The Battle of Baçente was fought on February 2, 1542, when a Portuguese army under Cristóvão da Gama took a hillfort held by Adalite forces in northern Ethiopia. The Portuguese suffered minimal casualties, while the defenders were reportedly all killed.
| Battle of Baçente | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Ethiopian–Adal War and Somali-Portuguese conflicts | |||||||
 Engraving of Cristóvão da Gama charging against the Adalite army by António dos Santos c. 1840 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Portuguese Empire | Adal Sultanate | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Cristóvão da Gama | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 400 Portuguese musketeers | “1,500” archers and "buckler men" | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 8 killed,[1] "several" wounded[1] |
Heavy casualties, "reportedly all killed" Nine horses and multiple mules | ||||||
Queen Seble Wongel (likely justifiably) advised against this attack, arguing that Gama should wait until her son the Emperor Gelawdewos could march north from Shewa and join the Portuguese due to Ahmed Gragn having known of them.[1] However, Gama was concerned that if he marched around this Muslim-held strongpoint, the local peasantry would be disappointed and stop providing supplies for his troops.[3]
After a probing attack to learn the defenders' defences, which Queen Sabla Wengel initially mistook for a defeat, Gama ordered an attack from three sides directions on the following day. The defenders were annihilated, with negligible losses to the Portuguese. Nine horses and a number of mules were captured, which afterwards proved useful. "As a feat of arms, this capture of notable."[1] A mosque, which had originally been a church before the hillfort was occupied by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi's men, was reconsecrated as a church, and dedicated to "Our Lady of Victory", and mass was celebrated there the next day. The expeditionary force spent the rest of February there, recovering from the battle.[4]
R.S. Whiteway identified the Portuguese "Baçente" as referring to Amba Senayt in Haramat.[2][verification needed]
References
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- ^ a b c d e f The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, as Narrated by Castanhoso With Some Contemporary Letters, the Short Account of Bermudez, and Certain Extracts from Correa, p.54 (2017)
- ^ a b R.S. Whiteway, editor and translator, The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543, 1902. (Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus Reprint, 1967), p.Lii f.
- ^ Whiteway, p. 32.
- ^ Whiteway, pp. 33-7.