I wanted to make this thread since many people don't know about. You have all heard about the African Moors(though some people disagree that they were African, but that's for another time) and how they basically dominated Europe. But now we are going to talk about the African elites of India who built palaces, fortresses, water tanks,etc...


"THE book is a chequered and prismatic compilation of illustrated writings by specialists in history, numismatics, architecture and art history of South Asia.

In a country given to varying shades from light to dark skin tones, identifying an African is no simple a task. With dominant cross-cultural influences, identification of an African Muslim from that of an Indian Muslim is equally challenging. The presence of Sub-Saharan Africans in India is unique, for nowhere in the world a handful of Sub - Saharan Africans ruled over non-African population for so long. References to

African elites are available as early as 14th century as reported by the Arab traveller Ibn Battuta.

The book elucidates upon the role of the Sub-Saharan Africans as merchants, soldiers, statesmen and eunuchs who rose to prominence in different parts of India between the 15th and 20th centuries, discreetly silent, however, on issues pertaining to racial discrimination and exploitation that surface with the very mention of the African slave trade.


The Habshis (Arabic word for Abyssinians or Ethiopians) or Sidis (derived from the Arabic sayyidi, ‘my lord’) are studied in three sections. The first section deals with former slaves who rose to power in quick succession in medieval Deccan during the 15th and 17th centuries. The career of Malik Ambar, the ex-slave, whose presence irked Emperor Jehangir enough to fantasise about killing him, while the Emperor himself is poised atop the globe in a Mughal miniature, makes for a fascinating study. The artistic and architectural legacies of Malik Ambar and his contemporaries are also discussed.

The second section deals with the medieval states of Delhi, Bengal, Gujarat and Khandesh, with specific reference to numismatics and architecture, while the section three elaborates on the prominent Africans in the Mughal Empire and the succeeding princely states of Janjira and Sachin. The last three chapters on the representation of Africans, history and present status of the marginalised African population in Hyderabad and intricacies involved in identifying Africans in miniatures, more or less, conclude the process of mapping the African presence in India.

In the age of instant communication and multimedia, the simultaneity of word and image is naturally enhanced. This, in effect, has altered the general perception and influenced recent publications, such as this, in approach and layout. More often than not, the text elucidates on the well-produced visuals with an inherent narrative sequence; the tone and tenor of the book resulting in communication through visual correspondences as a tool for instant persuasion and conviction. The book unravels and traces the path of discovery, taking the reader along in the expedition undertaken—a history that engages like a jigsaw puzzle; a history that culminates into the present."
Source:
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070225/spectrum/book1.htm

Also here is a video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jJLGBvjqzlY

[center][/center]
Muslem Theologians and This portrait is believed to be the Afro-Indian Sultan Burhan Nizam Shah III (1605-1632), who ruled in the sultanate of Ahmednagar, in northwest Deccan

Bump....

Ethiopians eh?
interesting.

KidStranglehold:
In 1490, an African guard, Sidi Badr, seized power in Bengal and ruled for three years before being murdered. Five thousand of the 30,000 men in his army were Ethiopians. After Sidi Badr’s assassination, high-level Africans were driven out and migrated to Gujarat and the Deccan. In the Deccan sultanate of Bijapur, Africans formerly enslaved—they were called the “Abyssinian party”—took control. The African regent Dilawar Khan exercised power from 1580 and was succeeded by Ikhlas Khan. The Abyssinian party dominated the Bijapur Sultanate and conquered new territories until the Mughal invasion in 1686.

i know it says the ethiopians were driven out after he died but what i'd like to know is what were the circumstances surrounding his death? was he killed by his kinsmen or by the natives?

MsDarkSkin:

i know it says the ethiopians were driven out after he died but what i'd like to know is what were the circumstances surrounding his death? was he killed by his kinsmen or by the natives?

I really don't know.

