Ghaznavid Empire

{{Short description|Medieval Muslim Turkic dynasty and state (977–1186)}} {{pp-semi-indef}} {{Use British English|date=March 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox country | conventional_long_name = Ghaznavid Empire | common_name = Ghaznavids | native_name = {{lang|fa|غزنویان}} ''Ġaznaviyān'' | era = Medieval | status = Empire | status_text = | empire = | government_type = Hereditary monarchy | year_start = 977 | year_end = 1186 | event_start = | date_start = | event_end = | date_end = | p1 = Samanids | p2 = Saffarid dynasty | p3 = Ma'munids | p4 = Farighunids | p5 = Hindu Shahis | p6 = Emirate of Multan | p7 = Chaulukya dynasty | p8 = Branches of Rashtrakuta dynasty | p9 = Pratihara dynasty | p10 = Habbari dynasty | p11 = Buyid dynasty | p12 = Ziyarid dynasty | p13 = Kakuyids | s2 = Ghurid dynasty | s1 = Seljuk Empire | image_flag =  | flag_type = | image_coat = | image_map = {{Switcher|upright=1.15|frameless|Ghaznavid Empire at its greatest extent under Mahmud. {{Circa|1030}}|upright=1.15|frameless|Ghaznavid Empire {{Circa|1099}}}} | image_map_caption = | capital = Ghazni (977–1163) Lahore (1163–1186) | common_languages = Persian{{efn|"''Indeed, since the formation of the Ghaznavids state in the tenth century until the fall of Qajars at the beginning of the twentieth century, most parts of the Iranian cultural regions were ruled by Turkic-speaking dynasties most of the time. At the same time, the official language was Persian, the court literature was in Persian, and most of the chancellors, ministers, and mandarins were Persian speakers of the highest learning and ability.''"{{sfn|Katouzian|2003|p=128}}}} (official and court language; lingua franca) Sanskrit (coinage){{sfn|Raza|2014|p=224}} Arabic (coinage and theology){{sfn|Raza|2014|p=224}} Turkic (military){{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=134}} | religion = Sunni Islam (official) Hinduism (majority in India) | currency = | leader1 = Sabuktigin (first) | leader2 = Khusrau Malik (last) | year_leader1 = 977–997 | year_leader2 = 1160–1186 | title_leader = Sultan | title_deputy = Vizier | deputy1 = Abu'l-Hasan Isfaraini (first mentioned) | year_deputy1 = 998–1013 | deputy2 = Abu'l-Ma'ali Nasrallah (last mentioned) | year_deputy2 = 12th century | stat_year1 = 1029 est.{{sfn|Turchin|Adams|Hall|2006|p=223}}{{sfn|Taagepera|1997|p=496}}<ref name="OxfordArea">{{Cite book|last1=Bang|first1=Peter Fibiger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mkLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92|title=The Oxford World History of Empire: Volume One: The Imperial Experience|last2=Bayly|first2=C. A.|last3=Scheidel|first3=Walter|year=2020|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-977311-4|pages=92–94|language=en}}</ref> | stat_area1 = 3400000 | demonym = | area_km2 = | area_rank = | GDP_PPP = | GDP_PPP_year = | HDI = | HDI_year = | today = | image_flag2 = }} The '''Ghaznavid Empire''' ({{langx|fa|غزنویان|Ġaznaviyān}}) was a culturally Persianate,{{efn|name=b|The Ghaznavids also claimed ancestry from the last Sasanian Shah, Yazdgerd III,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peacock |first=A. C. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xj9haotAapcC&pg=PA33 |title=Early Seljuq History: A New Interpretation |date=2013-02-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-15369-4 |language=en|page=33|quote="The Ghaznavids claimed descent from the last Sasanian shah, Yazdagird III..."}}</ref> but this was "a fictitious genealogy" they themselves had promulgated.<ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Kane |first1=Bernard |title=The Appearance of Persian on Islamic Art |date=2009 |publisher=Persian Heritage Foundation |isbn=978-1-934283-16-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xPU3AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA9 |language=en|quote="a fictitious genealogy connecting them with the Sasanian monarch Yazdegerd III had been promulgated"}}</ref>}} Sunni Muslim state of Turkic<ref>*"The Ghaznavids, '''a Turkish state''' in Afghanistan and Iran" in {{cite book |last1=Ágoston |first1=Gábor |last2=Masters |first2=Bruce Alan |title=Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-1025-7 |page=516 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_the_Ottoman_Empire/QjzYdCxumFcC?hl=en&pg=PA516 |language=en}} *"The '''Turkic Ghaznavid Empire''' came to a formal end." in {{cite book |last1=Kwanten |first1=Luc |title=Imperial Nomads: A History of Central Asia, 500-1500 |date=1979 |publisher=Leicester University Press |isbn=978-0-7185-1180-7 |page=66 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Imperial_Nomads/YEAKAQAAIAAJ?hl=en |language=en}} *"The first of the '''Turkic states''' in the region was the Ghaznavid Empire, established in the last years of the tenth century." in {{cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=Glenn Eldon |title=Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies |date=1997 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |isbn=978-0-8444-0938-2 |page=388 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Kazakstan_Kyrgyzstan_Tajikistan_Turkmeni/FtBaMIrpU_0C?hl=en |language=en}} *"Ghaznavid Empire Ghaznavid (GHAZ-nah-vid): '''Turkish empire''', comprising Afghanistan and parts of Iran..." in {{cite book |last1=Goldschmidt |first1=Arthur |title=A Concise History Of The Middle East |date=1999 |publisher=Avalon Publishing |isbn=978-0-8133-3505-6 |page=383 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Concise_History_Of_The_Middle_East/i0htAAAAMAAJ?hl=en |language=en}} *"The Muslim Afghan Ghaznavid Empire was the first of a number of Afghan and '''Turkic powers''' who, exploiting divisions among local Hindu rulers , established their hegemony in northern India." {{cite book |last1=Spodek |first1=Howard |title=The World's History: Combined Volume |date=2001 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=978-0-13-028257-6 |page=345 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_World_s_History/-WsTAQAAIAAJ?hl=en |language=en}} *"The first of the '''Turkish states''' that succeeded the Samanids – the Ghaznavids." {{cite book |last1=Peacock |first1=A. C. S. |last2=Tor |first2=D. G. |title=Medieval Central Asia and the Persianate World: Iranian Tradition and Islamic Civilisation |date=30 August 2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-85772-743-5 |page=xxii |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Medieval_Central_Asia_and_the_Persianate/OeiKDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&pg=PR22 |language=en}} </ref> ''mamluk'' origin. Flourishing from 977 to 1186, the empire spread from the Oxus to the Indus Valley at its greatest extent. 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.

