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Yamīn al-Dawlah Abd al-Qāṣim Maḥmūd Ibn Sebük Tegīn
Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire
Old French depiction of Ghaznavi reading "Sultan Mahmud the Ghaznavid Afghan Emperor"
Reign	997-1030
Predecessor	Ismail of Ghazni
Born	(971-11-02)November 2, 971 Ghazni, Afghanistan
Died	April 30, 1030 Ghazni, Afghanistan
Burial	Ghazni, Afghanistan
House	Ghaznavids
Father	Sebüktigin
Religion	Sunni Islam

History of Greater Iran
Pre-Islamic BCE / BC Prehistory Kura–Araxes culture c. 3400 – c. 2000 Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800 Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Jiroft culture Mannaea Lullubi/Zamua Gutians Cyrtian Corduene Bactria–Margiana Complex 2200–1700 Avestan period c. 1500 BCE – 500 BCE Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th century Neo-Assyrian Empire 911–609 Urartu 860–590 Median Empire 728–550 Scythian Kingdom 652–625 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Ancient kingdom of Armenia 331 BCE – 428 CE Seleucid Empire 330–150 Caucasian Iberia c. 302 BCE – 580 CE Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250–125 Parthian Empire 248 BCE–224 CE Caucasian Albania 2nd century BCE – 8th century CE Roman Empire 27 BCE – 330 CE CE / AD Kushan Empire 30–275 Sasanian Empire 224–651 Afrighid dynasty 305–995 Hephthalite Empire 425–557 Kabul Shahi kingdom 565–879 Dabuyid dynasty 642–760 Bagratid Armenia 880s – 1045 Alania 8th/9th century – 1238 / 9 Kingdom of Georgia 1008–1490
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Mahmud of Ghazni (Persian: محمود غزنوی / Maḥmūd-e Ġaznawī; November 2, 971 - April 30, 1030), actually Yamīn ad-Dawlah Abd al-Qāṣim Maḥmūd Ibn Sebüktegīn, was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran, Afghanistan as well as Pakistan and North-West India. He was also the first ruler to carry the title Sultan ("authority"), signifying the extent of his power, though preserving the ideological link to the suzerainty of the Caliph. Mahmud was considered the most philandering of all classical rulers, he had 9 wives and close to 56 children with up to 32 women, Buzurg of Shahriyar wrote.

In 994, Mahmud joined his father Sebüktigin in the capture of Khorasan from the rebel Fa'iq in aid of the Samanid Emir, Nuh II. During this period the Samanid state became highly unstable, with shifting internal political tides as various factions vied for control, the chief among them being Abu'l-Qasim Simjuri, Fa'iq, Abu Ali^{[citation needed]}, the General Behtuzun as well as the neighbouring Buyids and Qarakhanids. Mahmud took over his father's kingdom in 998.^[1]

Sultan Mahmud's first campaign was against the Qarakhanid Empire, which controlled the northern portion of his Empire. After his defeat, he enlisted the alliance of the Seljuk Turks in southern Soghdia and Khwarazm who aided him in securing the north by diplomacy (998). In 999 'Abd al-Malik II of the Samanids engaged in hostilities with Mahmud over Khorasan after political alliances shifted under a new Samanid Emir. These forces were defeated when the Qarakhanids under Nasr Khan ^{[citation needed]} invaded them from the north. He then solicited an alliance which was cemented by his marriage to Nasr Khan's daughter.

Mahmud's first campaign to the south was against the Ismaili Fatimid Kingdom at Multan in a bid to curry political favor and recognition with the Abbassid Caliphate, he engaged with the Fatimids elsewhere. At this point, Raja Jayapala of the Hindu Shahi Dynasty in Kabul attempted to gain revenge for an earlier military defeat at the hands of Mahmud's father, who had controlled Ghazni in the late 980s and had cost Jayapala extensive territory. His son Anandapala succeeded him and continued the struggle to avenge his father's suicide. He assembled a powerful confederacy which faced an unfortunate defeat as his elephant turned back from the battle in a crucial moment, turning the tide into Mahmud's favor once more at Lahore in 1008 bringing Mahmud into control of the Hindu Shahi dominions of Updhanpura.^[2]

