was governed by local Somali dynasties established by the Adelites. Adal's history from this founding period forth would be characterized by a succession of battles with neighbouring Abyssinia. Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn was born in Zeila during the Adal Kingdom period. Al-Kawneyn is a Somali Muslim saint. He is believed to be the ancestor of the royal family known as the Walashma dynasty, which later governed both the Ifat Sultanate and the Adal Sultanate during the Middle Ages. Rise of the sultanate Sultan Haqq ad-Din II abandoned the former Walasma base for Harar leading to Adal becoming a major threat to Abyssinia surpassing even its predecessor Ifat in this regard. Adal is mentioned by name in the 14th century in the context of the battles between the Muslims of the Somali and Afar seaboard and the Abyssinian King Amda Seyon I's Christian troops. In 1332, the King of Adal was slain in a military campaign aimed at halting Amda Seyon's march toward Zeila. When the last Sultan of Ifat, Sa'ad ad-Din II, was killed by Dawit I of Ethiopia at the port city of Zeila in 1410, his children escaped to Yemen, before later returning in 1415. In the early 15th century, Adal's capital was moved further inland to the town of Dakkar, where Sabr ad-Din II, the eldest son of Sa'ad ad-Din II, established a new Adal administration after his return from Yemen. The Emperor of Ethiopia Tewodros I was soon killed by the Adal Sultanate upon the return of Sa'ad ad-Din's heirs to the Horn of Africa. During this period, Adal emerged as a centre of Muslim resistance against the expanding Christian Abyssinian kingdom. Adal would thereafter govern all of the territory formerly ruled by the Ifat Sultanate, as well as the land further east all the way to Cape Guardafui, according to Leo Africanus. After 1468, a new breed of rulers emerged on the Adal political scene. The dissidents opposed Walashma rule owing to a treaty that Sultan Muhammad ibn Badlay had signed with Emperor Baeda Maryam of Ethiopia, wherein Badlay agreed to submit yearly tribute. This was done to achieve peace in the region, though tribute was never sent. Adal's Emirs, who administered the provinces, interpreted the agreement as a betrayal of their independence and a retreat from the polity's long-standing policy of resistance to Abyssinian incursions. The main leader of this opposition was the Emir