Wikis
Quiz
Map
| Yāmīn 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 |
| Born | November 2, 971 |
| Birthplace | Ghazni, Afghanistan |
| Died | April 30, 1030 |
| Place of death | Ghazni, Afghanistan |
| Predecessor | Ismail of Ghazni |
| Royal House | Ghaznavid |
| Father | Sebüktigin |
| Religious beliefs | Sunni Islam |
Mahmud of Ghazni (Persian: محمود غزنوی Maḥmūd-e Ghaznawī) (November 2, 971 - April 30, 1030), also known as Yāmīn al-Dawlah Maḥmūd (in full: Yāmīn al-Dawlah Abd al-Qāṣim Maḥmūd Ibn Sebük Tegīn) was the most prominent ruler of the Persian Ghaznavid dynasty of Turkic origin and ruled from 997 until his death in 1030. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni (now in Afghanistan) into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which extended from Afghanistan into most of Iran as well as Pakistan and regions of 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.
Contents |
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.
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 (Lahore and Kashmir) 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.[1]
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. By that time, however, most of the centers of Buddhist and Hindu learning were already destroyed.[2]
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.[1] 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.
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 Varanasi, Ujjain, 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, and settled in various villages in the district of Kutch, in modern-day Gujarat, India.
After 30 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.[3]
Mahmud's campaigns seem to have been motivated by both religious zeal against both the Fatimids Shiites and non-Muslims; Buddhists, Jains and Hindus. His principal drive remained the Ismaili Shiites, Buyid Iran as well as favor and recognition of independence from the Abbassid Caliphate. 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 Pakistan and 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.
In Afghanistan, Iran 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.
Under his reign the region broke away from the Samanid sphere of influence. While he acknowledged the Abbassids 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 glowing 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[4], 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. The dialect of Persian spoken in Afghanistan, Dari, was made 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.
Modern Pakistan has named one of its short-range ballistic missiles Ghaznavi, in honour of him.[citation needed]
| Preceded by: Ismail of Ghazni |
Ghaznavid Ruler 997–1030 |
Followed by: Mohammad |
MAHMUD' OF GHAZNI (9711030), son of Sabuktagin. Afghan conqueror, was born on the 2nd of October 971. His fame rests chiefly on his successful wars, in particular his numerous invasions of India. His military capacity, inherited from his father, Nasir-ud-din Sabuktagin, was strengthened by youthful experience in the field. Sabuktagin, a Turki slave of Alptagin, governor of Khorasan under Abdalmalik I. b. Nuh of the Samanid dynasty of Bokhara, early brought himself to notice (see Samanids). He was raised to high office in the state by Alptagin's successor, Atha Ishak, and in A.H. 366 (A.D. 977), by the choice of the nobles of Ghazni, he became their ruler. He soon began to make conquests in the neighbouring countries, 1 The name is strictly Mahmud.
avid in these wars he was accompanied by his young son Mahmud. Before he had reached the age of fourteen he encountered in two expeditions under his father the Indian forces of Jaipal, raja of Lahore, whom Sabuktagin defeated on the Punjab frontier.
In 994 Mahmud was made governor of Khorasan, with the title of Saif addaula (ud-daula) ("Sword of the State") by thee Samanid Nuh II. Two years later, his father Sabuktagin died in the neighbourhood of Balkh, having declared his second son, Ismail, who was then with him, to be his successor. As soon as Ismail had assumed the sovereignty at Balkh, Mahmud, who was at Nishapur, addressed him in friendly terms, proposing a division of the territories held by their father at his death. Ismail rejected the proposal, and was immediately attacked by Mahmud and defeated. Retreating to Ghazni, he there yielded, and was imprisoned, and Mahmud obtained undisputed power as sovereign of Khorasan and Ghazni (997) The Ghaznevid dynasty is sometimes reckoned by native historians to commence with Sabuktagin's conquest of Bost and Kosdar (978). But Sabuktagin, throughout his reign at Ghazni, continued to acknowledge the Samanid suzerainty, as did Mahmud also, until the time, soon after succeeding to his father's dominions, when he received from Qadir, caliph of Bagdad (see Caliphate, C. § 25), a khilat (robe of honour), with a letter recognizing his sovereignty, and conferring on him the titles Yamin-addaula (" Right hand of the State"), and Amin-ulMillat (" Guardian of the Faith"). From this time it is the name of the caliph that is inscribed on Mahmud's coins, together with his own new titles. Previously the name of the Samanid sovereign, Mansur II. b. Nall is given along with his own former title, Saif addaula Mahmud. The earliest of those of the new form gives his name Mahmud bin Sabuktagin. Thereafter his father's name does not appear on his coins, but it is inscribed again on his tomb.
