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80-504: Ghazni Citadel , the Minarets of Ghazni , the Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III , and several other cultural heritage sites have brought travelers and archeologists to the city for centuries. During the pre-Islamic period , the area was inhabited by various tribes who practiced different religions including Zoroastrianism , Buddhism and Hinduism . Arab Muslims introduced Islam to Ghazni in

160-449: A hot-summer humid continental climate ( Dsa ). It has cold, snowy winters and warm, dry summers. Precipitation is low and mostly falls in winter (as snow) and spring (as rain). Winters are very cold, with a subzero January daily average temperature of −5.9 °C (21.4 °F), mainly due to the high elevation of the city. The city of Ghazni's population surged from 143,379 in 2015 to 270,000 in 2018 as refugees from violent areas fled to

240-511: A coalition of Rajput chiefs, which forced him to change his route for further incursions into India. Afterwards, Muhammad pressed upon the Ghanzavids, whose domain was considerably truncated, though they were still controlling parts of Punjab and Pakistan down to the valley of Kabul which were of strategic importance in the pathway to northern India. Thus by the turn of next decade, Muhammad conquered Sindh , Peshawar , Sialkot and annexed

320-562: A decisive victory against Sayf, who was shortly captured and crucified at Pul-i Yak Taq. Baha al-Din Sam I , another brother of Sayf, set out to avenge the death of his two brothers, but died of natural causes before he could reach Ghazni. Ala al-Din Husayn (1149–61), one of the youngest of Sayf's brothers and newly crowned Ghurid king, also set out to avenge the death of his two brothers. He managed to defeat Bahram-Shah, and then had Ghazni sacked;

400-631: A fictive genealogy which connected the Ghurids with the Iranian past. They traced the Ghurid family back to the mythical Arab tyrant Zahhak , mentioned in the medieval Persian epic Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings"), whose family had reportedly settled in Ghur after the Iranian hero Fereydun had ended Zahhak's thousand-year tyranny. Additionally, nothing is known of the pre-Islamic religious beliefs of

480-648: A heavy ransom to the Seljuqs and was allowed to reclaim his principality in Ghor. However, Sanjar was soon captured and imprisoned by the Ghuzz nomads in 1153, which allowed the Ghurids to expand their polity again. Meanwhile, a rival of Ala al-Din named Husayn ibn Nasir al-Din Muhammad al-Madini had seized Firozkoh , but was murdered at the right moment when Ala al-Din returned to reclaim his ancestral domain. Ala al-Din spent

560-404: A row of smaller stupas. Nearby, an 18-metre (59 ft) long Parinirvana (reclining) Buddha was excavated between the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is believed to have been built in the 8th century CE as part of a monastery complex. In the 1980s, a mud brick shelter was created to protect the sculpture, but the wood supports were stolen for firewood and the shelter partially collapsed. In 2001,

640-668: A suicide Humvee bomber affiliated with the Taliban killed nine Afghan intelligence personnel and injured 40 others at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) unit in Ghazni, also damaging the nearby Islamic Cultural Centre. Ghazni was the tenth provincial capital of Afghanistan to be captured by the Taliban as part of the 2021 Taliban offensive . Ghazni is a trading and transit hub in central Afghanistan. Agriculture

720-808: A thousand temples" were destroyed. It is generally thought that the Buddhist city of Sarnath was also ravaged at that time. In 1196, Qutb ud-Din Aibak vanquished Sulakshanapala, the ruler of the Kachchhapaghata dynasty of Gwalior , capturing Gwalior fort . Also in 1196, Qutb ud-Din Aibak vanquished a coalition of the Rajputs of Ajmer and the Chaulukyas under king Bhima II at Mount Abu , thereafter sacking Anhilwara . In 1202–1203 CE, Qutbu l-Din Aibak, now Ghurid governor of Delhi , invaded

800-525: A vast army and build bridge across the Oxus to launch a full-scale invasion of  Transoxiana  to avenge his defeat. However, he was forced to move towards Punjab to crush a Khokhar rebellion whom he defeated and massacred in large number. On his way back, Muhammad of Ghor was assassinated near the Indus on March 15, 1206. After the death of Muhammad Ghori in 1206, a confused struggle then ensued among