Sabuktigin's son, Mahmud of Ghazni, 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 Seljuk Empire after the Battle of Dandanaqan in 1040, resulting in a restriction of its holdings to modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern India.

In 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to the Ghurid sultan Ala al-Din Husayn. The Ghaznavids retook Ghazni, but lost the city to the Ghuzz Turks who in turn lost it to Muhammad of Ghor. In response, the Ghaznavids fled to Lahore, their regional capital. In 1186, Lahore was conquered by the Ghurid sultan, Muhammad of Ghor, with its Ghaznavid ruler, Khusrau Malik, imprisoned and later executed.

==Rise to power== [[File:Portrait from the Palace courtroom, Lashkari Bazar.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Ghaznavid portrait, Palace of Lashkari Bazar. Schlumberger noted that the turban, the small mouth and the strongly slanted eyes were characteristically Turkic.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schlumberger |first1=Daniel |title=Le Palais ghaznévide de Lashkari Bazar |journal=Syria |date=1952 |volume=29 |issue=3/4 |page=263 & 267|doi=10.3406/syria.1952.4789 |jstor=4390312 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4390312 |issn=0039-7946|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 11th century]] 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.{{sfn|Bosworth|2006}} 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frye |first=Richard N. |author-link=Richard N. Frye |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC&pg=PA160 |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |date=1975-06-26 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-20093-6 |volume=IV: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs |pages=156–157 |language=en |chapter=The Sāmānids}}</ref>

Alp Tigin's died in 963, and after two ghulam governors and three years, his slave Sabuktigin became the governor of Ghazna.

==Domination==

===Sabuktigin=== {{Main|Sabuktigin}} {{multiple image|perrow=1/2|total_width=350|caption_align=center | align = right | direction =horizontal | image1 = Ghaznavid ruins of Lashkari Bazar (northern view, composite).jpg | caption1 = Ghaznavid fortress of Lashkari Bazar in Lashkargah, ancient Bost, southern Afghanistan. It was founded by Mahmud of Ghazni in 998–1030 CE. | image2 = Lashkari_Bazar_guard_drawing.jpg | caption2 = | image3 = Ghaznavid figures in the wall paintings from one of the Ghaznavid palaces at Laškarī B��zār in central Afghanistan, probably built by Masud I (1030-41).jpg | caption3 = | footer=Figures in the wall paintings from the Ghaznavid palace of Lashkari Bazar, probably dating to the period of Mahmud of Ghazni.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Allegranzi |first1=Viola |title=The Use of Persian in Monumental Epigraphy from Ghazni (Eleventh-Twelfth Centuries) |journal=Eurasian Studies |date=17 October 2015 |volume=13 |issue=1-2 |page=29 |doi=10.1163/24685623-12340003 |quote=... the procession of ġulāms painted in the throne room of the South Palace at Lashkari Bazar, which has been attributed to the Ghaznavid ruler Maḥmūd.}}</ref> Black-and-white line drawing of the left figure, by the discoverer Daniel Schlumberger (1978).<ref>Daniel Schlumberger, Lashkari Bazar: une Résidence Royale Ghaznévide et Ghoride, Mémoires de la Délégation Archéologique Française, XVIII (Paris: Boccard, 1978) vol. 1, plate 123</ref> The figures wear the typical Turkic attire.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Flood |first1=Finbarr Barry |title=A Turk in the Dukhang? Comparative Perspectives on Elite Dress in Medieval Ladakh and the Caucasus |journal=Interaction in the Himalayas and Central Asia |date=2017 |publisher=Austrian Academy of Science Press |page=233, Fig 14 |url=https://www.academia.edu/35061254}}</ref> }} Sabuktigin lived as a mamluk, Turkic slave-soldier,{{sfn|Levi|Sela|2010|p=83}}{{efn|The Ghaznavids were a dynasty of Turkic slave-soldiers...{{sfn|Levi|Sela|2010|p=83}}}}{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=4}} during his youth and later married the daughter of his master Alptigin,{{sfn|Asher|Talbot|2006|p=19}} who fled to Ghazna following a failed coup attempt, and conquered the city from the local Lawik rulers in 962.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=37}} After Alptigin death, his son Abu Ishaq Ibrahim governed Ghazna for three years.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=38}} His death was followed by the reign of a former ghulam of Alptigin, Bilgetigin. Bilgetigin's rule was so harsh the populace invited Abu Bakr Lawik back.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=38}} It was through Sabuktigin's military ability that Lawik was removed, Bilgetigin was exiled, and Sabuktigin gained the governorship.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=39}}

Once established as governor of Ghazna, Sabuktigin was asked to intervene in Khurasan, at the insistence of the Samanid emir, and after a victorious campaign received the governorships of Balkh, Tukharistan, Bamiyan, Ghur and Gharchistan.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=44}} Sabuktigin inherited a governorship in turmoil.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=42}} In Zabulistan, the typical military fief system(''mustaghall'') were being changed into permanent ownership(''tamlik'') which resulted in the Turkic soldiery unwilling to take up arms.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=42}} Sabuktigin reformed the system making them all a ''mustaghall''-type fief.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=42}} In 976, he ended the conflict between two Turkic ghulams at Bust and restored the original ruler.{{sfn|Bosworth|1994|p=203}} Later that same year, Sabuktigin campaigned against Qusdar, catching the ruler(possibly Mu'tazz b. Ahmad) off guard and obtaining an annual tribute from him.{{sfn|Bosworth|1994|p=203}}

