{{Short description|Ghaznavid sultan from 1099 to 1115}} {{pp-move-vandalism|small=yes}} {{Infobox royalty | name = Mas'ūd III of Ghazna | title = {{no italic|Ghaznavid Sultan<br>Ala ad-Dawlah<br>{{Nastaliq|علاء الدولہ}} (Blessing of the State)<br>Jalāl ad-Dīn{{Sfn|Bosworth|1977|p=83}}<br>Nizam ad-Dīn wa-d-Dunyā{{Sfn|Bosworth|1977|p=83}}<br>Nāsir Khalīfat Allāh}}{{Sfn|Bosworth|1977|p=83}} | image = File:Mas'ud III Gold Dinar.jpg | caption = | succession = Sultan of Ghaznavid Empire | birth_date = {{C.|1061}} | birth_place = Ghazni <br> Ghaznavid Empire | death_date = March 1115 <br> (aged 53–54) | death_place = Ghaznavid Empire | place of burial = | full name = Mas'ūd bin Ibrahim | father = Ibrahim | mother = | spouse = ''Fülane'' Khatun<br/>Gawhar Khatun | issue = Shir-Zad of Ghazna<br>Arslan-Shah of Ghazna<br>Bahram-Shah of Ghazna | reign = 25 August 1099 – March 1115 | coronation = | othertitles = | predecessor = Ibrahim | successor = Shir-Zad | house = Ghaznavid Dynasty | religion = Sunni Islam }}
'''Mas'ūd III of Ghazna''' (b. 1061 – d. 1115), was a sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire and son of the Ghaznavid sultan, Ibrahim of Ghazna
== Life == Mas'ūd bin Ibrahim was born in 1061 in Ghazni.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dupree|first=Nancy|title=An Historical Guide To Afghanistan|publisher=|year=1979|isbn=|location=|pages=184}}</ref> Prior to his reign, in 1082-83, Mas'ūd III married Seljuk princess Mahd-i 'Iraq Jauhar Khatun bint Malik Shah.
== Reign == Mas'ud III's reign spanned 16 years (1099-1115). He primarily ruled over the territories of Afghanistan, Northwest India, and Pakistan. He struck coins in the name of Caliph Al-Mustazhir and continued the Ghaznavid policy of acknowledging the supremacy of the Abbasid Caliphate, with its capital in Baghdad. Friendly relations were maintained with the eastern Seljuks during his reign.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay|url=http://archive.org/details/bosworth-1977-later-ghaznavids|last=C. E. Bosworth|pages=82-83}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=GHAZNAVIDS|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghaznavids/|website=Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=2025-11-30|language=en-US|date=2007|last=Bosworth|first=C.E.}}</ref>
In 1112, Mas'ūd III built the Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Mas'ūd III was also responsible for the construction of one of the two "Towers of Victory",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dupree |first=Louis |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7zv45h |title=Afghanistan |date=2014-07-01 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-5891-0 |doi=10.2307/j.ctt7zv45h.24 |jstor=j.ctt7zv45h }}</ref> also known as the Minarets of Ghazni.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Qasr-i Mas'ud-i Sivvum|url=https://archnet.org/sites/3924|access-date=2021-01-24|website=Archnet|archive-date=2021-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130020752/https://archnet.org/sites/3924|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Sites and buildings|url=https://ghazni.bradypus.net/islamic_sites_buildings|access-date=2021-01-24|website=ghazni.bradypus.net|archive-date=2021-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129110452/https://ghazni.bradypus.net/islamic_sites_buildings|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Manar-i Mas'ud III|url=https://archnet.org/sites/3925|access-date=2021-01-24|website=Archnet}}</ref>
Following Sultan Mas'ūd III's death in 1115, a four-year period of increased instability ensued due to the internal struggle for succession amongst his sons, Shīr-Zād (r. 1115-1116), Malik Arslan (r. 1116-1117), and Bahrām Shāh (r. 1117-1157)<ref name=":0" />. With the assistance and political backing of the eastern Seljuk sultan Sunjar Bahram, Shāh defeated his brother Arslan and ascended the throne as a Seljuk vassal following the Battle of Ghazni in 1117. {{sfn|Bosworth|2006}}<ref name=":0" />
==Architecture== ===Minaret of Mas'ud III in Ghazni=== {{main|Ghazni Minarets}} <gallery class="center" widths="250px" heights="250px" perrow="3"> File:Mas'ud_III_b._Ibrahim_minaret,_Ghazni,_built_between_1099_and_1115_CE_(graphical_reconstruction,_colorized).jpg|Mas'ud III b. Ibrahim Ghazni minaret, Ghazni, built between 1099 and 1115 CE File:Detail of the Intricate Brickwork on the Mas'ud III Tower.jpg|Detail of the intricate brickwork on the Mas'ud III Tower </gallery>
===Palace of Mas'ud III in Ghazni=== {{main|Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III}}
<gallery class="center" widths="250px" heights="250px" perrow="3"> File:Palace_of_Sultan_Mas'ud_III_(northeast_of_Ghazni).jpg|Remains of the palace, to the east of Ghazni. File:Architectural panel Afghanistan Ghaznavid dynasty reign of Mas ud III 1100-1150 CE Marble (2414429094).jpg|Ghaznavid panel from the reign of Mas ud III 1100-1150 CE MNAO-GhazniPalMasudIII-Lastra1.jpg|Carved relief from the Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III </gallery>
== See also == * Ghazni under the Ghaznavids
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== {{refbegin}} * {{cite encyclopedia |first=C. E. |last=Bosworth | author-link = C. E. Bosworth |title=Ghaznavids |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghaznavids |year=2006 }} * {{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QXuOQgAACAAJ |title=The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay |date=1977 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-85224-315-2 |language=en}} {{refend}}
==External links== * {{Commons-inline}} * {{Wikiquote-inline}}
{{s-start}} {{s-hou|House of Sabuktegin||||}} {{s-reg|}} {{s-bef | before = Ibrahim }} {{s-ttl | title = Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire | years = 1099–1114/5 }} {{s-aft | after = Shir-Zad }} {{s-end}}
{{Ghaznavid sultans}}
Category:Ghaznavid sultans Category:12th-century monarchs in Asia Category:1115 deaths