Mereja.Forum

This book is also translated into Tigrinya language by Ato Misgana Zekarias, see the Youtube below

New Book: The Conquest of Abyssinia: Futuh Al Habasa (or call it: Islamic Jihad on Ethiopia)
by Shihab Al-Din Ahmad Arabfaqih (Author), Paul Lester Stenhouse (Translator)

Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin 'Abd al-Qader's account of the early sixteenth century Jihad, or holywar, in Ethiopia, of Imam Ahmad bin Ibrahim, better known as Ahmad Gran, or the Left handed, is an historical classic. The Yamani author was an eyewitness of several of the battles he describes, and is an invaluable source. His book, which is full of human, and at times tragic, drama, makes a major contribution to our knowledge of a crucially important period in the hisoty of Ethiopia and Horn of Africa. 'Futuh al-Habasa, ' or 'Conquest of Abyssinia' - which undoubtedly reflects the situation as it seemed to its Yamani author at the time of its composition. The forces of Imam Ahmad bin Ibrahim had occupied the greater part of Ethiopia. The resistance of Emperor Lebna Dengel had virtually come to an end, and many Christians had chosen to convert to Islam.
The victorious Imam's regime seemed there to stay. This was, however, far from the end of the story. The Imam was killed in battle on February 21, 1543, whereupon his army almost immediately disintegrated. Those of his soldiers who could do so made their way back to the East. Not a few Muslim converts reverted to their former faith. The Futuh thus refers to a relatively short, though crucially important, period in Ethiopia's long history.
The book is nevertheless valuable, in that its author was an eye-witness of many of the events he describes, and writes, as far as we can judge, with a degree of objectivity rare for his time. What people say about this book: "This book is the first ever complete English translation of the Arabic account on the campaigns of Imam Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Ghazi (popularly known as Gran) as written by the Yemeni jurist, Shihab al-din Ahmad b. Abd al-Qadir b. Salim b. Uthman (also known as Arab Faqih)... it is a welcome addition to the rich corpus of Arabic literary and historical sources relevant to the sixteenth-century Ethiopia and the Horn. It is particularly useful for English-speaking researchers and established scholars who cannot read either the Arabic text or the authoritative French translation prepared by Rene Basset...both Stenhouse and Pankhurst, and the publisher, deserve high commendation, respectively, for producing such a valuable work that represents a major contribution to the history of Ethiopia and the Horn, and for making it available to the wider English-speaking readership and scholarship." -- Hussein Ahmed is a Professor of History at Addis Ababa University. He is a leading historian of Islam in Ethiopia.

What's this obsession with music as appetiser to start almost all Ethiopian media? Who sold it to them music fetches them listeners and hook them to their media? Ill-advised.

Futuh el-Habesh does not directly translate to The Conquest of Abyssinia nor to Islamic Jihad. Islamic Jihad is contextual reference to the spread of Islam in north and central Ethiopia as the direct consequence of the invasion.
Futuh el-Habesh translates to The Opening of Abyssinia.

Can any social science student, historian or knowledgeable person educate us about the historical damage caused by Ahmed Gragn and his Jihadi invasion of Abyssinia (currently Ethiopia and Eritrea)? Who were the nations or Caliphates who benefited from the Jihadi war?
Ato Meleket, Horus, Abe Abraham, Revelation, Zimeslo, Almaz, Sadacha ... as resident social scientists in Mereja may shed some light on this.

Roha wrote: ↑

31 Mar 2025, 15:37

Can any social science student, historian or knowledgeable person educate us about the historical damage caused by Ahmed Gragn and his Jihadi invasion of Abyssinia (currently Ethiopia and Eritrea)? Who were the nations or Caliphates who benefited from the Jihadi war?
Ato Meleket, Horus, Abe Abraham, Revelation, Zimeslo, Almaz, Sadacha ... as resident social scientists in Mereja may shed some light on this.

How did Sadacha do during his training at Sawa for OLA? Imam Ibrahim Ahmed el-Ghazi did not reach Eritrea. Did not affect it. In hindsight, I wish he di.

