The warrior who defeated the mighty Mughals - Stephanie Honchell Smith
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In 1624, Mughal Emperor Jahangir received word of yet another defeat at the hands of his greatest enemy: Malik Ambar. Jahangir was so obsessed with defeating his rival, he commissioned a painting of himself shooting an arrow at Ambar’s skull. So, who was this brilliant tactician? And how did he come into power? Stephanie Honchell Smith shares Ambar's rise from enslaved youth to kingmaker.
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Malik Ambar (1548-1626) was born as Chapu in modern-day Ethiopia. After being enslaved around the age of 12 as part of the Indian Ocean slave trade, he was forcibly transported to the Middle East and India. In India, he was purchased by the Chief Minister of the kingdom of Ahmednagar. Malik Ambar later gained his freedom and earned a following as a mercenary soldier. He eventually rose to become the kingdom’s Chief Minister and regent, positions he held for over two decades. During this time, he successfully repelled repeated Mughal attempts to conquer the kingdom. The Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, famously commissioned a fantasy painting of himself shooting an arrow at Ambar’s disembodied head.
To learn more about Malik Ambar’s life and the world he lived in, see Omar H. Ali’s book, Malik Ambar: Power and Slavery Across the Indian Ocean, which he discusses in this video and which you can find reviewed here.
People of African descent in South Asia are known as Habshis or Sidis, and many rose to elite positions in the early modern period, as discussed in this book edited by Kenneth X. Robbins and John McLeod and this book edited by Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya and Jean-Pierre Angenot. Their descendants are still found across South Asia today.
To learn more about Malik Ambar’s life and the world he lived in, see Omar H. Ali’s book, Malik Ambar: Power and Slavery Across the Indian Ocean, which he discusses in this video and which you can find reviewed here.
People of African descent in South Asia are known as Habshis or Sidis, and many rose to elite positions in the early modern period, as discussed in this book edited by Kenneth X. Robbins and John McLeod and this book edited by Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya and Jean-Pierre Angenot. Their descendants are still found across South Asia today.
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Stephanie Honchell Smith
- Director Layron DeJarnette, Gumboyo
- Narrator Alexandra Panzer
- Composer Salil Bhayani, cAMP Studio
- Sound Designer Amanda P.H. Bennett, cAMP Studio
- Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
- Produced by Abdallah Ewis
- Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
- Editorial Producer Dan Kwartler
- Fact-Checker Paige Downie
