The traders of the port of Kambhayet (1), who are so opulent and active on the sea, have brought some precious things (nafais) by sea for the imperial treasury and they should give their delivery to the Mutasarrifs (revenue officers) of Naharwala (2). They constantly ply their vessels on the waters of those directions and the rarities of Maghrib and Sham (Syria) reach continuously and in succession to this side. They should take their vessels to Jerusalem (Bait-ul-Maqaddas) and bring them back. The other merchandise, carried in their vessels from Ethioipia and Barbari, include the black slaves of Abyssinia (Barda-i-Habashi) whose services are utilized in guarding the harem and as soldiers. Their salty black colour is attractive in its own way. The negro slaves of Zanjbar (Zanzibar) (Ghulaman-i-Zang) and Darya (?) are of gigantic size and very swift-footed. They were all recipients of royal favours.

(another translation also has:) They were ebony-colored, and had curly and twisted hair on their heads. The large-eyed female slaves of habsh were of agreeably saltish black color. They ran so fast like giants that even the shooting stars in the atmosphere could not keep pace with them They were quick-tempered. When they applied collyrium to their eyes blood seemed to ooze out of them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amir Khusru : Tarikh-i 'Alai or Khazainu-L Futuh (1325)Delhi

Taken from : Elliot : The history of India as told by its own Historians vol 3

A farman (3) was issued by Sultan Alau-d din (4) that the surviving prisoners should be massacred, and beaten up into mortar for the fort.

They hung down from the Tatari and Chini fortress,

As Abyssinians with heads inverted hang from a new building;

And a bastion was formed from an hundred thousand of heir heads.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amir Khusrau's Khamsah

In the Khamsa(h) of Amir Khusrau itself the following mentions of black people are made: Note that Amir Khusrau was living in India and wrote the book in 1298. The frequent appearing of black people (often referred to as Zangi) makes it clear that although this is a fiction on book East Africans were known in Indian society.

The titles of his five poems:

1 Matla’ al Anwar (Rising of the Luminaries) (1298)

2 Shirin u Khusrau (1298)

(Shirin is married to Khusrau but finds a lover in Farhad. Khusrau goes to see him)

Khusrau advises Farhad to forget Shirin; the other laughs and tells him it would be more profitable to give advice to Khusrau: if Khusrau can give up the world for a love affair, surely he, Farhad, can give up his life? Khusrau conceals his rage, and, after more talk, he descends the mountain and tells his companions what he has learned. He says that he would like to kill Farhad, but that would be to shed innocent blood.

The king has a black guard, bitter of face and distorted of speech, with wide waist and narrow spirit, his mouth furred with rotten breath, his belly like a brazier, gaping, quarrelsome and foolish. Khusrau summons him, and with many gifts and promises of more he sends him to Farhad. The guard finds Far-had sitting with a shepherd; he tells him that it is futile to bore through the mountain since Shirin has been dead for more than a week. Far-had asks for the message to be repeated, then he strikes his head upon the rock so that his blood flows into the milk channel. Farhad says that he had wanted to die at Shirin's feet, but now he will die so that the wind may mingle his dust with hers. He dies pronouncing her name. The author reflects on the death of Farhad. The news that Khusrau has killed Farhad is brought to Shirin…..

3 Majnun u Laila (1299)

5 Hasht Bahisht (Eight Paradises) (1302)

Taken from; website of the French national Library

Perspectives on Persian Painting: Illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah By Dr Barbara Brend
Khusro's Hasht Bihisht retells just a small portion of the life of Bahram V Gur (7) and embellishes the original historical but glorified tales with other non-historical elements.
 

(An Indian princess tells a story at night to Bahram V Gur)

The story of the three sons of the king of Sarandib (8). The painting illustrates the beginning of the story when the three princes, go on a trip at the request of their father. As they approach a town, a black man (Zang) hurries up to them and asks if they have seen a camel. This scene is depicted in the painting.

Picture from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

(Another princess tells a story at night to Bahram V Gur)(7)

The king now reflects on his experiment and decides to spend a week with each princess. He is content with the first three, but the fourth puzzles him: she does not seem to have been bred to the throne, not being flirtatious, but instead attentive in the manner of a maidservant. For three weeks the king is happy with the first three ladies, and he pays no heed to the fourth. Then one night when he is sleeping with the first he awakens to find that the lady has left his side; he gets up to look for her. The door to the stairway is open, and he descends. He discovers the lady being whipped for her late arrival at a tryst by a black and drunken muleteer. The king does not reveal himself but, curbing his anger lest the death of the couple should be a warning to the other ladies, he returns to bed. Later the lady rejoins him. In the morning the king moves to the next tower, and during the day he drinks with the lady and holds his peace. Night comes, and this lady also rises from her bed after two watches, and descends to a camel-drover, who drags her to the ground by the hair, and beds her on thorny camel fodder. The king has witnessed the scene; he is horrified, but returns to his bed. Later the lady returns. On the next morning the king moves to the tower overlooking the river, and on this night his sleep is mere pretense. The third lady rises in the night, descends to the river and strips off her clothes. Making use of a pitcher, which she has previously hidden in the garden, to buoy her up, she crosses the river and gives herself to a Hindu who has been waiting for her'10 (HB 39). The king again returns to bed, and is later joined by the lady. The next day the king moves on to test the fourth lady. He does not, however, feel moved to make love to her. At midnight the lady rises, puts off her ornaments, and bows in prayer. At first the king is inclined to think this may be a manifestation of hypocrisy, but on reflection he sees no evil in her. The king resolves to deal with each princess according to her merits. He causes an unbaked pitcher to be substituted for that used by the lady of the river-tower, and, when she reaches mid-river with it, it disintegrates and she drowns. The first lady is beaten thoroughly and united to the muleteer. The second lady is beaten from head to toe with thorns, and given over to the drover to collect the ordure of camels. The fourth lady he takes to wife, and he pledges that he will take no other. They always wear camphor-white, the colour of purity.

(1) Kambhayet: Cambay in the Indian state of Gujarat.

(2) Naharwala: former capital of Gujarat also called Patan.

(3) Farman; A firman was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state.

(4) Sultan Alau-d din: Alaud-Din Khalji (r. 1296–1316), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate.

(5) Khaqan: here Khan of China (emperor).

(6) Dara of Iran: is a legendary king of Iran, who ruled Zoroastrian Persia. He is a character in many Persian Epics.

(7) Bahram V, also known as Bahram Gor was the Sasanian King of Kings from 420 to 438. The son of the previous Sasanian shah Yazdegerd I.

(8) Sarandib: Sri Lanca.