Part of The World in a Life series, this brief, inexpensive text provides insight into the life of slave soldier Malik Ambar. Malik Ambar: Power and Slavery across the Indian Ocean offers a rare look at an individual who began in obscurity in eastern Africa and reached the highest levels of South Asian political and military affairs in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Ambar's rise from slavery in East Africa to ruler in South Asia sheds light on the diverse mix of people, products, and practices that shaped the Indian Ocean world during the early modern period. Originally from Ethiopia—historically called Abyssinia—Ambar is best known for having defended the Deccan from being occupied by the Mughals during the first quarter of the seventeenth century. His ingenuity as a military leader, his diplomatic skills, and his land-reform policies contributed to his success in keeping the Deccan free of Mughal imperial rule.
We live in a global age where big concepts like "globalization" often tempt us to forget the personal side of the past. The titles in The World in a Life series aim to revive these meaningful lives. Each one shows us what it was like to live on a world historical stage. Brief, inexpensive, and thematic, each book can be read in a week, fit within a wide range of curricula, and shed insight into a particular place or time. Four to six short primary sources at the end of each volume sharpen the reader's view of an individual's impact on world history.
ISBN-13: 9780190269784
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication Date: 01-06-2016
Pages: 176
Product Dimensions: 5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Series: World in a Life
Omar H. Ali is Associate Professor of Comparative African Diaspora History and Interim Dean of Lloyd International Honors College at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the author of several books, including the forthcoming Islam in the Indian Ocean World: A Brief History with Documents (2016).
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Cast of Characters
Acknowedgements
About the Author
Introduction
Chapter 1. Oromo, Abyssinia, and War
Chapter 2. Mocha, Baghdad, and Beyond
Chapter 3. The Deccan and Military Slavery
Chapter 4. Ahmednagar and 'Fidelity to Salt'
Chapter 5. Rebels, Regency, and Race
Chapter 6. Bargi-Giri, Diplomacy, and Defense
Chapter 7. The People and the Battle of Bhatvadi
Chapter 8. Justice, Land Reform, and Legacy
Chapter 9: Abyssinian Defender of the Deccan
Timeline
Primary Source Excerpts and Study Questions
Further Reading
Notes
Credits
Index
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