After the death of Sabuktigin, his son by Alptigin's daughter, Ismail, was given Ghazna.{{efn|Kaushik Roy states Turkic nobles at Balkh chose Ismail as Emir.{{sfn|Roy|2015|p=88}}}}{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=45}} Another son, Abu'l-Muzaffar Nasr, was given the governorship of Bust, while in Khorasan, the eldest son Mahmud, was given command of the army.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=44}} Sabuktigin's intent was to ensure governorships for his family, despite the decaying influence of the Samanid Empire, and did not consider his dynasty as independent.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=44}} Ismail, upon gaining his inheritance, quickly traveled to Bust and did homage to Emir Abu'l-Harith Mansur b. Nuh.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=45}} Mahmud, who had been left out of any significant inheritance, proposed a division of power, to which Ismail refused.{{sfn|Bosworth|1975|p=169}} Mahmud marched on Ghazna and subsequently Ismail was defeated and captured in 998 at the Battle of Ghazni.{{sfn|Roy|2015|p=88}}

===Mahmud, son of Sabuktigin=== {{Main|Mahmud of Ghazni}}

[[File:Mahmud of Ghazni, Ghaznavid ruler, conquering Qasdar (modern Khuzdar) in India, miniature from the Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh of Rashid al-Din Il-Khanid Tabriz Ms Or 20 f.108v.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Mahmud of Ghazni. ''Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh'', 1314-15]] In 998, Mahmud, son of Sebuktigin, succeeded to the governorship, and Ghazni and the Ghaznavid dynasty became perpetually associated with him. He emphasized his loyalty in a letter to the caliph, saying that the Samanids had only been replaced because of their treason.{{sfn|Kennedy|1986|p=301}} Mahmud received the governorship of Khurasan and titles of Yamin al-Dawla and Amin al-Milla.{{sfn|Kennedy|1986|p=301}} As a representative of caliphal authority, he championed Sunni Islam by campaigning against the Ismaili and Shi'ite Buyids.{{sfn|Kennedy|1986|p=301}} 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 (997–1030), 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.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=224}} Still, as late as 1033, Ghaznavid governor Tash Farrash executed fifty Turkmen chiefs for raids into Khorasan.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=225}}

====Indian conquests==== {{Main|Ghaznavid campaigns in India}}

[[File:Mahmud ibn Sebuktegin, Ghaznavid ruler, conquering Qasdar (modern Khuzdar) in India, miniature from the Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh of Rashid al-Din Il-Khanid Tabriz Ms Or 20 f.108v.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Mahmud of Ghazni conquering Qasdar (modern Khuzdar) in India. ''Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh'']] Mahmud of Ghazni led incursions deep into India, as far as Mathura, Kannauj and Somnath. In 1001, he defeated the Hindu Shahi in the Battle of Peshawar. In 1004-5, he invaded the Principality of Bhatiya and in 1006 the neighbouring Emirate of Multan.<ref name="DAA">{{cite book |last1=Ahmad |first1=Dr Aijaz |title=New Dimensions of Indian Historiography : Historical Facts and Hindutva Interpretation |date=6 March 2022 |publisher=K.K. Publications |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AttiEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA145 |language=en}}</ref> In 1008-9, he again vanquished the Hindu Shahis at the Battle of Chach, and established Governors in the conquered areas.<ref name="DAA" /> In India, the Ghaznavids were called ''Turushkas'' ("Turks") or ''Hammiras'' (from the Arabic ''Amir'' "Commander").{{sfn|Eaton|2019|p=29}}

In 1018, he laid waste the city of Mathura, which was "ruthlessly sacked, ravaged, desecrated and destroyed".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grousset |first1=René |title=The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia |date=1970 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-1304-1 |page=146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CHzGvqRbV_IC&pg=PA146 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sethi |first1=R. R. |last2=Saran |first2=Parmatma |last3=Bhandari |first3=D. R. |title=The March of Indian History |date=1951 |publisher=Ranjit Printers & Publishers |page=269 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbNGAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref> According to Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah, writing an "History of Hindustan" in the 16th-17th century, the city of Mathura was the richest in India. When it was attacked by Mahmud of Ghazni, "all the idols" were burnt and destroyed during a period of twenty days, gold and silver was smelted for booty, and the city was burnt down.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Firishtah |first1=Muḥammad Qāsim Hindū Shāh Astarābādī |title=The history of Hindustan. Vol. 1 |date=2003 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publisher |isbn=978-81-208-1994-8 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTyRYXtxMSEC&pg=PA60 |language=en}}</ref> In 1018 Mahmud also captured Kanauj, the capital of the Pratiharas, and then confronted the Chandelas, from whom he obtained the payment of tribute.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitra |first1=Sisir Kumar |title=The Early Rulers of Khajur |date=1977 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1997-9 |pages=81–82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irHN2UA_Z7gC&pg=PA81 |language=en|edition=Second Revised }}</ref> In 1026, he raided and plundered the Somnath temple, taking away a booty of 20 million dinars.{{sfn|Yagnik|Sheth|2005|pp=39–40}}{{sfn|Thapar|2004|pp=36–37}}

The wealth brought back from Mahmud's Indian expeditions to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (''e.g.'', Abolfazl Beyhaghi, Ferdowsi) give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital and of the conqueror's munificent support of literature.<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Ghazni|volume=11|pages=917–918}}</ref> Mahmud died in April 1030 and had chosen his son, Mohammed, as his successor.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=228}}

==Decline== ===Twin sons of Mahmud=== thumb|Dado panel with club-bearer and abraded inscription, possibly from Rawza, Ghazni. 11th-12th century (National Museum of Afghanistan Kabul, 1958, inv. no. KM58.2.X). 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 Persia and Central Asia to the Seljuks, plunging the realm into a "time of troubles".{{sfn|Bosworth|2006}}{{sfn|Amirsoleimani|1999|p=243}}{{sfn|Spuler|1991|p=1051}} 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.{{sfn|Bosworth|2006}} 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.{{sfn|Bosworth|2006}} He ruled until 1098.

