Mahfuz (or Mohammed) ( Harari: መሕፉዝ, ar, محفوظ; died July 1517) was a Harari Garad, Emir of

Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...

and Governor of

Zeila Zeila ( so, Saylac, ar, زيلع, Zayla), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland. In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila (or Hawilah) with the Bibl ...

in the

Adal Sultanate The Adal Sultanate, or the Adal Empire or the ʿAdal or the Bar Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate, ''Adal ''Sultanate'') () was a medieval Sunni Muslim Empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din II ...

Life and reign

Mahfuz led raids into the provinces of

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

for a number of years. He selected the season of

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Jesus, temptation by Satan, according ...

for his attacks, when the defenders were weakened by their fasts. He invaded the Amhara,

Shewa Shewa ( am, ሸዋ; , om, Shawaa), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa (''Scioà'' in Italian), is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital A ...

, and

Fatagar A medieval map of Fatagar and surrounding areas Fatagar (Amharic: ፈጠጋር) was a historical province that separated Muslim and Christian dominions in the medieval Horn of Africa. In the eleventh century it was part of the Muslim states, then ...

provinces south of the

Awash River The Awash (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo: ''Awaash'', Amharic: አዋሽ, Afar: ''We'ayot'', Somali: ''Webiga Dir'') is a major river of Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia and empties into a chain of i ...

. According to Portuguese explorer Francisco Álvares, Mahfuz exclusively targeted Abyssinian soldiers capturing them however left civilians unharmed. Sources differ over the number of years Mahfuz raided Abyssinia. Francisco Álvares states that his raids began during the reign of

Eskender Eskender ( gez, እስክንድር, "Alexander"; 15 July 1471 – 7 May 1494) was Emperor of Ethiopia and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was Kwestantinos II (Ge’ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He was the son of Emp ...

, and lasted 25 years. However, Beckingham and Huntingford note that the Ethiopian ''Paris Chronicle'', which draws on contemporary Ethiopian records, dates the beginning of these raids to the ascension of

Dawit II Dawit II ( gez, ዳዊት; – 2 September 1540), also known by the macaronic name Wanag Segad (ወናግ ሰገድ, ''to whom the lions bow''), better known by his birth name Lebna Dengel ( am, ልብነ ድንግል, ''essence of the vi ...

(Lebna Dengel) in 1508. Mahfuz is reported to have caused the deaths of Ethiopian Emperors Na'od and

. Upon reaching the age of majority, Emperor Lebna Dengel decided to forgo his observance of Lent and oppose the Imam in battle, despite the advice and wishes of his councilors and people. He sent spies out to determine Imam Mahfuz's plans for that year, and learning the Imam was in Fatagar led his army there. He found Imam Mahfuz with the sultan of Adal encamped on a plain that was surrounded by mountains. After first sending soldiers out to secure the passes, the Abyssinian Emperor closed upon Imam Mahfuz. Although Imam Mahfuz managed to enable Sultan Muhammed to escape with but four horsemen, according to Alvarez, Imam Mafhuz knew he was trapped and sought to die with honor. He called to the Abyssinians a challenge to fight in single combat, and Gabra Endreyas, who had been a follower of Emperor Lebna Dengel's father, accepted and killed the Imam. Mahfuz's head was cut from his body and displayed publicly in the Emperor's court. After defeating Mahfuz,

used appellation ''Wanag Segad'', which is a combination of Ge'ez and Harari terms.

Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi ( so, Axmed Ibraahim al-Qaasi or Axmed Gurey, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ar, أحمد بن إبراهيم الغازي ; 1506 – 21 February 1543) was an imam and general of the Adal Sultana ...

later in his invasion of Abyssinia would kill an old Gabra as revenge for his victory against Mahfuz.

Legacy

Mahfuz' daughter,

Bati del Wambara Bati del Wambara fl. 1531, ( Harari: ባቲ ዲል ወምበራ, lit. ''victory is her seat'')Rita Pankhurst Women of Power in Ethiopia: Struggle and Loss was the Harari wife of the 16th-century general, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim, and then his successor ...

, married Imam

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi ( so, Axmed Ibraahim al-Qaasi or Axmed Gurey, Harari: አሕመድ ኢብራሂም አል-ጋዚ, ar, أحمد بن إبراهيم الغازي ; 1506 – 21 February 1543) was an imam and general of the Adal Sulta ...

of the

. Ten years after Mahfuz's death, Al-Ghazi embarked on a Conquest of Abyssinia (''Futuh al-Habash'').Sihab ad-Din Ahmad, in his ''Futuh al-Habasa'' (translated by Paul Lester Stenhouse with annotations by Richard Pankhurst ollywood: Tsehai, 2003 consistently uses the word "Jihad" to refer to Ahmad Gragn's conquest of Ethiopia.

Notes and references

{{reflist 1517 deaths Military personnel killed in action People from the Adal Sultanate Year of birth unknown

Life and reign

Legacy

See also

Notes and references