Cristóvão da Gama

Who was Cristóvão da Gama?

Cristóvão da Gama was a Portuguese military commander who led a Portuguese army of 400 musketeers on a crusade in Ethiopia and Somalia against the far larger Somali Muslim army of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi aided by the Ottoman Empire. He was victorious against larger forces in four battles, but was seriously wounded in his last battle, after which he was captured and eventually executed. Sir Richard Burton, in his First Footsteps in East Africa, referred to him as "the most chivalrous soldier of a chivalrous age."