Malik Ambar

Malik Ambar
Malik Ambar of Ahmadnagar
Born	1548
Died	11 May 1626
Allegiance	Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar

Malik Ambar (1548 – 13 May 1626) was an Ethiopian born in Harar, who played a significant military role in the Deccan region of India.

Sold as a child by his parents, Malik was brought to India as a slave. In time he created an independent army, a mercenary force numbering up to 1500 men. It was based in the Deccan region and was hired by local kings.

Malik became a popular Prime Minister of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, showing administrative acumen. He is also regarded as a pioneer in guerilla warfare in the region. He is credited with carrying out a revenue settlement of much of the Deccan, which formed the basis for subsequent settlements. He is a figure of veneration to the Siddis of Gujarat. He humbled the might of the Mughals and Adil Shah of Bijapur and raised the low status of the Nizam Shah.

Malik Ambar was born in the city of Alhura in a Habshi tribe of Maya, the capital of the Adal Sultanate, in modern eastern Ethiopia. However, some sources mention the Ethiopian town of Harar as his birthplace. Both the Solomonic dynasty and the Adal sultanate were devastated after two decades of war with each other. According to the Futuhat-i `adil Shahi, Malik Ambar then known as Shambhu or Shan-bu was sold into slavery by his parents. He ended up in al-Mukha in Yemen, where he was sold again for 20 ducats and was taken to the slave market in Baghdad, where he was sold a third time to the Qadi al-Qudat of Mecca and again in Baghdad to Mir Qasim al-Baghdadi, who eventually took him to south-central India. He was described by the Dutch merchant Pieter van den Broecke as, "a black kafir from Abyssinia with a stern Roman face."

Malik Ambar was the regent of the Nizamshahi dynasty of Ahmednagar from 1607 to 1626. In 1612, Malik Ambar was recorded as the first ruler to use rockets as military weapon when he came into conflict against the Mughals