Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi

Type Figure Region Adal Sultanate Time c. 1506–1543 Also known as Ahmed Gragn、Ahmad the Left-Handed

Adal general (c. 1506–1543), nicknamed "Gragn" (left-handed), whose jihad conquered much of Ethiopia until his death at Wayna Daga in 1543.

Timeline

c. 1506–1527Harar · Horn of AfricaAhmad was born in the Adal Sultanate and received Islamic education and military training from childhood. He married the sister of the Adal sultan and rose at court through military talent and religious zeal, gradually seizing real power and becoming the driving force behind the expansion of jihad.
1529–1540Ethiopian Highlands · East AfricaIn 1529 Ahmad decisively defeated the Ethiopian army at the Battle of Shimbra Kure, launching a full-scale conquest. Over the next decade, with Ottoman-supplied muskets and cannon, his forces swept through Ethiopian provinces, burning countless churches and monuments and bringing about three-quarters of the country under their control. The Ethiopian emperor was forced to flee to mountain fortresses and sent appeals for help to Portugal.
1541–1543Wayna Daga · East AfricaIn 1541 a Portuguese expedition under Cristóvão da Gama reached Ethiopia and helped local forces resist. In 1542 Ahmad defeated and killed da Gama, but on 22 March 1543 he was killed by the Portuguese–Ethiopian army at the Battle of Wayna Daga, and the conquest crumbled.

The Conquest of Abyssinia (Futuh Al-Habasha) — Shihab ad-Din Ahmad ibn Abd al-Qader (2003)
The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 3 — Roland Oliver (ed.) (1977)