KidStranglehold:

I really don't know.

cool.
guess i have something new to research!!

according to wikipedia:

Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah (reigned 1490–94) was an Abyssinian sultan of late medieval Bengal. Sidi Badr, an Abyssinian, first killed Habash Khan, the regent of the boy-king Mahmud Shah II and later killed the sultan also. He ascended the throne under the title of Shams-ud-Din Muzaffar Shah. He was killed in 1494 by the rebels led by his wazir Sayyid Husain, who succeeded him as Alauddin Husain Shah. He is described by the Indo-Persian historians as a tyrant, whose cruelty alienated the nobles as well as his common subjects.[1]

looks like the indians don't much like him or honor his legacy as he's been styled as a "murderer" on several sites i've looked up. smh.

^^^Figures.

Ethiopians and Somalis every where, proud to be Somali.



These people are somali, cause somalis have a history with india in terms of trade, ethiopians dont even have access to the sea to go to india.

Somali merchants have been trading with persians, arabs, indians, asains for thousands of years.

The Somali people have a strong tradition in trade, with a long history of maritime enterprise. After the Roman conquest of the Nabataean Empire and the Roman naval presence at Aden to curb piracy, Arab and Somali merchants by agreement barred Indian ships from trading in the free port cities of the Arabian peninsula[2] to protect the interests of Somali and Arab merchants in the extremely lucrative ancient Red Sea–Mediterranean Sea commerce.[3] However, Indian merchants continued to trade in the port cities of the Somali peninsula, which was free from Roman interference.[4]


The Indian merchants for centuries brought large quantities of cinnamon from Sri Lanka and Indonesia to Somalia and Arabia. This is said to have been the best kept secret of the Arab and Somali merchants in their trade with the Roman and Greek world. The Romans and Greeks believed the source of cinnamon to have been the Somali peninsula, but in reality, the highly valued product was brought to Somalia by way of Indian ships.[5] Through collusive agreement by Somali and Arab traders, Indian/Chinese cinnamon was also exported for far higher prices to North Africa, the Near East and Europe, which made the cinnamon trade a very profitable revenue generator, especially for the Somali merchants through whose hands large quantities were shipped across ancient sea and land routes.[3]

During the Age of the Ajuuraans, the Somali sultanates and republics of Merca, Mogadishu, Barawa, Hobyo and their respective ports flourished and had a lucrative foreign commerce, with ships sailing to and coming from India, Arabia, Venetia,[6] Persia, Egypt, Portugal and as far away as China. In the 16th century, Duarte Barbosa noted that many ships from the Kingdom of Cambaya in modern-day India sailed to Mogadishu with cloth and spices, for which they in return received gold, wax and ivory. Barbosa highlighted the abundance of meat, wheat, barley, horses and fruit on the coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants.[7] Jewish merchants from the Hormuz also brought their Indian textile and fruit to the Somali coast in exchange for grain and wood.[8]

interesting...

They were habesha.

KidStranglehold: ^^^Figures.

Yeah. You know how it goes.

MsDarkSkin: They were not somali.
They were habesha.

how habesha gonna go to india when they have no access to the sea, their is thousands of miles between ethiopia and the ocean.....all the somalis inhabit all the coastal areas of ethiopia and all of somalia....habesha live interior of ethiopia, plus habesha dont have boats or even know how to make it....it was somalis who made the best boats and who had the most boats in the arab world, ethiopians have no history of trade, they are agricultural people....plus no arabs or turkish empire would let ethiopians trade as the ethiopians are chirstians and the trade was controlled by muslims, further more ethiopians for the last 600 years have been in retreat cause somalis have been encroaching all over ethiopian territory....


come on son think about it, i know jamaicans worship ethiopians but come on son.

somalia9:


how habesha gonna go to india when they have no access to the sea, their is thousands of miles between ethiopia and the ocean.....all the somalis inhabit all the coastal areas of ethiopia and all of somalia....habesha live interior of ethiopia, plus habesha dont have boats or even know how to make it....it was somalis who made the best boats and who had the most boats in the arab world, ethiopians have no history of trade, they are agricultural people....plus no arabs or turkish empire would let ethiopians trade as the ethiopians are chirstians and the trade was controlled by muslims, further more ethiopians for the last 600 years have been in retreat cause somalis have been encroaching all over ethiopian territory....


come on son think about it, i know jamaicans worship ethiopians but come on son.