===Mas'ud III=== [[File:Bahram-Shah of Ghazna (Kalila and Dimna, folio 6a) end of 13th century, Topkapi H.363.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Ghaznavid ruler Bahrām Shāh (d. 1152), (''Kalila and Dimna'', folio 6a, end of 13th century, Topkapi H.363).<ref>{{cite book |title=Turks: a journey of a thousand years, 600-1600 |date=2005 |publisher=Royal Academy of Arts ; Distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Harry N. Abrams |location=London : New York |isbn=978-1903973578 |page=386, item 37 |quote=(...)The frontispiece depicts, on the right-hand side, a scene of textual transmission with scholars and scribes, culminating, on the left hand-side, in a scene of enthronement where the book is being presented. This pictorial juxtaposition of textual transmission and courtly patronage is replayed in Nasr Allah Munshi's introduction, where the patron of the translation, Bahram Shah, is praised and portrayed in an enthronement scene (fol.6a).}}</ref>]] Mas'ud III became king for sixteen years, with no major event in his lifetime, prologing the period of peace established by his predecessor Ibrahim.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Allegranzi |first1=Viola |title=The Use of Persian in Monumental Epigraphy from Ghazni (Eleventh-Twelfth Centuries) |journal=Eurasian Studies |date=17 October 2015 |volume=13 |issue=1-2 |page=31 |doi=10.1163/24685623-12340003 |quote=Nonetheless, later chronicles report that Ibrāhīm, during his fortyyear reign (451-92/1059-99), made alliances with the Saljuqs, thus establishing a second period of peace and prosperity, which probably lasted up to the reign of Masʿūd III (492-508/1099-1115).}}</ref>

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.{{sfn|Bosworth|2006}} 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"'' (''World Burner''). Ghazni was restored to the Ghaznavids by the intervention of the Seljuks, who came to the aid of Bahram.{{sfn|Bosworth|2006}} 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.{{sfn|Bosworth|2006}} Ghazni fell to the Ghurids around 1170.<ref name="CEB299">{{cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=C. Edmund |title=Historic Cities of the Islamic World |date=31 August 2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-2383-6 |page=299 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CgawCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA299 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Mohammad Habib|editor=K. A. Nizami|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQ1uAAAAMAAJ |title=Politics and Society During the Early Medieval Period: Collected Works of Professor Mohammad Habib |date=1981 |publisher=People's Publishing House|page=109|language=en}}</ref>

===Late Ghaznavids=== {{Main|Siege of Lahore (1186)}}

{{South Asia in 1175|right|{{center|The last Ghaznavid king Khusrau Malik had his capital in Lahore, Punjab, until the Ghurid invasion of the subcontinent.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chandra |first1=Satish |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526) - Part One |date=2004 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=978-81-241-1064-5 |pages=19–20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC&pg=PA19 |language=en|author-link=Satish Chandra (historian)}}</ref>{{sfn|Schwartzberg|1978|p=32, 146}}}}| {{location map~ |South Asia |lat=31.54|N |long=73.34|E |label=|position=|label_size=|mark=Orange dot (semi-transparent).png|marksize=30}}}} After the fall of Ghazni in 1163, the Ghaznavids established themselves in Lahore, their regional capital for Indian territories since its conquest by Mahmud of Ghazni, which became the new capital of the Late Ghaznavids.<ref name="CEB299"/> Ghaznavid power in northwestern India continued until the Ghurid conquest of Lahore by Muhammad of Ghor in 1186, deposing the last Ghaznavid ruler Khusrau Malik.{{sfn|Bosworth|2006}} Both Khusrau Malik and his son were imprisoned and summarily executed in Firozkoh in 1191, extinguishing the Ghaznavid lineage.{{sfn|Bosworth|1977|p=131}}

==Military and tactics== The core of the Ghaznavid army was primarily made up of Turks,{{sfn|Wink|2002|p=114}} 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.{{sfn|Houtsma|1987|p=151}} During the rule of Sultan Mahmud, a new, larger military training center was established in Bost (now Lashkar Gah). 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.{{sfn|Roy|2016|p=24}}

thumb|left|Ghaznavid soldiers, circa 1100 (Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980.179) The Indian soldiers, whom Romila Thapar presumed to be Hindus, were one of the components of the army with their commander called ''sipahsalar-i-Hinduwan'' and lived in their own quarter of Ghazna practicing their own religion. Indian soldiers under their commander Suvendhray remained loyal to Mahmud. They were also used against a Turkic rebel, with the command given to a Hindu named Tilak according to Baihaki.<ref>Romila Thapar (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=PnBMFaGMabYC&pg=PA40 Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History]. Verso. p. 40. {{ISBN|978-1-84467-020-8}}.</ref>

thumb|Confronted warriors. Drawing from carved marble relief from Ghazna, Ghaznawid, c.1100 CE. David Collection, inv. 22/1989, Copenhagen, Denmark.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ghaznavid panel fragment |url=https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;dn;Mus21;17;en |website=islamicart.museumwnf.org |publisher=Discover Islamic Art - Virtual Museum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |page=144 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Court_and_Cosmos |language=en}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=111-112}}

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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Raza |first1=S. Jabir |title=Indian Elephant Corps Under the Ghaznavids |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=2012 |volume=73 |pages=212–222 |jstor=44156208 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156208 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Lewis|1992|p=205}}

==State and culture== {{See also|List of Ghaznavid Viziers}} Although the dynasty was of Central Asian Turkic origin, it was thoroughly Persianised in terms of language, culture, literature and habits{{efn|"The Ghaznavids inherited Samanid administrative, political, and cultural traditions and laid the foundations for a Persianate state in northern India. ..."{{sfn|Ziad|2006|p=294}}}}{{sfn|Ziad|2006|p=294}}{{efn|Nizam al-Mulk also attempted to organise the Saljuq administration according to the Persianate Ghaznavid model.{{sfn|Meisami|1999|p=143}}}}{{sfn|Meisami|1999|p=143}} and has been regarded as a "Persian dynasty".{{efn|Firdawsi was writing his Shah-nama. One of the effects of the renaissance of the Persian spirit evoked by this work was that the Ghaznavids were also persianized and thereby became a Persian dynasty"{{sfn|Spuler|1970|p=147}}}}