880-455: Is a large medieval fortress located in Ghazni city, east-central Afghanistan . It was built in the 13th century surrounding the Ghazni town to form a walled city. The 45 metre (147 foot) high citadel dominates the skyline. The citadel is at risk of destruction due to multiple threats. Already more than half of the citadel's 32 original towers have been destroyed or heavily damaged with

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960-689: Is attributed to this Herat school of metalwork at the time of Ghurid rule, during the 1180–1200 period. One of them, now in the Georgian National Museum , is marked with a poem in Persian which specifically records its manufacture in Herat in 1181–1182, and permits the attribution and dating of this group of ewers to 1180–1200 in Herat, at the time of Ghurid rule. My ewer is the most beautiful ewer of all time. Who in this world has anything like this today? Everyone who has seen it has said it

1040-464: Is famous for its Ghazni Minarets built on a stellar plan. They date from the middle of the twelfth century and are the surviving elements of the mosque of Bahramshah. Their sides are decorated with intricate geometric patterns. Some of the upper sections of the minarets have been damaged or destroyed. The most important mausoleum located in Ghazni City is that of Sultan Mahmud . Others include

1120-479: Is in a deteriorating condition. Many of the towers and walls of the fortress are crumbling. Decades of war and continued political instability in Afghanistan have contributed to the deterioration of the fortress. War and lack of funds have hampered restoration efforts. In June, 2019 one of the fort's 32 original towers collapsed and was caught on video and posted to social media sparking international calls for

1200-553: Is in an area of low rainfall. In 2007, one of the gates on a 50-year-old dam on the Jikhai River broke, bringing up concerns among the inhabitants of Ghazni city about the water supply. The dam serves as a good source of irrigation water to Ghazni City and the surrounding agricultural areas. Nearby rivers have a history of flooding and causing severe damage and death, though efforts have begun to remedy this. Citadel of Ghazni The Citadel of Ghazni (or Ghuznee, Ghazna)

1280-475: Is in this city and is surmounted by a hospice. The greater part of the town is in ruins and nothing but a fraction of it remains, though it was once a large city. It has an exceedingly cold climate, and the inhabitants move from it in the cold season to Qandahar , a large and prosperous town three nights journey from Ghazna, but I did not visit it." Tamerlanes's grandson, Pir Muhammad bin Djinhangir , became

1360-584: Is made in Herat . Who else could product anything like it (in the world)? Although the seven stars the Planets of the celestial sphere lift their heads high, May they look favorably upon him who produces such a ewer Mercy be on him who makes such a ewer. May he be given silver and gold for making it. May good fortune come to him and caress him in friendship. May affliction be removed and given to his enemies The practice of inlaying "required relatively few tools" and

1440-575: Is next to Afghanistan's main highway that runs between Kabul and Kandahar in the south. There are roads leading to Gardez and in the east and other nearby villages as well as to towns in Hazarajat in the northwest. The city has a number of public schools. Jahan Maleeka School is an all-girls school with over 5,000 students and 150 teachers. Naswan Shaher Kohna School, another all-girls school, has over 3000 students. The Adult Literacy Rate as of 2012 accounted for 41.2% (2012). [1] Ghazni City

1520-443: Is the dominant land use at 28%. In terms of built-up land area, vacant plots (33%) slightly outweigh residential area (31%). Districts 3 and 4 also have large institutional areas. The city has four police districts ( nahia ) and covers a total land area of 3,330 hectares. The total number of dwellings in Ghazni city is 15,931. Ghazni's climate is transitional between a cold semi-arid climate ( Köppen climate classification BSk ) and

1600-450: Is very beautiful. No one has seen its equal, for it is unparalleled Look at the ewer from which spirit is born. It is the water of life that flows from it. Any stream that comes from it into the hand. Creates a new pleasure every moment Look at the ewer that is praised by everyone. It would be worthy of service to an honored person like you Every eye that sees it opens wide. And says that nothing could be better than this This water vessel

