| Battle of Bali | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Ethiopian–Adal war | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Adal Sultanate |
 Ethiopian Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Vizier Addoli |
Addalih, Governor of Bali | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Outnumbered | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 2 | 3,000 | ||||||||
The Battle of Bali was fought in 1532 between Adal Sultanate forces under Vizier Addoli and the Abyssinian army under Addalih, Governor of Bali.[1]
Prelude
After the Adalites subjugated and islamized the Dawaro region under the command of Hussain Al Gutari, Imam Ahmed Gurey sent order for Vizier Addoli, the Second-in-command of the Dawaro expedition, to go down to Bali and conquer it. Upon reaching Bali and that the Abyssinian governor of Bali, Addalih, was camped in the town of a Zallah on the bank of the Shebelle River, Addoli sent him a message ordering him to surrender and pay the Jizya. [1]: 82 Addalih refused stating he was unimpressed with the small size of Addoli's army and ordered his men to bring their families with them in order to prevent fleeing. [1]: 83 The two armies met at Zallah on Dhul Hijjah 938 AH which corresponds to July or August 1532.[2]
Battle
The two armies clashed fiercely with the Adalites having the tupper hand until Addalih was flung from his horse by a Somali cavalryman and then beheaded. Seeing the death of their commander the Abyssinian forces broke and fled. [2]: 382 As they fled the Adalites slew innumerable fleeing Abyssinian soldiers and captured all their belongings. The Muslim women rode behind their menfolk on mules and helped to capture prisoners. By the end of the battle each women would boast that they had captured 5-7 Abyssinian soldiers.[3]
Aftermath
By the end of the battle the terrain was covered with dead and blood flowed like water on the ground. Innumerable Abyssinian infantrymen we’re killed along with 3,000 cavalrymen, and 100 Azmachs. 100 Azmachs were also captured and thereafter summarily executed by the victorious Adalites. [3]: 146 On the Muslim side however only 2 infantrymen were killed. Addoli took the wife of Addalih as his concubine and on orders from Imam Ahmad hanged an apostate named Naqdiyah outside the gates of Zallah. The Abyssinian womenfolk were divided up among the Adalites as concubines. [2]: 183 After battle the entire of Bali was brought to heel and all of the inhabitants embraced Islam. [2]: 184 Addoli’s younger brother Umar was placed as the governor of Bali after this.
References
- 1 2 3 Lindahl, Bernhard (2006). Local history in Ethiopia. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet.
- 1 2 3 4 Shihāb al-Dīn, Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir (2003). Futūḥ Al-Ḥabaša: The Conquest of Abyssinia [16th Century]. Translated by Stenhouse, Paul Lester. Hollywood, California, USA: Tsehai Publishers & Distributors. p. 326. ISBN 9780972317269.
- 1 2 Pankhurst, Richard (1997). The Ethiopian Borderlands Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century. Red Sea Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780932415196.