The Warrior Who Defeated thr Mighty Mughals - Stephanie Honchell Smith
The Warrior Who Defeated the Mighty Mughals - Stephanie Honchell Smith
In warfare, in command, in sound judgement, and in administration, he had no equal.——
In 1624, Mughal Emperor Jahangir received word of yet another defeat at the hands of his greatest enemy, Malik Ambar.
Despite coming to India as an enslaved youth, Ambar had risen to rule over the Indian sultanate of Ahmednagar.
His brilliant military tactics had brought the Mughals’ march of conquest to a screeching halt .
Jahangir was so obsessed with defeating his rival that he commissioned a painting of himself shooting an arrow at Ambar’s skull .
Malik Ambar was born in the late 1540s in central Ethiopia as Chapu, a member of the Oromo people.
Every year, as part of ongoing conflicts with their neighbors, Oromo youth were among the thousands of Ethiopians captured and sold into the Indian Ocean slave trade.
In this part of the world, enslaved individuals retained some legal rights, and enslavers could be held accountable for severe mistreatment .
There was also less legal discrimination against previously enslaved people, allowing some individuals who gained their freedom to acquire great wealth and power.
However, these circumstances shouldn’t overshadow the trauma of enslavement, which violently severed individuals from their lives and loved ones.
Around the age of 12, Chapu was among those taken into bondage .
Captives were typically shipped to the Middle East or South Asia.
Women were sold into sexual slavery as concubines or forced to become domestic servants, a position in which they often had to endure harassment and sexual violence.
Men were either purchased for dangerous physical labor or by wealthy individuals who trained them to become servants of the political and military elite.
Chapu was part of the latter group.
He was taken to Baghdad, where he was educated in Arabic among other subjects and converted to Islam before being resold to the chief minister of Ahmednagar.
The minister himself was a formerly enslaved African, but after being freed, he had risen through the ranks, becoming second in command to the sultan himself .
Chapu, now known as Malik Ambar, became the chief minister’s protégé , observing him advise the sultan, enact policies, and navigate court politics.
After the minister’s death, his widow granted Ambar’s freedom.
Like many newly freed Africans in India at the time, Ambar became a mercenary soldier.
Ahmednagar was frequently under attack from Mughal invaders, who were determined to expand their empire.
But Ambar’s daring guerrilla tactics derailed the invaders’ plans by interrupting supply lines.
Ambar’s military success earned him a following , and in 1600, he used his influence to take advantage of a royal power vacuum.
After placing a young puppet ruler on the throne , Ambar became the regent and new chief minister.
He also married his daughter to the new sultan, creating a direct tie to the royal family.
Not all parties were pleased with Ambar’s power grab, and the new sultan eventually conspired to remove Ambar from power.
But before these plans could take form, both conspirators were mysteriously poisoned.
The sultan’s five-year-old son was then placed on the throne, giving Malik Ambar, a once-enslaved ex-soldier, complete political, economic, and military control over Ahmednagar.
Ambar remained in power for over 25 years, bringing long-term stability to the embattled region.
He built a new capital city, negotiated trade deals with Indian and European merchants, and reformed the tax system to better protect peasants .
But most importantly, he continued to foil the Mughal invasion.
His ragtag army of local Indians, enslaved and newly freed Africans, was religiously and ethnically diverse, yet they were united by Ambar’s leadership.
He made up for his lack of numbers by launching lightning attacks that demoralized and exhausted the Mughal troops long before they reached the battlefield .
Jealous of Ambar’s success and popularity, some of his enemies accused him of maintaining power through sorcery or devil worship .
Others begrudgingly acknowledged his piety , generosity, and military genius.
Regardless, very few ever outmaneuvered him.
Malik Ambar died of natural causes in 1626, leaving Ahmednagar to his son, who was unable to maintain his father’s military record.
Just seven years later, the sultanate finally fell to the Mughal forces, heralding the fall of the kingdom Ambar had risen to lead.
Who was behind this ferocious and seemingly unstoppable Mughal Empire?
Trace the rise and fall of one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful dynasties with this video).
