Ghaznavid Empire: A Visual History

The Ghaznavid dynasty was founded in 977 by Sabuktigin, a Turkish slave commander of the Samanids, at Ghazni in Afghanistan. His son Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) conquered eastern Persia and Khwarazm and launched some 17 raids into India, sacking Somnath and carrying off enormous plunder to build a court that patronised Ferdowsi and al-Biruni. The Seljuks took Persia after Dandanaqan in 1040, and the dynasty ruled a smaller state in Afghanistan and the Punjab from Lahore until the Ghurids destroyed it in 1186.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Ghaznavid Empire. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Ghaznavid territory

Timeline of the Ghaznavid Empire

1. 977
   Sabuktigin at Ghazni
2. 998
   Mahmud becomes ruler
3. 1001
   First raid into IndiaThe Hindu Shahis defeated at Peshawar.
4. 1010
   Shahnameh completed
5. 1026
   Somnath sacked
6. 1030
   Mahmud dies
7. 1040
   DandanaqanPersia lost to the Seljuks.
8. 1151
   Ghazni burned by the Ghurids
9. 1186
   Lahore fallsEnd of the dynasty.

From slave to sultan

The Samanid governors of Ghazni were Turkish military slaves; Sabuktigin made the post hereditary and expanded towards Kabul and Peshawar. When the Samanids collapsed, his son Mahmud took Khorasan and had the Abbasid caliph confirm him as sultan, the first ruler to use the title regularly.

Mahmud's raids

Almost every winter Mahmud crossed into India, defeating the Hindu Shahis, taking Kanauj, Mathura and, in 1025-1026, the great temple of Somnath in Gujarat, whose idol he smashed. The loot funded a magnificent Ghazni: mosques, palaces, a library, and a court where al-Biruni wrote his study of India and Ferdowsi finished the Shahnameh (and, the story goes, was underpaid for it). Mahmud also took Rayy and Khwarazm in Persia.

Seljuk defeat and the long tail

Masud I lost Khorasan to the Seljuks at Dandanaqan in 1040 and was murdered by his own troops. The dynasty held Ghazni, Kabul and the Punjab for another century, increasingly Indian in outlook. The Ghurids sacked Ghazni in 1151 (their leader was called 'the World-Burner'), took it for good in 1173 and captured Lahore in 1186, ending the line.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Samanid Empire (819 to 999)
• Great Seljuk Empire (1037 to 1194)
• Ghurid dynasty (1148 to 1215)
• Delhi Sultanate (1206 to 1526)
• Buyid dynasty (934 to 1062)
• Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty (730 to 1036)
• Abbasid Caliphate (750 to 1258)

Wars of the same era and region

• Ghurid and early Delhi Sultanate conquest of North India (1192 to 1235)
• Mongol invasions and conquests (1206 to 1368)

8 surprising things about the Ghaznavid Empire

1. Mahmud was the first Muslim ruler to be called sultan by the caliph, a title later used by the Seljuks and Ottomans.
2. Ferdowsi supposedly received silver instead of the promised gold for the Shahnameh, and wrote a satire on Mahmud in revenge.
3. Al-Biruni accompanied Mahmud to India, learned Sanskrit and wrote the first detailed outside study of Indian society and science.
4. The gates of Somnath were said to have been carried to Ghazni; the British 'returned' a set in 1842 that turned out to be Afghan.
5. Mahmud kept 400 poets at court, and 900 camels were needed to move his library, according to chroniclers.
6. The Ghaznavids introduced Persian as the language of Muslim rule in India, a role it kept until 1837.
7. Mahmud's army included Indian troops and war elephants; he is said to have fielded 1,300 elephants.
8. The two surviving minarets of Ghazni are almost all that remains of Mahmud's city.

Sources

• Ghaznavid dynasty Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Ghaznavids Wikipedia
• Mahmud of Ghazni World History Encyclopedia
• C. E. Bosworth, The Ghaznavids (1963) Edinburgh University Press

Back to all empires and wars