According to Clifford Edmund Bosworth: {{multiple image | perrow = 2 | total_width = 450 | caption_align = center | align = right | direction = horizontal | image1 = Ghaznavid ruler portrait, circa 1100 (Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980.179).jpg | image2 = Ghaznavid salver, circa 1100 (Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980.179).jpg | footer = Ghaznavid Sultan and his court, on a brass salver plate. Dated circa 1100, Ghaznavid period, Afghanistan, probably Herat or Ghazni. Cleveland Museum of Art.<ref name="CMOA">{{cite web |title=Silver 1100s Afghanistan, Ghaznavid Period, 12th Century |url=https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.179 |website=www.clevelandart.org |publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art |date=1991 |publisher=Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum |isbn=978-0-940717-00-8 |page=39 |url=https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1991/page/n53/mode/2up}}</ref> The sultan is seated in the traditional cross-legged Turkish posture, and "the round faces and almond eyes of the figures reflect the Turkish facial type of that period".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Durdu |first1=Arslan |title=Gazneliler Dönemine Ait Pirinç Tepsi Üzerindeki Taht Sahnesi |journal=Turcology Research |date=30 January 2025 |issue=82 |page=133 |doi=10.62425/turcology.1498413 |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/3993422 |quote=In the center of the tray, the figure of the sultan sits cross-legged on a throne and holds a goblet in his right hand. This is the traditional Turkish ruler’s sitting posture. The goblet in the sultan’s hand symbolizes world domination and immortality. The sultan figure depicted is probably one of the Ghaznavid sultans. The figures on the tray are placed in a certain hierarchical order. In this order, the main theme is the sultan seated on the throne. To the right and left of the sultan are high-ranking state officials. The hierarchical order is once again emphasized by ornamentation on the details of the cone, dress, and caftan of the state officials. Each of the state officials has different cones depending on their status. The round faces and almond eyes of the figures reflect the Turkish facial type of that period. |doi-access=free }}</ref> Inscriptions in Arabic.<ref name="CMOA"/> }}

{{blockquote|The Ghaznavid sultans were ethnically Turkish, but the sources, all in Arabic or Persian, do not allow us to estimate the persistence of Turkish practices and ways of thought amongst them. Yet given the fact that the essential basis of the Ghaznavids' military support always remained their Turkish soldiery, there must always have been a need to stay attuned to their troops' needs and aspirations; also, there are indications of the persistence of some Turkish literary culture under the early Ghaznavids (Köprülüzade, pp. 56–57). The sources do make it clear, however, that the sultans' exercise of political power and the administrative apparatus which gave it shape came very speedily to be within the Perso-Islamic tradition of statecraft and monarchical rule, with the ruler as a distant figure, buttressed by divine favor, ruling over a mass of traders, artisans, peasants, etc., whose prime duty was obedience in all respects but above all in the payment of taxes. The fact that the personnel of the bureaucracy which directed the day-to-day running of the state, and which raised the revenue to support the sultans' life-style and to finance the professional army, were Persians who carried on the administrative traditions of the Samanids, only strengthened this conception of secular power.<ref>{{cite journal |title=GHAZNAVIDS |journal=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghaznavids/}}</ref>}}

[[File:Anthropomorphic relief from Ghazni. Kabul Museum (inv. 58.2.1).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|Frieze from Ghazni, depicting Ghanavids with round faces and prominent cheekbones, wearing Turkic clothes. 11th-12th century, Kabul Museum (inv. 58.2.1).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rugiadi |first1=Martina |title=The Ghaznavid Marble Architectural Decoration: An Overview |journal=MIT online publication (Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT) |date=2010 |page=Fig.5 |quote=On those slabs which had been spared by later iconoclastic obliteration of the faces, the somatic characteristics – rounded face with prominent cheek-bones – descend from the Central-Asian visual traditions (as for example in the paintings in Miran, 5-6th century); the apparent approximated execution of the faces might have been completed with the painted decoration. The clothes of the personages are mainly those of Central Asiatic origin usually referred to as Turkic, as the qabā’.}}</ref> The inscription is in Persian.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Allegranzi |first1=Viola |title=The Use of Persian in Monumental Epigraphy from Ghazni (Eleventh-Twelfth Centuries) |journal=Eurasian Studies |date=17 October 2015 |volume=13 |issue=1-2 |page=40, Plate VII.2 |doi=10.1163/24685623-12340003}}</ref>]] Persianisation of the state apparatus was accompanied by the Persianisation of high culture at the Ghaznavid court... The level of literary creativity was just as high under Ebrāhīm and his successors up to Bahrāmšāh, with such poets as Abu’l-Faraj Rūnī, Sanāʾī, ʿOṯmān Moḵtārī, Masʿūd-e Saʿd-e Salmān, and Sayyed Ḥasan Ḡaznavī.{{sfn|Bosworth|1977|p=75-77, 107-110}} We know from the biographical dictionaries of poets (taḏkera-ye šoʿarā) that the court in Lahore of Ḵosrow Malek had an array of fine poets, none of whose dīvāns has unfortunately survived, and the translator into elegant Persian prose of Ebn Moqaffaʿ’s Kalīla wa Demna, namely Abu’l-Maʿālī Naṣr-Allāh b. Moḥammad, served the sultan for a while as his chief secretary.{{sfn|Bosworth|1977|p=127-128}} The Ghaznavids thus present the phenomenon of a dynasty of Turkish slave origin which became culturally Persianised to a perceptibly higher degree than other contemporary dynasties of Turkish origin such as Saljuqs and Qarakhanids.{{sfn|Bosworth|2006}}

Persian literary culture enjoyed a renaissance under the Ghaznavids during the 11th century.{{sfn|Bosworth|1968|p=44}}{{sfn|Sharlet|2011|p=46}}{{sfn|Rowson|1998|p=251}} The Ghaznavid court was so renowned for its support of Persian literature that the poet Farrukhi traveled from his home province to work for them.{{sfn|Sharlet|2011|p=27}} The poet Unsuri's short collection of poetry was dedicated to Sultan Mahmud and his brothers Nasr and Yaqub.{{sfn|Sharlet|2011|p=52}} Another poet of the Ghaznavid court, Manuchehri, wrote numerous poems about the merits of drinking wine.{{sfn|Yarshater|1960|p=44}}