Misraq wrote: ↑

31 Mar 2025, 16:15

Gran was assisted by the Otomman Turks. He had canoons and muskets unknown at the time to the people of this region. He caused lots of psychological fears due to the then technological superiority Ottomans provided. Indeed it altered the shape of Ethiopia. Funny enough, this gave perfect opportunity for the Galla to invade lands due to the weakening Emperial authority and the sultanate at Harar. Both the christian and the muslim sultanates succombed but the abyssinians revivived it while the muslim sultanate got confined to the city of Harar. In short, Gragns invasion (Jihad) resulted in the the death of eastern Ethiopian sultanate never to rise again. While abyssinia slowly regained and even went as far as subjugating the entire Galla, integrating it to the center (of course a mistake). Now the Galla in power is repeating this so in short we are still living the consequences and the result of that Jihad that paved way to the Galla.

Here is some from thehabesha.com

In 15th century, Ahmed Ibn Ibrihm Gragn known as “the left-handed man” was a jihadist of 1529-1543 and he had no other than being an extremist without ideological motives of present-day political philosophy. He was well known of mass slaying particularly of Christians. He was born in Eastern part of Ethiopia in a vicinity of today’s Somalia. His ethnicity is not clear; some say he was an Adal; others say he was a Somali. I believe further research needed.

Imam Ahmed Gragn a radical extremist had massacred Christens indiscriminately and burned down churches. Though, he was marveled with the buildings of the Church when he reached the Amhara region and gathered his Arab soldiers; “Is there such beautiful buildings in Arab countries or anywhere else?” and his Arab fighting forces replied, “We have not seen or heard of such marvels buildings in Arabia, Iran and India”. He was very callous individual, he destroyed all the Churches, burned down into the ground, and looted gold and artifacts of antiquity. Well, buildings were not only his destruction, nothing is important than human lives, he murdered Orthodox believers in Shewa, Gojjam, Gondar, Tigray. An estimate of 80% to 90% of Orthodox Christens’ lives vanished. He forced individuals to be converted to Islam without their consent, and those refused to do so were massacred. This savage man armed with cannon, and modern rifles of the time supplied by an Ottoman empire (Turkey) and Arab countries, including foot soldiers. In contrary, Ethiopian Forces were fighting with shield and spears.

After Ahmed Gragn was killed around Lake Tana, his soldiers were disseminated. Concurrently, another group of invaders appeared from South through what is now Kenya. These nomadic group are called Galla (presently for unknown reasons, they like to be called Oromo). They have several sects. In general, they were pagans, they never farm, they depend on livestock. They were accustomed with territorial invasions, killing others, including cattle raiding. The men go through steps of hierarch. As he reaches manhood, must kill, and show his victim’s [ deleted ] as a trophy to marry a girl.

This different sects of Galla eventually reached the Northern part of Ethiopia. They massacred and displaced populations; The Gafat society completely wiped out from Wellega. The Zely society around lake Zeway completely vanished, and many others are unaccountable. Presently, the Oromo fanatics are skirmishing to dislodge residences from Addis Ababa.
...

https://thehabesha.com/abiy-ahmed-ali-a ... -humanity/


++++++++++++++++++

Roha wrote: ↑

30 Mar 2025, 15:47

This book is also translated into Tigrinya language by Ato Misgana Zekarias, see the Youtube below

New Book: The Conquest of Abyssinia: Futuh Al Habasa (or call it: Islamic Jihad on Ethiopia)
by Shihab Al-Din Ahmad Arabfaqih (Author), Paul Lester Stenhouse (Translator)

Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin 'Abd al-Qader's account of the early sixteenth century Jihad, or holywar, in Ethiopia, of Imam Ahmad bin Ibrahim, better known as Ahmad Gran, or the Left handed, is an historical classic. The Yamani author was an eyewitness of several of the battles he describes, and is an invaluable source. His book, which is full of human, and at times tragic, drama, makes a major contribution to our knowledge of a crucially important period in the hisoty of Ethiopia and Horn of Africa. 'Futuh al-Habasa, ' or 'Conquest of Abyssinia' - which undoubtedly reflects the situation as it seemed to its Yamani author at the time of its composition. The forces of Imam Ahmad bin Ibrahim had occupied the greater part of Ethiopia. The resistance of Emperor Lebna Dengel had virtually come to an end, and many Christians had chosen to convert to Islam.
The victorious Imam's regime seemed there to stay. This was, however, far from the end of the story. The Imam was killed in battle on February 21, 1543, whereupon his army almost immediately disintegrated. Those of his soldiers who could do so made their way back to the East. Not a few Muslim converts reverted to their former faith. The Futuh thus refers to a relatively short, though crucially important, period in Ethiopia's long history.
The book is nevertheless valuable, in that its author was an eye-witness of many of the events he describes, and writes, as far as we can judge, with a degree of objectivity rare for his time. What people say about this book: "This book is the first ever complete English translation of the Arabic account on the campaigns of Imam Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Ghazi (popularly known as Gran) as written by the Yemeni jurist, Shihab al-din Ahmad b. Abd al-Qadir b. Salim b. Uthman (also known as Arab Faqih)... it is a welcome addition to the rich corpus of Arabic literary and historical sources relevant to the sixteenth-century Ethiopia and the Horn. It is particularly useful for English-speaking researchers and established scholars who cannot read either the Arabic text or the authoritative French translation prepared by Rene Basset...both Stenhouse and Pankhurst, and the publisher, deserve high commendation, respectively, for producing such a valuable work that represents a major contribution to the history of Ethiopia and the Horn, and for making it available to the wider English-speaking readership and scholarship." -- Hussein Ahmed is a Professor of History at Addis Ababa University. He is a leading historian of Islam in Ethiopia.

Roha, this is not even a synopsis of the book. This is a political opinion on the man the writer disliked. It's like writing on the Character of Osama bin Laden by a CIA agent.

ሮሃ፣
የጠየከው ጥያቄ እጅግ ረጅምና ውስብስብ ስለሆነ እንዲያ በጥቃቅን መጣጥፎች የሚመለስ አይደለም ። እኔ የክቡር ተክለ ጻዲቅ መኩሪያ የመጨረሻ ሥራቸው የሆነው 804 ገጾች ያሉትና በ1966 (እኢአ) በብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት የታተመው 'የግራኝ አህመድ ወረራ' አሁን ፊቴ ላይ አለኝ። ጣሊያን አገር በመኖር በግራኝ አህመድ ወረራ ላይ አለም ላይ አሉ የሚባሉት መረጃዎች ሰብስበው ያዘጋጁት እጅግ ግዙፍና አስገራሚ የታሪክ ማህደር ነው ። በእኔ እምነት ይህ መጽሃፍ እንደ ገና ታትሞ አገር ሊገኝ ስለሚችል ፈልገው ብታነበው ነው እኔ የምመክርህ ። እዚህ መጽሃፍ ውስጥ ለ17 አመት የተደረጉት የግራኝ ጦርነቶች ዝርዝር ብቻ ሳይሆን ፣ የተዋጉት ሕዝቦች ፣ ዛሬ የጠፉ ጎሳዎች ፣ መሪዎቻቸው፣ አሁን ስማቸው የተለወጡና የተረሱ የአገር ስሞች ፣ ቦታዎች ፤ የዚያን ዘመን አለም ፖለቲካ ፣ የኦቶማን ቱርክ ኢምፓየርና ሌሎችም ያካተተ አስደናቂ የቅደመ ጋላ መስፋፋትና ቅድመ ጎንደር ዘመን ታሪክ ነው።

Thank you a lot Horus, this is very important information, because I was trying to find Ethiopian sources too. I didn't know that the hardworking and very resourceful historian the Honorable Tekle Tsadik Mekuria had also written a book on this subject: 'የግራኝ አህመድ ወረራ' .