1680-574: The Carmathians , and also took Uch by 1176. In 1178, he turned south and again marched through the Gomal Pass , marching by the way of Multan and Uch to enter into the present-day Gujarat via Thar desert , where his armies got exhausted in their long march from Ghazna and were routed in the Battle of Kasahrada fought near Mount Abu at Kasahrada in the southern Aravalli Hills by

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1760-612: The Chandela kingdom in the Ganges Valley . The Ghurids toppled local dynasties and destroyed Hindu temples during their advance across northern India, in place constructing mosques on the same sites. The revenue and booty gained after sacking the Hindu temples fuelled the efforts of Muhammad to finance his imperial aspirations in the west. Around 1203, Bakhtiyar Khalji , another Turkic general of Muhammad of Ghor, swept down

1840-498: The First Anglo-Afghan War in the 19th century, the fortifications of Ghazni were partially demolished by British Indian forces . In August 2018, the city became the site of the Battle of Ghazni with the Taliban briefly occupying it and taking control of most of the surrounding area. On 12 August 2021, the city was captured by the Taliban as part of the 2021 Taliban offensive . In 2013, ISESCO declared Ghazni

1920-680: The Gangetic Plain , while in the west under Ghiyath al-Din, engaging in a protracted duel with the Shahs of Khwarazm , the Ghurids, reached as far as Gorgan (present-day Iran ) on the shoreline of the Caspian Sea , albeit for a short time. Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad died in 1203 of illness caused due to rheumatic disorders and soon after the Ghurids suffered a crushing defeat against the Khwrezmians aided by timely reinforcements from

2000-750: The Qara Khitai , for the lordship of Khorasan . Seljuk power in Khorasan had collapsed since the defeat of Ahmad Sanjar against the Ghuzz Turks in 1153, which left the region at the hands of the Turkmen. In 1181, Sultan Shah , a pretendent to the Khwarezmian throne, managed to take control of Khorasan, until 1192 when he was defeated near Merv by the Ghurids, who captured his territories. The Ghurids then took control of all Khorasan following

2080-674: The Qara Khitais in the Battle of Andkhud in 1204. Muhammad was assassinated soon after in March 1206 which ended the Ghurid influence in Khurasan . The dynasty became extinguished all together within a decade when Shah Muhammad II uprooted the Ghurids in 1215. Their conquests in the Indian Subcontinent nevertheless survived for several centuries under the evolving Delhi Sultanate established by Qutb ud-Din Aibak . In

2160-535: The Qara-Khitai , who dispatched a large contingent led by Yelü Zhilugu . In the ensuing Battle of Andkhud (1204), fought near the river Oxus, the Ghurid troops were completely routed by the combined forces of the Qara-Khitai and the Khwarizmians . The defeat at Andkhud was a watershed for the Ghurids who lost their control over most of the Khurasan . Notwithstanding, Muhammad within a year or so raised

2240-486: The Samanids and Ghaznavids, the Ghurids were great patrons of Persian literature , poetry , and culture , and promoted these in their courts as their own. Modern-day authors refer to them as the " Persianized Ghurids". Wink describes the tongue of the Ghurids as a "distinct Persian dialect". There is nothing to confirm the recent conclusion that the inhabitants of Ghor were originally Pashto-speaking , and claims of

2320-606: The Taliban blew the Buddha up, believing it to be idolatrous. During the First Anglo-Afghan War , the city was captured by British forces on 23 July 1839 in the Battle of Ghazni . The Civil war in Afghanistan and the continued conflict between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance during the 1990s put the relics of Ghazni in jeopardy. Ghazni's strategic position, both economically and militarily, assured its revival, albeit without its dazzling former grandeur. Through

2400-510: The 19th century some European scholars, such as Mountstuart Elphinstone , favoured the idea that the Ghurid dynasty was related to today's Pashtun people but this is generally rejected by modern scholarship. Most scholars state that the dynasty was of Tajik origin. Later, due to intermarrying, the Ghurid princes were distinguished by their significant blending of Tajik, Persian , Turkic , and native Afghan ethnicities. Encyclopædia Iranica states: "Nor do we know anything about

