Misplaced Pages

#937062

52-858: It was an important trading center during the medieval period. During its history, the town has been subject to various battles; between the Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and the Ma'munid ruler Abu'l-Harith Muhammad in 1017; between the Seljuq Sultan Ahmad Sanjar and the Khwarazmian ruler Atsiz in 1147; and between the Khwarazmian ruler Muhammad II and the Ghurid ruler Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad . The town

104-590: A cultural center, made Ghazni into a center of learning, inviting Ferdowsi and al-Biruni. He even attempted to persuade Avicenna , but was refused. Mahmud preferred that his fame and glory be publicized in Persian and hundreds of poets assembled at his court. He brought whole libraries from Rayy and Isfahan to Ghazni and even demanded that the Khwarizmshah court send its men of learning to Ghazni. Due to his invasion of Rayy and Isfahan, Persian literary production

156-612: A division of power, to which Ismail refused. Mahmud marched on Ghazna and subsequently Ismail was defeated and captured in 998 at the Battle of Ghazni . 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. Mahmud received

208-515: 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. In terms of cultural championship and the support of Persian poets, they were more Persian than their ethnically-Iranian rivals,

260-563: A span of nine years, four more kings claimed the throne of Ghazni. In 1058, Mas'ud's son Ibrahim , a great calligrapher who wrote the Koran with his own pen, became king. Ibrahim re-established a truncated empire on a firmer basis by arriving at a peace agreement with the Seljuks and a restoration of cultural and political linkages. Under Ibrahim and his successors the empire enjoyed a period of sustained tranquility. Shorn of its western land, it

312-550: 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

364-506: The Buyid dynasty , whose support of Arabic letters in preference to Persian is well known. 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

416-625: 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. Two military families arose from

468-713: The Ghurids until the Turko-Afghans successfully established themselves in the Delhi Sultanate . نصر الدين Defender of the Faith ( Tokhara Yabghus , Turk Shahis ) Quhistan Quhistan ( Persian : قهستان ) or Kohistan ( کهستان , "mountainous land") was a region of medieval Persia, essentially the southern part of Khurasan . Its boundaries appear to have been south of Khorasan to north, Yazd to West, Sistan to South, Afghanistan to East. Quhistan

520-652: 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 . In 1008-9, he again vanquished the Hindu Shahis at the Battle of Chach , and established Governors in the conquered areas. In India, the Ghaznavids were called Turushkas ("Turks") or Hammiras (from the Arabic Amir "Commander"). In 1018, he laid waste

572-687: 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

SECTION 10

#1732779747938

624-671: The UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in January 2008, in the Cultural category. 41°19′N 61°04′E  /  41.317°N 61.067°E  / 41.317; 61.067 This Iranian history -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Uzbekistan location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( Persian : غزنویان Ġaznaviyān )

676-687: 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

728-584: The Ghaznavid governor in Lahore . Due to their access to the Indus-Ganges plains , the Ghaznavids, during the 11th and 12th centuries, developed the first Muslim army to use war elephants in battle. The elephants were protected by armour plating on their fronts. The use of these elephants was a foreign weapon in other regions that the Ghaznavids fought in, particularly in Central Asia. Although

780-627: 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 . Alp Tigin's died in 963, and after two ghulam governors and three years, his slave Sabuktigin became the governor of Ghazna. Sabuktigin lived as a mamluk , Turkic slave-soldier, during his youth and later married

832-546: The Seljuks, who came to the aid of Bahram. Ghaznavid struggles with the Ghurids continued in subsequent years as they nibbled away at Ghaznavid territory, and Ghazni and Zabulistan were lost to a group of Oghuz Turks before being captured by the Ghurids. Ghazni fell to the Ghurids around 1170. 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

884-697: 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

936-454: The Turkic soldiery unwilling to take up arms. Sabuktigin reformed the system making them all a mustaghall -type fief. In 976, he ended the conflict between two Turkic ghulams at Bust and restored the original ruler. 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. After the death of Sabuktigin, his son by Alptigin's daughter, Ismail ,

988-483: The Turkmen raiding neighbouring settlements, the governor of Tus, Abu l'Alarith Arslan Jadhib, led military strikes against them. The Turkmen were defeated and scattered to neighbouring lands. Still, as late as 1033, Ghaznavid governor Tash Farrash executed fifty Turkmen chiefs for raids into Khorasan. Mahmud of Ghazni led incursions deep into India , as far as Mathura , Kannauj and Somnath . In 1001, he defeated

1040-478: 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

1092-598: The area south of the Hindu Kush in what is now Afghanistan. During the rule of Sultan Mahmud, a new, larger military training center was established in Bost (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. The Indian soldiers, whom Romila Thapar presumed to be Hindus , were one of

SECTION 20

#1732779747938

1144-416: 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

1196-455: The city as a Samanid authority. The Simjurids enjoyed control of Khorasan south of the Amu Darya but were hard-pressed by a third great Iranian dynasty, the Buyid dynasty , and were unable to survive the collapse of the Samanids and the subsequent rise of the Ghaznavids. The struggles of the Turkic slave generals for mastery of the throne with the help of shifting allegiance from the court's ministerial leaders both demonstrated and accelerated

1248-459: The city of Mathura , which was "ruthlessly sacked, ravaged, desecrated and destroyed". 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

1300-401: 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 . Like the other dynasties that rose out of the remains of

1352-449: The daughter of his master Alptigin , who fled to Ghazna following a failed coup attempt, and conquered the city from the local Lawik rulers in 962. After Alptigin death, his son Abu Ishaq Ibrahim governed Ghazna for three years. 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. It was through Sabuktigin's military ability that Lawik