Horus wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2025, 16:20

ሮሃ፣
የጠየከው ጥያቄ እጅግ ረጅምና ውስብስብ ስለሆነ እንዲያ በጥቃቅን መጣጥፎች የሚመለስ አይደለም ። እኔ የክቡር ተክለ ጻዲቅ መኩሪያ የመጨረሻ ሥራቸው የሆነው 804 ገጾች ያሉትና በ1966 (እኢአ) በብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት የታተመው 'የግራኝ አህመድ ወረራ' አሁን ፊቴ ላይ አለኝ። ጣሊያን አገር በመኖር በግራኝ አህመድ ወረራ ላይ አለም ላይ አሉ የሚባሉት መረጃዎች ሰብስበው ያዘጋጁት እጅግ ግዙፍና አስገራሚ የታሪክ ማህደር ነው ። በእኔ እምነት ይህ መጽሃፍ እንደ ገና ታትሞ አገር ሊገኝ ስለሚችል ፈልገው ብታነበው ነው እኔ የምመክርህ ። እዚህ መጽሃፍ ውስጥ ለ17 አመት የተደረጉት የግራኝ ጦርነቶች ዝርዝር ብቻ ሳይሆን ፣ የተዋጉት ሕዝቦች ፣ ዛሬ የጠፉ ጎሳዎች ፣ መሪዎቻቸው፣ አሁን ስማቸው የተለወጡና የተረሱ የአገር ስሞች ፣ ቦታዎች ፤ የዚያን ዘመን አለም ፖለቲካ ፣ የኦቶማን ቱርክ ኢምፓየርና ሌሎችም ያካተተ አስደናቂ የቅደመ ጋላ መስፋፋትና ቅድመ ጎንደር ዘመን ታሪክ ነው።

You see Roha, despite the hate of Shabians who spew venom on Ethiopia, we are generous. We provide you with what you need. Also, Ethiopia accomodates a million Eritrean refugees.
Just remember our generosity when you train OLA to kill, kidnap and abuse us the people who you will ask them to help you. And you shed no tears!!

Abebe, cry me a victim!
Sultanate of Ifat's Marade is Amara's Debrebirhan. You only tell your sorrows but not those of your victims. Selfishness but scholarship of history has no room for it.

Roha wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2025, 17:47

Thank you a lot Horus, this is very important information, because I was trying to find Ethiopian sources too. I didn't know that the hardworking and very resourceful historian the Honorable Tekle Tsadik Mekuria had also written a book on this subject: 'የግራኝ አህመድ ወረራ' .

Horus wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2025, 16:20

ሮሃ፣
የጠየከው ጥያቄ እጅግ ረጅምና ውስብስብ ስለሆነ እንዲያ በጥቃቅን መጣጥፎች የሚመለስ አይደለም ። እኔ የክቡር ተክለ ጻዲቅ መኩሪያ የመጨረሻ ሥራቸው የሆነው 804 ገጾች ያሉትና በ1966 (እኢአ) በብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት የታተመው 'የግራኝ አህመድ ወረራ' አሁን ፊቴ ላይ አለኝ። ጣሊያን አገር በመኖር በግራኝ አህመድ ወረራ ላይ አለም ላይ አሉ የሚባሉት መረጃዎች ሰብስበው ያዘጋጁት እጅግ ግዙፍና አስገራሚ የታሪክ ማህደር ነው ። በእኔ እምነት ይህ መጽሃፍ እንደ ገና ታትሞ አገር ሊገኝ ስለሚችል ፈልገው ብታነበው ነው እኔ የምመክርህ ። እዚህ መጽሃፍ ውስጥ ለ17 አመት የተደረጉት የግራኝ ጦርነቶች ዝርዝር ብቻ ሳይሆን ፣ የተዋጉት ሕዝቦች ፣ ዛሬ የጠፉ ጎሳዎች ፣ መሪዎቻቸው፣ አሁን ስማቸው የተለወጡና የተረሱ የአገር ስሞች ፣ ቦታዎች ፤ የዚያን ዘመን አለም ፖለቲካ ፣ የኦቶማን ቱርክ ኢምፓየርና ሌሎችም ያካተተ አስደናቂ የቅደመ ጋላ መስፋፋትና ቅድመ ጎንደር ዘመን ታሪክ ነው።

You're welcome. እንዴታ ክቡር ተክለ ጻዲቅ ከጻፏቸው መጻሕፍት ሁሉ እጅግ ግዙፉ ይህ ነው ። አግኝተህ ኢንጆይ እንደ ምታደረገው አምናለሁ ።

Dama,

I wish Gragn Amhed story in the school children's' books and college courses were scientific. And I wish I too believed the true account of the so-called Arab Faqi and Tsehafi Tekletsadiq Mekuria story.The truth regarding Gragn is probably far from that, at least in my observation. Gragn was definitely the child of Genie (ጂን) - he was begotten from fallen angels. You could prove it yourself by visiting the site where this child of Genie(fallen angle or aka the Giants) got smacked by the God, leaving behind the foot prints of his horse all over the surface.