There is considerable evidence from writings of Al-Biruni, Soghidan, Uyghur and Manichean texts that the Buddhists, Hindus and Jains were accepted as People of the Book and references to Buddha as Burxan or as a prophet can be found. After the initial destruction and pillage, Buddhists, Jains and Hindus were granted protected subject status as Dhimmis.^[3]

Contemporary writings from the Kashmiri poet and historian Kalhana in his book Rajatarangini provide a different perspective. On the basis of this evidence Mahmud is said to have brought with him the concept of total war, until then completely absent from India.^[4]

Following the defeat of the Rajput Confederacy, after deciding to retaliate for their combined resistance, Mahmud then set out on regular expeditions against them, leaving the conquered kingdoms in the hands of Hindu vassals annexing only the Punjab region.^[2] He also vowed to raid India every year.

Mahmud had already had relationships with the leadership in Balkh through marriage. Its local Emir Abu Nasr Mohammad, offered his services to the Sultan and his daughter to Mahmud's son, Muhammad. After Nasr's death Mahmud brought Balkh under his leadership. This alliance greatly helped him during his expeditions into Northern India.

The Indian kingdoms of Nagarkot, Thanesar, Kannauj, Gwalior, and Ujjain were all conquered and left in the hands of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist Kings as vassal states and he was pragmatic enough not to shirk making alliances and enlisting local peoples into his armies at all ranks.

According to Bards of Gurjars, the area beyond Kabul in later period was called as Khattan in India. The Gujjar kings serving as fuedatories of Gujjar Empire there were called the Rana of Khattan and hence Khatana.After the fall of Gujjars Empire in 954AD, the other Gujjars kingdoms like Gujjar Chauhan of Ajmer, Gujjar Tanwar of Delhi, the Gujjar Chadellas of Kalinjar, The Gujjar Solankis of Patan, Gujjar Parmars of Malwa, Ujjain , and the former Imperials the Gujjar Pratihar of Kannauj stopped supporting them and started fighting among themselves. Hence Jai Pal Khatana and Anand Pal Khatana were defeated by Mahmud Gaznavi after a stiff resistance. Later when a joint financial help from Kannauj, Ajmer, and kalinjar was sent it was of no use since they already lost much of their fighting power by that time.

The later invasions of Mahmud were specifically directed to temple towns as Indian temples were depositories of great wealth and the economic and ideological centers of gravity for the Hindus. Destroying them would destroy the will power of the Hindus attacking the Empire since Mahmud never kept a permanent presence in the Subcontinent; Nagarkot, Thanesar, Mathura, Kanauj, Kalinjar and Somnath were all thus raided. Mahmud's armies stripped the temples of their wealth and then destroyed them at, Maheshwar, Jwalamukhi, Narunkot and Dwarka. During the period of Mahmud invasion, the Sindhi Swarankar Community and other Hindus who escaped conversion fled from Sindh to escape sectarian violence.

After 27 years of hard work, the notable poet Ferdowsi went to Ghazni and presented the Shahnameh to Mahmud. There are various stories in medieval texts describing the lack of interest shown by Mahmud of Ghazni in Ferdowsi and his life's work. According to historians, Mahmud had promised Ferdowsi a dinar for every distich written in the Shahnameh (60,000 dinars), but later retracted and presented him with dirhams (20,000 dirhams), the equivalent at that time of only 200 dinars. Ferdowsi rejected the money or, by some accounts, gave it to a poor man who sold wine. After some time, Mahmud recognized his mistake about what he did to Ferdowsi, he re-sent the amount promised to Ferdowsi's village, but when the messengers reached his house, they found that Ferdowsi had died a few hours earlier. The gift was then given to his daughter, since his son had already died at the age of 37. However, his daughter refused to receive the sum, thus making Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh immortal. Later Mahmud ordered the money be used for repairing an inn in the way from Merv to Tus, named "Robat Chaheh" so that it may remain in remembrance of the poet. This inn now lies in ruins, but still exists.