2480-605: The 19th century. There was a strong Turkic presence among the Ghurids, since Turk slave-soldiers formed the vanguard of the Ghurid armies. There was intense amalgamation between these various ethnic groups: "a notable admixture of Tajik, Persian, Turkish and indigenous Afghan ethnicities therefore characterized the Shansabanis". At least until the end of the 13th century when they ruled the Mamluk Sultanate in India,

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2560-842: The 7th century and were followed in the 9th century by the Saffarids . Sabuktigin made Ghazni the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire in the 10th century. The city was destroyed by one of the Ghurid rulers but later rebuilt. It fell to several regional powers, including the Timurids and the Delhi Sultanate until it became part of the Hotaki dynasty , which was followed by the Durrani Empire or modern Afghanistan. During

2640-464: The Afghan government and international community to do more to preserve the country's cultural heritage. This article about a building or structure in Afghanistan is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ghurids The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids ; Persian : دودمان غوریان , romanized :  Dudmân-e Ğurīyân ; self-designation: شنسبانی , Šansabānī )

2720-565: The Ghaznavids in the second half of the twelfth century. This dynasty was not of Turkish , nor even Afghan , but of eastern Persian or Tājīk origin, speaking a distinct Persian dialect of its own, like the rest of the inhabitants of the remote and isolated mountain region of Ghūr and its capital of Fīrūzkūh (in what is now central Afghanistan). When the Ghurids started to distinguish themselves through their conquests, courtiers and genealogists (such as Fakhr-i Mudabbir and al-Juzjani ) forged

2800-631: The Ghaznavids when Muhammad of Ghor seized Lahore and expelled the Ghaznavids from their last stronghold. The Ghurids initially ruled as vassals of the Ghaznavids and later of the Seljuks . However, during the early twelfth century the long-standing rivalry between the Seljuks and Ghaznavids created a power vacuum in eastern Afghanistan and Panjab which the Ghurids took advantage of and began their territorial expansion. Ala al-Din Husayn ended

2880-459: The Ghurid empire reached its greatest territorial extent, holding encompassed territory from eastern Iran through easternmost India . While Ghiyath al-Din was occupied with the Ghurid expansion in the west, his junior partner in the dyarchy , Muhammad of Ghor and his lieutenants were active east of the Indus Valley as far as Bengal and eventually succeeded in conquering wide swaths of

2960-474: The Ghurid subordination to the Ghaznavids, ruthlessly sacking their capital, although he was soon defeated by the Seljuks after he stopped paying tribute to them. The Seljuk imperial power, however, was itself swept away in eastern Iran with the contemporaneous advent of the Khwarazmian Empire . During the dyarchy of Ala al-Din Husayn nephews - Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad and Muhammad of Ghor ,

3040-528: The Ghurids took control of Herat from the Seljuks, and the city became one of their main power bases and centers of cultural development, together with Firozkoh and Ghazni. They also took control of the areas of Nīmrūz and Sīstān , and extended their suzerainty as far as the Seljuks of Kerman . Afterwards, Muhammad assisted his brother Ghiyath in his contest with the Khwarezmian Empire , who were at times supported by their "pagan" suzerains

3120-466: The Ghurids. The Ghurids' native language was apparently different from their court language, Persian. Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi , the famous historian of the Ghaznavid era, wrote on page 117 in his book Tarikh-i Bayhaqi : "Sultan Mas'ud I of Ghazni left for Ghoristan and sent his learned companion with two people from Ghor as interpreters between this person and the people of that region." However, like

3200-647: The Ghūrids' empire was short-lived, Muhammad of Ghor's conquests strengthened the foundations of Muslim rule in India. The Ghurids positioned themselves as defenders of Sunnism . They had good relations with the Abbasids in Baghdad , who urged them to repel the advances of the Kwarizmians into western Persia. Their conquests in India were also presented as a battle between the armies of Islam ( lashkar-i Islam ) and

