Adal Sultanate

The Adal Sultanate was a Sunni Muslim state in the Horn of Africa, founded in the early fifteenth century after the collapse of the Sultanate of Ifat. At its height under Sultan Badlay it stretched from Cape Guardafui to Suakin, and its ports and inland cities, including Zeila and Harar, linked Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade. Adal fought a long series of wars against the Christian Solomonic dynasty of Abyssinia. In the sixteenth century Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, known as Gragn, invaded Abyssinia with Ottoman muskets and cannon, drawing Portugal into the conflict. After his death at Wayna Daga in 1543 and the defeat of his successor Nur ibn Mujahid, the sultanate lost much of its power. Its capital moved from Zeila to Harar and finally to Aussa in 1577, the year the state is usually considered to have ended. Adal's legacy is preserved in the cities, mosques and manuscripts of the Harar region and in Somali and Harari historical traditions.