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Sack of Harar
Part of Harar campaign(1559)
Date 1559; 465 years ago (1559) Location Harar, Adal Sultanate Result Ethiopian victory Ethiopians capture and sack the city
Belligerents
Ethiopian Empire	Adal Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Abeto Hamalmal	Barakat ibn Umar Din †
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Minimal	Very heavy

The Sack of Harar in 1559 was the capture and sack of the city of Harar, capital of the Adal Sultanate, 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, marking the end of the Walashma Dynasty.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. Concurrently, Imam Nur ibn Mujahid and the Adal army, after having disregarded Hamalmal’s advance into Harar for strategic reasons, continued their march into the Ethiopian highlands, where Emperor Gelawdewos was eventually defeated and killed during the Battle of Fatagar.

Aftermath

The Ethiopians' devastation of the city and massacre of the 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. The death of the sultan Barakat ibn Umar Din marked the final disappearance of the Walashma Dynasty and the end of its centuries-long conflict with the Solomonic Dynasty. The city of Harar recovered and reinforced its defences with a robust system of walls encircling the city, and as a result enjoyed a new period of prosperity through its participation in the Red Sea trade.

References

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

• Battles of the Abyssinian–Adal war
• 1559 in Africa
• Conflicts in 1559