Cristóvão da Gama

Cristóvão da Gama (* 1516 - † 29 August 1542 ), son of Vasco da Gama , was a Portuguese military leader who took part in a Portuguese expedition to Ethiopia from 1541 to 1543 against the army of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghasi (Ahmed Gran or Gurey ). After he was initially victorious against the numerically stronger enemies several times, he was finally captured, tortured and killed after a defeat.

Sir Richard Burton described him in his book First Footsteps in East Africa as "the most gallant soldier of a knightly age."

Life

Signature of Cristóvão da Gamas

Cristóvão was born in Portugal in 1516 as the youngest son of Vasco da Gamas. With his older brother Estêvão da Gama he went to India for the first time in 1532, returned to Portugal in 1535 and then sailed back to Diu with Garcia de Noronha on April 6, 1538 . On these voyages he proved himself to be quick to think and useful, so that Estevão, 11th Governor of the Estado da Índia , the Portuguese possessions in East Africa and Asia, gave him command of one of the ships that he took to the Red Sea led to attack an Ottoman ship base in Suez .

Expedition to Ethiopia

This attack was unsuccessful, so Estevão returned to Massaua (now in Eritrea ) on May 22, 1541 to pick up the ships he had left there. He decided to send a part of his army under the leadership Cristóvãos on an expedition to the Christian Negus Claudius support (Gelawdewos) who just returned from a Muslim conquest of the army from the Afar and Somali -run Adal Sultanate was harassed. 400 Portuguese soldiers were selected for the expedition, 70 of whom were also experienced craftsmen or engineers, as well as 130 slaves, around 1000 arquebuses , as many pikes and several mortars . Miguel de Castanhoso, who accompanied da Gama, later wrote a report on the expedition.

The men went ashore partly in Massaua, partly in Hirgigo further south and marched inland to Debarwa , where the Bahr Negus , the Ethiopian viceroy for the northern provinces, had his seat. After an eleven day march, they reached Debarwa on July 20, where they found that the rainy season (which Castanhoso described as "winter") made it impossible to continue their journey. During the following months, Cristóvão did not leave his men inactive, but had them build devices for the cannons and attack villages in the area that had accepted Ahmed Gurey's rule . From the Bahr Negus he also learned that Queen Sabla Wengel was sitting on a mountain nearby that Ahmed had not yet been able to take. With 100 men, Cristóvão da Gama marched up the mountain (allegedly the Debre Damo ) and invited the Queen to come with him; she followed him and brought her entourage of 30 men and 50 women, who were received in a ceremony.

After the rainy season ended, the army continued on its way south. After being slowed down by their luggage for months, Cristóvão decided to leave half of the equipment on the Debre Damo. The Portuguese passed the Church of St. Romanos around Christmas 1541 and celebrated the apparition of the Lord in January 1542 in the province of Agame . The first encounter with Muslim troops took place on February 2nd at the Battle of Bacente . The Muslims had conquered a hill and started raiding the area from there. Although Queen Sabla Wengel advised him to await the arrival of Gelawdewos and his troops from Shewa , Cristóvão da Gama decided to attack because he did not want to lose the support of the local population. The Portuguese were able to take the hill with the loss of just eight men.

At the end of February, two Portuguese arrived from a ship anchored in Massaua, accompanied by six locals. Da Gama then sent 40 men to this ship, but they did not reach Massaua until it had already left. These 40 were then missing in the next battle, in which the Portuguese should meet Ahmed Gran himself.

As Sabla Wengel feared, after the Bacente incident, enemy leader Ahmed Gran knew that an enemy army was in the country and marched north to meet da Gama in Jarte ( Wagarta province ). The Imam made the first contact by sending a courier to da Gama. The courier delivered the message to da Gama that the Portuguese forces were to leave or join Ethiopia; otherwise it would be destroyed. On behalf of the Imam, the courier presented a monk's costume as a gift, a strong insult to da Gama. Da Gama responded with his own messenger who delivered “a few lines in Arabic ” saying that he had come to Ethiopia “on the orders of the great lion of the sea” and “the next day he [Ahmad Gran] would see what the Portuguese are worth ”. He also had an offensive gift for the Imam - a pair of "small tweezers for his eyebrows and a very large mirror - so that he can make himself a woman."

