A Tale of Two Kings

In 1542 in a Rajput fortress of Umarkot in Sindh a boy, Jalal, was born to Hamida. His father had been driven out of his kingdom and was now living in exile. History states that the boy’s parents had lived the last few months before his birth running across the Thar Desert in the hottest time of the year. All the wells had been filled with sand to deny the fleeing couple and their entourage of water.  The boy grew up in the house of his paternal uncles in Kabul where he learnt the skillful art of sword fighting, hunting and horse riding while his parents went off to Persia seeking refuge and help. However, the boy never learnt how to read or write.

As the boy grew up into his teens, the father’s fortunes turned around and he once again ascended the Mughal throne of Delhi but his reign lasted a couple months only. The boy was thirteen when Emperor Humayun fell of the staircase and died and he was anointed Shahanshah in Kalanaur in Punjab.  What followed is history and well known to all, the era of Emperor Akbar dawned which saw the Mughal Empire grow in size from Afghanistan in the North, Sindh in the West, Bengal in the East and River Godavari in the South. Akbar had the bloodline of Chenghez Khan and Timur Lane.

Around the time when Akbar was establishing control over India, in a faraway land in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) a young lad, again thirteen years old then was sold off as slave by his impoverished parents. Chapu, as the boy was called was sent off to Yemen and then to Baghdad where he was enslaved by Kazi Hussain who recognized the intelligence in him to educate him in finance and administration. He also gave him the name Ambar. Upon Hussain’s death, Ambar was sold off to another slave trader who took him to India and sold him to Changhez Khan, the prime minister to the king of Ahmednagar.

The Deccan in this period had a lot of these Abyssinians who were in the ranks of many Indian royals as they were known to be professional to their tasks as military slaves. Abyssinians were in Arabic known as Habshis. Changhez Khan was also of African origin. Under him Ambar learnt about military and administrative affairs. This coupled with his past education in Arabic and intellect led Ambar to become highly respected among the Habshis. Changhez in some time gave Ambar a position of authority among the military slaves.

On the death of Changhez Khan, Ambar was sold off to the Shah of Golkonda and later to the King of Bijapur. The king, impressed by Ambar’s intellect and talent, gave him the title of Malik (like a King). In Bijapur, Malik Ambar became the military commander but became a deserter with his troops when the king refused to grant additional funds. Gradually, Malik Ambar built up a force of mercenaries who provided military service to various kings of the region. In 1595, the King of Ahmednagar hired Ambar and his troops to join his army in their fight with the Mughals who under Akbar the Great were increasing their presence in the Deccan. This is where Ambar and Akbar crossed swords.

Akbar’s forces were edging southwards trying to capture the Deccan. They laid siege to the fortified city of Ahmednagar, the capital of Nizam Shahi Kingdom. When the city fell, Malik Ambar daringly escaped with around 7000 men. For the next three decades Mughals failed to take control of the Deccan from Malik Ambar.  He was able to attract other Africans and Indians to his side to wage guerrilla warfare, something our man mastered and later adopted by the Marathas. His forces grew to about 50,000. In 1610, he captured the citadel of Daulatabad. Akbar failed to defeat Ambar.

Akbar’s son Jahangir inherited his goal of crushing the Ethiopian and some say his preoccupation bordered on neurosis. Frustrated in his attempts to defeat Ambar, Jahangir cast his rival as one with a dark and cunning heart. He even got a picture of his commissioned by Abu’l Hasan of him standing on a globe atop a bull and fish as the ruler of land and sea releasing arrows into the disembodied head of Ambar.

Akbar started building the red sandstone buildings around forty kilometres west of where the iconic Taj now stands at Sikri in 1571 to mark the birth of his son Jahangir. He had originally wanted it to be a religious place for his spiritual mentor Shaikh Salim Chishti. Around the mosque, a city soon came up and soon became the capital for Akbar after Lahore and Agra.  Akbar took great interest in the building of the city and dictated its architectural design. It was a mixture of Persian principles and Indian influences. Among the better known places at Fatehpur Sikri are the majestic Buland Darwaza built to commemorate his victory in Gujarat, Jama Masjid, Dargah of Salim Chishti, Diwan-i-Aam and Khaas and Ibadat Khana, a house of worship where Akbar laid the foundations of Din-i-Ilahi. The Imperial complex was abandoned in 1585 shortly after its completion due to exhaustion of the small lake that supplied the city with water. Water proved death knell to Akbar’s dream city.

Malik Ambar was also an architectural genius who built the city of Khidki which was later renamed Aurangabad. The city was famous for its water canal and was known as Nahr e Ambari. Water was supplied to Khadki from the famous Panchaki which drove the water down the canal from the stream. Even more imposing than the Nahr was the establishment of Fort Murud Janjira on the west coast attributed to Malik Ambar and his allies, the Siddis. The fort in its full glory had 572 cannons and the fort in the middle of the sea remained unconquered despite multiple attempts by the Marathas led by Shivaji, his son Sambhaji, Portuguese and the British. The beauty about the fort is the two water tanks of cold and sweet water in the midst of saline water. Water was the strength of Janjira.

The world appends the title of The Great when referring to Akbar but hardly anyone knows about Malik Ambar. It is difficult and incorrect to judge people after five centuries but Ambar’s achievements, seen against his background as a slave compared to Akbar, do need to be given his due place in the sun. 

Here’s a picture of Ambar, The Great.

SS