3280-531: The Harīrūd Valley by Sultan Ahmed Sanjar after his forces defected to the Seljuqs. During the battle, 6000 nomads from Ala al-Din's forces went over to the Seljuk army. Despite relatively smaller size of both armies, the defection of nomads at critical point of the battle eventually decided the issue in favour of the Seljuks. Ala al-Din Husayn remained a prisoner for two years, until he was released in return for

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3360-457: The Indians learned Persian because of the influence of the "Ghurids and Turks." The notion of Persian kingship served as the basis for the imperial formation, political and cultural unity of the Ghurids. Out of the Ghurid state grew the Delhi Sultanate which established the Persian language as the official court language of the region – a status it retained until the late Mughal era in

3440-559: The Islamic world, inlaid metalworking , consisting of patterned silver inlays in a brass background, was first developed in the region of Khurasan in the 12th century, by silversmiths facing a shortage of silver. By the mid-12th century, Herat in particular had already gained a reputation for its high-quality inlaid metalwork, with works such as the Bobrinski Bucket (dated inscription of 1163). A series of remarkable ewers

3520-516: The Rajput forces in the Second Battle of Tarain , and executed Prithviraja shortly afterwards. Govindaraja IV , son of Prithviraj Chauhan, submitted to the Ghurids the region of Ajmer , which became a vassal state. In 1193, Delhi was conquered by Muhammad of Ghor's general Qutbu l-Din Aibak . The newly conquered territories were then put under the governorship of Qutb ud-Din Aibak, who

3600-612: The Tombs of poets and scientists, such as the Tomb of Al Biruni . The only ruins in Old Ghazni retaining a semblance of architectural form are two towers, about 43 m (140 ft) high and 365 m (1,200 ft) apart. According to inscriptions, the towers were constructed by Mahmud of Ghazni and his son. For more than eight centuries the “Towers of Victory” monuments to Afghanistan's greatest empire have survived wars and invasions,

3680-465: The Turks in the Ghurid realm maintained their ethnical characteristics, continuing to use Turkish as their main language, rather than Persian, and persisting in their rude and bellicose ways as "men of the sword", in opposition to the Persian "men of the pen". An important metalwork school was located in Herat during the Ghurid period, following the conquest of the Seljuk city by the Ghurids in 1175. In

3760-542: The United States established the Lincoln Learning Center in Ghazni. The Lincoln learning centers in Afghanistan serve as programming platforms offering English language classes, library facilities, programming venues, Internet connectivity, educational and other counseling services. A goal of the program is to reach at least 4,000 Afghan citizens per month per location. On 10 August 2018, the city

3840-542: The advent of the Mughal Empire in 1526. Ghiyath died on 13 March 1203 due to gout and was succeeded by Muhammad of Ghor as the sole ruler of the vast Ghurid Empire. Soon after, Alauddin Khwarazm Shah besieged and captured some of the strongholds of the Ghurids around Merv , although Muhammad drove him back and further besieged their capital Gurgānj . Alauddin then appealed to his nominal suzerain

3920-601: The aid of his loyal brother Muhammad of Ghor (later known as "Shihabuddin Ghuri"), killed a rival Ghurid chief named Abu'l Abbas. Ghiyath then defeated his uncle Fakhr al-Din Masud who claimed the Ghurid throne and had allied with the Seljuq governor of Herat and Balkh. In 1173, Muhammad of Ghor after multiple attempts reconquered the city of Ghazni from the Ghuzz Turks , who had deposed the Ghaznavids from there earlier. In 1175,

4000-413: The amir Buruntayh. He treated me well and wrote to his representatives at Ghazna enjoining them to show me honour. We went on to the village of Charkh [Charikar], it being now summer, and from there to the town of Ghazna. This is the town of the famous warrior-sultan Mahmud ibn Sabuktagin , one of the greatest of rulers, who made frequent raids into India and captured cities and fortresses there. His grave

4080-456: The armies of the unbelievers ( lashkar-i kuffar ), and gave them great prestige in the Islamic world as defenders of the orthodoxy. The Ghurids were great patrons of Persian culture and literature and lay the basis for a Persianized state in the Indian subcontinent . However, most of the literature produced during the Ghurid era has been lost. They also transferred Persian architecture to India. According to Amir Khusrau (died 1325),