The new honours received from the caliph gave fresh impulse to Mahmud's zeal on behalf of Islam, and he resolved on an annual expedition against the idolaters of India. He could not quite carry out this intention, but a great part of his reign was occupied with his Indian campaigns. In 1000 he started on the first of these expeditions, but it does not appear that he went farther than the hill country near Peshawar. The hostile attitude of Khalaf ibn Ahmad, governor of Seistan, called Mahmud to that province for a short time. He was appeased by Khalaf's speedy submission, together with the gift of a large sum of money, and further, it is said, by his subdued opponent addressing him as sultan, a title new at that time, and by which Mahmud continued to be called,, though he did not formally adopt it, or stamp it on his coins. Four years later Khalaf, incurring Mahmud's displeasure again, was imprisoned, and his property confiscated.
Mahmud's army first crossed the Indus in Ioor, opposed by Jaipal, raja of Lahore. Jaipal was defeated, and Mahmud, after his return from this expedition, is said to have taken the distinctive appellation of Ghazi (" Valiant for the Faith"), but he is rarely so-called. On the next occasion (1005) Mahmud advanced, as far as Bhera on the Jhelum, when his adversary Anang-pal, son and successor of Jaipal, fled to Kashmir. The following year saw Mahmud at Multan. When he was in the Punjab at this time, he heard of the invasion of Khorasan by the Ilek Khan Nasr I. ruler of Transoxiana whose daughter Mahmud had married. After a rapid march back from India, Mahmud repelled the invaders. The Ilek Khan, having retreated across the Oxus, returned with reinforcements, and took up a position a few miles from Balkh, where he was signally defeated by Mahmud.
Mahmud again entered the Punjab in 1008, this time for the express purpose of chastising Sewah Pal, who, having become a Mussulman, and been left by Mahmud in charge of Multan, had relapsed to Hinduism. The Indian campaign of 1009 was notable. Near the Indus Mahmud was opposed again by Anangpal, supported by powerful rajas from other parts of India. After a severe fight, Anang-pal's elephants were so terror-struck by the fire-missiles flung amongst them by the invaders that they turned and fled, the whole army retreating in confusion and leaving Mahmud master of the field. Mahmud, after this victory, pushed on through the Punjab to Nagar-kot (Kangra), and carried off much spoil from the Hindu temples to enrich his treasury at Ghazni. In Doi I Mahmud, after a short campaign against the Afghans under Mahommed ibn Stir in the hill country of Ghur, marched again into the Punjab. The next time (1014), he advanced to Thanesar, another noted stronghold of Hinduism,, between the Sutlej and the Jumna. Having now found his way across all the Punjab rivers, he was induced on two subsequent occasionsto go still farther. But first he designed an invasion of Kashmir (Tors), which was not carried out, as his progress was checked at Loh-kot, a strong hill fort in the north-west of the Punjab. Then before undertaking his longer inroad into. Hindustan he had to march north into Khwarizm (Khiva) against his brother-in-law Mamun, who had refused to acknowledge Mahmud's supremacy. The result was as usual, and Mahmud, having committed Khwarizm to a new ruler, one of Mamun's chief officers, returned to his capital. Then in 1018, with a very large force, he proceeded to India again, extending his inroad this time to the great Hindu cities of Mathra on the Jumna and Kanauj on the Ganges. He reduced the one, received the submission of the other, and carried back great stores of plunder., Three years later he went into India again, marching over nearly the same ground, to the support, this time, of the raja of Kanauj,, who, having made friendship with the Mahommedan invader on his last visit, had been attacked by the raja of Kalinjar. But Mahmud found he had not yet sufficiently subdued the idolaters nearer his own border, between Kabul and the Indus, and the campaign of 1022 was directed against them, and reached no. farther than Peshawar. Another march into India the following, year was made direct to Gwalior.
