Battle of Shimbra Kure

Timeline

1. 1527–1529southeastern Ethiopian border · EthiopiaAfter consolidating military power in Adal, Gran repeatedly raided the edges of the Christian highlands. Lebna Dengel assembled far more cavalry and infantry than his opponent, preparing to face the imam's main force in eastern Shewa; both sides still partly viewed the conflict as large-scale plundering.
2. 1529Shimbra Kure · ShewaThe two armies clashed on March 9. Adal's left wing at first routed, but Harar cavalry and Arab riders counterattacked in the center; though outnumbered, the imperial army was thrown into disorder by mobility. Gran controlled the field with fewer troops, and imperial nobles and archers suffered heavy losses—the emperor's main force was defeated in open battle for the first time.
3. 1529–1531Adal-Shewa border · Horn of AfricaThough victorious, Gran temporarily withdrew because Harar nobles were unwilling to move the center of rule into Abyssinia. Ethiopian chronicles still treat 1529 as the start of the great persecution. From 1531 he adopted a strategy of permanent occupation and conversion, taking Dawaro and Shewa in succession, fundamentally changing the nature of the war.