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4160-468: The centuries the city has figured prominently as the all-important key to the possession of Kabul . After the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan , the United States armed forces built a base in Ghazni . They have been involved in rebuilding projects and protecting the local population against Taliban insurgents . In the meantime, they are also training the Afghan Local Police (ALP) Afghan National Police (ANP) and Afghan National Army (ANA). In 2010,

4240-484: The citadel for four months. He wrested Ghazni from the Lawik ruler, Abu Bakr Lawik . Alp-Tegin was accompanied by Sabuktigin during this conquest. In 1839, the citadel was the site of the battle of Ghazni during the first Anglo-Afghan War when the British troops stormed and captured the citadel. It saw further violence during later decades of wars. On 14 June 2019, a tower collapsed due to heavy rain and possible government negligence. The old citadel of Ghazni

4320-415: The city and besieged the Citadel of Ghazni for four months, wresting the city from Abu Bakr Lawik . Around 965, Abu Bakr Lawik recaptured Ghazni from Alp-Tegin's son, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim , forcing him to flee to Bukhara . However, this was not to last long because Abu Ishaq Ibrahim shortly returned to the town with Samanid aid, and took control of the town once again. For nearly two hundred years (977–1163),

4400-432: The city burned for seven days and seven nights. He also sacked the Ghaznavid fortresses and palaces of Bost . These actions earned him the title of Jahānsūz , meaning " the world burner" . The Ghaznavids retook the city with Seljuq help, but later lost it to Oghuz Turks . In 1152, Ala al-Din Husayn refused to pay tribute to the Seljuks and instead marched an army from Firozkoh but was defeated and captured at Nab in

4480-442: The city was the dazzling capital of the Ghaznavid Empire , which encompassed much of what is today Afghanistan, Turkmenistan , Pakistan, Eastern Iran and Rajasthan . The Ghaznavids took Islam to India and returned with fabulous riches looted from Hindu temples. Although the city was sacked in 1151 by the Ghorid Ala'uddin, it became their secondary capital in 1173, and subsequently flourished once again. Between 1215 and 1221, Ghazni

4560-416: The city. In 2015, there were 15,931 dwellings in Ghazni city. The population is multi-ethnic , with approximately 50% being Tajik , 25% Hazara , and 25% Pashtun . In April 2012, Ghazni Governor Musa Khan Akbarzada laid the foundation stone of the Ghazni Airport . The work began later that year and was supervised by the managing director of the Ghazni province Engineer Ahmad Wali Tawakuli. The city

4640-434: The collapse of one tower being caught on video in June, 2019 and being shared widely on social media. The citadel is located in the center of the city and nearby major roads. A lack of funds to aid in the site's preservation, heavy rains, and the country's ongoing civil war have further contributed to the citadel's collapse. In 962, the Turkic slave commander of the Samanid Empire , Alp-Tegin , attacked Ghazni and besieged

4720-411: The conquered Indian lands. After the assassination of Muhammad in March 1206, his territories fragmented into smaller Sultanates led by his former Mamluk generals. Tajuddin Elduz became the ruler of Ghazni , Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha became Sultan of Multan , Bahauddin Tughril became Sultan of Bayana and Qutb al-Din Aibak became Sultan of Delhi . Bakhtiyar Khilji became Sultan of Bengal , but

4800-429: The death of his successor Tekish in 1200, capturing Nishapur in 1200, and reaching as far as Besṭām in the ancient region of Qūmes. After the death of his brother Ghiyath on 13 March 1203, Muhammad became the successor of his empire and ruled until his assassination in 1206 near Jhelum by Ismāʿīlīs whom he persecuted during his lifetime. On the eve of the Ghurid invasion of the subcontinent, northern India

4880-401: The empire of Alexander the Great in 329 BCE, and called Alexandria in Opiana . The ancient history of the Bhati Rajputs alludes to a tradition in which they claim to have erected the fort and city of Ghazni. By the 7th century CE, the area was a major center of Buddhism . In 644, the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited a city named Jaguda —which was almost certainly the contemporary name of

