The Ghaznavid dynasty was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin, at their
greatest extent ruling large parts of Iran, Afghanistan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest
Indian subcontinent from 977 to 1186. The dynasty was founded by Sabuktigin upon his
succession to the rule of Ghazna after the death of his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, who
was an ex-general of the Samanid Empire from Balkh, north of the Hindu Kush in Greater
Khorasan.
Although the dynasty was of Central Asian Turkic origin, it was thoroughly Persianised
in terms of language, culture, literature and habits and hence is regarded as a "Persian
dynasty".
Sabuktigin's son, Mahmud of Ghazni, declared independence from the Samanid Empire and expanded
the Ghaznavid Empire to the Amu Darya, the Indus River and the Indian Ocean in the east
and to Rey and Hamadan in the west. Under the reign of Mas'ud I, the Ghaznavid dynasty
began losing control over its western territories to the Seljuq dynasty after the Battle of
Dandanaqan, resulting in a restriction of its holdings to modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan
. In 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to the Ghurid king Ala al-Din Husayn.
Rise to power Two military families arose from the Turkic
slave-guards of the Samanid Empire, the Simjurids and Ghaznavids, who ultimately proved disastrous
to the Samanids. The Simjurids received an appanage in the Kohistan region of eastern
Khorasan. The Samanid generals Alp Tigin and Abu al-Hasan Simjuri competed for the governorship
of Khorasan and control of the Samanid Empire by placing on the throne emirs they could
dominate after the death of Abd al-Malik I in 961. His death created a succession crisis
between his brothers. A court party instigated by men of the scribal class – civilian ministers
rather than Turkic generals – rejected the candidacy of Alp Tigin for the Samanid throne.
Mansur I was installed instead, and Alp Tigin prudently retired to south of the Hindu Kush,
where he captured Ghazna and became the ruler of the city as a Samanid authority. The Simjurids
enjoyed control of Khorasan south of the Amu Darya but were hard-pressed by a third great
Iranian dynasty, the Buyid dynasty, and were unable to survive the collapse of the Samanids
and the subsequent rise of the Ghaznavids. The struggles of the Turkic slave generals
for mastery of the throne with the help of shifting allegiance from the court's ministerial
leaders both demonstrated and accelerated the Samanid decline. Samanid weakness attracted
into Transoxiana the Karluks, a Turkic people who had recently converted to Islam. They
occupied Bukhara in 992, establishing in Transoxania the Kara-Khanid Khanate.
After Alp Tigin's death in 963, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim, followed by his slave Sabuktigin,
took the throne. Sabuktigin's son Mahmud of Ghazni made an agreement with the Kara-Khanid
Khanate whereby the Amu Darya was recognised as their mutual boundary.
Domination Sabuktigin
Sabuktigin, son-in-law of Alp Tigin and founder of the Ghaznavid Empire, began expanding it
by capturing Samanid, Lawik, and Kabul Shahi territories, including most of what is now
Afghanistan and part of Pakistan. The 16th century Persian historian, Firishta, records
Sabuktigin's genealogy as descended from the Sasanian kings: "Subooktu-geen, the son of
Jookan, the son of Kuzil-Hukum, the son of Kuzil-Arslan, the son of Ferooz, the son of
Yezdijird, king of Persia." However, modern historians believe this was an attempt to
connect himself with the history of old Persia.
After the death of Sabuktigin, his son Ismail claimed the throne for a short period, but
he was defeated and captured by Mahmud in 998 at the Battle of Ghazni.
Mahmud son of Sabuktigin In 997, Mahmud, another son of Sebuktigin,
succeeded to the throne, and Ghazni and the Ghaznavid dynasty have become perpetually
associated with him. He completed the conquest of the Samanid and Shahi territories, including
the Ismaili Kingdom of Multan, Sindh, as well as some Buwayhid territory. By all accounts,
the rule of Mahmud was the golden age and height of the Ghaznavid Empire. Mahmud carried
out seventeen expeditions through northern India to establish his control and set up
tributary states, and his raids also resulted in the looting of a great deal of plunder.
He established his authority from the borders of Ray to Samarkand, from the Caspian Sea
to the Yamuna.
During Mahmud's reign , the Ghaznavids settled 4,000 Turkmen families near Farana in Khorasan.
By 1027, due to the Turkmen raiding neighbouring settlements, the governor of Tus, Abu l'Alarith
Arslan Jadhib, led military strikes against them. The Turkmen were defeated and scattered
to neighbouring lands. Still, as late as 1033, Ghaznavid governor Tash Farrash executed fifty
Turkmen chiefs for raids into Khorasan.
