rulers of

Home Research Express Originals African rulers of India: That part of our history we choose to forget

India: That
part of our
history we
choose
to forget
The elite status of the
African slaves in India
ensured that a number of
them had access to political
authority and secrets which
they could make use of to
become rulers in their own
Adrija
right, reigning over parts of
India.

Updated: June 5, 2016 4:34 pm

“When your family has been ruling for hundreds of years, people still call you
the title of Nawab,” says Nawab Reza Khan, tenth Nawab of Sachin as he trace
his family’s regal history. Reza Khan currently works as a lawyer and lives in t
city of Sachin in Gujarat. He says his ancestors came from Abyssinia (present d
Ethiopia in East Africa) as part of the forces of Babur. Eventually, they conquer
the fort at Janjira and later occupied Sachin and ruled over their own kingdom

The Nawab of Sachin is a personified remnant of a glorious African past in Ind

Africans have, for centuries been a part of Indian society. While the slave trad
from Africa to America and Europe is well documented, the eastward moveme
of African slaves to India has been left unexplored.

Also Read: African nationals attacked in Delhi speak up: ‘They were shouting,
back to your country’ 

The systematic transportation of African slaves to India started with the Arabs
and Ottomans and later by the Portuguese and the Dutch in the sixteenth -
seventeenth centuries. Concrete evidence of African slavery is available from
twelfth-thrirteenth centuries, when a significant portion of the Indian
subcontinent was being ruled by Muslims.
 African rulers in India

Map data ©2018 Google, ORION-ME, SK telecom, ZENRIN Terms 500 km

There is, however, a major difference between African slavery in America and
Europe and that in India. There was far greater social mobility for Africans in
India. In India, they rose along the social ladder to become nobles, rulers or
merchants in their own capacities. “In Europe and America, Africans were
brought in as slaves for plantation and industry labour. In India on the other
hand, African slaves were brought in to serve as military power,” says Dr Sure
Kumar, Professor of African studies in Delhi University.
 Nawab Ibrahim Mohammad Yakut Khan II of Sachin (1833-1873) (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

These were elite military slaves, who served purely political tasks for their
owners. They were expensive slaves, valued for their physical strength. The el
status of the African slaves in India ensured that a number of them had access
political authority and secrets which they could make use of to become rulers
their own right, reigning over parts of India. They came to be known by the na
of Siddis or Habshis (Ethiopians or Abyssinians). The term ‘Siddi’ is derived fro
North Africa, where it was used as a term of respect.

The Nawab of Sachin and Janjira

The political power acquired by Africans in the Deccan, in particular in Janjira

and Sachin, is best demonstrated in a painting by Abul Hasan, that depicts
Emperor Jahangir taking aim at the head of the African slave Malik Ambar. Th
political career of Malik Ambar can be traced back to a time when he was kno
as ‘Chapu’. He was initially bought as a slave in Ethiopia by an Arab merchant
Later, after being resold a number of times, he somehow landed in the court o
Ahmadnagar as one among the hundreds of Habshi military slaves there.

Jahangir Shooting Malik Ambar through the head, painting by Abul Hasan; Circa. 1616

By the mid-sixteenth century, the Mughals had increased their appetite for the
South and were aggressively trying to encroach upon the Nizam Shahi dynasty
that ruled much of Deccan. In 1600 AD, the Ahmadnagar fort finally fell into th
hands of the Mughals. However, the presence of the Mughals in the Deccan wa
still limited and Ahmadnagar’s surrounding countryside still lay with the troop
deployed by the Nizam Shahi state of which Malik Ambar was a part.

