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Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
@SamDalrymple123
Mar 23, 2025 • 7 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
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The Ethiopian Ruler of Maharashtra

Malik Ambar, buried a five minute walk from the Ellora Caves, is of the most extraordinary figures in world history. Image
Born with the name 'Chapu" in Har into Ethiopia's Oromo tribe, Ambar was "captured as a boy and sold to an Arab for twenty ducats."

"He has a stern Roman face" recalled one traveller, "and is tall and strong of stature", thought his white glassy eyes... do not become him." Image
Chapu was evenutally sold to the Peshwa (Chief Minister) of Ahmednagar - a man who was himself a former Ethiopian slave. Five years later, the Peshwa died and the Peshwa's widow finally granted Malik Ambar his freedom. Image
Ambar became the leader of a mercenary squad.

Then all of a sudden the Mughals conquered Ahmadnagar and Malik Ambar launched a resistance movement to place a scion of the Nizam Shahi dynasty back on the throne. Image
Ambar attracted Dakhni and Marathi speakers alike and, with a certain Maloji Bhonsle by his side, Ambar soon emerged as de facto ruler of the former kingdom of Ahmadnagar.

Much of modern Maharashtra was now simply reffered to as "Ambar's land".

Seen here: Malojis samadhi Image
As the Mughal Emperor Jahangir took to throne in Agra, he considered Malik Ambar his greatest foe.

Indeed Jahangir commisioned a painting of himself shooting Malik Ambar in the face. Image
For the full story, do read my substack article below!

travelsofsamwise.substack.com/p/ahmadnagar-a…Image

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More from @SamDalrymple123

Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Feb 5
This week I finally got to visit Pakistan's two greatest Gupta masterpieces: the Brahma of Mirpur Khas in Karachi... Image
And the Jain sculptures of Murti in Lahore Museum! Image
The greatest Punjabi Gupta site - Murti - suffered during Partition, with the site's archeological finds divided between Chandigarh and Lahore. Here you can see some of the temple fragments now in India as a result. Image
Image
Read 4 tweets
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Jan 24
The Last Kings of Lanka

In the early 18th century, a young Telugu prince named Vijaya Rajasinha set sail from the South Indian city of Madurai for the island of Sri Lanka. Image
Vijaya Rajasinha's family had once ruled a vast kingdom in Southern India but by the time Vijaya was born, his family’s power was fading.

Then, in 1739, a convoluted dynastic succession suddenly placed this Hindu prince on the throne of Kandy in Sri Lanka. Image
His successor – Kirti Sri Rajasinha – would subsequently kickstart one of the most sophisticated schools of painting in Ancient and Medieval South Asia: the Kandyan school of Art Image
Read 10 tweets
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Jan 17
The Terracotta Pyramid of Bengal

Tucked away in the heart of West Bengal, the small town of Bishnupur remains one of India’s best-kept secrets. Still largely unknown outside the state, it hosts some of the most refined temples in the subcontinent. Image
As our car drove westward from Kolkata, the urban sprawl of the Hooghly delta fell away and revealed lush paddy fields crisscrossed by lazy distributaries. Then, as we entered Bankura district, the paddy gave way to the ‘Jungle Mahals’ - a rugged forest region of silver-barked Sal trees and gnarled, thick-leaved Mahua.Image
For centuries, these forests had served as a refuge for Bengal’s most independent-minded chiefs, and even today it feels a world away from the riverine plains to the east. Image
Read 11 tweets
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Dec 10, 2025
Why is the King of Afghanistan Buried Near Chandigarh?

Well it turns out to be linked with how the Sikhs got hold of the Kohinoor Diamond. Image
Shah Zaman became king of Afghanistan in 1793. Two years later, with his treasuries empty, he ordered an invasion of Punjab - "the time honoured Afghan solution to a cash crisis."

But Punjab was increasingly falling under the sway of the East India Company and Governor General Wellseley managed to persuade the Qajar Shah of Iran to attack Durrani's kingdom's rear. In 1799, Shah Zaman was forced to retreat.Image
In the subsequent power vacuum, a young Sikh Raja called Ranjit Singh ended up as the new ruler of Lahore. And over the next two years, this new Sikh rulers would gradually prise away the Durrani Empire's most lucrative provinces. Image
Read 12 tweets
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Nov 22, 2025
Why is the tomb of the last Ottoman Emperor in Ellora Image
The Ellora Caves have long been considered one of the most sacred sites in the world. So much so that the last Ottoman Caliph chose to be buried on a hill overlooking it. Image
Ridiculously, the tomb is not a protected site. Indeed there is no road there, and you still have to scramble up a goats path to reach it. Image
Read 8 tweets
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Nov 16, 2025
The First Indian Muslims

We often think of the Muhammad Ghori's 'Islamic invasions' in the 12th century as the start of the Muslim presence in India. Yet by this time, Muslims had already been an integral part of Indian society for almost four hundred years.

Indeed India's earliest Islamic heritage was often patronised by dynasties that we associate with a 'pure' Hindu past.Image
For example, some of the earliest mosques were built under the Pallava, Chola and Pandya kings, in order to attract Muslim traders to their domains. The oldest intact Islamic mihrab is actually in the ancient Chola capital of Uraiyur, across the river from the great temple of Srirangam, and dates from 734AD.Image
Meanwhile a mihrab embedded in the walls of Gwalior Fort is proof that the Pratihara rulers - who built much of modern Gwalior Fort and are most renowned for keeping the Arab Caliphate at bay - did the same.

Evidence of North India's early Islamic community is slim, but the historians Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Hawqal both make reference to an early Muslim trading community there, and a 'turushkadanda' tax imposed on all Turks (Muslims) by the Pratihara rulers. This was probably a tit for tat response to the jizya tax imposed upon non-Muslims in Islamic domains.Image
Read 8 tweets

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