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The Battle of Wofla was fought on August 28, 1542 near Lake Ashenge in Wofla (or Ofla) in the modern Ethiopian Region of Tigray (previously part of Wollo; its incorporation into Tigray instead of Amhara is therefore disputed), between the Portuguese under Christovão da Gama and the forces of Imam Ahmad Gragn. Reinforced with a superiority not only in numbers but in firearms, Ahmad Gragn was victorious and forced the Portuguese, along with Queen Sabla Wengel and her retinue, to flee their fortified encampment and leave their weapons behind.
While fleeing the battlefield with 14 soldiers, da Gama was captured by followers of Ahmad Gragn. An eye-witness described how, shortly before his capture, he 'had been shot in the right knee and was fighting with his sword in his left hand, for his right arm had been broken by another shot.'[1] He was then 'brought into the presence of the Moorish general Gragn, who loaded him with reproaches; to whom he replied with such a share of invectives that the Moor, in the violence of his passion, drew his sword and cut off his head with his own hand.'[1]