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4960-444: The ethnic stock of the Ḡūrīs in general and the Šansabānīs in particular; we can only assume that they were eastern Iranian Tajiks". Bosworth further points out that the actual name of the Ghurid family, Āl-e Šansab (Persianized: Šansabānī ), is the Arabic pronunciation of the originally Middle Persian name Wišnasp . Historian André Wink explains in The New Cambridge History of Islam : The Shansabānī dynasty superseded

5040-410: The existence of " Pashto poetry ", such as Pata Khazana , from the Ghurid period are unsubstantiated. A certain Ghurid prince named Amir Banji was the ruler of Ghor and ancestor of the medieval Ghurid rulers. His rule was legitimized by the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid . Before the mid-12th century, the Ghurids had been bound to the Ghaznavids and Seljuks for about 150 years. Beginning in

5120-425: The governor of Ghazni (along with Kabul and Kandahar) in 1401. Babur conquered the region in 1504 and personally thought that Ghazni was "a mean place" and pondered why any of the princes of the region would make it their seat of government. Ghazni stayed under Mughal control until 1738 when Iranian ruler Nader Shah invaded the area. After Nader Shah's death, Ghazni became part of the Durrani empire . Ghazni City

5200-428: The last Ghaznavid principality in Punjab , with their capital in Lahore , in 1186 through stratagem after three incursions. In 1191, the Ghurids seized Bathinda and marched towards Delhi , but were defeated in the First Battle of Tarain by the Rajput confederacy led by the Ajmer-Chahamana king Prithviraja III . Nevertheless, Muhammad returned a year later with an army of Turkish mounted archers and routed

5280-406: The later Ghazni. In 683, Arab armies brought Islam to the region. From 680 to 870, the Zunbils were present in the area, and at times had their capital in Ghazni. Yaqub Saffari from Zaranj conquered the Zunbils in the late 9th century. The Saffarids reduced the formerly Lawik dynasty to tributary status. In 962, the Turkic slave commander of the Samanid Empire , Alp-Tegin , attacked

5360-528: The lower Gangetic Plain and into Bengal . In Bihar, he is said to have destroyed Buddhist centers of learning such as Nalanda University , greatly contributing to the decline of pre-Islamic Indic scholarship. In Bengal, he sacked the ancient city of Nudiya in central Bengal, and established an Islamic government in the former Sena capital of Lakhnauti in 1205. Muhammad placed his faithful Turkic generals, rather than his own Ghurid brethens, in position of authority over local tributary kings, throughout

5440-507: The mid-12th century, Ghor expressed its independence from the Ghaznavid Empire. The early Ghurids followed Paganism before being converted to Islam by Abu Ali ibn Muhammad . In 1149 the Ghaznavid ruler Bahram-Shah of Ghazna poisoned a local Ghurid leader, Qutb al-Din Muhammad, who had taken refuge in the city of Ghazni after having a quarrel with his brother Sayf al-Din Suri . In revenge, Sayf marched towards Ghazni and defeated Bahram-Shah. However, one year later, Bahram returned and scored

5520-446: The period from 1175 to 1205, just before his death in 1206. His capital was in Ghazni , while his elder brother Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad with whom Muhammad ruled in a diarchy , governed the western part of the empire from his capital at Fīrōzkōh . In 1175, Muhammad crossed the Indus River , approaching it through the Gomal Pass instead of Khyber Pass , in order to outflank the Ghaznavids in Panjab . Muhammad captured Multan from

5600-478: The remaining Ghūrid leaders and the Khwarezmians . The Khwarezmians under Ala al-Din Muhammad captured Herat and Ghor in 1206, and finally Ghazni in 1215, completing the takeover of the western part of the Ghūrid empire. The Ghurid capital was transferred to Delhi , recognizing Khwarazmian rule on north and central Afghanistan . The Ghurids continued their rule on much of the Indian subcontinent , Sisitan region of Iran and south of Afghanistan . Though

