When and where Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi was born
somali...@hotmail.com
Born In 1506 at Hubat
State of Awdal
Clan Abrayn Gadabuursi
ethnicity Somali
Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi 1506 - February 21, 1543 was an Imam and
General of Adal Awdal
Imam Ahmad was born in 1506 at Hubat located between Harar and Galdaysa
near Zeila,Saylac Samaroon City, a port city located in northwestern
Somalia (then part of Adal, a tributary Muslim state to the Christian
Ethiopian Solomonid dynasty), and married Bati del Wambara, the
daughter of governor Mahfuz of Zeila. When Mahfuz was killed returning
from a campaign against the Ethiopian emperor Lebna Dengel in 1517, the
Adal sultanate lapsed into anarchy for several years, until Imam Ahmad
killed the last of the contenders for power and took control of Harar.
People Of Awdal
As the direct descendants of Awdal (formerly Adal Empire) inhabitants,
the Samaroon people, well known as Gadabursi, are the citizens of
Awdal. Despite the so-called SomaliLand Administration who wants to
govern the North Regions of the former Somalia, the people of Awdal and
the local authority are commited to the creation of an autonomous State
of Awdal, the Northern region of the former Somalia. The people of
Awdal are well known not only by the bravery, discipline and courage of
their ancestors who were the rulers and the leaders of the entire East
Africa, centuries ago but also, by their civilization and the
consciousness of the existence of their Nation. In fact, the name
Gadabursi derives from "Gado Birsi", which means expansion of land.
>From the 13th century up to about the 19th century, before the arrival
of the British Empire, the people of Awdal were true freedom fighters.
During that period of time, they have been through many conflicts and
wars against the Abyssinians, the Galas and they even fought against
the Portuguese. Without going into the detail of the history of that
period of time in this section, let me briefly highlight one of the
well-known freedom fighter who left his mark; Ahmed Guray.
Born in 1506 at Hubat located between Harar and Galdaysa, Ahmed Guray
lost his father when he was still a child and, an employee of his
father adopted him, treating him as his only son. Many years later,
Ahmed married Baati, the daughter of the king of Zeyla, named Mahfud.
With the help that he received from king Mahfud, Ahmed Guray formed a
strong army to fight against the Kingdom of Harar and defeated King
Abubakar of Harar. The first battle of Ahmed Guray was in fact a long
waited conflict in order to get back the Region of Harar and to free
the Somali people living in that region. After having defeated the
throne, the brother of Ahmed Guray had replaced King Abubakar. Indeed,
the inhuman ruling of that Kingdom has been changed and the people got
back the joy of the live and freedom with justice. During the following
years, Ahmed Guray prepared his troop to a more bigger conflict, once
again to fight for the freedom of the people of the region. This time
Ahmed had to confront the Abyssinians, in order to bring down their
taxation ruling and their discriminatory policy against non-Abyssinian.
He formed a coalition of Somali (mainly Gadabursi) and Afar people,
whom were the most discriminated that the Kingdom of Abyssinia was
forcing and imposing unjustifiable taxation rules. In 1535, Ahmed Guray
conquered ¾ of the Abyssinians land and, at the age of 35, he became
the Emperor of Abyssinia. At that time Ahmed came back to Harar, where
he established his Kingdom and he was nominated the Emperor of
Abyssinians, Somali and Afar people and, he created a centralised
government and putted in place regional states.
As the history teaches us the reality of the past, we can find among
the Samaroon people, as we do in other Somali ethics, a lot of great
individuals who stood up for the freedom of their people and the
dignity of their nation. The Gadabursi are civilized people, who are
conform with the practices of their patriotism, respect the environment
of their land and follow the changes relative to the time. Saying that,
the Samaroon people are well known by their dedication to the education
and business. Let me remind you that in the 1800 when the British
Empire came to the East Cost of Somalia, they found civilized people
who were doing business the way the western countries were doing it,
from coast to coast and, from China to Central Africa. Indeed, that
people were Samaroon, our ancestors. Soon, the British government sent
its own business people in mission to that land, in order to understand
and interact with the local people. Dear readers, let me refer you to
the *Gadabursy Treaty that the authority based in Zeyla, Awdal at that
time, signed with the British Empire, in 1884. In fact, this treaty
tells us that the Gadabursi people were not dominated easily by the
British but rather, they created a kind of business partnership with
the British authority.
Nowadays, a priority for the people and the local authority of Awdal is
strengthening the security situation of the northern regions of the
former Somalia. Actually, while this people is working hard to keep the
peace alive, improve prosperity and revitalise the socio-economic of
the region by creating micro-economic business, the so-called
SomaliLand Administration is engaged to disrupt the social live of the
entire region. In fact, almost a decade after the collapse of the
former centralised Somali State, Awdal has become a haven of peace in a
conflict ridden the Horn of Africa. Unfortunately, this reality has yet
to be recognized by the international communities, wrongly informed by
an international media that focuses entirely on the inter-clan militia
violence in central and southern areas of Somalia.
