Rise Of Malik Ambar: Medieval India

Rise of Malik Ambar: Medieval India

Introduction

After Ahmednagar fell and Bahadur Nizam Shah was captured by the Mughals, the state of Ahmednagar would have collapsed and been absorbed by many adjacent states if not for the rise of a unique man named Malik Ambar. Malik Ambar was an Abyssinian who was born in Ethiopia. 
 

Malik Ambar's History

• In the Deccan region of India, Malik Ambar (1548–1626), a Siddi military leader and prime minister, came to become kingmaker and de facto ruler of the Ahmednagar Sultanate.
 
• Malik was born in the Adal Sultunate of contemporary Ethiopia and was first taken to India as a king before his parents sold him as a toddler.
 
• Changez Khan, a well-known and formidable Habshi noble of Murtaza Nizam Shah, was where Malik Ambar ascended through the ranks.
 
• He gathered a mercenary force of up to 1.5 million troops while in India. It was employed by regional kingdoms, and its headquarters were in the Deccan region.
 
• Ambar left Ahmednagar when the Mughals attacked to try his luck in Bijapur. He swiftly left, nevertheless, and joined the tenacious Habshi (Abyssinian) opposition party.
 
• Malik excelled in administration and grew to become the Ahmednagar Sultanate's well-liked Prime Minister. He is known as a pioneer in guerilla warfare in the area.
 
• After Ahmednagar was overthrown, Malik Ambar located a Nizam Shahi prince and, with the implicit approval of the king of Bijapur, installed him as Murtaza Nizam Shah II, replacing himself as the Peshwa - a title that had been widely used in Ahmednagar for a long time.
 
• He is credited with concluding a revenue settlement that laid the groundwork for subsequent settlements in a large portion of the Deccan. He is highly regarded by the Siddis of Gujarat.
 
• Malik Ambar collected a sizable group of bargis, or Maratha soldiers, around him. The Marathas were adept in making fast moves, cutting off supplies to the enemy army, and pillaging.
 
• The Marathas in the Deccan were accustomed to guerilla warfare, but the Mughals were not.
 
• Ambar made it impossible for the Mughals to use the Marathas to strengthen their positions in Berar, Ahmednagar, and Balaghat.
 

Abdur Rahim Khan-I-Khana

• At the time, the Mughal commander in the Deccan was the smart and cunning politician and skilled soldier Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan. He handed Ambar a humiliating loss in 1601 in Telengana at a location named Nander.
 
• However, he made the decision to befriend Ambar because he believed that some stability was needed for the remaining Nizam Shahi Empire.
 
• To deal with his internal enemies, Ambar thought it advantageous to establish his friendship with the Khan-i-Khanan.
 

Assistance of Adil Shah

• Ambar, however, started a ferocious battle to drive the Mughals out of Berar, Balaghat, and Ahmednagar after Akbar's death, when the position of the Mughals in the Deccan became weak due to differences among Mughal commanders.
 
• Ibrahim Adil Shah, the king of Bijapur, supported him in this quest because he thought the Nizam Shah realm should continue to act as a barrier between Bijapur and the Mughals.
 
• He granted Ambar control of the formidable Telengana fortress known as Qandahar, where his family would live and store valuables, food, and other supplies.
 
• A certain area of land was to be put up for the support of the 10,000 horsemen he also loaned him.
 
• The treaty was signed by a union of the son of Malik Ambar and a famous Ethiopian noble from Bijapur.
 
• Adil Shah lavished the bride with a rich dowry and spent close to Rs 80,000 on pyrotechnics alone for the wedding's joyous celebration in 1609.
 

Malik Ambar Receives Assistance From Bijapur And The Marathas

• Khan-i-Khanan was swiftly forced to flee to Burhanpur by Ambar with the aid of Bijapur and the Marathas' active assistance. As a result, by 1610, Akbar had completely lost all of his Deccan gains.
 
• Prince Parvez was sent to the Deccan with a sizable force, but he was unable to take on Malik Ambar's challenge. Parvez was had to negotiate a humiliating settlement with Ambar because even Ahmednagar had been lost.
 