Sultan Mahmud, modelling the Samanid Bukhara as a cultural center, made Ghazni into a center of learning, inviting Ferdowsi and al-Biruni. He even attempted to persuade Avicenna, but was refused.{{sfn|Spooner|Hanaway|2012|p=284}} Mahmud preferred that his fame and glory be publicized in Persian and hundreds of poets assembled at his court.{{sfn|Notghi|Sabri-Tabrizi|1994|p=244}} He brought whole libraries from Rayy and Isfahan to Ghazni and even demanded that the Khwarizmshah court send its men of learning to Ghazni.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=132}} Due to his invasion of Rayy and Isfahan, Persian literary production was inaugurated in Azerbaijan and Iraq.{{sfn|Ahmadi|2004|p=146}}

The Ghaznavids continued to develop historical writing in Persian that had been initiated by their predecessors, the Samanid Empire.{{sfn|Meisami|1993|p=247}} The historian Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi's ''Tarikh-e Beyhaqi'', written in the latter half of the 11th century, is an example.{{sfn|Poliakova|1984|p=241}}

thumb|upright=1.75|Ghaznavid court scene, circa 1100 (Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980.179) Although the Ghaznavids were Turkic and their military leaders were generally of the same stock,{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=4|loc="In this book I have discussed the Ghaznavids as a Turkish dynasty, of slave origin, who established themselves on the eastern margins of the Iranian world [...] these Turkish condotierri became rulers of what was, at Mahmud's death in 1030, the most extensive empire known in the eastern Islamic world, since the dismemberment of the Abassid Caliphate"}} as a result of the original involvement of Sebuktigin and Mahmud of Ghazni in Samanid affairs and in the Samanid cultural environment, the dynasty became thoroughly Persianized, so that in practice one cannot consider their rule over Iran one of foreign domination. They also copied their administrative system from the Samanids.{{sfn|Bosworth|1968|p=36}} In terms of cultural championship and the support of Persian poets, they were more Persian than their ethnically-Iranian rivals, the Buyid dynasty, whose support of Arabic letters in preference to Persian is well known.{{sfn|Yarshater|2008}}

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.{{sfn|Bosworth|1968|p=40}}

Historian Bosworth explains: "In fact with the adoption of Persian administrative and cultural ways the Ghaznavids threw off their original Turkish steppe background and became largely integrated with the Perso-Islamic tradition."{{sfn|Bosworth|1996|p=297}} As a result, Ghazni developed into a great centre of Arabic learning.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=134}}

With Sultan Mahmud's invasions of North India, Persian culture was established at Lahore, which later produced the famous poet, Masud Sa'd Salman.{{sfn|Ziad|2006|p=294}} Lahore, under Ghaznavid rule in the 11th century, attracted Persian scholars from Khorasan, India and Central Asia and became a major Persian cultural centre.{{sfn|Alam|Nalini|Gaborieau|2000|p=24}}{{sfn|Spooner|Hanaway|2012|p=284}} One of the most significant early works on Sufism, the Kashf al-mahjub, was written in Lahore by Abu al-Hasan Hujwiri al-Ghaznawi.{{sfn|Khanbaghi|2016|p=201}} It was also during Mahmud's reign that Ghaznavid coinage began to have bilingual legends consisting of Arabic and Devanagari script.{{sfn|Bosworth|1963|p=44}} The entire range of Persianate institutions and customs that would come to characterize the political economy of most of India would be implemented by the later Ghaznavids.{{sfn|Eaton|2019|p=35}}

The Persian culture established by the Ghaznavids in Ghazna and Eastern Afghanistan survived the Ghurid invasion in the 12th century and endured until the invasion of the Mongols.{{sfn|Bosworth|1968|p=39}}

== Art and Architecture == [[File:Minaret of Mas'ud III in 1846.jpg|thumb|upright|Mas'ud III's minaret in Ghazni was at least 44 meters tall, before its top half crumbled in 1902 due to an earthquake. It was built between 1099 and 1115 CE. It stood next to the Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III.<ref name="RPW">Ralph Pinder-Wilson (2001) Ghaznavid and Ghūrid Minarets, Iran, 39:1, 155-186, DOI: 10.1080/05786967.2001.11834389</ref>]] {{main|Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III|Lashkari Bazar|Ghazni Minarets}}

During the Ghaznavid era, artistic production was at its height, due to increased patronage from elites and the economic benefits of spoils gained from increasing raids and forced tributes from India. The height of which being the attack on the Somnath Temple in Kathiawar peninsula, resulting in a large hoard of treasure being taken into the empire. Ghaznavid art focused on adapting ancient artistic techniques to new materials and mediums, especially in the etching of precious metals, to leave a lasting impression on the Islamic art world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GHAZNAVIDS |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghaznavids/ |access-date=2025-12-21 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |language=en-US}}</ref> In the plastic arts, bronze-works appear to be influenced by earlier Samanid pieces, yet are unique enough that early versions of trademarks are visible on some pieces. Two bronze ewers, analyzed by Eva Baer, denote an influence from more contemporary ceramics in their shape and construction, while bearing both archaic methods of hatching and novel "oval... with a triangular base" designs, along with the artist’s signatures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baer |first=Eva |date=1985 |title=Wider Aspects of Some Ghaznavid Bronzes |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41880456 |journal=Rivista degli studi orientali |volume=59 |issue=1/4 |pages=1–15 |issn=0392-4866}}</ref>

[[File:MNAO-GhazniPalMasudIII-Lastra1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Marble wall border, Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III, Ghazni, Afghanistan, 12th century CE.]] Other works such as the garden murals added by Mas'ud I in the Herat palace complex had representational depictions including lewd subject matter of nude figures in "convivial" scenes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raza |first=S. Jabir |date=1996 |title=Constructional Activity of the Ghaznavids |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44133422 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=57 |pages=877–890 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> The capital, Ghazni, was also considered a center for lyrical poetry in the eastern Islamic world due to poets being able to form genres and styles over a long period of time.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bosworth |first=B Edmund |date=1991 |title=Furrukhi's Elegy on the Mahmud of Ghazna |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4299847 |journal=Iran |volume=29 |pages=43-49 |via=JSTOR}}</ref>

