Ambar

Ambar may refer to:

See also

Malik Ambar

Malik Ambar (1549 – 13 May 1626) was an Ethiopian born in Harar, sold as a child by his parents due to poverty. He was eventually brought to India and remained enslaved by the people that bought him. Nevertheless, in time he created an independent army that had up to 1500 men. This army resided in the Deccan region and was hired by many local kings. He eventually rose to become a very popular Prime Minister of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, showing his administrative acumen in various fields. Malik is also regarded as a pioneer in Guerilla warfare in the Deccan region. He is credited with having carried out a systematic revenue settlement of major portions of the Deccan, which formed the basis for many subsequent settlements. He died in 1626. 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 falling status of the Nizam Shah.

Early life

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."