It was during this period that the African slave grew to be a political game
changer. Commanding a troop of 3000 cavalrymen, he proved to be a major
obstacle to the Mughals’ appetite for the Deccan. The painting by Abul Hasan i
testimony to what a nuisance the Ethiopian soldier had become to the Mughal
Left: Nawab Haider Yakut Mohommad Khan of Sachin (1930-1947) Right: Nawab Ahmad Khan of Janjira ( 1879-1922) {Sour
of Kenneth and Joyce Robbins}

Malik Ambar constructed a fort at Janzira, located in the Konkan coast, by the
end of the sixteenth century. It still stands intact, currently under protection o
the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). At Janjira, the Africans developed the
own kingdom (with their own cavalry, coat of arms and currency) which the
Mughals and Marathas failed to occupy despite repeated attacks. Later, the
African rulers of Janjira went on to occupy another fort at Sachin in modern d
Gujarat. The present Nawab of Sachin, Reza Khan says “the title of Nawab was
given to our ancestors by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, since they had not
allowed his competitor Shivaji to occupy the Janjira fort.”
 Court of Arms stamp in Janjira (Source: collection of Kenneth and Joyce Robbins)

The Habshi Sultans of Bengal

A large number of royal coins found in Bengal tells the story of a time when th
region was ruled by Africans who had been originally brought as slaves. Much
Bengal, in the thirteenth century was being ruled by the Muslim Sultans of Del
The Bengal Sultanate was established by Shams al-Din Ilyas Shah in 1352.
Historian Stan Gordon has recorded that during this period a large number of
Abyssinian (inhabitants of Ethiopia in East Africa) slaves had been recruited in
the army of the Bengal Sultans. They did not just work in the army, but also ro
to get involved in major administrative tasks such as act as court magistrates,
collecting tolls and taxes and involved in services of law enforcement.
 Habshi coins from the fteenth century excavated in Bengal (Source: collection of Kenneth and Joyce Robbins)

Eventually, the Abyssinians in the army managed to seize power from the Sult
under the leadership of Barbak Shahzada, and conquered the throne of the
Bengal Sultanate. Barbak Shahzada laid the foundation stone of the Habshi
dynasty in Bengal in 1487, and became its first ruler under the name of Ghiyat
al-Din Firuz Shah.

Ghiyath-al-Din was followed by three other Abyssinian rulers. His successor, S

al-Din Firuz is considered the best of the Habshi rulers. “He is said to have bee
brave and just king, benevolent to the poor and needy, and a patron of art and
architecture,” says Stan Gordon. Firuz is believed to have patronised the build
of a number of religious and secular structures. Most well known among these
the Firuz Minar at Gaur which still stands tall, in a good state of preservation.
The Firuz Minar is often compared to the Qutub Minar in Delhi, both in
appearance and also in its significance of a victory tower.
 Firuz Minar located in Gaur (Source: Wikimedia commons)

The Habshi rule of Bengal was very brief and came to an end in 1493 AD, when
Sayyid Husain Sharif Makki seized the throne and founded the Husaini dynast

Sidi Masood of Adoni

Adoni is situated in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. In the fifteenth centur

was part of the Vijayanagar empire. With the decline of the Vijayanagar empir
the city came in the hands of the Bijapur Sultanate. As part of the Bijapur
Sultanate, Adoni got one of its most important governors by the name of Siddi
Masood Khan. Masood was a wealthy merchant from Abyssinia.
Shahi Jamia Masjid at Adoni was constructed by Sidi Masood Khan. (Source: collection of Kenneth and Joyce Robb

Siddi Masood was the vizier of Bijapur and was virtually the ruler of Adoni. H
improved upon the Adoni fort and also built the Shahi Jamia Masjid. Apart fro
architectural constructions, he is known to have patronised a sizeable number
paintings under his reign. It is possible that he also founded the school of
painting at Adoni, which is a variant of the Bijapuri style.