Ghaznavid architecture was especially able to flourish, specifically in marble reliefs with geometric, vegetal, and epigraphic designs.<ref>{{Citation |last=Allegranzi |first=Viola |title=CHAPTER NINE Stucco in the Architectural Decoration of the Ghaznavid Palace in Ghazni, Afghanistan, Eleventh–Twelfth Centuries |date=2025-12-31 |work=Stucco in the Islamic World |pages=175–196 |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/9781399543552-012 |access-date=2025-11-20 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-3995-4355-2 |last2=Laviola |first2=Valentina}}</ref> Due to their capital, Ghazni, being near an important trade route it resulted in influences from all aver the region. Near the Palace of Mas'ud III there is a minaret that was constructed of baked and unbaked pressed clay bricks and it is surrounded by a courtyard with four iwans. Excavations at this sites courtyard have uncovered numerous carved marble panels that feature trefoil arches, scrollwork, and inscriptions in Persian and Arabic.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=RUGIADI |first=MARTINA |title=The Ghaznavid Marble Architectural Decoration: An Overview.1 |url=https://web.mit.edu/akpia/www/articlerugiadi.pdf}}</ref> One of the more celebrated works is a marble panel from the courtyard of Sultan Mas'ud III's palace, now in the Brooklyn Museum, which has a Kufic script above intricate vegetal motifs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Adamec |first=Ludwig W. |last2=Bombaci |first2=Alessio |date=1968 |title=The Kufic Inscription in Persian Verses in the Court of the Royal Palace of Mas'ud III at Ghazni |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/1579952 |journal=Oriens |volume=21 |pages=458 |doi=10.2307/1579952 |issn=0078-6527|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The use of marble instead of more common stucco or brick along with detailed calligraphy reflect both the Ghaznavids' wealth and their artistry.<ref name=":0" />

=== Symbols === Since the time of Mahmud till Bahram-Shah of Ghazna, black banner with an image of a lion were used. Mahmud and his successors received diplomas, titles, and banners from the Abbasid Caliphs in recognition of their sovereignty and victories. Since the Abbasids used black banners, these were likely sent to the Ghaznavids. Unsuri suggests that Mahmud, like his descendants, bore a lion's image on his banner. His grandson Ibrahim is also said to have carried a lion emblem, confirming the continuity of this symbol. The Seljuks also carried banners bearing a lion's image, and it is possible that Ibrahim adopted the symbol under their influence, since he had to ally with Malik Shah. Before his time, there is no clear evidence of such imagery even in the verses referring to Mahmud. About Sanjar's banner, several verses of poet Anvari describe the lion emblem, and later petty rulers such as Firoz Shah and Malik Shah likewise used banners with the lion motif. Like Mahmud, also used the crescent as a symbol on his banner. He carried a black canopy and a white crown, while Mas'ud III had a falcon on his canopy. These emblems, noted by poets such as Sayyid Hasan, highlight the continuity of symbolic imagery within the Ghaznavid dynasty.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Khan|1949|pp=80–83}}</ref>

==Legacy== {{Continental Asia in 1100 CE|left|{{center|The Ghaznavids and other polities in continental Asia {{circa}} 1100}}|{{Annotation|110|85|35px}}}} At its height, the Ghaznavid empire grew from the Oxus to the Indus Valley and was ruled from 977 to 1186. The history of the empire, Tarikh Yamini, was written by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Utbi, who documented the Ghaznavid's achievements, including regaining lost territory from their rivals, the Kara-Khanids, in present-day Iran and Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sistan and Its Local Histories |first=C. Edmund |last=Bosworth |journal=Iranian Studies |volume=33| issue = 1/2 (Winter – Spring) |year=2000 |page=37}}</ref>

[[File:MassudOfGhazniCoin.jpg|thumb|Coinage of Mas'ud I of Ghazni (1030–1041), derived from Hindu Shahi designs, with the name of Mas'ud ({{langx|fa|مسعود}}) around the head of the horserider.]] In addition to the wealth accumulated through raiding Indian cities, and exacting tribute from Indian rajas, the Ghaznavids also benefited from their position as an intermediary along the trade routes between China and the Mediterranean. The Ghaznavid rulers are generally credited with spreading Islam into the Indian subcontinent.

They were, however, unable to hold power for long and by 1040 the Seljuk Empire had taken over their Persian domains and a century later the Ghurids took over their remaining sub-continental lands.

The Ghaznavid conquests facilitated the beginning of the Turko-Afghan period into India, which would be further conducted by the Ghurids until the Turko-Afghans successfully established themselves in the Delhi Sultanate.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mukerjee |first=Radhakamal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_6i6IOItSe8C&q=sabuktigin+turko-afghan |title=A History of Indian Civilization: Ancient and classical traditions |date=1958 |publisher=Hind Kitabs |language=en|page=73}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Puri |first1=B. N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7fUHMEDAyEC&q=khilji+turk+malwa |title=A Comprehensive History of India: Comprehensive history of medieval India |last2=Das |first2=M. N. |date=2003-12-01 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-81-207-2508-9 |language=en|page=9}}</ref>