After the exchange of these courtesies in Jarte, the first battle took place on April 4 and the second on April 16. The first battle of Jarte was a victory for the Portuguese, although da Gama lost one of his captains. Ahmed Gran was wounded, forcing his troops to retreat to the far side of the plain. The Portuguese, who found a camp on the battlefield unbearable, advanced across the plain to the enemy camp, which led to the second battle on April 16. This time the Muslims were beaten even more clearly and, according to Castanhoso, "the victory would have been complete, we would only have had 100 horses to finish it".

Ahmed Gran had to withdraw further south to a village of Wajarat. The local population there openly opposed him and refused to provide him with provisions or soldiers. Da Gama marched to Lake Ashangi , where he followed Queen Sabla Wengel's advice by starting to camp on a hill in Wofla during the rainy season.

Towards the end of the rainy season, da Gama was contacted by a Jew (perhaps one of the Beta Israel ). He reported about a sparsely occupied fortress on the Amba Sel mountains. At the same time da Gama received information about Emperor Gelawdewos' strength: the Ethiopian monarch lived as an outlaw in the south, with an army of only 60 to 70 men. However, the mountain was the greatest obstacle between the two allies, and da Gama also learned that the garrison had a large number of horses - a tool he would have needed in his final battle. Da Gama quickly marched south with about 100 men and gained control of the mountain.

Leaving 30 men behind to bring the horses back, da Gama led his victorious men back to Wofla. There it turned out that Ahmed Gran was able to launch an attack the next morning. The imam had successfully petitioned the governor of Zabid in southern Arabia by offering him a lot of money and was given several musketeers. There were far more than there Gama had. Despite their courage, the Portuguese suffered a heavy defeat in the Battle of Wofla on August 28th. Only 170 men survived the battle, including the 30 men who brought the horses. That night da Gama, whose arm was broken by a bullet, and his 14 companions were captured by a Muslim patrol

Da Gama's death and the aftermath

Cristóvão da Gama was taken to Ahmed Gran's camp, where the Imam took out the tweezers that da Gama had given him and began to pluck his beard with them. He was attempted to convert to Islam through torture. In Castanhoso's and Jerónimo Lobo's reports it is written that da Gama's bravery and his death were worthy of a hagiography . Ahmad Gran eventually beheaded da Gama and threw his head into a nearby well. Castanhoso reported that this water gained a reputation for healing the sick.

Lobo perfected this story, claiming that when the Imam heard of the miracle, he had a dead dog thrown into the well and then covered it with a pile of stones. Lobo reinforced these details in a report from those involved who were dispatched to collect da Gama's remains to send to his nephew Vasco da Gama.

Ahmed Gran no longer viewed the surviving Portuguese, who were scattered in a foreign land without their firearms and alone, as a threat. He released all but 200 of the foreign musketeers and marched with them to his camp near Derasgue on the coast of Lake Tana . However, more than 120 men had joined Queen Sabla Wengel, who sought refuge on the Mount of the Jews. Ten days later, their son Emperor Gelavdewos arrived and they assessed the situation.

With the weapons stored at Debre Damo, the Portuguese were able to arm themselves again and they promised to make their ability available to Gelawdewos. This raised a new army, which Ahmed Gran met at Wayna Daga . The Portuguese musketeers only targeted the Muslim musketeers, who had played a crucial role in Wofla, and Imam Ahmad himself.

While sources differ on the exact details, all agree that Ahmed Gran was killed by the men of the late Cristóvão da Gama in order to avenge his death.

monument

His statue can be seen in the Padrão dos Descobrimentos near Lisbon.

literature

• Richard Burton: First Footsteps in East Africa. Praeger, New York 1966, p. 181.
• The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1441-1443. 1902. Reprint: Kraus Reprint, Nendeln 1967, pp. Xlii ff.
• Jerónimo Lobo: The Itinerario of Jerónimo Lobo. Translated by Donald M. Lockhart. Hakluyt Society, London 1984, pp. 207f; Castanhoso's report was translated from Whiteway, pp. 66–70.