Upon the death of Emperor Libne Dengil in 1540, his son Gelawdiwos was proclaimed Emperor and King of Kings. He was given the royal nom-du-guerre of Atsnaf Seged, which translates to "He to whom the horizon bows" in Ge'ez. Gelawdiwos was still a young man, yet he had proven himself repeatedly on the field of battle against the Islamic forces of Gragn Mohammed (Ahmed Ibn al Ghazi). As he was still very young though, his mother Empress Seble Wongel assisted him in the earlier part of his reign, although not actually given the formal title of regent. Empress Seble Wongel was from northern Tigrai on one side of her family, and from Simien on the other side. Both these areas had often been a source of troublesome and persistent rebellion against previous monarchs. Now however, these districts became fiercely loyal to the new Emperor because of this blood tie. The beginning of his reign was marked with some significant successes against the forces of the now dominant Gragn in Tembien and Shirre districts which were controlled by Yonathan, son of Henok who had defected from Emperor Libne Dengil to Gragn. The Emperor crushed the Moslem forces and killed Yonathan. While recovering from these battles in Simien, a force of 600 well armed Portuguese soldiers arrived from India and landed at Massawa. They defeated the Turkish governor of Massawa, Noor id Din, and after his death in battle, they cut off his head and sent it to the Empress Seble Wongel. They joined their forces with the army of the Bahir Negash Yeshaq, and marched to the monastery of Debre Damo to meet with Empress Seble Wongel who was encamped with her own army nearby. The widowed Empress, the Bahir Negash and the Portuguese prepared for battle against the Moslems. Gragn became quite alarmed at the possiblity that the young Emperor Gelawdewos would combine his forces with is mother and the Portuguese, so he decided to act swiftly and marched into Akale Guzai (in modern day Eritrea). There in March of 1541, at the battle of Anasa he fought the combined forces of Empress Eleni and the Portuguese under Christoforo Da Gama. For the first time the Harrari and Adal forces were faced with Canons, things they had never seen before. Gragn was wounded and fled the scene of battle. He immediately sent a plea to the Pasha of Yemen for more arms. Zebied Pasha sent a force of 2000 Arabs and Turks to back up Gragn's forces. In August of 1541, the Empress and the Portugese again met and fought Gragn at Ashenge. The commander of the Portugese, Dom Christoforo Da Gama was severly wounded. In the haste of retreat, Da Gama was hidden in a forest so that his wounds could heal before making his way to rejoin the army. While hidden in this wood, a young Turkish girl whom Da Gama had kept as his mistress apparently decided to betray him, and led the Muslims to where he was hidden. His captors beat him severely and dragged him before Gragn. They tried to get him to reveal where the Empress and the Portugese had retreated to but he refused. Gragn then approached the prisoner, and told him that if he were to accept Islam, he would be merciful to him. Da Gama is said to have spat in Gragn's face, where upon he was again severely beaten. Gragn then grabbed an axe and personally beheaded the son of Vasco Da Gama.
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