I kind of know where you come from, you often associate things with Islam. The case of Grang Ahmed of the begotten child of the fallen angel is un Islamic. I cannot tell you how the local Muslim people take care of the church - could not get enough talking about it. Stop looking things through a tainted glass.

Dama wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2025, 19:39

Abebe, cry me a victim!
Sultanate of Ifat's name of Debrebirhan was Marade. You only tell your sorrows but not those of your victims. Selfishness but scholarship of history has no room for it.

Thank you Horus, I just found the Honorable Tekle Tsadik Mekuria's tome book online: 'የግራኝ አህመድ ወረራ'.
My gratitude to the person or persons who took the time to scan almost 1000 pages very diligently.
Here is the link:

https://ethiodocs.wordpress.com/wp-cont ... worera.pdf
++++++++

For those of you who want to read the history from the Portuguese side, here is :

The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia
1541 to 1543
by Castanhoso

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ich%29.pdf

+++++++++

Roha wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2025, 23:42

Thank you Horus, I just found the Honorable Tekle Tsadik Mekuria's tome book online: 'የግራኝ አህመድ ወረራ'.
My gratitude to the person or persons who took the time to scan almost 1000 pages very diligently.
Here is the link:

https://ethiodocs.wordpress.com/wp-cont ... worera.pdf
++++++++

For those of you who want to read the history from the Portuguese side, here is :

The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia
1541 to 1543
by Castanhoso

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ich%29.pdf

+++++++++

ሮሃ፣
ጎበዝ! በቃ ይህ ነው ያለኝ መጽሃፍ! ወረቀቱ በጣም ስለ አረጀ ብዙ አልነካካውም። ኦን ላይን እንደ ምታገኘው ጠርጥሬ ነበር። አመሰግናለሁ እኔም ደግሜ አነበዋለሁ ። እንደ ምታውቀው ግራኝ የተሸነፈው የፖርቱጋሏ ንግስት በላከችልን ነፍጥ የያዙ ጥቂት ወታደሮች እርዳታ ነው ። የግራኝ ጦርነት 1525 -1542 ነው ። ስለዚህ Castanhoso ከነዚያ ወታደሮች ጋር የነበረ መሆን አለበት!

Abere wrote: ↑

01 Apr 2025, 18:11

ሮሃ and ሆረስ፤

የግራኝ አህመድ ታሪክን በተመለከተ ከ2ኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤት እስከ ዩኒቨርስቲ የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ኮርስ ተከታትያለሁ። እኔ ግን የመጻህፍት ታሪክ ለማመን ያስቸገረኝ አንድ ነገር ቢኖር ግራኝ አህመድ ያደረሰውን ጉዳት ቅሪት በማየት በእውነት ግራኝ አህመድ ሰው ነው ለማለት እጅግ ያስቸግራል። በአፈታሪክ የሚነገረውን እውነትነት ነው ያረጋገጠልኝ። የጥፋት ምልክት አሻራውን በዐይኖቸ ስላየሁ በትምህርት መጻህፍት ከተጻፈው እጅግ ይለያል። በአንድ ወቅት ወሎ ውስጥ አንድ ታሪካዊ ግራኝ ሊያጠፋው የሞከረ ቤተክርስቲያን ተንታ ወረዳ ውስጥ ጎበኘሁ። ቤተክርስቲያኑ ልክ እንደ መቅደላ ተራራማ አንድ መግብያ ብቻ ያለው ሲሆን -ይህ ቤተክርስቲያን ከግሸን ማርያም ጋር ትይዩ ነው። (ግራኝ ያጠቃው የዐጼ ንብለድንግል ርዕሰ መድና አምባሰል - ግሸን መሆን ያታወቃል)። ዕለቱ የመድሃኔ አለም ክብረ በአል ነበር። ቤተክርስቲያኑ ለምጣማ (ጭንጫ) መሬት በእጅጉ በፈረስ ኮቴ የተጠቀጠቀ ሰፊ ቦታ አየሁ። ጥቅጠቃው በዝናብ ወቅት የሆነ እና የፈረስ ኮቴ አለቱን ሞልቶታል። ተገረምኩኝ። እንደት የፈረስ ኮቴ ዱካ ከእግዜር ንጥፍ አለት ጋር ሊሆን ይችላል ብየ ጠየቅሁን። ሰዎች ታሪኩን አስረዱኝ ግራኝ አህመድ በዛች በአንድት ስላች ተራራ መግቢያ ፈረስ ጋልቦ እንደ ልማዱ ቤተሲያን ሊያቃጥል ሲገባ የእግዚአብሄር መልዐክ ታገለው በተፈጠረው ግብግብ የፈረሱ ዱካ የፈጠረው ጠቃጠቆ ነው አሉኝ። ግራኝ ካቃታቸው ቤተስኪያን ተድባበ ማርያም እና ይህ ተንታ አካባቢ የሚገኘው መድሃኔ አለም። ከዚያ በኋላ የተጻፈውን መጻህፍት ታሪክ እጠራጠራለሁ።

