Prominent Africans in the history of India: The Habashis who ruled the Kingdoms of Delhi, and Bengal – by Jide Uwechia
The Kingdom of Delhi and Janupur
Jamal al-Din Yaqut was a black prince of Abbyssinia, a Habashi who became a royal courtier in the kingdom of Delhi. He was believed to be on intimate terms with the then reigning sovereign Queen Raziya (1236- 1240) the first female monarch of Delhi. He was hated on by rival Turkish Mameluke members of the ruling family of the kingdom of Delhi. He was eventually killed by those jealous rivals.
At Alapur, north of Delhi, the governor was “the Abyssinian Badr…, a man whose bravery passed into a proverb”, according to Ibn Battuta (a medieval Muslim writer who travelled around the world)..
Malik Sarwar (1394 – 1403) who was also described as a Habashi, became the governor of Jaunpur, a sultanate close to Delhi. Under the title of Malik-us-Shark (king of the east) he captured the Jaunpur province. Malik Sarwar and his five successors namely Malik Mubarak Quranfal, Ibrahim Shah, Mahmud Shah, Bhikhan Khan and lastly Hussain Shah are called Sharqi kings who ruled the kingdom of Jaunpur for little less than a century. They were all without exceptions black Indo-Africans otherwise called Habashis or the Ethiopians in India. This was the period of peace and prosperity in the history of Jaunpur witnessing remarkable achievements in the fields of art, architecture, education, trade & commerce etc.
“..the most famous among the Indo-Africans was the celebrated Malik Ambar (1550-1626). Ambar, like a number of Africans in medieval India, elevated himself to a position of great authority. Malik Ambar, whose original name was Shambu, was born around 1550 in Harar, Ethiopia. After his arrival in India, Ambar was able to raise a formidable army and achieve great power in the west Indian realm of Ahmadnagar. Ambar was a brilliant diplomat and administrator.” Tom Mountains Ambedkar Journal Website HABSHIS AND SIDDIS: AFRICAN DYNASTIES IN INDIA
Abyssinian interlude in Bengal
In 1487, Khoja Barbak a black African soldier/courtier (Habashi) assassinated jalal-ud-din the then ruler of Bengal and took over the throne with the name of Sultan Shahjada. Although Khoja Barbak was a Habashi, he was assasinated within a few months by another habashi, Malik Andil Khan Sultan, who was jalal-ud-din’s prime minister.
Saif-ud-din Firoz Shah (1487–1490) became the first black African (Habashi) ruler of Bengal. He was known as a good ruler, who emptied his treasury to provide for the poor. He constructed the Firoz Minar, a mosque, and a water tank in gauda. He is likely to be the same as Malik Andil Sultan another colourful Habashi (Black African) personality who ruled Bengal and neighbouring districts..
Saif-ud-din Firoz Shah was followed by Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Shah II (1490), who was either his son, i.e. Saif-ud-din Firoz Shah; or of Jalal-ud-din Fateh Shah. The real power, however, may have lay with the abyssinian called Habsh Khan, who was, however, killed by another abyssinian called Sidi Badr Khan.
Sidi Badr Khan another black African Habashi assasinated Nasir-ud-din and took the throne as Shams-ud-din Abu Nasir Muhammad Shah (1490–93).
Muhammad Shah is said to may have been a stern ruler who brokered no nonsense yet he was a spiritual and conscientious person.. He rebuilt the tomb of Nur Qutb Alamin Pandua, and constructed a mosque at Maulana Ata’s darga in Amapura. He was ultimately killed by his minister Sayyid Hussein Shah.
Jide Uwechia
May 04/May/2010
Sources
@ http://tanmoy.tripod.com/bengal/abyssinian.html
http://www.indo-african-society.org/pages/indo_african_diaspora1.htm
Pankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century (Asmara, Eritrea: Red Sea Press, 1997), pp.432
It is so good to discuss African influence in the world without mentioning slavery. Africans are not slave decendants. Thanks for being positive in your article.
Sharqi, title of kings who ruled in the kingdom of Jaunpur;
And Sarki, title given to Hausa kings.
this is not a coincidence because we find many identical hausa words in that part of Asia: Martaba (prestige), Masala(problem), Maharaja: Maïdaraja(His eminence or excellency used for king in hausa language). This is to mention few of words correspondance
Laoual, i ‘ve watched recently a hausa movie, and i found that the jewelleries wore par the hausa are similar than those in india, just a confirmation that african art, tradition and languages are first in the world and give birth to other civilisations!