LMAO!!! I'm sorry but that was kinda funny...

MsDarkSkin:

Yeah. You know how it goes.

Yeah.

But to be real Jamaicans dont worship Ethios its mostly the Rastas.

true. the average jamaican doesn't even pay ethiopians any mind.
rastas pay homage to selassi for giving them land
and being the only african head of state to reach out to us the way he did.

that's where it ends....just like this conversation.

anyway you have any more information about the topic of this thread?
i never knew about it

MsDarkSkin: true. the average jamaican doesn't even pay ethiopians any mind.
rastas pay homage to selassi for giving them land
and being the only african head of state to reach out to us the way he did.

that's where it ends....just like this conversation.

anyway you have any more information about the topic of this thread?
i never knew about it

I'll try to find some more.

KidStranglehold:

I'll try to find some more.

and by the way awesome signature.

haters do make one greater!

MsDarkSkin:



and by the way awesome signature.

haters do make one greater!

lol Thanks.

this place is getting mushy mushy

Bump.

It's ironic that you bumped this thread considering I just randomly bumped in to the youtube video covering this book yesterday by way of my recommended videos stream.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJLGBvjqzlY

According to the video their were people as far away as Uganda who worked as merchants in india.

Since I love you guys so much I'll throw you another nugget.
.
.
.


Razia Sultana

Raziyya al-Din (1205 – October 13, 1240) (Urdu: رضیہ سلطانہ‎, Hindi: रज़िया सुल्ताना), throne name Jalâlat ud-Dîn Raziyâ (Urdu: جلالۃ الدین رضیہ‎, Hindi: जलालत उद-दीन रज़िया), usually referred to in history as Razia Sultan, was born in *Budaun and was the Sultan of Delhi in India from 1236 to May 1240. Like some other Muslim princesses of the time, she was trained to lead armies and administer kingdoms if necessary. Razia Sultana was the only woman ruler of both the Sultanate and the Mughal period, although other women ruled from behind the scenes. Razia refused to be addressed as Sultana because it meant "wife or mistress of a sultan". She would answer only to the title "Sultan". Razia had all qualities of a great monarch.

Reign as Sultan and Death

Razia (also called Radiyya or Raziyya) succeeded her father Shams-ud-din Iltutmish to the Sultanate of Delhi in 1236. Iltutmish became the first sultan to appoint a woman as his successor when he designated his daughter Razia as his heir apparent. Razia was the first and last women ruler of Delhi Sultnate. (According to one source, Iltumish's eldest son had initially been groomed as his successor, but had died prematurely.) But the Muslim nobility had no intention of acceding to Iltutmish's appointment of a woman as heir, and after the sultan died on April 29, 1236, Razia's brother, Rukn ud din Firuz, was elevated to the throne instead.

Ruknuddin's reign was short. With Iltutmish's widow Shah Turkaan for all practical purposes running the government, Ruknuddin abandoned himself to the pursuit of personal pleasure and debauchery, to the outrage of the citizenry. On November 9, 1236, both Ruknuddin and his mother Shah Turkaan were assassinated after only six months in power.

With reluctance, the nobility agreed to allow Razia to reign as Sultan of Delhi. She dressed like a man and sat in open durbar. She was an efficient ruler and posessed all the qualities of a Monarch. As a child and adolescent, Razia had little contact with the women of the harem, so she had not learnt the customary behavior of women in the Muslim society that she was born into. Even before she became Sultan, she was reportedly preoccupied with the affairs of state during her father's reign. As Sultan, Razia preferred a man's tunic and headdress; and contrary to custom, she would later show her face when she rode an elephant into battle at the head of her army.

A shrewd politician, Razia managed to keep the nobles in check, while enlisting the support of the army and the populace. Her greatest accomplishment on the political front was to manipulate rebel factions into opposing each other. At that point, Razia seemed destined to become one of the most powerful rulers of the Delhi Sultanate.

