Battle of Wofla

The Battle of Wofla was fought on August 28, 1542 near Lake Ashenge in Wofla (Ofla) between the Portuguese under Cristóvão da Gama and the forces of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. Reinforced with a superiority not only in numbers but in firearms, Imam Ahmad was victorious and forced the Portuguese, along with Queen Seble Wongel and her retinue, to flee their fortified encampment and leave their weapons behind.

While fleeing the battlefield with 14 soldiers, Cristóvão da Gama, with his arm broken from a bullet, was captured that night by followers of Imam Ahmad, who had been led into the brush they had taken refuge in by an old woman. However other accounts state Gama had stayed behind to look for a woman he had captured at the Battle of the Hill of the Jews with whom he became infatuated. Nonetheless, he was then brought into the presence of the Imam Ahmad, who tortured and executed his captured opponent.

A disagreement occurred between Ahmed Gragn and his Ottoman musketeers at this point of victory on handling the Portuguese captured in the battle. The Ottomans wanted to use these prisoners as a negotiating tool in their ongoing talks with Lisbon, therefore they made the following demands that they are delivered unharmed into the care of Yemeni provincial officials. However, Ahmed Gragn turned down this please and killed him with his own hands just hours after capturing da Gama, Furious, the Ottoman commander deserted Ahmed and headed back to Yemen with the majority of his forces.

Following the death of Cristóvão da Gama and the majority of his soldiers being either captured or slain, the Portuguese were hesitant to make any investments in the area thus making the Adal Sultanate remain as the major power in the Horn of Africa region.