The last four years of Mahmud's life were spent contending with the influx of Oghuz Turkic horse tribes from Central Asia, the Buyid Dynasty and rebellions by Seljuqs. Initially the Seljuks were repulsed by Mahmud and retired to Khwarezm but Togrül and Çagrı led them to capture Merv and Nishapur (1028–1029). Later they repeatedly raided and traded territory with his successors across Khorasan and Balkh and even sacked Ghazni in 1037. In 1039 at the Battle of Dandanaqan, they decisively defeated Mahmud's grandson, Mas'ud I resulting in Mas'ud abandoning most of his western territories to the Seljuks.

Sultan Mahmud died on April 30, 1030. His mausoleum is located at Ghazni in modern Afghanistan.^[5]

• 994: Gained the title of Saif-ud-daula and became Governor of Khorasan under service to Nuh II of the Samanids in civil strife
• 995: The Samanid rebels Fa'iq (leader of a court faction that had defeated Alptigin's nomination for Emir) and Abu Ali expel Mahmud from Nishapur. Mahmud and Sabuktigin defeat Samanid rebels at Tus.

• 997: Qarakhanid Empire
• 999: Khorasan, Balkh, Herat, Merv from the Samanids. A concurrent invasion from the North by the Qarakhanids under Elik Khan (Nasr Khan) ends Samanid rule.
• 1000: Seistan
• 1001: Gandhara: Sultan Mahmud defeats Jayapala at Peshawar and Jayapala abdicates and commits suicide.
• 1002: Seistan: Imprisoned Khuluf
• 1004: Bhatia (Bhera) annexed after it fails to pay its yearly tribute.^[6] in 1004 CE
• 1005: Multan Fateh Daud the Shia Ismaili ruler of Multan^[7] revolts and enlists the aid of Anandapala. Mahmud Ghazni^[8] also massacares the Ismailis^[9] of Multan in the course of his conquest. Anandapala is defeated at Peshawar and pursued to Sodra (Wazirabad).

Ghur and Amir Suri then captured by Mahmud of Ghazni, made prisoner along with his son and taken to Ghazni, where Amir Suri died.^[10] Appoints Sewakpal to administer the region. Anandapala flees to Kashmir, takes refuge in the Lohara^{[citation needed]} fort in the hills on the western border of Kashmir.

• 1005: Defends Balkh and Khorasan against Nasr I of the Qarakhanids and recaptures Nishapur from Isma'il Muntasir of the Samanids.
• 1005: Sewakpal rebels and is defeated.
• 1008: Mahmud defeats the Rajput Confederacy (Ujjain, Gwalior, Kalinjar, Kannauj, Delhi, and Ajmer) in battle between Und and Peshawar, and captures the Shahi treasury at Kangra the Punjab Hill States (in modern-day Himachal Pradesh).

Note: A historical narrative states in this battle, under the onslaught of the Gakhar tribe, Mahmud's army was about to retreat when Jayapala's son King Anandapala's elephant took flight and turned the tide of the battle.