==List of rulers== {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center;" |- ! width="5%" | # ! width="20%" | Laqab ! width="20%" | Personal Name ! width="15%" | Reign ! width="15%" | Succession right ! width="25%" | Notes |- | 1 | Nasir-ud-din {{Nastaliq|{{Nastaliq|نصر الدين}}}} ''Defender of the Faith'' | Sabuktigin | 977–997 | | |- | 2 | No title | Ismail | 997–998 | son of Sabuktigin | |- | 3 | Yamin ad-Dawlah Abu Qasim {{Nastaliq|یمین الدولہ ابو لقاسم}} ''Right-hand man of the State'' | Mahmud | 998–1030 | first son of Sabuktigin | |- | 4 | Jalal ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|جلال الدولہ}} ''Dignity of the State'' | Muhammad | 1030 ''1st reign'' | second son of Mahmud | |- | 5 | Shihab ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|شھاب الدولہ}} ''Star of the State'' | Masud I | 1030–1041 | first son of Mahmud | Was overthrown, imprisoned and executed, following the battle of Dandanaqan |- | — | Jalal ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|جلال الدولہ}} ''Dignity of the State'' | Muhammad | 1041 ''2nd reign'' | second son of Mahmud | Raised to the throne following the removal of Masud I. |- | 6 | Shihab ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|شھاب الدولہ}} ''Star of the State'' | Mawdud | 1041–1048 | son of Masud I | Defeated Muhammad at the battle of Nangrahar and gained the throne.{{sfn|Bosworth|1977|p=22-24}} |- | 7 | ? {{Nastaliq|?}} | Masud II | 1048 | son of Mawdud | |- | 8 | Baha ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|بھاء الدولہ }} ''Splendor of the State'' | Ali | 1048–1049 | son of Masud I | |- | 9 | Izz ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|عز الدولہ}} ''Glory of the State'' | Abd al-Rashid | 1049–1052 | fifth son of Mahmud | |- | 10 | Qiwam ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|قوام الدولہ}} ''Support of the State'' | Toghrul | 1052–1053 | Turkish mamluk general | Usurped the Ghaznavid throne after massacring Abd al-Rashid and eleven other Ghaznavid princes.{{sfn|Bosworth|1977|p=45}} |- | 11 | Jamal ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|جمال الدولہ}} ''Beauty of the state'' | Farrukh-Zad | 1053–1059 | son of Masud I | |- | 12 | Zahir ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|ظھیر الدولہ}} ''Help of the State'' | Ibrahim | 1059–1099 | son of Masud I | |- | 13 | Ala ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|علاء الدولہ}} ''Blessing of the State'' | Mas'ūd III | 1099–1115 | son of Ibrahim | |- | 14 | Kamal ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|کمال الدولہ}} ''Perfection of the State'' | Shir-Zad | 1115–1116 | son of Masud III | Murdered by his younger brother Arslan ibn Mas'ud.{{sfn|Bosworth|1977|p=90}} |- | 15 | Sultan ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|سلطان الدولہ}} ''Sultan of the state'' | Arslan-Shah | 1116–1117 | son of Masud III | Took the throne from his older brother Shirzad, but faced a rebellion from his other brother Bahram Shah, who was supported by the sultan of the Great Seljuq Empire, Ahmad Sanjar.{{sfn|Bosworth|1977|p=93-95}} |- | 16 | Yamin ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|یمین الدولہ }} ''Right-hand man of the state'' | Bahram Shah | 1117–1157 | son of Masud III | Under Bahram-Shah, the Ghaznavid empire became a tributary of the Great Seljuq Empire. Bahram was assisted by Ahmad Sanjar, sultan of the Great Seljuq empire, in securing his throne.{{sfn|Bosworth|1996|p=297}} |- | 17 | Muizz ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|معزالدولہ }} ''Honor of the State'' | Khusrau Shah | 1157–1160 | son of Bahram-Shah | |- | 18 | Taj ad-Dawlah {{Nastaliq|تاج الدولہ}} ''Crown of the state'' | Khusrau Malik | 1160–1186 | son of Khusrau-Shah | |- |}

==Family tree of the Ghaznavid sultans== {{Family tree of the Ghaznavid sultans}}

==See also== {{History of Afghanistan|File:Atkinson1839.jpg}} {{History of Greater Iran}} {{History of Pakistan}} {{History of Turkmenistan}} {{History of the Turks pre-14th century}} *List of battles involving the Ghaznavid Empire *History of Afghanistan *History of Pakistan *List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

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==Further reading== * Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1963) ''The Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran 994–1040'' Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, {{OCLC|3601436}} * Khalid, Kanwal. "[https://ia903205.us.archive.org/31/items/13-kanwal-khalid-lahore-during-the-ghaznavid-period-90-3-2015/%2813%29%20Kanwal%20Khalid%20Lahore%20During%20the%20Ghaznavid%20Period-90-3-2015.pdf Lahore During The Ghaznavid Period: A Socio- Political and Cultural Study]." * M. Ismail Marcinkowski (2003) ''Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey'' Pustaka Nasional, Singapore, {{ISBN|9971-77-488-7}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Ghaznavid Empire}} {{Wikiquote}} * [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0831222.html Mahmud of Ghazna] – ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' (Sixth Edition) * [https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050135/Mahmud Mahmud] – ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (Online Edition) * [https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9036676/Ghaznavid-Dynasty Ghaznavid Dynasty] – ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (Online Edition) * [https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-14003/Central-Asian-arts Ghaznavids and Ghurids] – ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (Online Edition) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311042545/http://orbat.com/site/cimh/kings_master/kings/mahmud_ghaznavi/Mahmud%20Ghaznavi.html Mahmud Ghaznavi's 17 invasions of India] (archived 11 March 2007) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929125948/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/index.jsp?serv=pf&file=80201010&ct=0 ''The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period''by Sir H. M. Elliot; Edited by John Dowson; London Trubner Company 1867–1877 Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. ''The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period''], published by London Trubner Company 1867–1877 (Online Copy: – Online version posted by: The Packard Humanities Institute; Persian Texts in translation). * [http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/afghan-secrets-revealed-on-google-earth/2008/07/18/1216163136557.html Afghan secrets revealed] on Google Earth *{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Persia |volume=21 |pages=187–252 |first=Karl Hermann |last=Ethé}} {{Central Asian history}} {{Empires}} {{Afghanistan topics}} {{Iran topics}} {{Iranian Intermezzo}} {{Authority control}}

* Category:Dynasties of Afghanistan Category:Former monarchies in Afghan history Category:History of Ghazni Province Category:Ghilman Category:Sunni dynasties Category:Medieval Indian monarchies Category:Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent Category:11th century in India Category:11th century in Iran Category:Medieval Khorasan Category:Former monarchies of Iran Category:977 establishments Category:States and territories established in the 970s Category:States and territories disestablished in 1186