[b]But Razia miscounted the consequences that a relationship with one of her advisers, Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut, an Abyssinian Siddi (Habshi) slave, would have for her reign. According to some accounts, Razia and Yaqut were lovers, other sources simply identify them as close confidants. In any case, before long she had aroused the jealousy of the Turkic nobility by the favoritism she displayed toward Yaqut, who was not a Turk, when she appointed him to be Superintendent of the Stables. Eventually, a childhood friend named Malik Altunia, the governor of Bhatinda, joined a rebellion by other provincial governors who refused to accept Razia's authority.

A battle between Razia and Altunia ensued, with the result that Yaqut was killed and Razia taken prisoner. To escape death, Razia agreed to marry Altunia. Meanwhile, Razia's brother, Muizuddin Bahram Shah, had usurped the throne. After Altunia and Razia undertook to take back the sultanate from Bahram through battle, both Razia and her husband were defeated on 24th of Rabi' al-awwal A.H. 638 (Oct. 1240). They fled Delhi and reached Kaithal the next day, where their remaining forces abandoned them. They both fell into the hands of Jats and were robbed and killed on 25th of Rabi' al-awwal A.H. 638, this date corresponds to October 13, 1240. Bahram, for his part, would later be dethroned for incompetence.
[/b]

[img]http://adatewithdelhi.files./2012/02/razia.jpeg[/img]
Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut

Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut (also Jamaluddin Yakut) was an African Siddi slave-turned-nobleman who was a close confidante of Razia Sultana, the first female monarch of the Delhi Sultanate in India, and who is speculated to have been her lover. Razia Sultana's patronage made him an influential member of the court, provoking racial antagonism amongst the nobles and clergy, who were both primarily Turkish and already resentful of the rule of a female monarch.

Ethnic background

Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut lived during the time of the Sultan Iltutmish and then Razia Sultan, sometime from 1200 to 1240 CE, when he was slain in a revolt against Razia Sultan.[1] Yaqut was a habshi. Habshi's were enslaved Africans of East African descent frequently employed by Muslim monarchs in India for their reputed physical prowess and loyalty and as such were an important part of the armies and administration of the Delhi Sultanate.

Biography

Yaqut rose in the ranks of the Delhi court, and found favour with the first female monarch of the Mamluk dynasty, Razia Sultana. Yaqut soon became a close advisor and was widely rumoured in the court and amongst the nobles to be the queen's lover. Contemporary historians were also conflicted in their assessment — many including Ibn Battuta record that their relationship was illicit and too intimate in public, but others assert that Yaqut was just a close advisor and friend. A particular incident that provoked the rumours was when Yaqut was observed sliding his arms under the queen's armpits to hoist her onto a horse, which was seen as a flagrant act of intimacy. His power and influence grew through his close relationship with Razia Sultana, who appointed him to the important post of superintendent of the royal stables, giving a loyalist an important post and challenging the power of the Muslim nobles and orthodox leaders. She awarded him the honorific title Amir-al-Khayl (Amir of Horses) and later the much higher Amir al-Umara (Amir of Amirs), much to the consternation and outrage of the Turkish nobility. Already resented for being a woman ruler by the Muslim nobles and clerics, Razia's proximity to an Abyssinian slave (considered racially inferior to the Turkish nobles who ruled the Sultanate) alienated the nobility and clerics and soon provoked open rebellion and conspiracy.

A rebellion led by Malik Altunia, the governor of Bhatinda (Punjab) broke out against Razia and Yaqut; fearing a siege, Razia and Yaqut chose to go out of Delhi to engage the rebels. Forces loyal to Razia and Yaqut were routed by Altunia; Yaqut was killed and Razia was imprisoned until she married Altunia; however, both Razia and Altunia were subsequently killed in battle against Razia's brother Bahram Shah, who had usurped the throne of Delhi in Razia's absence.

Modern influence

The speculated relationship between the slave Yaqut and the queen Razia has become famous and a part of folklore in India. The character of Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut was played by the Indian actor Dharmendra in the 1983 Hindi film Razia Sultan, whose plot was centred around the love story of Yaqut and Razia, who was portrayed by the actress Hema Malini.