The next expedition (1025) is the most famous of all. The point to which it was directed was the temple of Somnath on the coast of the Gujarat peninsula. After an arduous journey by Multan, and through part of Rajputana, he reached Somnath,, and met with a very vigorous but fruitless resistance on the part. of the Hindus of Gujarat. Moslem feet soon trod the courts of the great temple. The chief object of worship it contained was. broken up, and the fragments kept to be carried off to Ghazni.. The story is often told of the hollow figure, cleft by Mahmud's. battle-axe, pouring out great store of costly jewels and gold. But the idol in this Sivite temple was only a tall block or pillar of hewn stone, of a familiar kind. The popular legend is a very natural one. Mahmud, was well known, made Hindu temples. yield up their most precious things. He was a determined idol breaker. And the stone block in this temple was enriched with a crown of jewels, the gifts of wealthy worshippers. These data. readily give the Somnath exploit its more dramatic form. For the more recent story of the Somnath gates see Somnath.
After the successes at Somnath, Mahmud remained some months in India before returning to Ghazni. Then in 1026. he crossed the Indus once more into the Punjab. His brilliant. military career closed with an expedition to Persia, in the third year after this, his last, visit to India. The Indian campaigns. of Mahmud and his father were almost, but not altogether, unvarying successes. The Moslem historians touch lightly on reverses. And, although the annals of Rajputana tell how Sabuktagin was defeated by one raja of Ajmere and Mahmud by his successor, the course of events which followed shows how little these and other reverses affected the invader's progress.. Mahmud's failure at Ajmere, when the brave raja Bisal-deo, obliged him to raise the siege but was himself slain, was when the Moslem army was on its way to Somnath. Yet Mahmud's. Indian conquests, striking and important in themselves, were, after all, in great measure barren, except to the Ghazni treasury. Mahmud retained no possessions in India under his own direct rule. But after the repeated defeats, by his father and himself,. of two successive rajas of Lahore, the conqueror assumed the right of nominating the governors of the Punjab as a dependency of Ghazni, a right which continued to be exercised by seven of his successors. And for a time, in the reign of Masa`ud II_ (1098-1114), Lahore was the place of residence of the Ghaznevid sovereign.
Mahmud died at Ghazni in 1030, the year following his expedition to Persia. He is conspicuous for his military ardour, his ambition, strong will, perseverance, watchfulness and energy, combined with great courage and unbounded selfreliance. But his tastes were not exclusively military. His love of literature brought men of learning to Ghazni, and his acquaintance with Moslem theology was recognized by the learned doctors.
The principal histories of Mahmud's reign are - Kitab-iYamini (Utbi); Tarikh-us-Subuktigin (Baihaki); Tabakat i Nasiri (Minhaj el-Siraj); Rauzat-us-Safa (Mir Khond); Habib-us-Sivar (Khondamir). See Elliot, History of India; Elphinstone, History of India; and Roos-Keppel's translation of the Tarikh-i-Sultan Mahmud-i-Ghaznavi (1901).
|
Mahoba >> |
Categories: MAF-MAL | Ethnic groups of Asia | History of India
Mahmud of Ghazni (Persian: محمود غزنوی Maḥmūd-e Ghaznawī) (November 2, 971 - April 30, 1030), also known as Yāmīn al-Dawlah Maḥmūd (in full: Yāmīn al-Dawlah Abd al-Qāṣim Maḥmūd Ibn Sebük Tegīn), was the ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire from 997 until his death. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which included modern-day Afghanistan, most of Iran as well as regions of north-west India including modern-day Pakistan. He was also the first ruler to carry the title Sultan, signifying his break from the suzerainty of the Caliph.
   | Rewriting history and Mahmud of Ghazni - Rewriting History and Mahmud Ghaznavi |
| | Mahmud Ghaznavi's 17 invasions of India - Mahmud Ghaznavi's 17 Invasions of India [Work in Progress] |
| | History of Iran: Ghaznevid Dynasty - History of Iran: Ghaznavid Dynasty |
| | Encylopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Mahmud - Mahmud (king of Ghazna) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia |
| | Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Ghaznavid Dynasty - Ghaznavid dynasty (Turkish dynasty) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia |
| | Ghazni's best-kept secret - Ghazni's best-kept secret |
|
|
Search
