Abu Bakr "the Slim" (Qaṭin) also known simply as Qaṭin sometimes spelt Qecchin or Katchthcen was a general in the Adal Sultanate under Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi.[1] Abubaker's sobriquet "Qaṭin" is derived from the Harari term for "thin".[2][3][4] According to sixteenth century Adal writer Arab Faqīh, he was the Garad of Hubat.[5]
Political and military career
In the sixteenth century texts, Abu Bakr is described:[6]
the emir Abu Bakr nicknamed ‘Qatin’ which means ‘the gaunt’. He was from among those renowned for their courage, and among the rare horsemen whose exploits became proverbial.
— Arab Faqīh, Futuh Al-Habaša
He often accompanied the Malassay during the Ethiopian-Adal War.[7] Qecchin was a victim to the early Abyssinian invasion of Adal in which his mother was briefly captured at the Battle of Hubat.[8] Qecchin led the conquest of Wofla in modern Tigray region and Kanfat in southern Begemder, after which he was appointed governor of these respective regions by Adal.[9]