5680-441: The rest of his reign expanding the domains of his kingdom; he managed to conquer Garchistan, Tukharistan , Zamindawar , Bust, Bamiyan and other parts of Khurasan. Ala al-Din died in 1161, and was succeeded by his son Sayf al-Din Muhammad , who died two years later in a battle against the Oghuz Turks of Balkh . During the reign of Ala ad-Din, the Ghurids firmly established themselves at Firuzkuh and made it their capital, at

5760-519: The same time, the minor branches of the family who were the offshoot of concubinage with Turkish slave girls whom chronicler Juzjani called "Kanizak-i-turki" established themselves in Bamiyan and elsewhere. Sayf al-Din Muhammad was succeeded by his cousin Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad , who was the son of Baha al-Din Sam I, and proved himself to be a capable king. Right after Ghiyath's ascension, he, with

5840-416: The two toffee-colored minarets, adorned with terra-cotta tiles were raised in the early 12th century as monuments to the victories of the Afghan armies that built the empire. By the time the Ghurids had finalized the Ghaznavid removal from Ghazni, the city was a cultural center of the eastern Islamic world. The Buddhist site at Ghazni is known as Tapar Sardar and consists of a stupa on a hilltop, surrounded by

5920-653: The year's Islamic Capital of Culture . The city was founded some time in antiquity as a small market town. It may be the Gazaca ( Gázaca or Gāzaca ) mentioned by Ptolemy , although he may have conflated it and the town of Ganzak (or Gazaka) in Iran. In the 6th century BCE, it was conquered by the Achaemenid king Cyrus II and incorporated into the Persian Empire . The city was subsequently incorporated into

6000-573: Was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from the 8th-century in the region of Ghor , and became an Empire from 1175 to 1215. The Ghurids were centered in the hills of the Ghor region in the present-day central Afghanistan , where they initially started out as local chiefs. They gradually converted to Sunni Islam after the conquest of Ghor by the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud of Ghazni in 1011. The Ghurids eventually overran

6080-408: Was attacked by the Taliban during the Battle of Ghazni . Dozens of airstrikes were carried out in support of Afghan police and government forces and hundreds of Afghan soldiers, police, and Taliban insurgents were killed as well as dozens of civilians. In addition to the destruction and human suffering caused by the fighting, the Taliban also set fire to many buildings in the city. On 18 May 2020 ,

6160-596: Was now Viceroy in Delhi. In 1194, Muhammad returned to India and crossed the Yamuna River with an army of 50,000 horses and at the Battle of Chandawar defeated the forces of the Gahadavala king Jayachandra , who was killed in action. After the battle, Muhammad continued his advance to the east, with his general Qutb ud-Din Aibak in the vanguard. The city of Benares (Kashi) was taken and razed, and "idols in

6240-830: Was ruled by many independent Rajput kings, often fighting with each other, such as the Chahamana ruler Prithviraja III in Delhi and Ajmer , the Chaulukya ruler Mularaja II in Gujarat , the Gahadavala ruler Jayachandra in Kanauj , further in the east of Ganges Plain there were other independent Hindu powers such as the Sena 's under Lakshmana in Bengal etc. Northern India and Bengal were conquered by Muhammad of Ghor during

6320-758: Was ruled by the Khwarezmid Empire , during which time it was destroyed by the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan 's son Ögedei Khan . In the first decades of the 11th century, Ghazni was the most important center of Persian literature . This was the result of the cultural policy of Sultan Mahmud (reigned 998–1030), who assembled a circle of scholars, philosophers, and poets around his throne in support of his claim to royal status in Iran . The noted Moroccan travelling scholar, Ibn Battuta , visiting Ghazni in 1333, wrote: "We travelled thence to Parwan , where I met

6400-638: Was soon assassinated and succeeded by several Khalji rulers , until Bengal was incorporated into the Delhi Sultanate in 1227. Between 1206 and 1228 the various Turkic rulers and their successors rivaled for preeminence until the Sultan of Delhi Iltutmish prevailed, marking the advent of the Mamluk dynasty . This was the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate , which in total had five dynasties and would rule most of India for more than three centuries until

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