Movie: Razia Sultan 1983

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWJLAvUPjM4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGVvRAl3eow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht9c1UYZMKQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmYk-8uRMSg

@RandomAfricanAm

Thanks for contributing man! Also one problem I have with that book is that it seems to try and label most of the elites as slaves when mos weren't. Heck Africans like the Swahili and Somalis were trading with India and even sailing to India as merchants and for other things. Not only that Siddi means lord, why would you call a slave lord??

Not only that but Love him or hate him Ronoko Rashidi did most of that field research himself decades ago. Not to mention a lot of those "white" Turks were eastern Europe / caucus region / mediterianian slaves themselves. I love how they like to white wash that fact.

History of Blacks in India (Siddi)

The Siddi population is currently estimated to be 20,000–55,000,

The first Siddis are thought to have arrived in India in 628 AD at the Bharuch port. Several others followed with the first Arab Islamic invasions of the subcontinent in 712 AD.The latter group are believed to have been soldiers with Muhammad bin Qasim's Arab army, and were called Zanjis.

Most Siddis, however, are believed to be the descendants of slaves, sailors, servants and merchants from East Africa who arrived and became resident in the subcontinent during the 1200-1900 AD period.A large influx of Siddis to the region occurred in the 17th century when Portuguese slave traders sold a number of them to local princes.

In Western India (the modern Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra), the Siddi gained a reputation for physical strength and loyalty, and were sought out as mercenaries by local rulers, and as domestic servants and farm labor.[citation needed] Some Siddis escaped slavery to establish communities in forested areas, and some even established small Siddi principalities on Janjira Island and at Jaffrabad as early as the twelfth century. A former alternative name of Janjira was Habshan (i.e., land of the Habshis). In the Delhi Sultanate period prior to the rise of the Mughals in India, Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut was a prominent Siddi slave-turned-nobleman who was a close confidant of Razia Sultana (1205–1240 CE). Although this is disputed, he may also have been her lover.

As a power centre, Siddis were sometimes allied with the Mughal Empire in its power-struggle with the Maratha Confederacy. However, Malik Ambar, a prominent Siddi figure in Indian history at large, is sometimes regarded as the "military guru of the Marathas", and was deeply allied with them.[He established the town of Khirki which later became the modern city of Aurangabad, and helped establish the Marathas as a major force in the Deccan. Later, the Marathas adapted Siddi guerrilla warfare tactics to grow their power and ultimately demolish the Mughal empire. Some accounts describe the Mughal emperor Jahangir as obsessed by Ambar due to the Mughal empire's consistent failures in crushing him and his Maratha cavalry, describing him derogatorily as "the black faced" and "the ill-starred" in the royal chronicles and even having a painting commissioned that showed Jahangir killing Ambar, a fantasy which was never realised in reality.

Most Siddis are descended from Bantu peoples from Southeast Africa that were brought by the Portuguese.While most of these migrants became Muslim and a small minority became Christian, very few became Hindu since they could not find themselves a position in the traditional Hindu caste hierarchy.

On the way to Deva-dungar is the quaint village of Sirvan, inhabited entirely by Siddis, a tribe of African people. They were brought 300 years ago from Africa, by the Portuguese for the Nawab of Junagadh. Today, they follow very few of their original customs, with a few exceptions like the traditional Dhamal dance.

Genetics
Y DNA
A Y-chromosome study by Shah et al. (2011) tested Siddi individuals in India for paternal lineages. The authors observed the E1b1a haplogroup, which is frequent amongst Bantu peoples, in about 42% and 34% of Siddis from Karnataka and Gujarat, respectively. Around 14% of Siddis from Karnataka and 35% of Siddis from Gujarat also belonged to the Sub-Saharan B haplogroup. The remaining 30% of Siddi had Indian or Near Eastern-associated clades, including haplogroups H, L, J and P.

Thangaraj (2009) observed similar, mainly Bantu-linked paternal affinities amongst the Siddi.[40]

mtDNA
According to an mtDNA study by Shah et al. (2011), the maternal ancestry of the Siddi consists of a mixture of Sub-Saharan and Indian haplogroups, reflecting substantial female gene flow from neighboring Indian populations. About 53% of the Siddis from Gujarat and 24% of the Siddis from Karnataka belonged to various Sub-Saharan macro-haplogroup L sub-clades. The latter mainly consisted of L0 and L2a sublineages associated with Bantu women. The remainder possessed Indian-specific subclades of the Eurasian haplogroups M and N, which points to recent admixture with autochthonous Indian groups.

