Sack of Harar (1559)

Sack of Harar
Part of Harar campaign(1559)
Date 1559 (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 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 under Nur ibn Mujahid, who reinforced its defences with a robust system of walls encircling the city, and as a result Harar would enjoy a new period of sustained prosperity through its participation in the Red Sea trade.