ግራኝ እግዜር መሬት ወርውሮ ከጣላቸው ሰይጣናት ፍሬ የተገኜ (ዘ ጃይንት) የመጣ ጉድ ፍጥረት ነው። Gragn Amhed looks to be the child of the fallen angels or the child of the giants. His deeds proved that and the mark he left as well.

አበረ፣
በአማራ አካባቢ በግራኝ ዘመን ክርስቲያኖች እንዴት ያመልኩ እንደ ነበር አላውቅም ። እኛ አካባቢ ብዙ ብዙ የዋሻ ቤተ ክርስቲያኖች እስከ ዛሬ እየተገኙ ነው ። ግራኝ ወረራ ሲጀምር ለምሳሌ የመጀመሪያው ጦርነት የተደረገው (የቀስት ዉጊያ) ባደቄ ወንዝ ላይ ነበር (የዛሬ ሞጆ ወንዝ)። በዚያ ጦርነት ብቻ ነው የተሸነፈው። የዝቋላ ዙሪያ ነዋሪ የነበሩት የአመያ ቀስተኞች ናቸው ያሸነፉት ። ከዚያ በመጀመሪያዎቹ ወራትና አመቶች የኛ አካባቢና መላው ጥንታዊ ዳሞት (ቱባ ኦርቶዶክስ) በግራኝ የተመታው። ልብነ ድንግል አካባቢውን ትቶ ወደ አንኮበር ሸሸ ። ሕዝቡ እጅግ ነበር ያዘነው በመሸሹ ። ስለዚህ ምናልባትም በመጀምሪያዎቹ 2 አመታት ነው እነ አዳዲ ማሪያም ፣ ዝቋላ ፣ ምድረ ከብድ ፣ ወዘተ ግዙፋን ገዳማት ተቃጥለው ወርቅና ብራቸው ተዘርፎ ፣ መጻህፍትና አልባሳት ወድመው አማኙ ሕዝብ ታቦት በየዋሻው በመደበቅ ፣ ማታማታ በፈረቃ ዘብ በማደር ነው እምነታችንን ያቆዩልን ። ዛሬ መላ ጉራጌ እጅግ ብዙ ዋሻዎች ተገኝተዋል ፣ አሉ። ለምሳሌ አዳዲ ማሪያም ፣ ዝቋላ እና ምድረ ከብድ አቦ የተገነቡት ከግራኝ ወረራ 65 አመት በፊት ነበር። ይህ የምነግርህ ባብዛኛው አያታችን ካያቶቹ የሰማንውን ነግሮን ነው። ስለ አመያ ሕዝብ ታሪክና ጀብዱ በሰፊው ተክለ ጻዲቅ ጽፈውታል።

Roha is a Shabiat cadre. making money on stocks trading to fund Sawa military camp against Ethiopia. Just so you know. You are teaching deadliest enemy of Ethiopia history of religious division to weaken Ethiopia.