The Abyssinian ruler’s reign at Adoni came to an end when Aurangzeb capture
Bijapur in 1686. Records suggest that a dramatic fight took place on the banks
the mosque built by Siddi Masood, following which he surrendered since the
mosque was very dear to him. Aurangzeb appointed Ghazi ud-din Khan as
governor of Adoni, replacing Siddi Masood.
 Sidi Masood improved upon the Adoni fort. (Source: collection of Kenneth and Joyce Robbins)

Apart from the above rulers, historians are still trying to recover more about
African elites in the past. It is possible that the first ruler of the Sharqui dynast
in Jaunpur in the fourteenth century was an Abyssinian. African rulership wa
perhaps also a part of Sind’s history. However, not enough documentary evide
has been unearthed to make these claims.

Presence of Siddis in Contemporary India

Today, approximately 20,000 to 50,000 Siddis are residing in India and Pakistan
with the majority concentrated in Karnataka, Gujarat, Hyderabad, Makaran an
Karachi. In contrast to their part of royal privileges, most of them live in
conditions of abject poverty.
Today, approximately 20,000 to 50,000 Siddis are residing in India and Pakistan, with the majority concentrated in Karnata
Hyderabad, Makaran and Karachi. (Source: Express Archives)

Anthropologist Kiran Kamal has been working on the Siddi presence in India f
the past couple of decades. He lived amongst a group of them in Mundgod Talu
(Karnataka) for a year. “They live in dense forest areas, literally cut off from
everyone.” says Kamal. He observed the way Siddis interacted with people in a
market place and says that “they would always maintain a distance. There is a
strong fear of Non-African Indians. Indians also have a very disrespectful
attitude towards them, despite using them for all the hard labour.”

Poverty, lack of access to education and racism are some of the reasons why th
Siddis live in solitude today. “They did not even know they originated from
Africa,” says Kamal. On being asked about how an awareness of their history
might help them, Kiran Kamal says that, “it does help in spurring a motivation
from within. But substantially it does not have much value. What is mainly
required is that all the Siddis come up socioeconomically and are well integrat
into the larger society.”
Dr. Kenneth Robbins, author of “African elites in India”, is of the opinion that i
necessary to shed light on the ruling status of Africans in India. “The purpose i
to see India in a different light, to understand social mobility in India. It is
important for Indians to take note of the place that Africans had at one point
secured in the country.”

“A major difference in the history of African presence in the rest of the world a
that in India is that racial discrimination was not a feature. Nowhere else in th
world had they ruled. However, I do not know why, this part of their history h
been ignored,” says Dr. Suresh Kumar. He goes on to explain that the elite hist
of Africans in India is particularly significant in today’s times considering that
instances of racial prejudices keep occurring in various parts of the country.

READERS INSIGHTS
Below are some valuable contributions made by our readers to this story. Whi
we cannot authenticate each of them, they definitely provide essential food for
thought and material for further research.

VIVJPhD : I cover them in my book Uganda Asians to show the Indian Ocean
crossings were two-way – Indians coming to east Africa from the first century
and Africans going/taken there. As the article says it was mostly Ethiopians. Th
king up there is clearly from Et. When I was stationed there I was astounded t
see peasants wearing jodhpurs and playing the lute. They still do.

Ramesh Kumar: There is a colony in Hyderabad known as A C Guards (Africa

Cavalry Guards). This is is small Cavalry regiment of Africans (probably slaves
gifted by Raja of Gadwal to the then Nizam. Even today the community lives
there and there is Mosque established exclusively for them. It shows that they
enjoyed considerable freedom from slavery in Hyderabad. There are known a
Siddis.
 chandar krishna: This makes for fascinating study. Prof.Sanjay Subramanian
has made an extensive research on some aspect of this. Were they partly Jewis
too? there are references to Jewish settlements in Cochin in the 15th century.
M.G.Vassanji,novelist, describes his encounter with the Siddis in Gujarat in his
travelogue, ‘A Place Within: Rediscovering India’. In Karnataka, many of the
Siddis are making a mark in athletics.
syncretism has always been a characteristic feature of the Indian consciousne
more research needs to be done on this, many thanks, Chanda

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