[edit]Autosomal DNA
Narang et al. (2011) examined the autosomal DNA of Siddis in India. According to the researchers, about 58% of the Siddis' ancestry is derived from Bantu peoples. The remainder is associated with local Indo-European-speaking North and Northwest Indian populations, due to recent admixture events.

Similarly, Shah et al. (2011) observed that Siddis in Gujarat derive 66.90%-70.50% of their ancestry from Bantu forebears, while the Siddis in Karnataka possess 64.80%-74.40% such Southeast African ancestry. The remaining autosomal DNA components in the studied Siddi were mainly associated with local South Asian populations. According to the authors, gene flow between the Siddis' Bantu ancestors and local Indian populations was also largely unidirectional. They estimate this admixture episode's time of occurrence at within the past 200 years or eight generations.

First Muslims in India

According to Historians Elliot and Dowson in their book The History of India as told by its own Historians, the first ship bearing Muslim travellers was seen on the Indian coast as early as 630 AD. The first Indian mosque, Cheraman Juma Masjid, is thought to have been built in 629 A.D,

periods

Delhi Sultanate

Mughal Empire

Deccan Sultanate

Post Mughal Era


BLACK RULERSHIP IN INDIA (HABSHI)

The Habshi ruled Bengal for about 6 years within the Sultanate of Bengal

The Sultanate of Bengal was a Muslim state that existed from the 14th through the 16th centuries. It was eventually absorbed into the Mughal fold. The Sultanate was ruled by a series of dynasties with both local and foreign origins.




Sardar Singh of Jodhpur (1880-1911) (Muslim)
[img]http://realhistoryww.com./world_history/ancient/Images_Indus/maharaja.jpg[/img]
British East India Company which was formed in London in 1600 during the rule of Queen Elizabeth I and on 1st January 1858 the British Parliament declared. Queen Victoria of England as the new Empress of India. The British then appointed their Residents as the representa tives of the crown in different princely states of India to look after their administration properly.
Marwar (also called Jodhpur region) is a region of southwestern Rajasthan state in western India.

Jodhpur state was founded in the 13th century by the Rathore clan of Rajputs, who claim descent from the Gahadvala kings of Kannauj. After the sacking of Kannauj by Muhammad of Ghor in 1194, and its capture by the Delhi Sultanate in the early 13th century, the Rathores fled west.
Internecine disputes and succession wars disturbed the peace of the early years of the 19th century, until in January 1818 Jodhpur was brought under British control. Jodhpur became a princely state in the Rajputana Agency of British India.
Maharaja Takht Singh (1843-‘73), supported the British during the Revolt of 1857. His successor, Maharaja Jaswant Singh II (1873-‘96), was a very enlightened ruler. His brother, Sir Pertab Singh, conducted the administration until his nephew, Sardar Singh, came of age in 1898. Maharaja Sardar Singh ruled until 1911. The imperial service cavalry formed part of the reserve brigade during the Tirah campaign.

city Jodhpur in Rajasthan India

[img]http://realhistoryww.com./world_history/ancient/Images_Indus/raja.jpg[/img]
[img]http://realhistoryww.com./world_history/ancient/Images_Indus/Khan.jpg[/img]

RandomAfricanAm: Not only that but Love him or hate him Ronoko Rashidi did most of that field research himself decades ago. Not to mention a lot of those "white" Turks were eastern Europe / caucus region / mediterianian slaves themselves. I love how they like to white wash that fact.

Actually Europeans were always enslaved since antiquity. Yet they want to make slavery synonymous with black. Yet Slave comes from Slav, but not only that...During the Medieval times. The largest market for slaves were Christian Western Europeans and Eastern Slavic Europeans. Heck Eastern Europe was always raided for slaves by other Europeans and Muslims.