Mahmud of Ghazni (Persian: محمود غزنوی) (October 2 971–April 30 1030), also known as Yamin ad-Dawlah Mahmud (in full: Yamin ad-Dawlah Abd al-Qasim Mahmud Ibn Sebük Tigin) was the ruler of Ghazni from 997 until his death. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni (in present-day Afghanistan) into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which included today's Afghanistan, most of modern Iran, and parts of Pakistan and northern India.

Lineage

Mahmud's grandfather was Alptigin, a Turkic general from Balkh in Turkestan who crossed the Hindu Kush mountains to seize Ghazni, located strategically on the road between Kabul and Kandahar. Alptigin was succeeded in 977 by his son Sabuktigin, who enlarged upon his Alptigin's conquests, extending his domain north to Balkh, west to Kandahar and Khorasan, and east to the Indus River. Sabuktigin was recognized by the Caliph in Baghdad as governor of his dominions. Sultan Alptigin died in 997, and was succeeded by his younger son Sultan Ismail of Ghazni. Mahmud rebelled against his younger brother, Sultan Ismail of Ghazni, and took over the Ghazni as the new Sultan.

Military campaigns

Sultan Mahmuds first campaign was against the Qarakhanid Empire to his Empire in the North. After his defeat he had to enlist the alliance of Seljuq Turks in southern Sogdia and Khwarazm and diplomatically secures his north by 998. His first campaign to the south against the Ismaili Fatimid Kingdom at Multan in a bid to curry political favor and recognition with the Abassid Caliphate engaged with the Fatimids elsewhere. Raja Jayapala of the HinduShahi Dynasty of Gandhara at this point attempted to gain retribution for an earlier military defeats at the the hands of Ghazni under Mehmuds father in the late 980s that lost Gandhara the Khyber Pass region as far east as the Indus.

Mahmud had

997 Qarakhanid Empire

Indian Campaigns

1001 Gandhara Sultan Mahmud deafeats Jayapala at Peshawar and Jayapala commits suicide, but heirs ally with other Rajas to fight Mahmud.

1004 Mahmud Captures Bhatiya and Multan from the Fatimids in Punjab.

1008 Mahmud defeats the Rajput Confederacy in battle between Und and Peshawar, and captures the the Shahi treasury at Kangra in the Punjab Hill States.

elephant took flight and turned the tide of the battle.]

1009 Nagarkot

1012 Thanesar

1013 Defeated the last Shahi King Trilocanpala

"1015 Kashmire Valley

1018 Mathura, Kanauj

1021 Kalingar.Defeated the last Shahi King Trilocanpala, the grandson of Jayapala who is assasinated by his own troops and official annexation of Punjab by Ghazni. Also fails to take Kashmir from the First Lohara Dynasty.

1026 Kathiawar. This raid was his last major campaign, and took him across the Thar Desert.The concentration of wealth at Somnath was renowned, and consequently it became an attractive target for Mahmud, and had previously deterred most invaders. The temple and citadel were sacked, and most of its Brahmin defenders massacred; Mahmud personally hammered the temple's gilded lingam to pieces (whose mystical idol was apparently levitated by magnetic forces), and the stone fragments were carted back to Ghazni, where they were incorporated into the steps of the city's new Jamiah Masjid (Friday mosque).

End of Indian Campaigns

1029 Rayy, Hamadan He captured Rayy and Hamadan from the Buyid (Daylami) Dynasty.

Mahmud's campaigns seem to be motivated by both religious zeal against both the Fatimids Shiites and non-muslims;] Jains and Hindus. An interest in wealth and gold to and to gain favor and recognition of independence from the Abbassid Caliphate. By 1027, Mahmud had accomplished this as well as capturing most of North Western India and obtained formal recognition of Ghazni's sovreignity

The historic of Mahmuds is marked by a large number of civilian deaths and a large baggage train of slaves as plunder. This has led to the accusation that he attempted to convert non-Muslims by force. He is also on record for having vowed to raid Hind every year .

The later invasions of Mahmud were specifically directed to temple towns as Indian temples were depositories of great wealth, in cash, golden idols, diamonds, and jewellery; Nagarkot, Thanesar, Mathura, Kanauj, Kalinjar and Somnath. Mahmud's armies routinely stripped the temples of their wealth and then destroyed them; after Mahmud's raids on the cities of Varanasi, Ujjain, Maheshwar, Jwalamukhi, and Dwarka.

The Indian kingdoms of Nagarkot, Thanesar, Kannawj and Kalinjar 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. Some of his raids were to quell rebellions by his newly acquired vassals.

The last four years of Mahmuds life were spent contending with the influx of Oghuz Turkic horse tribes from Central Asia, the Buyid Dynasty and rebellions by Seljuk Turks.

Relationship with Ayaz

It is related that Mahmud fell in love with a young male slave by the name of Ayaz. The love he bore his favorite, and the latter's devotion, became a staple of Islamic lore, emblematic of ideal love affairs. The poet Sa'adi was among those celebrating the two.

The Sultan is seen as an example of the man who, because of the power of his love, becomes "a slave to his slave." Ayaz became the paragon of the ideal beloved, and a model of purity in Sufi literature. The two have gained pride of place among the favorite pairs of lovers in Persian literature. Modern scholars, such as Prods Oktor Skjœrvø, the Aga Khan Professor of Iranian at Harvard University, consider the relationship between the two to have been one example of the pederasty practiced at the Turkish Courts: "Under the Turkish Ghaznavid, Seljuq, and Khawarazmshah rulers of Iran in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, pederasty was quite common in courtly circles." In 1021 the Sultan raised Ayaz to kingship, awarding him the throne of Lahore, which the Sultan had taken after a long siege and a firce battle.

Legacy

By the end of his reign, his empire extended from Kurdistan in the west to Samarkand in the northeast, and from the Caspian Sea to the Yamuna. Although his raids carried his forces across Northern and Western India, only the Punjab and Sindh, modern Pakistan, came under his permanent rule; Kashmir, the Doab, Rajasthan and Gujarat remained under the control of the local Rajput dynasties.

The wealth brought back to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi, Ferdowsi) give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital, as well as of the conqueror's munificent support of literature. he transformed Ghazna into one of the leading cities of Central Asia, patronizing scholars, establishing colleges, laying out gardens, and building mosques, palaces, and caravansaries.

On April 30, 1030, Sultan Mahmud died in Ghazni, at the age of 59 years. Sultan Mahmud had contracted malaria during his last invasion. The medical complication from malaria had caused lethal tuberculosis.

The Ghaznavid Empire was ruled by his successors for 157 years, but after Mahmud it never reached anything like the same splendour and power. The expanding Seljuk Turkish empire absorbed most of the Ghaznavid west. The Persian Ghorids captured Ghazni c. 1150, 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.

See also

• Islamic conquest of South Asia
• History of Afghanistan
• History of Pakistan
• History of India
• History of Iran

References

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.

Махмуд Газневи Mahmûd de Ghaznî