1404-492: 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. Persianisation of the state apparatus was accompanied by the Persianisation of high culture at the Ghaznavid court... The level of literary creativity

1456-408: 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

1508-488: The dynasty was of Central Asian Turkic origin, it was thoroughly Persianised in terms of language, culture, literature and habits and has been regarded as a "Persian dynasty". According to Clifford Edmund Bosworth : 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

1560-422: 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

1612-642: 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

Hazorasp - Misplaced Pages Continue

1664-519: The governorship of Khurasan and titles of Yamin al-Dawla and Amin al-Milla. As a representative of caliphal authory, he championed Sunni Islam by campaigning against the Ismaili and Shi'ite Buyids. 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

1716-524: The magnificence of the capital and of the conqueror's munificent support of literature. Mahmud died in April 1030 and had chosen his son, Mohammed, as his successor. 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

1768-605: The new capital of the Late Ghaznavids. 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 . Both Khusrau Malik and his son were imprisoned and summarily executed in Firozkoh in 1191, extinguishing the Ghaznavid lineage. The core of the Ghaznavid army was primarily made up of Turks, as well as thousands of native Afghans who were trained and assembled from

1820-623: The political economy of most of India would be implemented by the later Ghaznavids. 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. 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

1872-559: The state became apparent when he died in 1115, with internal strife between his sons ending with the ascension of Sultan Bahram Shah as a Seljuk vassal. Bahram Shah defeated his brother Arslan for the throne at the Battle of Ghazni in 1117. Sultan Bahram Shah 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

1924-401: The sultan for a while as his chief secretary. 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 . Persian literary culture enjoyed a renaissance under the Ghaznavids during the 11th century. The Ghaznavid court

1976-701: Was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus to the Indus Valley . 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

2028-654: Was a province in old days with a rich history in Persian literature, art and science. Notable historical towns include Tun (modern-day Ferdows ), Qa'in , Gunabad , Tabas , Birjand , Turshez (modern-day Kashmar ), Khwaf , Taybad , and Zawah (modern-day Torbat-e Heydarieh ). It is home to famous castles. Safron, berberies (Zereshk) and jujube (Annab) are among the famous agricultural products that are exclusively produced in Ghohestan. Hakim Nezari Ghohestani , Sima Bina and Professor Reza Ghohestani are among famous people who are originally from Ghohestan. Dagestan in

2080-440: Was an attempt to connect himself with the history of old Persia. 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." As a result, Ghazni developed into a great centre of Arabic learning. With Sultan Mahmud's invasions of North India , Persian culture

2132-623: Was burnt down. In 1018 Mahmud also captured Kanauj , the capital of the Pratiharas , and then confronted the Chandelas , from whom he obtained the payment of tribute. In 1026, he raided and plundered the Somnath temple , taking away a booty of 20 million dinars. 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

Hazorasp - Misplaced Pages Continue

2184-420: 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

2236-469: Was established at Lahore, which later produced the famous poet, Masud Sa'd Salman . Lahore, under Ghaznavid rule in the 11th century, attracted Persian scholars from Khorasan, India and Central Asia and became a major Persian cultural centre. It was also during Mahmud's reign that Ghaznavid coinage began to have bilingual legends consisting of Arabic and Devanagari script. The entire range of Persianate institutions and customs that would come to characterize

2288-690: Was finally destroyed during the Mongol invasions . The town was later rebuilt, and only retained some of its importance. It was later a stronghold under the Mongol Arabshahids , and was also used as a residence by the Arabshahid princes. It was captured by the Russians during the Khivan campaign of 1873 . The city has survived to present day, and is today a part of Uzbekistan. It was added to

2340-517: Was given Ghazna. 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. 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. Ismail, upon gaining his inheritance, quickly traveled to Bust and did homage to Emir Abu'l-Harith Mansur b. Nuh. Mahmud, who had been left out of any significant inheritance, proposed

2392-466: Was inaugurated in Azerbaijan and Iraq . The Ghaznavids continued to develop historical writing in Persian that had been initiated by their predecessors, the Samanid Empire . The historian Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi 's Tarikh-e Beyhaqi , written in the latter half of the 11th century, is an example. Although the Ghaznavids were Turkic and their military leaders were generally of the same stock, as

2444-631: Was increasingly sustained by riches accrued from raids across Northern India, where it faced stiff resistance from Indian rulers such as the Paramara of Malwa and the Gahadvala of Kannauj . He ruled until 1098. Mas'ud III became king for sixteen years, with no major event in his lifetime. Mas'ud built the Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III and one of the Ghazni Minarets . Signs of weakness in

2496-553: 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. 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

2548-557: Was removed, Bilgetigin was exiled, and Sabuktigin gained the governorship. 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. Sabuktigin inherited a governorship in turmoil. In Zabulistan, the typical military fief system( mustaghall ) were being changed into permanent ownership( tamlik ) which resulted in

2600-464: Was so renowned for its support of Persian literature that the poet Farrukhi traveled from his home province to work for them. The poet Unsuri's short collection of poetry was dedicated to Sultan Mahmud and his brothers Nasr and Yaqub. Another poet of the Ghaznavid court, Manuchehri , wrote numerous poems about the merits of drinking wine. Sultan Mahmud, modelling the Samanid Bukhara as

2652-540: 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". 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

SECTION 50

#1732779747938

2704-472: Was written by Abu Nasr al-Utbi, who documented the Ghaznavid's achievements, including regaining lost territory from their rivals, the Kara-Khanids , in present-day Iran and Afghanistan. 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

#937062