在战争、指挥、明智的判断和行政管理方面，无人能与他匹敌。——
1624年，莫卧儿皇帝贾汉吉尔得知自己在最大的敌人马利克·安巴尔手中又一次战败。
尽管安巴尔年轻时作为奴隶来到印度，但他后来崛起，统治了印度的艾哈迈德纳加尔苏丹国。
他卓越的军事 战术 使莫卧儿人的征服步伐 戛然而止 。
贾汉吉尔如此痴迷于击败对手，以至于他 委托 创作了一幅自己向安巴尔的 头骨 射箭的画。
马利克·安巴尔于16世纪40年代末出生在埃塞俄比亚中部，原名查普，是奥罗莫族人。
每年，作为与邻国持续冲突的一部分，奥罗莫族青年是数千名被俘虏并被卖入印度洋奴隶贸易的埃塞俄比亚人之一。
在世界的这个地区，被奴役的个人保留了一些合法权利，奴隶主可能会因严重 虐待 而被追究责任。
对以前被奴役的人也较少存在法律歧视，这使得一些获得自由的人能够积累巨大的财富和权力。
然而，这些情况不应 掩盖 奴役带来的创伤，奴役暴力地将个人与他们的生活和亲人分离。
大约12岁时，查普被带入 奴役 之中。
俘虏 通常被运往中东或南亚。
女性被卖为性奴隶成为妾，或被迫成为家庭佣人，在这个职位上她们常常不得不忍受骚扰和性暴力。
男性要么被购买去从事危险的体力劳动，要么被富有的人买走，训练他们成为政治和军事精英的仆人。
查普属于后者。
他被带到巴格达，在那里他学习了包括 阿拉伯语 在内的多种科目，并 皈依 了伊斯兰教，之后被转卖给艾哈迈德纳加尔的首席部长。
这位部长本人曾是一名被奴役的非洲人，但获得自由后，他一路晋升，成为 仅次于苏丹本人的二号人物 。
查普，现在被称为马利克·安巴尔，成为了首席部长的 门徒 ，观察他为苏丹出谋划策、 制定 政策以及在宫廷政治中周旋。
部长去世后，他的遗孀给了安巴尔自由。
和当时印度许多新获得自由的非洲人一样，安巴尔成为了一名 雇佣军 士兵。
艾哈迈德纳加尔经常受到决心扩张帝国的莫卧儿侵略者的攻击。
但安巴尔大胆的 游击 战术通过切断补给线 打乱了侵略者的计划 。
安巴尔的军事成功为他赢得了一批 追随者 ，1600年，他利用自己的影响力趁王室权力真空之际。
在扶植了一位年轻的傀儡统治者登上 王位 后，安巴尔成为了 摄政王 和新的首席部长。
他还把女儿嫁给了新苏丹，与王室建立了直接联系。
并非所有各方都对安巴尔夺取权力感到满意，新苏丹最终密谋将安巴尔赶下台。
但在这些计划成形之前，两名阴谋者都神秘地被毒死了。
然后，苏丹五岁的儿子登上了王位，让曾经身为奴隶的前士兵马利克·安巴尔完全掌控了艾哈迈德纳加尔的政治、经济和军事。
安巴尔掌权超过25年，为这个 饱受战乱的 地区带来了长期稳定。
他建造了一座新的都城，与印度和欧洲商人谈判贸易协定，并改革税收制度以更好地保护 农民 。
但最重要的是，他继续 挫败 莫卧儿人的入侵。
他那由当地印度人、被奴役的人和新获得自由的非洲人组成的 乌合之众 的军队，在宗教和种族上是多样化的，但他们在安巴尔的领导下团结在一起。
他通过发动闪电袭击来弥补人数上的不足，这些袭击在莫卧儿军队到达 战场 之前很久就使他们士气低落、疲惫不堪。
一些敌人嫉妒安巴尔的成功和声望，指责他通过 巫术 或 崇拜魔鬼 来维持权力。
另一些人则 勉强 承认他的 虔诚 、慷慨和军事天才。
无论如何，很少有人能 智胜 他。
马利克·安巴尔于1626年自然死亡，将艾哈迈德纳加尔留给了他的儿子，而他的儿子无法维持他父亲的军事成就。
仅仅七年后，苏丹国最终落入莫卧儿军队之手， 宣告 了安巴尔所崛起领导的王国的覆灭。
这个 凶猛 且看似势不可挡的莫卧儿帝国背后是谁呢？
通过这个视频)追溯世界上最富有、最强大的王朝之一的兴衰历程。
Vocabulary, Phrases and Sentences
| Word | Chinese Definition | Phonetic Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| tactic | 策略 | |
| screech | 尖叫 | |
| halt | 暂停 | |
| commission | 委托 | |
| skull | 头骨 | |
| ongoing | 持续存在的 | |
| mistreatment | 虐待 | |
| overshadow | 遮盖 | |
| bondage | 束缚 | |
| captive | 俘虏 | |
| Arabic | 阿拉伯的 | |
| second in command to the sultan | 苏丹的二把手 | |
| protégé | 门生 | /ˈproʊtəʒeɪ/ |
| enact | 通过（法律） | |
| mercenary | 唯利是图的 | |
| mercenary soldier | 雇佣兵 | |
| guerrilla | 游击队员 | /ɡəˈrɪlə/ |
| following | 追随者 | |
| throne | 王座 | |
| regent | 摄政王 | |
| embattle | 四面楚歌 | |
| peasant | 农民 | |
| foil | 挫败 | |
| ragtag | 组织散漫的 | |
| make up | 弥补 | |
| demoralize | 使泄气 | |
| battlefield | 战场 | |
| sorcery | 巫术 | |
| devil | 邪恶的 | |
| worship | 崇拜 | |
| begrudgingly | 不情愿的 | /bɪˈɡrʌdʒɪŋli/ |
| piety | 虔诚 | /ˈpaɪəti/ |
| outmaneuver | 以谋略制胜 | |
| heralding | 预示 | |
| ferocious | 残暴的 |