhood" (Wikipedia). In Somali histories he appears as a national hero; one Somali history book titles its chapter on him "Somali Hero - Ahmad Gurey (1506-43)" (Somalia: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Modern Times, chapter 8). The Imam Ahmed Stadium is named after him (Wikipedia). Somali Wikipedia shows a statue of him in Mogadishu (Somali Wikipedia, Imaam Axmed Qaasi). See Saad ad-Din II, whose sons founded the Sultanate of Adal.

In short

Imam of Adal from 1527 to 1543, who led the war against Ethiopia and was killed at Wayna Daga in 1543.