• 1010: Ghur; against Mohammad ibn Sur
• 1010: Multan revolts. Abul Fatah Dawood imprisoned for life at Ghazni.
• 1011: Thanesar
• 1012: Joor-jistan: Captures Sar(Czar??)-Abu-Nasr
• 1012: Demands and receives remainder of the province of Khorasan from the Abassid Caliph. Then demands Samarkand as well but is rebuffed.
• 1013: Bulnat: Defeats Trilochanpala.
• 1014 :Kafirstan attacked^[11]
• 1015: Ghaznis expedition to Kashmir fails. Fails to take the Lohara^{[citation needed]} fort at Lokote in the hills leading up to the valley from the west.
• 1015: Khwarezm: Marries his sister to Abul Abbas Mamun of Khwarezm who dies in the same year in a rebellion. Moves to quell the rebellion and installs a new ruler and annexes a portion.
• 1017: Kannauj, Meerut, and Muhavun on the Yamuna, Mathura and various other regions along the route. While moving through Kashmir he levies troops from vassal Prince for his onward march, Kannauj and Meerut submitted without battle.
• 1021: Raises Ayaz to kingship, awarding him the throne of Lahore
• 1021: Kalinjar attacks Kannauj: he marches to their aid and finds the last Shahi King Trilochanpaala encamped as well. No battle, the opponents leave their baggage trains and withdraw from the field. Also fails to take the fort of Lokote again. Takes Lahore on his return. Trilochanpala flees to Ajmer. First Muslim governors appointed east of the Indus River.
• 1023: Lahore, Kalinjar, Gwalior: No battles, exacts tribute. Trilochanpala, the grandson of Jayapala is assassinated by his own troops. Official annexation of Punjab by Ghazni. Also fails to take the Lohara fort on the western border of Kashmir for the second time.
• 1024: Ajmer, Nehrwala, Kathiawar: This raid was his last major campaign. The concentration of wealth at Somnath was renowned, and consequently it became an attractive target for Mahmud, as it had previously deterred most invaders. The temple and citadel were sacked, and most of its defenders massacred.
• 1024: Somnath: Mahmud sacked the temple and is reported to have personally hammered the temple's gilded Lingam to pieces and the stone fragments were carted back to Ghazni, where they were incorporated into the steps of the city's new Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque) in 1026. He placed a new king on the throne in Gujarat as a tributary and took the old one to Ghazni as a prisoner. His return detoured across the Thar Desert to avoid the armies of Ajmer and other allies on his return.
• 1025: Marched against the Jats of the Jood mountains who harried his army on its return from the sack of Somnath.
• 1027: Rey, Isfahan, Hamadan from the Buyid (Daylami) Dynasty.
• 1028, 1029: Merv, Nishapur lost to Seljuk Turks

Mahmud's campaigns seem to have been motivated by both religious zeal against both the Fatimids Shiites and non-Muslims; Buddhists, Jains and Hindus ^{[weasel words]}. His principal drive remained the Ismaili Shiites, Buyid Iran as well as favor and recognition of independence from the Abbassid Caliphate ^{[weasel words]}. The wealth plundered from the Rajput Confederacy and his Indian campaigns went a long way towards meeting those ends. By 1027, Mahmud had accomplished this as well as capturing most of modern-day North- Western India as well as obtaining formal recognition of Ghazni's sovereignty from the Abbasid Khalifah, al-Qadir Billah, as well as the title of Yameen-ud Daula.

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Verse to Mahmud of Ghazni

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In Afghanistan and Pakistan Mahmud is celebrated as a hero and a great patron of the arts, architecture, literature, and Persian revivalism as well as a vanguard of Islam and a paragon of virtue and piety who established the standard of Islam in India. The military of Pakistan has named its short-range ballistic missile in the honour of Mahmud of Ghazni, the Ghaznavi Missile.^[12]

In modern Pakistan he is hailed as a conquering hero who established the standard of Islam upon heathen land, while in India he may be depicted as raiding iconoclastic invader, bent upon the loot and plunder of a peaceful Hindu population. Conversion to Islam of the native population has also become a controversial topic with the versions of sword enforced mass conversions vs. inspirational missionary activity. Over the past century with the rise of Hindutva^{[citation needed]} and the partition of India, a lot more attention has been focused on casualties, temple destructions, slavery and forced conversions to Islam than before. This controversy has been further stoked by the depictions of the historical Mahmud as either a hero or a villain by the polarization of nationalist or ideological orientations.

In India, Mahmud is therefore seen as a ruthless invader who plundered the temples of India and caused long lasting damage. His attacks on Mathura and Somnath are seen as decisive events in the history of North India and a sign of its subjugation to Islamic invasions. The fact that Mahmud never tried consolidating his conquests choosing instead to target a different region and different temples on each of his invasions is seen as evidence that he was interested in loot.^[13]

Iranians remember him as an Orthodox Sunni who was responsible for the revival of the Persian culture by commissioning and appointing Persians to high offices in his administration as ministers, viziers and generals. In addition Iranians remember him for the promotion and preference of Persian language instead of Turkish and patronage of great nationalist poets and scholars such as Ferdowsi, Al-Biruni and Ferishta as well as his Lion and Sun flag which is still a national symbol in the modern state of Iran.

