Sack of Harar (1559)

Sack of Harar
Part of the Solomonic Walashma Wars
Date 1559;466 years ago (1559) Location Harar, Adal Sultanate Result Ethiopian victory Ethiopians sack the city [1] [2]
Belligerents
Ethiopian Empire	Adal Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Abeto Hamalmal	Barakat ibn Umar Din   † [3]
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Minimal	Very heavy [4]

Harar, capital of the Adal Sultanate, was sacked in 1559 by the army of the Ethiopian Empire under the leadership of Abeto Hamalmal. The Sultan Barakat ibn Umar Din was forced to flee the capital and was eventually killed by the victorious Hamalmal, ^[5] marking the end of the Walashma Dynasty. ^[6] The 1559 sack of Harar was the second devastation of the city by the Ethiopians who sacked it earlier in 1550 after routing an Adalite invasion of Dewaro. ^{[7] [8]}

Background

After a 1548 Jihad against the Ethiopian Empire ended in a disaster which saw the sack of the Capital Harar in an Ethiopian counteroffensive, the Adalites once again launched a jihad and invaded Fatagar in 1559. The emperor Gelawdewos sent his cousin Abeto Hamalmal to attack Adalite territory. This was ignored by the Adalites who confronted the emperor's smaller and outgunned army at the Battle of Fatagar in which the emperor was killed fighting "heroically" according to Abir Mordechai. ^[9] Hamalmal then proceeded to sack Harar, capital of the Adalites, where the Sultan Barakat was killed after fleeing the city. ^[10]

Aftermath

The Ethiopians' devastation of the city and massacre of its population heavily damaged its defenses and left it vulnerable to the advancing Baraytuma clan of the Oromo whose subsequent raids devastated the sultanate's territories further. ^[11] Sultan Barakat ibn Umar Din the last known member of Walasma family was executed. ^[12]

References

1. Baynes-Rock, Marcus. Among the Bone Eaters: Encounters with Hyenas in Harar. United States: Penn State University Press, 2015, pp.14-15
2. Abir, Mordechai. Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim European Rivalry in the Region. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.137
3. Pankhurst, Richard. An introduction to the economic history of Ethiopia, from early times to 1800. London: Lalibela House, 1961, p.79
4. Abir, Mordechai. Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim European Rivalry in the Region. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.137
5. Hassen, Mohammed. The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: 1300-1700. United Kingdom: James Currey, 2015, p.179
6. Trimingham, J. Spencer. Islam in Ethiopia. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.92
7. Trimingham, J. Spencer. Islam in Ethiopia. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.91
8. Abir, Mordechai. Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim European Rivalry in the Region. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.134
9. Abir, Mordechai. Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim European Rivalry in the Region. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.134
10. Trimingham, J. Spencer. Islam in Ethiopia. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.92
11. Abir, Mordechai. Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim European Rivalry in the Region. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.137
12. Trimingham, J. Spencer. Islam in Ethiopia. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis, 2013, p.92