The wealth brought back from Mahmud's Indian expeditions to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary
historians give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital and of the conqueror's
munificent support of literature. Mahmud died in 1030.
Decline Twin sons of Mahmud
Mahmud left the empire to his son Mohammed, who was mild, affectionate and soft. His brother,
Mas'ud, asked for three provinces that he had won by his sword, but his brother did
not consent. Mas'ud had to fight his brother, and he became king, blinding and imprisoning
Mohammed as punishment. Mas'ud was unable to preserve the empire and following a disastrous
defeat at the Battle of Dandanaqan in 1040, he lost all the Ghaznavid lands in Iran and
Central Asia to the Seljuks, plunging the realm into a "time of troubles". His last
act was to collect all his treasures from his forts in hope of assembling an army and
ruling from India, but his own forces plundered the wealth and he proclaimed his blind brother
as king again. The two brothers now exchanged positions: Mohammed was elevated from prison
to the throne, while Mas'ud was consigned to a dungeon after a reign of ten years and
was assassinated in 1040. Mas'ud's son, Madood, was governor of Balkh, and in 1040, after
hearing of his father's death, he came to Ghazni to claim his kingdom. He fought with
the sons of the blind Mohammed and was victorious. However, the empire soon disintegrated and
most kings did not submit to Madood. In a span of nine years, four more kings claimed
the throne of Ghazni.
Ibrahim In 1058, Mas'ud's son Ibrahim, a great calligrapher
who wrote the Koran with his own pen, became king. Ibrahim re-established a truncated empire
on a firmer basis by arriving at a peace agreement with the Seljuks and a restoration of cultural
and political linkages. Under Ibrahim and his successors the empire enjoyed a period
of sustained tranquility. Shorn of its western land, it was increasingly sustained by riches
accrued from raids across Northern India, where it faced stiff resistance from Indian
rulers such as the Paramara of Malwa and the Gahadvala of Kannauj. He ruled until 1098.
Mas'ud III Mas'ud III became king for sixteen years,
with no major event in his lifetime. Mas'ud built the Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III and
one of the Ghazni Minarets. Signs of weakness in the state became apparent when he died
in 1115, with internal strife between his sons ending with the ascension of Sultan Bahram
Shah as a Seljuk vassal. Bahram Shah defeated his brother Arslan for the throne at the Battle
of Ghazni in 1117.
Sultan Bahram Shah Sultan Bahram Shah was the last Ghaznavid
King, ruling Ghazni, the first and main Ghaznavid capital, for thirty-five years. In 1148 he
was defeated in Ghazni by Sayf al-Din Suri, but he recaptured the capital the next year.
Ala al-Din Husayn, a Ghorid King, conquered the city in 1151, in revenge for his brother
Kutubbuddin's death, who was son-in-law of the king but was publicly punished and killed
for a minor offence. Ala al-Din Husayn then razed the city, burning it for 7 days, after
which he became known as "Jahānsuz" . Ghazni was restored to the Ghaznavids by the intervention
of the Seljuks, who came to the aid of Bahram. Ghaznavid struggles with the Ghurids continued
in subsequent years as they nibbled away at Ghaznavid territory, and Ghazni and Zabulistan
were lost to a group of Oghuz Turks before being captured by the Ghurids. Ghaznavid power
in northwestern India continued until the Ghurid conquest of Lahore from Khusrau Malik
in 1186.
Military and tactics The core of the Ghaznavid army was primarily
made up of Turks, as well as thousands of native Afghans who were trained and assembled
from the area south of the Hindu Kush in what is now Afghanistan. During the rule of Sultan
Mahmud, a new, larger military training center was established in Bost . This area was known
for blacksmiths where war weapons were made. After capturing and conquering the Punjab
region, the Ghaznavids began to employ Hindus in their army.
Like the other dynasties that rose out of the remains of the Abbasid Caliphate, the
Ghaznavid administrative traditions and military practice came from the Abbasids. The Arabian
horses, at least in the earliest campaign, were still substantial in Ghaznavid military
incursions, especially in dashing raids deep into hostile territory. There is a record
of '6000 Arab horse' being sent against king Anandapala in 1008, and evidence of this Arabian
cavalry persists until 1118 under the Ghaznavid governor in Lahore.
Due to their access to the Indus-Ganges plains, the Ghaznavids, during the 11th and 12th centuries,
developed the first Muslim army to use war elephants in battle. The elephants were protected
by armour plating on their fronts. The use of these elephants was a foreign weapon in
other regions that the Ghaznavids fought in, particularly in Central Asia.