• As long as Malik Ambar had the strong backing of the Marathas and other Deccan elements, his affairs prospered and the Mughals were unable to re-establish themselves.
 
• On the other hand, Malik Ambar over time become conceited and turned his allies against him.
 
• The Khan-i-Khanan, who had been given a new position as the Mughal viceroy of the Deccan, made use of the circumstance to gain the support of several Habshi and Maratha nobles, including Jagdev Rai, Babaji Kate, Udaji Ram, and others.
 
• In his Memoirs, Jahangir acknowledged the significance of the Marathas, saying that they "are a hardy lot and are the center of resistance in that country."
 

Rise of Mughal Power

• With the aid of Maratha sardars, Khan-i-Khanan was able to defeat the united forces of Ahmednagar, Bijapur, and Golconda in 1616.
 
• The Mughals took control of Khirki, the new Nizam Shahi capital, and destroyed every building there before escaping. This setback shattered the Deccani alliance's resistance to the Mughals. Ambar, though, persisted in his resistance.
 
• In order to continue Khan-i-Khanan's triumph, Jahangir sent a large army led by his son, prince Khurram (later Shah Jahan), and he personally relocated to Mandu to assist the prince (1618).
 
• Ambar was forced to give in in the face of this danger. It is remarkable, however, that Jahangir did not make an effort to add to Akbar's gains in the Deccan in the treaty.
 
• Contrary to what some have said, Jahangir's military prowess was not the cause of this; rather, it was the result of planned policy. It would seem that Jahangir did not desire to deepen Mughal ties in the Deccan or meddle too much in its affairs.
 
• The Deccani nations could settle down and coexist happily with the Mughals thanks to his moderation, he was still optimistic.
 
• Jahangir adopted this strategy in an effort to win Bijapur over. To that purpose, he sent Adil Shah a polite Farman in which he addressed him as "son."
 
Rise of Malik Ambar: Medieval India

War With Mughals

• Ambar led the Deccani resistance against the Mughals despite these reverses, and the Deccan was never at peace.
 
• The combined Deccani armies were decisively crushed by the Mughals two years later, though.
 
• Ambar was compelled to return all Mughal lands along with 14 kos of neighboring land. The Deccani states were obligated to pay an indemnity of Rs 5,000. These triumphs were credited to Prince Khurram.
 
• The united front of the Deccani nations against the Mughals was eventually broken by this second setback, so soon after the first.
 
• The Deccani states' historical rivalries have reemerged. To regain Sholapur, a subject of dispute between the two states, Ambar conducted a number of assaults against Bijapur.
 
• Ambar swiftly reached Bijapur, destroyed Ibrahim Adil Shah's newly constructed Nauraspur city, and drove him to seek protection inside the fort. This might be seen as Ambar's zenith of power.
 

Significance of Malik Ambar

• Despite Ambar's exceptional military prowess, vigor, and resolve, his victories were fleeting because he was unable or unable to come to terms with the Mughals.
 
• However, Ambar's ascent was most notable for signaling a firm understanding of the Marathas' centrality in Deccani affairs.
 
• Success under Malik Ambar's direction gave the Marathas confidence, which later enabled them to play a more independent role.
 
• Malik Ambar tried to enhance the Nizam Shahi state's governance by putting Todar Mal's land revenue system into place.
 
• He did away with the previous, disastrous for peasants system of contract land distribution (ijara) and replaced it with the zabti system.
 
• Malik Ambar was able to recapture many of the former areas that had been abandoned to the Mughals following the Deccan's upheaval in 1622 as a result of Prince Khurram's uprising against Jahangir.
 
• Jahangir's attempt to strengthen the Mughal position in the Deccan was so unsuccessful.
 

Conclusion

It's possible to ask whether Ahmednagar will ultimately benefit by reviving the Mughal conflict. Shah Jahan concluded that his only option was to put an end to Ahmednagar's status as a sovereign state. At the age of 80, Malik Ambar died away in 1626. But his heirs had to bear the unpleasant consequences of his legacy.

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