Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi
Early years

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi was born in 1506 and hailed from the lowlands of Hubat in the Adal Sultanate. The ethnicity of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim is disputed, with historians regarding him as either an ethnic Somali a Harla / Harari, or a Balaw. Ahmad spent a great deal of time in the city of Harar. According to sixteenth century Adal writer Arab Faqīh, due to the secular rule of Sultan Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad, Ahmad would leave Harar and return to Hubat. After the death of Imam Mahfuz, Garad Abun Adashe would become the most popular ruler of Adal, sparking conflict with the ruling Walashma dynasty for seven years. As an elite infantryman of Hubat, Ahmad joined Adashe in his power struggles against the Walashma. It was during this conflict that Ahmad demonstrated his courage, intelligence and military leadership. Garad Abun, who was astonished by the military valour of Ahmad, arranged for him to marry the late Mahfuz 's youngest daughter, Bati del Wambara. The Adal sultan Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad is said to have established his capital at Harar and recruited a large number of Somalis into his army. Together with his Somali allies Abu Bakr defeated and killed Adashe near Zeila in 1525. The remnants of Adashe's forces retreated back to Hubat where their numbers soon rose to over 100. The Sultan attempted to pursue but Ahmad defeated the Sultan in the field; Abu Bakr was forced to take refuge in Ogaden with his Somali allies. Ahmad did not follow him. After raising another large body of Somali followers, Abu Bakr met Ahmad for the second time. It was an indecisive clash that only forced the Sultan to retreat back into the Ogaden and Ahmad remained in Hubat as an independent governor of the rebel province.

Upon hearing that a rebel named Ahmad ibn Ibrahim was in a power struggle with the Adal leaders, the Emperor of Ethiopia Dawit II sent his general Degelhan to confront him. The Abyssinian campaign originally seemed successful as large amounts of women and children of Adal were captured by Degelhan including the mother of Ahmad's commander Abu Bakr Qatin. Meanwhile, Emir Ahmad had laid a trap in Hubat: splitting his unit into three, he waited for the Abyssinians to enter the region after sacking Harar and ambushed them in the Battle of Hubat. The remaining Abyssinian army who were not killed fled in panic, thus Ahmed's troops won decisively and were able to recover stolen booty. Ahmad's victory not only strengthened his fighting capacity, but also spread his fame far and wide. The Sultan hearing about this gathered a large force of his Somali followers and besieged his capital at Siege of Hubat. Ahmad was unprepared and in a mountain encampment on Gara Muleta. The sultan besieged Ahmad and his small force for ten days, when he hoped to starve them. However, at this critical moment, the sheikhs of Harar intervened and reconciled the two leaders. Ahmad was forced to recognize the authority of the Adalite state for the first time in his career.

This peace was immediately broken by Abu Bakr, who tried to assassinate Ahmad while he was in Harar, Ahmad fled back to Hubat where he continued to struggle against the Sultan. At about this time a swarm of bees enlightened on Ahmad's head, this incident was considered so miraculous that people gave him the title of Imam. After much war the Imam defeated and killed Abu Bakr who fled to the Ogaden among his Somali supporters. He then returned to Harar where he placed Umar Din on the throne as his puppet. Imam Ahmad would spend the next several months in subjugating the surrounding Somali clans with diplomacy and war. He had hoped to unite all the warring Muslim nomads under his authority which he had done so successfully. The Imam was also able to start stockpiling on firearms such as the matchlock musket, cannons, and the arquebus, which he obtained from Arabia via the port of Zeila. Before carrying out his invasion of Ethiopia, it is said he had access to several cannons as well as several well armed soldiers from Yemen. He invited the Somali chiefs of the area to participate in his jihad (holy war) against Ethiopia. Besides the Somalis, Ahmad had also incorporated into his army other peoples in the area who had been in continuous conflict with the Christian empire ever since the fourteenth century, such as the Harla, the Argobba, the Afar and the Arabs. By about 1527-9, the Imam was at the head of a strong state, with an ever-increasing sphere of influence in the interior of the Horn, and ready to lead the crucial military offensive against the Christian empire.
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