Mahmud of Ghazni is often dubbed the "Charlemagne of South Asia"^{[citation needed]}. Under his reign the region broke away from the Samanid sphere of influence. While he acknowledged the Abbasids as caliph as a matter of form, he was also granted the title Sultan as recognition of his independence.

By the end of his reign, the Ghaznavid Empire extended from Kurdistan in the west to Samarkand in the north-east, and from the Caspian Sea to the Yamuna. Although his raids carried his forces across the Indian Subcontinent, only the Punjab and Sindh in modern-day Pakistan, came under his permanent rule; Kashmir, the Doab, Rajasthan and Gujarat remained under the control of the local Rajput dynasties.

The booty brought back to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi, Ferdowsi) give descriptions of the magnificence of the capital, as well as of the conqueror's munificent support of literature. He transformed Ghazni, the first centre of Persian literature,^[14] into one of the leading cities of Central Asia, patronizing scholars, establishing colleges, laying out gardens, and building mosques, palaces, and caravansaries. He patronized Ferdowsi to write the Shahnameh; and, after his expedition across the Gangetic plains in 1017, of Al-Biruni to compose his Tarikh Al-Hind in order to understand the Indians and their beliefs.

On April 30, 1030, Sultan Mahmud died in Ghazni, at the age of 59. Sultan Mahmud had contracted malaria during his last invasion. The medical complication from malaria had caused lethal tuberculosis. During his rule, universities were founded to study various subjects such as mathematics, religion, the humanities, and medicine. Islam was the main religion of his kingdom. Persian spoken in the empire was made to the official language.

The Ghaznavid Empire was ruled by his successors for 157 years. The expanding Seljuk Turkish empire absorbed most of the Ghaznavid west. The Ghorids captured Ghazni in 1150 A.D., and Muhammad Ghori captured the last Ghaznavid stronghold at Lahore in 1187. The Ghaznavids went on to live as the Nasher Khans in their home of Ghazni until the 20th century.

The Song Dynasty customs inspector Zhao Rugua (趙汝适) wrote a two-volume work about the countries and people of the known world (according to the Chinese) called the Zhufan Zhi (諸蕃志, "Description of the Barbarous Peoples," c. 1225). The first volume has an entry for Ghazni which reads:

The king's arms reach down to below his knees. He has an [sic] hundred chargers, every one full six feet high, also some dozen head of mules, three feet high, which, on excursions, he rides alternately with the horses. His bow pulls several piculs, so that five or seven ordinary men cannot string it. When he is on horseback, he carries an iron mace weighing full fifty catties. ... [A]ll the people of the west fear him.^[15]

Friedrich Hirth, one of the translators of Zhao's work, believes this was based on some embellished tale about Mahmud that was brought to China by Arab merchants.^[16]

• Ghazni Province
• Ghazni
• Lahore
• Islamic conquest of South Asia
• Flag of Iran
• Habbari dynasty

This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Ferishta, History of the Rise of Mohammedan Power
• Alexander Berzin, Berzin Archives: The Historical Interaction between the Buddhist and Islamic Cultures before the Mongol Empire, 2001
• McLeod, John (2002). The History of India. London: Greenwood Press. ISBN-0-313-31459-4.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mahmud of Ghazni.

• UCLA website
• Mahmud of Ghazna Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition)
• Mahmud Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition)
• Ghaznavid Dynasty Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition)
• Ghaznavids and Ghurids Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition)
• Mahmud Ghazni
• History of Iran: Ghaznevid Dynasty
• Rewriting history and Mahmud of Ghazni
• -Online Copy:Last Accessed 11 October 2007 Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period
• Tarikh Yamini, or Kitabu-l Yamini of Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad al Jabbaru-l 'Utbi.

• Encyclopaedia Iranica

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